St. Gerard's Senior School Winter Newsletter 2016

Winter News 2016 Edition

Leaving Certificate 2016 Congratulations to all our students in the Leaving Certificate Class of 2016. The results this year represent an outstanding achievement for all concerned. The average achieved by this Leaving Certificate group was 457 CAO points per student.

Four students attained in excess of 600 points.

Tom Geraghty Headmaster

Oíche Nollag

Le coinnle na n-aingeal tá an spéir amuigh breachta, Tá fiacail an tseaca sa ghaoith ón gcnoc, Adaigh an tine is téir chun na leapan, Luífidh Mac Dé ins an tigh seo anocht.

Máire Mhac an tSaoi The Sky tonight is lit with the candles of Angels, The bite of the frost is in the wind from the hill, Raise the fire and get yee to bed, The son of God will lie in this house tonight.

Tom Geraghty Headmaster

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38% of the student body attained in excess of 500 points 55% attained over 450 points.

75% attained over 400 points.

91% attained over 300 points.

Junior Certificate 2016 Congratulations to the Junior Certificate Class 2016 on their excellent results. The average number of Honours attained is 8.1 per student.

• 38% attained 10 or 11 Higher Honours • 53% attained 9, 10 or 11 Higher Honours • 70% attained 8, 9, 10, 11 Higher Honours • 480 A & B grades were attained at Higher Level – an average of 5.5 A/B per student.

Winner of 2016 Award in Junior Certificate History Congratulations to Emma Beashel who was awarded joint first nationally in the Junior Certificate History examination. Emma received a well deserved prize of €500 for her endeavours.

Trinity Entrance Exhibition Award Congratulations to the following four students of the Class of 2016 who have been awarded Entrance Exhibition Awards by Trinity College, Dublin: Aghogho Atiyota, Jack Freeney, Shane Kenneally and Emily Loughman. These awards are given to students who have obtained 560 points or higher in the Leaving Certificate Examinations.

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Soroptimist Public Speaking The Soroptimist Public Speaking competition is open to TY, Fifth and Sixth Year girls. Anna Byrne, Eleanor Freeney and Emma Beashel participated in the competition this year speaking on a range of topics from democracy to women’s rights. After a long night of superb speeches, Emma Beashel was chosen to go through to the next round of the competition.

Senior Debating Our Senior Debating team have debated their way through three tough Concern Debates and have emerged triumphant, successfully beating every opposition team they have encountered.

Our talented Fifth Year students; Joshua Dargan Hayes, Georgia Ferguson, Cian Kelly Lyth and Sabine O’Connell, have outwitted their opponents with their eloquent rhetoric and are blazing a trail to the quarterfinals in 2017. Well done!

Rotary Youth Leadership Competition Terenure and Rathdown Model United Nations A huge number of our talented Fifth Year students battled their way through tough debates and tricky resolutions at the Terenure and Rathdown Model United Nations this autumn. The students successfully scooped a Distinguished Delegation award at the Terenure conference to add to the growing MUN trophy cabinet well as several Distinguished Delegate awards. Congratulations to all involved.

Several Fifth Year students participated in the Rotary Youth Leadership competition this year.

After an intense interview process, Anna Byrne was selected as the St. Gerard’s School representative.

Despite performing excellently in the second round of the competition, she, unfortunately, did not progress through to the finals.

International Royal Russell Model United Nations Winners Following the success of last year’s trip to the Royal Russell School in Croydon, six delegates headed over to London to participate in the annual International Model United Nations Conference. Callum Mc Gloughlin (Ambassador), Gavin Dowd, Mark Cullen, Sam Shepard, Liam Noonan and Brid O’ Donnell represented the delegation of Croatia and battled bravely to gain much desired speaking rights. In the closing ceremony, the team scooped up four Distinguished Delegate awards and won a Commended Delegation award. All students thoroughly enjoyed their experience at this prestigious event, and no doubt set the bar very high for St. Gerard’s students in the future!

UCD Entrance Exhibition Award Congratulations to the following students of the Class of 2016 on being awarded UCD Entrance Scholarships: Kevin Allen, Riona Connaughton, Harry Happenon, Brendan Ho and Katie Sreenan. These awards are also given to students who have obtained 560 points or higher in the Leaving Certicate Examinations.

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French Debating Victoire pour notre équipe de débat!

