10 minute read
Paul Hopkins
The Fact OfThe Matter
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PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS Christmas toys, and the one Santa never brought me
MECCANO, the must-have toy for every self-respecting boy in the Christmases of my youth, celebrates its 120th birthday this year and is still one of the biggest selling toys at this time of year. Also a staple in Santa’s sack is Lego, voted a year back by a Channel 4 survey as the ‘Greatest Toy of All Time,’ and is, as I write, ying o the shelves via online orders. I watched the Late, Late Toy Show the other week. I had not done so since way back when my own three children were young and Uncle Gaybo was at the helm of the annual event which has gone from strength to strength since it rst aired back, believe it or not, in 1975. Since the RTE Player came about, the show has garnered a global audience. Here at home more than a million people tuned in to watch Ryan Tubridy last week. e show exceeded expectations, despite the lack of a live audience and other Covid-19 imposed curtailments. Well done young Ryan and all involved in making for a memorable night. Just what we all need, given the year we are having. Meanwhile, half of that Channel 4 poll’s Top 10 were high-tech console games but Lego was joined at the top of the tree by fellow oldies Monopoly (1934), Scrabble (1948), and Scalextric (1958). For very young children, old Teddy bear has been arriving in many homes at Christmas since 1903. e Teddy Bear was named after the hunting and shooting US President eodore Roosevelt. e rst u y creation was marketed as Teddy’s Bear after creator Morris Michtom sent one to the president and got permission to use his name. By 1906 it was a huge hit as a child’s toy and, oddly, a women’s fashion accessory (don’t ask!). In 1932 Irishman Jimmy Kennedy — he of Red Sails In e Sunset fame, allegedly written abour Portrush in Co. Armagh — added the familiar lyrics to the 1907 hit Teddy Bears’ Picnic.
For young girls, Barbie has been the preferred Christmas visitor since 1959. Watching her daughter Barbie giving her dolls adult roles, American Ruth Handler saw a gap in the market for a doll in adult form. She put the idea to her husband, who’d founded the toy-making giant Mattel, but he dismissed it as a folly. Ruth persevered, and the controversy over the rst Barbie’s pneumatic bust and sexy swim-suit propelled it to 350,000 sales in its rst year.
More than 1.2 billion have sold since.
Sometimes, it seems like it was only yesterday but it was the Christmas of my ninth year and I so wanted to emulate Bruce McLaren in his Grand Prix winning Cooper Climax that I desperately wanted Scalextric from Santa Claus.
I was wavering between believing in the man in red and dismissing it as hokumpokum, particularly having burrowed my way the previous year into the back of the wardrobe in my parents’ bedroom, but decided it was to my advantage to carry on ‘believing’ and write my letter to Santa.
My father muttered something about Scalextric being very expensive and that maybe Santa would not be able to a ord it as he had so many children to visit and “things like that don’t come cheap”.
But, believer or not, I had every faith Santa or whoever would deliver and I could give McLaren a run for his money.
Scalextric had been on the go about six years by then: a train set on speed, life in the fast lane, leaving my Dinky cars in the shade. I just had to have it and hoped against hope that I had been mistaken in my bout of scepticism when burrowing through my parents’ wardrobe.
Well, Christmas morning 5am arrived and I awoke starry-eyed with anticipation of my stocking weighing heavy on the bottom of my bed.
I never got my Scalextric that Christmas of my ninth year.. I do not remember now what I got instead, only the disappointment that my future as a McLaren was truly dashed.
It was probably too expensive for Santa, my father said.
Johnny down the road is getting one, was all I replied.
But I swore there and then, young as I was, that if I ever had children I would make sure that whatever they asked for from Santa they would get.
Funny though, down the years the two boys never asked for Scalextric, despite its enduring popularity.
New library literacy plan as accessible as A, B, C
KILKENNY County Council Library Service has launched a new literacy programme, entitled OWL (Oral Words Language). is has been developed in response to literacy needs that emerged following consultation with a range of organisations including our Right to Read Literacy Network in Kilkenny. e programme focuses on developing the oral language skills of 0-3 year olds, by helping support parents, childcare practitioners and teachers to ensure a good oral language base from an early age, and thus reduce potential literacy problems in the future. ese short online workshops with Speech and Language erapist Melissa Lanigan, Behavioural Specialist and Trainee Educational Psychologist Simone Coleman, and Storyteller Neil Gri ths include topics such as boosting language skills at home, short attention span and building communication skills, play to develop communication, Bilingualism, Inspiring children to enjoy reading and storytelling techniques.
Workshops run on the library’s website, Facebook page and the council’s YouTube channel at 9pm on Tuesday and Wednesday nights throughout December, and Tuesday nights in January.
In addition to these workshops, quick tips from our professionals will be posted at 9pm on social media. Neil Gri th’s story time for children will be on each Saturday morning in December at 11.30am.
“We are delighted to roll out this exciting oral language programme, which has been designed to appeal to busy parents and childcare workers with short workshops and practical tips and tricks,” said Executive Librarian, Aisling Kelly.
