Recently Class 1D completed an extremely exciting project, 'My European Union, My Ireland, My EU50' 

This is to commemorate 50 years of EU membership in Ireland, students had to make a series of videos, PowerPoints and conduct interview's, which included, students from their class, former TD Tom Meaney and detective sergeant’s Paul Johnson and Michael Lynch of the national cyber-crime Bureau, in Europol building the Hague. 

This competition is aimed to celebrate with young people across the nation, to see their creativity and innovative ideas about Ireland and Europe. ‘MyEU50: The Ireland EU50 Youth Competition’ will run over all three levels of education in Ireland; Primary, Post-Primary and Third Level. We wish all the students involved the absolute best luck!! 

Mr. Casey 

Recently the Preslink committee met with Br. Martin and two vissiting Presentation Brothers from Ghana, Br. Godfrey and Br. Valerius. The meeting was very informative for our Preslink committee who learned more about life in Ghana and the important work carried out by the Presentation Brothers there. The Brothers also informed the commtiiee about the vital work carried out with funds raised through Preslink. 

Photo shows Br. Martin Kenneally, Br. Godfrey, David Barry, Principal and Br. Valerius.

Group photo shows the Preslink committee with the visiting Presentation Brothers from Ghana.

Br. Martin Kenneally, Jack Bugler, Michael Mullins, Andrew Maume, Devin Giltinan, Br. Valerius, Andrew Stack, Br. Godfrey, Sam Hernon, Stuart Gilbert, Robert Barry, Peter Burke, Alex Cronin, Tadhg Andrews and Luke Mullins.

T.Y. Film and Photography Module Students along with their teachers Ms.Walsh and Mr. Casey embarked on a trip to Killarney on Tuesday 15th Nov. To take photographs and shoot film footage on location at Ross Castle and Aghadoe Heights. Both locations did not disappoint, the bright calm conditions provided the perfect light and backdrop for the students to create memorable footage. A productive and enjoyable day was had by all. 

SENIOR BOOK CLUB

Starting Friday 18th November and every Friday going forward the school library will host a book club where 4th, 5th and 6th Year students will be able to discuss their favourite books, recommend books to each other and discover new titles.

The first official senior book club will be held at 12.55 pm (lunch break) on Friday 18th in the school library. Here, students will introduce each other by talking about their favourite book, or a book that made a big impact on them.

As students will likely be busy studying for their Christmas exams, these first few book club events will focus on being light and fun, as students won’t want to take on extra reading challenges on top of their studies. However, later book club meetings will expand to include long-term reading challenges and themed book weeks.

Transition year Biology students visited UCC  on Tuesday for a DNA workshop which was presented by Dr. Sinead Kerins. 

This workshop is facilitated by the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in UCC and it provides our TY’s with a deeper insight into the science behind DNA, Genetics and Data Analysis. 

The initial lecture provided our students with the theoretical knowledge relating to the experiments which the students were completing during the workshop; Detecting Sickle Cell Anaemia, Isolating DNA from Green Peas, and Isolating DNA from Cheek cells. 

Students used and further developed their critical thinking skills during the experiments to analyse the data they collected. 

A big thank you to the Science Department in the school for facilitating this workshop.

A Month in the Library

October found the library well-stocked with a selection of spooky Halloween reads, with everything from Goosebumps to the short stories of Henry James gracing the shelves.

Halloween Creative Writing Competition

Students were encouraged to take a step beyond simply reading scary stories this October, as our Halloween Creative Writing competition tasked students of all ages with creating their very own spooky tale. The work submitted ranged from tales of vengeful ghosts to poems about trick or treating techniques, and it was a great display of creativity and imagination from all involved.

Overall Winner – Ronan Murphy, Terminal

Ronan Murphy took home the gold for this eerie tale of a prophetic AI and the end of humanity, and by ‘gold’ we of course mean a 20 euro Vibes & Scribes book voucher.

Second Place – Liam Fitzgerald, Beetles and Worms

This gruesome short story was gut-churning enough to earn Liam Fitzgerald a hardback copy of Junji Ito’s Shiver.

Third Place – Daniel Barry,A Scary Story

Simple but effective, this story packed so much suspense into a single page that it won Daniel Barry a book of illustrated Norse myths.

Highly Commended – Ronan McCarthy,Halloween Story

In an extremely competitive shortlist, Ronan McCarthy’s inventive, frantically-paced story of supernatural revenge only just lost out on a third place prize, but he still won a copy of Stephen King’s Dark Tower.

Best Poem – Michael Scott, Real Life is a Horror

A compelling and thoughtful take on the idea of a Halloween poem, Michael Scott’s poem stood out and earned him a copy of If All the World and Love Were Young by Stephen Sexton.

Halloween Fact Files

October saw the Junior and Senior Library Teams host daily fact files about famous horror authors, exploring the life and works of authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King and Shirley Jackson.

Book of the Month

The Halloween displays resulted in plenty of students checking out Halloween favourites, with younger students in particular opting for books from Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak series and Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. However, the classics won out this October, as several students decided to check out Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein. Although everyone knows the name Frankenstein, many of the students who chose the book were trying it for the first time, and were interested in reading about the origins of this famous horror icon.

Word of the Month

SIALOQUENT – tending to spray saliva when speaking.

Coming Up in the Library

Out with the Halloween decorations, in with the Christmas spirit! As well as a change of scenery, November will see the library play host to workshops for this year’s edition of The Unfinished Book of Poetry, a collection of poems from emerging young writers.

Ms Sophie McKenzie P.B.C. Librarian

We were absolutely thrilled today to welcome Mr Sean Coughlan of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation for this year's Science Lecture. Mr Coughlan delivered a very informative talk to Agricultural Science, Computer Science and Biology Students on the complex role of the ICBF in delivering quality information to farmers. The integration of Agricultural Scientists, Computer Scientists and Geneticists is crucial to the successful operation of a world leading breeding program and such collaborations are key to a sustainable future for Irish agriculture.

Our Transition Year students completed a Workshop in Forensic Science which consisted of students using analytical and critical thinking skills.

Students conducted experimental investigations with ballistics, gunshot residue (GSR), photographic analysis, fingerprints, autopsy and how the main theories link with history.

A fantastic opportunity for our TY students who thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Perhaps this will inspire some of our students to pursue a career in Forensic Science!

Friday marked the beginning of the 2022/23 Athletics Calendar as 14 athletes ventured out to Riverstick to participate in the Cork Schools Cross Country Challenge. All athletes ran extremely well, with special mention to our top 10 finishers: Conor Looney, Callum Harrington (1st Years) and Bobby Kelleher (4th Year). The boys also excelled on the Teams front, with our 1st Year Teams finishing in 3rd and 8th, and the 2nd/3rd Year Team finishing 4th.

Well done to all involved, and a special thank you to Ms O'Reilly for all her help on the day!