Jeudi, le 20 octobre, notre équipe de débat a affronté Mount Anville aux Joutes Oratoires à l’Alliance Française. Ils étaient contre le thèse que «Notre système scolaire ne nous prépare pas pour la vie». Tous les quatre étudiants étaient vraiment impressionnants; ils ont mélangé les faits avec l’humeur et les expériences personnelles. Leurs professeurs, Mme Carrigy et Mme Finane, sont très fières de leur performance! Félicitations !

L’équipe: Claudia Bond, Gavin Dowd, Ellie Kennedy et Sam Shepard.

Junior Debating French Debating Team

Leinster Schools’ Debating Competition Since September, the Leinster Schools’ Debating Competition has been keeping our senior debaters very busy. Bríd O’Donnell, Eoin Blunnie, Georgia Ferguson, Anna Byrne and Joshua Dargan Hayes have been attending lengthy and exciting debates in both Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Dublin, debating controversial motions such as “this house would require the unemployed to work to receive social welfare” and “this house would ban all political donations.” St. Gerard’s School Debating Society has enjoyed great success in this competition, with Bríd, Eoin, Anna and Joshua all progressing through to the third round of the competition as individuals. Unfortunately, Georgia was narrowly beaten in the last round but is continuing to demonstrate her debating prowess in other competitions. We wish our debaters the best of luck in the rest of this prestigious competition and thank them for all their hard work!

Junior Debating club on Friday mornings has been a great success this term. We have more than thirty students attending on a weekly basis to debate everything from Trump’s election to the ever-earlier dawning of the Christmas season.

The Junior Debating teams have been battling away in UCD in the Law Society’s Junior Debating Competition with two rounds completed so far. The third is scheduled for the new year. The teams are: Mike Gleeson, Jake Wootton, Michael Flynn, Tadhg O’Connell, Jack Cummins and Eli Fleming.

The Women Graduates Public Speaking Competition is coming up in January and we would welcome those girls in first and second year, who are interested, in putting their names forward to contact Ms Fox. There is also a brilliant competition called, “The Speech” that invites students to record themselves delivering their favourite speech from the world of TV, film or even politics. This will be uploaded and judged by an expert panel. I have all the details of this competition and the links needed but it is essential that students have written permission from their parents before they can enter this competition.

European Languages Week European Languages Week took place from the 24th - 28th October.

The school came alive with sounds of French and Spanish music and smells of European cuisine. The highlights included the popular French and Spanish meals in the Dining Hall, the first year French and Spanish quizzes, the traditional French and Spanish breakfasts, pen pal exchange with our Twin school in France, cultural presentations and poster-making. Our language students even embraced the romantic nature of our European neighbours by partaking in speed dating! The European Languages Week was a huge success.

Many thanks to all those who helped.

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School Library Thank you to the new library prefect team for 2016-17 for working so hard this term. As well as advising on the acquisition of new titles they have been most active in promoting readings amongst the younger students.

We are working towards the Well Read School Award; so make sure that you all keep a record of the number of books you read this year. We’re hoping to have plenty of “Word Millionaires” this year.

The library hosted four Creative Writing Workshops in October for third year students. Dr Kevin McDermott, lecturer, author and creative genius visited to encourage student-writing and development of skills.

Well done to the Chess Club members, led by Gabriel Berg for reestablishing Chess Club and organising the current competition.

And finally, a special word of thanks to the members of The Junior Debating Club who meet in the library every Friday morning before school for some robust discussions. If anyone was under the illusion that young people either weren’t aware of, or were unconcerned by world events we are delighted to inform you that they know, they care and they plan on making a difference.

ISTA Senior Science Quiz, T.C.D. Six Sixth year students represented St. Gerard’s School in the ISTA Senior Science Regional Finals on Thursday 17th November 2016 in Trinity College, Dublin. Team A was made up of Max Freeney, Michael Noonan and William Moore and Team B was Alex Mooney, Eva Kelly and Cian Gilmore. After eight rounds, Team A were in joint second position and Team B narrowly missed out on a place in the final by one point to be within the top eight schools to qualify. After a very nervous set of tie breaker questions against St. Paul’s College and Wesley College, St. Gerard’s Team A came second overall and were through to the National Final in Trinity College, Dublin.