“O ering access to professional advice will help develop oral language skills amongst young children from an early stage, making literacy and reading issues less likely to occur in the future.” e programme is kindly funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund. * For more information contact Aisling on aisling. kelly@kilkennylibrary.ie / 056 7794977, or visit www.kilkennylibrary.ie
Microsoft deal boosts Kilkenny’s education
IRISH Ed-Tech company Olive Group has launched a new partnership with Microsoft that will see potentially thousands of teachers and students in Kilkenny bene tting from access to high-end, quality, interactive and digital content. e launch of the new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) app in Microsoft Teams as part of a joint initiative with Microsoft Ireland. Launched from within the Microsoft Teams application, Olive VLE is an intuitive software platform that delivers a wide range of interactive digital content, enabling a more user-centric learning experience for up to 145 million global Microsoft Teams users.
By making it easier for teachers and educators in Kilkenny to develop interactive material, students and learners will bene t from this new partnership. e total student population in Ireland is just under 1.1 million and this new Irish developed technology has the potential to transform hybrid and blended learning for them.
Commenting on the announcement, Brendan Kavanagh, CEO, Olive Group said: “We’re very excited to extend the reach of Olive VLE to up to 145 million Microsoft Teams users across the world. Collaborating with Microsoft Ireland has allowed us to deploy a purpose-built learning experience that will resonate with digital natives – the swipers, scrollers, and touch screen a cionados of the world.
“Students and teachers in Kilkenny are accustomed to consuming content as part of a seamless user experience via platforms such as Spotify, Net ix and Tiktok. Until now, an educational counterpart has been lacking. We are targeting savvy online learners who want the collaborative energy of the classroom, in a virtual setting, as well as an enhanced learning experiences that are accessible 24/7.”
Professor Kevin Marshall, Head of Education for Microsoft Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Olive Group – a company that is on the cutting edge of EdTech.
“ e team has a rm appreciation of what digital natives are looking for from a learning and engagement perspective. Catering to evolving user demands requires big picture thinking, and Olive Group has a proven track record of delivering eLearning solutions that are easily deployable, customisable and userfriendly.
“Olive VLE delivers highquality digital content that is learner-centric and outcome driven, while also facilitating more dynamic student-tutor engagement and more e cient digital assessments.”
Founded in 2006, Olive Group provides a fully integrated range of workforce development services. Headquartered in Dublin, it employs 600 people in 12 countries.
Olive Group develops high-end courses and digital content.
It has developed its own suite of eLearning platforms using the latest technologies including virtual reality and arti cial intelligence, part of our future learning.
How Mary and Kate Leneghan are raising mental health Awareness
THE Aware Christmas 5K takes place the weekend after next, Friday, December to Sunday the 12th. People from all over Ireland are invited to come together virtually to be part of this fun, festive and healthy event to support Aware’s services for people impacted by depression and bipolar disorder. And everyone is invited to dress up in their favourite Santa hat or Christmas jumper.
Sisters Mary and Kate Leneghan are among the many already in the spirit as they get ready to dash, dance and prance!
In the last year, 30,000 people have directly bene ted from Aware’s support services, and a further 8,000 people took part in education programmes facilitated by Aware. e Covid-19 pandemic has further fuelled the need for such supports, with Aware expecting sustained high levels of demand during 2022. is is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the charity. People from all over Ireland are invited to come together virtually to be part of this fun, festive and healthy event to support Aware’s services for people impacted by depression and bipolar disorder. e Aware Christmas 5k is one of the charity’s most important fundraising events of the year. Aware, which was established in 1985, is the national organisation providing free support, education, and information for people impacted by depression, bipolar disorder, and related mood conditions. e charity is inviting people from all over Ireland to walk, jog, run or hike their favourite 5k route anywhere in the country at a time of their choice over the weekend, and to share their e orts on social media using #WeAreAware to further demonstrate their support.
And those who really wish you get into the spirit of things, can wear their Christmas jumper!!
AT A GLANCE Technology big wins for our students
Kilkenny College had four students in the Engineering and Technology Teacher’s Association National Competitions 2021.
Daniel Neale and Aaron Langrell were in the National Young Engineer Competition Higher Level Competition.
Tim cope and Troy Pienaar were in the National Young Technologist Leaving Cert Higher Level Competition.
Each student was awarded a certi cate of Distinction for competing in the National Final.
Troy Pienaar was the 2nd prize Winner of the National Young Technologist Leaving Cert Higher Level Competition held in TUS:MMW Athlone Campus.
Hynes defection ‘poses a threat’ for Noonan
e defection of local councillor Denis Hynes from Labour to Sinn Féin poses a threat to Heritage Minister and Kilkenny TD Malcolm Noonan’s Dáil seat, a newspaper report today claims. e article by veteran political correspondent John Drennan in Irish Mail on Sunday suggests Cllr Hynes’ move to Sinn Féin is part of a wider move by the party to eld second candidates in certain constituencies to transfer their huge suppost levels in the polls to extra Dáil seats in the next General Election.
In the last election local poll topper Kathleen Funchion has a surplus of 5,000 votes, which were crucial in helping to propel Malcom Noonan from seventh place after the rst count into the Dáil.
Big line-up for Yulefest
Kilkenny’s stunning St. Canice’s Cathedral will host ‘December Sounds’ with Liam Ó Maonlaí, Cormac Begley, Bird On e Wire, Malojian, Seamus Fogarty and more from December 20 to 22 as part of Yulefest Kilkenny.
On Monday, December 20, Bríd Lyons, Cormac Begley, John Francis Flynn & Liam Ó Maonlai will open.
