ColáisteChill Mhantáin
OPEN NIGHT 2017
The school Open Night is on Thursday, October 26, at 6 p.m. This is an opportunity for parents and students to visit our school and get an indication as to what school life is like. Our students, who are wonderful ambassadors for our school, will be there to describe the teaching and learning environment in CCM.
MATHS OLYMPIAD
Well done to Mark Britchfield, who has been shortlisted to represent Ireland in the upcoming Maths Olympiad. Mark received his call to the national trial as a result of his combined top scores in maths and Science in the Junior Certificate.
MATHS WEEK
The Maths Department provided a number of activities to promote Numeracy during last week’s Maths Week. The students took part in the Online Mangahigh Maths Challenge, the great Rubik Cube challenge and attempted to solve daily riddles and puzzles found throughout the school.
Other events included the Maths Photo Booth #iusemaths in the Canteen, a Poster Competition, as well as Numeracy and Literacy are Sweet Together. and Beat the Clock lunchtime challenges. On Wednesday students were encouraged to Drop everything and Suduko and on Thursday and Friday the How Steady is your Hand?, Engineering and Are you a Team Player? challenges proved very popular.
As always, thank you to the Maths Department for a highly successful and fun week which was greatly enjoyed by both staff and students.
‘ALL SHOOK UP’
Musical auditions have been rescheduled and will now take place on Monday, November 6.
GR8 2 B YNG
The Transition Year students took part in a 5km walk along the Murrough as part of the ‘Gr8 2 B Yng’ initiative. All schools in the locality were invited to attend. This is an initiative aimed to promote positive mental health for the students. The students enjoyed the walk which occurred in a brief interlude of the bad weather. They also enjoyed the refreshments which were provided for them at the end of the walk. The students are to be commended for their behaviour. The workshop which was to take place on Tuesday will be rescheduled.
CCM FUN RUN
Due to last week’s weather event, the Fun Run has been postponed till November 8 after midterm. This event is to raise money in conjunction with the parents’ association and all money raised will be used to fund initiatives within the school.
DEAR INITIATIVE
During the week of October 23 to October 27, all first and second Year students will participate in the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) initiative. This involves the students being given 20 minutes each day, during class time, to read a book that they have borrowed from the library. This initiative, organised by the Literacy Committee, is to create a rich reading environment for the students.
‘In support of this, first Year students, Mentors and Prefects are invited to dress up as a character from their favourite piece of fiction, non-fiction or magazine on Friday, October 27. Students, who do not dress up must wear their uniform to school. Prizes will be given for the best costumes on the day.
NO-PHONE CHALLENGE
Well done to all of the students who took part in the 24 Hour No Phone Challenge in aid of Enable Ireland last Thursday. The following blog by first Year student, Bob Hastie, highlights the student’s perspective of the challenge and featured on iRadio last Friday.
‘My name is Bob Hastie and on the October 19, I partook in the ‘24-hour no phone challenge’ for Enable Ireland in Coláiste Chill Mhantáin. The start of this challenge was quite a breeze as I was in school when it had begun but I was stressing at the thought of not having my device once I had gotten home. The first hour after I got home I became bored very easily as it was raining which meant I couldn’t go outside so this made the challenge extremely difficult. I kept myself busy by spending more time on school work and by watching TV.
‘I also found that I spoke to my family more than I normally would as I was socialising with them more. However, I did pay €5 in mercy minutes throughout the challenge as my phone kept tempting me but I did not want to cheat on the challenge. As the 24-hour no phone challenge came to an end, I realised how much I relied on my phone and how much I would normally use it throughout the day. I am sure that if I used my phone less often, it would be very beneficial to me. Phones are not everything.’.
DUTCH VISITORS
A group of Dutch students attended our school last Thursday and Friday. They accompanied their host students in fifth Year to experience school life in Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed their time here.
HOSPICE PRESENTATION
On Thursday, October 9, Sinéad Tarmey, the Administrator with Wicklow Hospice visited our TY group to receive a cheque for €750 which was raised by our recent coffee morning. Sinéad also spoke to the TY group about the purpose of the hospice and how important fundraising is and will continue to be when the hospice is up and running. In addition, Sinéad spoke about the constant need for young volunteers and encouraged the group to get involved with helping with a variety of different fundraising activities.
We look forward to doing what we can to further help this worthwhile cause in the future.
UNDER-15 SOCCER
Wexford CBS were the visiting team to play CCM in a rain-soaked Rathnew venue last Thursday. The prize on offer was to win the first round of the Leinster Minor Cup. The game began at a frantic pace but, with some good chances from each team, the scoreline remained 0-0 at halftime.
Now it was CCM’s turn to have the strong breeze and with Chris Doyle’s super kick outs, Wexford CBS were beginning to feel the pressure. We were now finding chances at goal, but somehow their defence held out and full-time ended 0-0. With a result required on the day, the game now entered extra time. In the first half, Wexford scored an overhead volley which no one could argue as a goal to win any game.
The second half of extra time was dominated by CCM and, with time running out, Eoin Doyle took charge with a blistering run before unleashing a thunderbolt. The Wexford CBS goalie pushed the ball clear but nothing was going to stop Sam Brown from striking from close range. 1-1. When the whistle blew, the game was now to be decided on penalties. With Wexford CBS missing their third penalty, CCM scored all five penalties through Ross Quinn, Eoin Doyle, Shane Marah, Ben Free and Toby Lee Curran. Final result CCM five – four on penalties.
Of course, it has to be mentioned that the continuous assistance shown by Owen Gregory (fifth Year), Seán Leonard (fifth Year) and Mark Whelan (third Year) was instrumental on the day. Well done to the team who now looks forward to the league and the next round of the Cup.
GIRLS’ FOOTBALL
On Tuesday last the Junior Girls headed to Ballinakill for a Gaelic Blitz. First they faced a strong Coláiste Bhríde team who were just too much on the day. After a quick break, the girls began to find their form and put up a good fight against Avondale with Emer Kennedy making a number of crucial saves throughout. Avondale unfortunately just came out on top.
On to Scoil Chonglais where, after a couple of missed opportunities, Mia Cowdrey finally found the back of the net for CCM but, again, it wasn’t our day. Orla Kenny commanded the midfield during the blitz with Ava Byrne, Claire Sammon and Áine Hill intercepting and blocking crucial attacks in the defensive line all day. Well done to all involved on the day, the girls now look forward to upcoming matches.
The Junior Girls’ GAA team had their first match of the year on Thursday, October 12, against St David’s Greystones in Rathnew GAA pitch. The girls started well and attacked well in the first half. Millie Tierney scored a goal early in the match and Laura Newsome followed it by a point. However, St David’s came back strong and scored three goals in a row. Emer Kelly came out of goals to help block up the full back line and stopped several goal chances after that. Amy O’Doherty, Holly O’Toole, Toni Quinn and Helena Pestrjakova all worked well in defence but CCM were behind at half time.
The CCM girls came out strong in the second half and kept the ball in the forwards. Eve Cowdrey, Orla Kenny and Eabha Mooney worked the ball well in the forwards to narrow the score between the two teams. However, it wasn’t enough. St David’s won the game 8-3 to 3-5. The junior team will now be in the B league which will take place after Christmas.