Max, Michael and William represented St. Gerard’s School excellently in the final and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well done.

Science week

PRISM 2016

Best of luck to Peter O’ Flynn ( TY ) in the BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition on the 11th of January. Peter is presenting a project on “The torque output of a two stroke engine in relation to the compression ratio”.

Congratulations to Michael Noonan (Sixth Year), Nicholas Pochinkov (Fifth Year) and Oskar Rachwal (Third Year) who have been awarded Senior School Champion and Junior School Champion in the Mathematics PRISM Test.

Young Social Innovators In St. Gerard’s School, all students are guided by our motto, “memor”, meaning “be mindful”. Aside from academics, everybody is encouraged to become a well rounded and socially active individual. The young social innovators programme is a fantastic and unique opportunity for Transition Year pupils to grow, develop and give back to their community.

Over the years, YSI members have made a real impact, and this group are no different, proving to be one of the most driven and dedicated to date.

The YSI group always choose a specific social issue to focus their efforts on for the year. Usually, two different groups focus on different issues, yet this year it was decided that bigger is indeed better. After a lengthy discussion, the YSI team settled on the subject of loneliness. Many felt strongly in favour of this, as it is an issue which has often been ignored. In a world where young people are more connected than ever, older people are getting left behind, trapped in isolation. There is no doubt that this is a very worthy cause.

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The name of the project is “Tír na nÓg”. Inspired by the land of youth from Irish mythology, the students felt that “Tír na nÓg” symbolised a place where age is inconsequential, and everybody is included. This name became the bedrock of the project.

Throughout the term, the YSI group have participated in many events and fundraisers. A successful bake sale was held in aid of local charity Homelink, raising almost €1000, and students also assisted at a coffee morning held for Homelink members.

Talks were given by Age Action and Homelink to educate the group on the issue. Art students from the group also went to St. Joseph’s, painting an area to bring light into the lives of people suffering from dementia and loneliness. The YSI group also hope to produce a magazine on their experiences with the elderly members of our community. This will be a lasting memento for us to read in years to come.

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Gaeilge 24 Dé Máirt, 8ú Samhain, ghlac na ranganna ardleibhéal sa chúigiú agus séú bliain páirt san fheachtas ‘Gaeilge 24’, eagraithe ag Conradh na Gaeilge.

Bhí orthu, agus ar na múinteoirí Gaeilge, an lá a chaitheamh trí mheán na Gaeilge. Bhí sé dushlánach, le roinnt geáitsíochta, ach bhí an-spraoi ann freisin. Bhailíomar €520 ar son Conradh na Gaeilge. Gabhaimid buíochas le gach duine a thug an deis dúinn chun ár dteanga a labhairt i rith an lae.

Green Schools Committee The Green Schools Committee have been busy in recent weeks working on the theme of Biodiversity. Initiatives undertaken have included a detailed habitat and species survey of the school campus (interesting findings were a clear indication of the regular presence of long-eared owls and the sighting of a very large flock of bramblings feeding on fallen beech mast), a survey of students’ awareness of biodiversity issues, planting of spring bulbs and the installation of an “insect hotel” and several bird and bat boxes in the school grounds. If you are taking a woodland walk this Christmas, you might keep an eye out for the woodpecker - a recent natural coloniser of Irish shores (an extremely rare event) and essentially only in Wicklow presently.

LITERARY MAGAZINE 2016

Student Council This year’s student council elections were held in September and we held our first formal meeting with the headmaster shortly afterwards. We meet once a month to discuss items of concern to the student body and are currently getting ready to raise funds for the Laura Lynn charity through a crazy jumper non-uniform day on Friday the 16th and helping out at the bazaar. We have some fun ideas which we hope will raise some funds on the night.

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Senior Geography Trip to Iceland

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During October thirty three Senior Geography students travelled to Iceland on a five day action-packed adventure. The group had been looking forward to the trip since January and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Our first excursion brought us to the spectacular Blue Lagoon followed by ice skating and an evening dip in one of Reykjavik’s geothermally heated swimming pools. Day two brought us to see the spectacular Gulfoss waterfalls, the geyser fields and geothermal springs with our final stop being at Thinvillier (where the Eurasian and American tectonic plates separate). Our evening took us into the mountains where we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights, which were simply spectacular. On day three we travelled to the south shore in style in Super Jeeps and visited basaltic beaches and the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull volcano that caused travel chaos in 2010. On our final day we had a walking tour of Reykjavik and free time for shopping followed by a glacier hike in the afternoon. We unwound in a geothermal pool in the evening once again. It was a superb trip where the group had the unique opportunity to see a stunning landscape and visit the sites they study on the Leaving Certificate Geography curriculum. Simply brilliant!

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St. Gerard’s Day We celebrated the feast day of Saint Gerard Majella in our 98th Academic Year on 12th October. The school community celebrated Mass in the evening where our theme was ‘Wisdom, Mind and Heart’. The table quiz, held earlier that day, is always a fun event with many spot prizes and quirky, yet challenging, questions. The annual Sugarloaf Race was particularly enjoyable given the superb weather conditions which prevailed on the day.

St. Gerard’s Liturgy Thank you to all of the staff and students for their meaningful participation in the various liturgies we have celebrated this term. Fr. John O’Connor was with us to celebrate and ask for God’s blessing on our new school year on September 15th and on St Gerard’s Day, October 12th.

Ministers of the Eucharist

Retreats So far this year the Third and Sixth Year retreats have taken place. The Sixth Years travelled to Dromantine for a very interactive overnight retreat. They took part in Mass, meditations, silent contemplation and personal reflection. The Third Years went to the Priory in Tallaght.

They participated in meditation and different exercises to develop self-worth and happiness. The other year groups will all go on retreat later in the school year.

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We are particularly proud to have had thirty two students involved in the Ministers of the Eucharist programme this year. The students involved were: Daniel Lordan, Ellie O’Connell, Jenny Mc Gee, Cameron Moylan, Daniel Power, Max Freeney, Ciaran Walsh, Eleanor Dunne, Isabel Marsh, Ben Geoghegan, Tom Dempsey, Cian Gilmore, Hilary Gallagher, Robert Keating, Eva Moroney, Max Geoghegan, Andrew Kingston, Cillian Murray, Liam Noonan, Tadhg Morrisroe, Susie McParland, Susan Mooney, Claudia McCabe, Brid O’Donnell, Sam Shepard, Louis O’Connor, Rebecca Rock, Lucy Warde, Cameron Brady, Mark Cullen, Emily Byrne and Alannah Crowley. We look forward to marking this special occasion in the new year. On November 14th we remembered those in our community we have lost. During the mass we invited family and friends to light a candle as a symbol of love, faith and remembrance.

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Society of St. Vincent de Paul Junior Conference Our Fifth Year Committee have been busy this term supporting the work of the St. Vincent dePaul charity. In October, the group organised a bag-packing fund-raising event in Dunnes Stores, Cornelscourt and raised â‚Ź3,700; in November we organised a Christmas appeal letter-drop and distributed approximately 2,500 appeal letters to homes in a local parish. Also in November, we invited Clare Manders, the Regional Youth Officer for SVP, to the school to inform her of the work we do. She ran a workshop for us on the national and international work of this charity and a second workshop for YSI students who were starting a visitation programme in local nursing homes.

Hospice Coffee Fundraising Morning This year the annual Hospice Coffee Morning took place in mid-September and received great support from students, staff and parents alike. The wide range of delightfully baked goods ensured a brisk turnover and in turn a successful event. Well done to everyone who made a generous contribution with over â‚Ź2,000 being raised for the Blackrock and Wicklow Hospices.

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Transition Year Report Transition year students have had a very busy start to their year. 4th year students commenced Transition Year with three day camping trip in Lough Dan. On the morning the Transition years got their Junior Certificate results, they were whisked off to Lough Dan to set up their tents, cook their own food by the campfire and under take a 22km hike through the Wicklow Mountains. This hike formed a key component of the Gaisce Presidents Award, which many students have chosen to complete this year, involving the development of personal skills and community involvement. With beautiful weather for the three days, everyone was in high spirits.

TY students have been very generous with their time, volunteering with a variety of charities this term. These charities include bag packing for the St. Vincent de Paul, painting for Laura Lynn and carol singing for the Peter McVerry Trust. As well as this, our busy and pro-active TY YSI group raised over ₏1,000 for their chosen charity Homelink though their school cake sale. Students presented their cheque to Homelink at the Homelink Christmas party. Many TY students also volunteered to become a Cara for a new first year student. The aim of the Cara system is for TY students to be pairs with a first year students to help them settle into St. Gerard’s School. Students chatted over some hot chocolate and a cookie, taking the time to get to know one another.

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St . Gerar d’ s Seni or School New sle t t e r W i nte r 16

One of the key aims of Transition Year is to embrace new opportunities. Students have taken part in many new experiences this term, such as the Eagles flight workshop, Kairos media day, photography course, scuba diving, public access to law and martial arts courses. Some of the extracurricular activities TY students have chosen to get involved in include activities such as fencing, Steer Clear, ECDL and boxing. As well as these activities students have also been exposed to talks on a variety of different topics such as careers in IT, online reputation, Aware and Bodywhys.

Students have working hard throughout this term to develop their own individual web pages, where they have created blog posts about each of the new experiences and opportunities they have undertaken so far this year. Each of these individualised web pages are available through the St. Gerard’s school website.

Eagles Flight Workshop

Students have attended college open days in DCU, NUI Maynooth and DIT, to get a flavour of college courses which they may be interested in studying after school. The St. Gerard’s careers evening afforded students the opportunity to speak with individuals in different careers, to gain a deeper understanding of what a career in that area would be like. This was followed up by students undertaking a week of work experience or community service, to further investigate what their future interests may be.

TY students are also in their early preparation stage for their TY musical this year, Beauty and the Beast. This will be the first time St. Gerard’s has produced a Disney musical. With lots of musical talent in this year group, this will be a production not to be missed! We wait with excitement for the rehearsals to begin. So far this year Transition years students have been enthusiastic and fully involved in all aspects of TY so far this year. We look forward to many more exciting activities planned for next term.

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Music Festival This year the St. Gerard’s School Music Festival was held in the last week of November. Comperes, Gavin Dowd and Killian Beashel did a great job in introducing the performers.With dozens of acts showcasing the talent at St. Gerard’s, the judges Dr. Deirdre Farrell, Ms. Jessica Savage and Mr. Ken Doyle of Bagatelle, had the difficult task of selecting winners in the various classes. The eventual winners were; Sani McNally (Fifth Year), Lily Kate Hearns (Third Year), Eoin Blunnie, Evin Kerins, Sam Sheppard (Sixth Year) and Anabel Sweeney (TY)..

Royal Irish Academy of Music High Achiever Award Congratulations to Sabine O’Connell and Anabel Sweeney who received High Achiever Awards for outstanding results in their Royal Irish Academy of Music practical examinations in Music Theatre, and to Sani McNally and Emma Beashel for outstanding results in their piano exams. 42,000 candidates took the RIAM practical exams and out of those, 300 were recommended by local centre examiners to audition for the regional finals. Both Sabine and Anabel performed at the auditions and Anabel was selected for the regional finals, and subsequently the Gala Concert in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. This is the second year running that she has been selected to perform at this prestigious event. She was one of ten performers deemed by the Academy to have given the most outstanding performances.

Anabel Sweeney and Deborah Kelleher, Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music

Feis Ceoil Award Congratulations to Sani McNally who came first in Ireland in the U17 section and received the highest marks available in the ESB Feis Ceoil Piano Competition.

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S p ort s O vervi ew

Representat ive Spor ts Honours: U18 Irish Tennis Champion Congratulations to Anna Bowtell who won her first International World Ranking Under 18 Tournament. This was held in Belfast during the summer. Anna then went on to win the Irish Under 18 Girls Singles title which was held at the Fitzwilliam Tennis Club in August. Well done on these fantastic achievements.

U18 Irish International Rugby and U18 Leinster Rugby Congratulations to Cormac Foley (Fifth Year) who was selected to train with the U18 Irish squad during the October mid-term.

During the summer, Cormac also completed the pre-season training camp for the U18 Leinster schools side. He represented his province in the friendly matches against Northampton and Italy, before helping the squad to victory in the interprovincial series.

U19 Leinster Rugby Congratulations to Marc Baker in Sixth year who was selected to play on the U19 Leinster Schools side. Completing a training camp during the summer, he went on to tour with the squad in the UK and to represent them in the interprovincial tournament in September.

Junior Orienteering Home Internationals Congratulations to Eoin Riordan (Fifth Year) who represented Ireland at the Orienteering Junior Home Internationals in Newcastle, U.K in October. Eoin was the first Irish runner home.

Athletics - European Champions Club Cup

Leinster Schools Open Cross Country

Congratulations to Sixth Year student Susie McParland and Fifth Year student Rachel Whitten who represented Ireland at the European Champions Club Cup in Portugal, in September. Susie took fourth place in the 3,000 meters and Rachel, despite carrying an injury into the event, picked up a new PB. Unfortunately, the Irish team did not obtain any medals. However, the achievement was in selection and participation at this major European Athletics event. A fabulous opportunity and well done!

Following their success in the Wicklow Schools Invitational Cross-Country event hosted by St. Gerard’s, in midNovember the St. Gerard’s Cross Country team took to the field in the Leinster Schools Open. The event was hosted in Blackrock College and the squad acquitted themselves very well. Noteworthy performances came from Darragh Rush in the Minor Boys race, Sinead O’Mara in the Minor Girls race and Isabelle Owens in the Junior Race. Congratulations to Roisin Tracey and Aaron Donnelly who displayed their athleticism in winning both of the Intermediate races.

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Extra Curricular Activities: Fencing is the newest addition to extracurricular activities on offer this year, and has proven very popular. Olga Velma, a current Irish competitor is taking classes on a Monday evenings. Yoga, Hapkido and Archery continue to be offered and have a healthy number of pupils involved across the three disciplines.

All Ireland Gymnastics Winner Congratulations to Jessica Knatchbull who took part in the All-Ireland Gymnastics competition in October. Jessica won three gold medals in the disciplines of Floor, Beam and Vault.

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S p o r t s Ov erview - Equestr i a n

Inter-Schools Show Jumping This year’s equestrian programme began on Sunday 11th September in Wexford with an open team of Emily O’Loughlin, Kirsti Connole , Dominique Rooney and Shona Callan who picked up an impressive third place in the open team event. The following week at our own show in Boswell we fielded four open and two novice teams totalling 24 jockeys. Our open teams took fourth, fifth and sixth place. In the open individuals Mark Finnerty was second and Mily was fourth. Faye Durkan took third place in the Novice Individuals. Since then we have picked up two second places, a fourth and a sixth which has us lying fifth on the overall league table.

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St . Gerar d’ s Seni or School News le t t e r W i nte r 16

and our team had a strong start with Sam Cummins posting S p ort s O vervi ew boats. Tough competition in the mixed fleet left the boys in Costello joined the team on Sunday, where conditions were Sailing race was completed. All the boys raced well on day 2 with Two teams competed in Sutton, at the annual All-Ireland Inter-Schoolsoverall regatta last September. race results, in the team Despite event. some Thisgood wasindividual great result for a the young teams did not come away with any of the spoils. They sailed very well in ‘testy’ conditions, up against full classes with a number of international season! sailors. The school hopes to enter the Inter-Schools Team racing event next March. Following this, the school will be running its annual sailing regatta next May. This is an integral event in our co-curricular calendar, as it is hoped that it will raise the profile of the sport in the schools within the surrounding area.

Soccer The Senior Soccer Team have been training hard prior to their league campaign. The squad drew against St. Michael’s in their first match, showing great resilience to come back from being 4-2 down and earn a welldeserved point. A win in their next encounter will see them qualifying for the knockout stage.

Motorsport Congratulations to Sean McCormack who had a very successful year in Irish Karting.

Sean certainly stood out this year on the grid, finishing up as: 1 Munster Club 2016 Cadet Champion 2. Irish Karting Club 2016 Cadet Champion 3. Motorsport Ireland 2016 Cadet Karting Champion of Ireland.

Another highlight of the year was winning the Annual C-Plate Trophy, for the third year running, which was a personal goal for the season.

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Golf The Senior golf team have had two losses in their league to date, and with only one more match to play, it is unlikely they can progress to their knock-out stages. The Junior golf team comprising of, Sam McCarthy (capt), Patrick Burke and Brandon St. John, have had a great run in the Leinster Schools Match Play competition; winning their qualifying section in Bray Golf Club in October and playing in the Leinster Schools’ final in Tulfarris Golf Club, in November.

Sadly, however, the team finished eighth out of eighteen schools, only eight shots off the winners. The team played some spectacular golf in very cold conditions, and on a very long course.

Congratulations to Liam Noonan and his father Padraig who managed to retain their hold on the Claret Jug, in the annual Parent and Child golf competition held in Dun Laoghaire last September.

Lessons are currently being held in Dun Laoghaire Golf Club on a Saturday afternoon, and have two full classes. We hope to continue this on into next year.

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Sp o r t s Overview - Rugby

Rugby SCT Rugby

The Senior rugby team have had a very successful group stage of their league campaign.

Finishing top of their section, they qualified for the league quarter-final against Roscrea College. Unfortunately, they came up against a very strong Roscrea team which put a stop to their run of nine matches undefeated.

However, qualification has also guaranteed them a first round match in the Leinster Senior Cup next February.

Academy Rugby

The Academy rugby squad have continued to develop as a squad. With pitch, strength and conditioning sessions, fitness and technique have improved since September. Under the captaincy of Louis O’Connor, the squad have continued to give 100% in all their matches.

The team have had a number of fiercely contested games, with their two most notable wins being those over St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s sides.

JCT Rugby

Junior rugby has gone from strength to strength since the start of the season. The Junior Cup team had a slow start to their league campaign, suffering three losses.

However, the group have responded to the training structures put in place to encompass both squad and individual development. There has been an in-depth video analysis of all matches. With three wins added to a number of hard-earned bonus points, the team qualified for the quarterfinal of the Leinster League.

Unfortunately, the run came to an end with a defeat to a strong Kilkenny side. The score line, 20-11 really shows how far the team have come, as they fought from whistle to whistle against a side undefeated in their league campaign. As with the SCT, coming out of the group stage has also secured automatic entry into the Leinster Junior Cup in February.

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S p o r t s O vervi ew - R u g by

Junior 2

One measure of a team is the willingness of its individuals to do their best despite knowing that they may not receive any personal accolades. The current JCT squad numbers over 40 players which means that the training sessions are very competitive and that each player on the first team is being pushed by a member of the second team. This competitive spirit has served the Junior 2 team well and they have played some outstanding rugby this season, winning each of their matches apart from a narrow defeat to Templeogue. The squad are now looking forward to the commencement of their own league in the new year.

U15 The U15 A and U15 B teams are currently in the middle of their respective league campaigns. The B team are looking to follow up on their successful winning campaign last year and have got off to the best possible start, with a convincing win over last year’s beaten finalists C.U.S in the first round. The U15 A team were beaten by C.U.S in our first round fixture but stormed back with a convincing win over our local rivals Pres. Bray. We host Gonzaga College in the next round of the league fixtures before the Christmas break.

U14 The U14’s have had a great start to the year, initially able to field three teams in the early stages of the season due to high playing numbers of about 65 students. The school are now fielding a very strong first team who have lost only once this year and who recently had three wins in a seven day period over Pres. Bray., Blackrock and King’s Hospital, who were up to that point all unbeaten. The second team have also been winning on a regular basis with a number of players getting called up to bolster the A team. Players and coaches have all been working hard off the field in building a strong team culture and players are encouraged to take ownership of their team both on and off the pitch.

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S p o rt s Ov e rv i e w - H oc k e y

Hockey Senior I Senior I have had mixed results so far in the league beating Mount Sackville and Loreto, Stephen’s Green in the league. They had tough games against Mount Anville, Loreto, Foxrock, Wesley College and Holy Child, Killiney. They play St. Killian’s school in the first round of Leinster Cup on Wednesday 14th December at 3pm.

Senior II Senior II have had a good and steady start to their league campaign with wins over Mount Sackville and Loreto, Foxrock and drawing 0-0 with Wesley College.

Senior III

Senior III have had a good start to their season under new coach Emma Russell, beating King’s Hospital, Holy Child, Killiney and Mount Sackville in the Leinster league.

Junior I Junior I have had steady results in the league drawing with Alexandra College and King’s Hospital in the league. They also had a fantastic run in the cup reaching the quarter-finals, eventually losing to a very good Muckross Park side.

Junior II Junior II have had a good season so far drawing with Loreto, Foxrock and Mount Anville and defeating Our Lady’s Terenure and Wesley College.

Pag e 18

St . Gerar d’ s Seni or School New sle t t e r W i nte r 16

Minor I

First Year

Minor I lost to Loreto Foxrock, beat Loreto Dalkey and had a wonderful draw against league leaders Loreto, Beaufort; equalising in the last minute! In the Minor Cup they beat High School 1-0. We await to hear who they have in the next round after Christmas.

This year we see St Gerard’s fielding three eight-a-side teams at first year level; Cheetahs, Lions and Tigers under Head Coach Lauren Murray. Their leagues commenced in November and they all have had good matches with all girls getting to play league matches.

They have had great wins over Mount Anville, High School, Sutton Park, Rathdown and Holy Child, Killiney.

Minor lI

Minor II have had good results so far this season beating Rathdown 3-0 and Sion Hill 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with Mount Anville.

w w w .s t g e rards . i e

Pag e 19

TERM 3

TERM 4

JANUARY 2017

april 2017

DATE

EVENT

DATE

Mon 9th

Term Commences - 8.50am

Mon 3rd

Thurs 12th

3rd Year Parent-Teacher Meeting - 4.15pm

Fri 7th

School term ends for Easter Holidays

Thurs-Fri 12th-13th Science Week / B.T. Young Sc. Exbo. - 9.00am

Easter Holidays

Monday 10th March to Friday 21st April incl.

Tues 17th

Mon 24th

5th Year Parent-Teacher Meeting - 4.15pm

Mon-Fri 30th-3rd Catholic Schools Week

Incoming 1st Year Parents Evening - 7.30pm

School re-opens - 8.50am

Mon-Fri 24th-28th TY Work Exp/Community Service (Week 3) Thurs 27th

FEBRUARY 2017 DATE

EVENT

EVENT

Senior Rugby & Hockey BBQ - 7.00pm

MAY 2017

Thurs 9th

2nd Year Retreat

DATE

EVENT

Mon 13th

Leaving Cert & Junior Cert Mock Exams Tue-Thur

Mon 1st

School Closed

14th-16th

Transition Year Musical

Wed 3rd

Interschools Sailing Regatta - 2.00pm

Fri 17th

School ends for Mid-Term - 3.45pm

Mon 8th

Photograph Day

Mid-Term Break

Monday 20th Feb to Friday 24th Feb Incl.

Thurs 11th

Summer Concert

Mon 27th

School re-opens - 8.50am

Tues 16th

Senior School Family Tennis Tournament - 6.00pm

Mon-Fri 27th-1st

LC & JC Mock Exams continue

Sun 21st

Prize & Sports Day - 12 noon

Wed 24th

6th Year Grad Mass & Valedictory Dinner

Thurs25th

TY Parents Presentation Evening - 7.30pm

Mon 29th

TY Info Evening for 3rd year parents - 7.30pm

Mon-Fri 27th-3rd Transition Year Outdoor Pursuits MARCH 2017 DATE

EVENT

Mon 6th

1st Year Parent-Teacher Meeting

Mon-Fri 6th-10th TY Work Experience / Comm. Service (Week 2) Sat 11th

Careers Interview Morning - 5th years

Mon-Wed 29th-31st TY Retreat Mon-Fri 29th-2nd Summer Exam Week for 1 / 2 / 5 Years June 2016

Mon-Fri 13th-16th Seachtain na Gaeilge

DATE

EVENT

Tues 21st Cyberbullying Awareness Day

Wed 7th

State Exams Commence

Thurs 23rd 6th Year Parent-Teacher Meeting Mon 27th 3rd Year Parents Subject Options Evening Thurs 30th 3rd year Parents Subject Option Afternoon

Annual Winter Ball The eleventh St. Gerard’s School Winter Ball was held on Saturday, November 26th at the Powerscourt Hotel. Thanks to the generosity of our parents and sporsors in excess of €35,000 was raised at the event. Congratulations to all the parents and friends of the school who donated items or sponsored the event and who gave generously on the evening. The proceeds will go towards the Jack and Jill Foundation and the St. Gerard’s Outreach Programme to Zambia. Well done to the Ball Committee, for what was a magnificent effort in organising a wonderful evening for all who attended.

This year the Christmas Bazaar took place on the Thursday 15th September. As with previous years the proceeds were donated to charities who help serve the local community.

The event saw a host of entertaining activities all manned by members of the school community. Well done to all those who leant their support on the evening, giving generously of both their time and money. An impressive €18,000 was raised on the night!