StKilian’s Community School
GERMAN EXCHANGE 2018
St Kilian’s CS offers a great opportunity to students who are learning German. They have the chance to experience German culture, try out German Food, and have fun taking part in activities and trips while improving their German language skills.
St Kilian’s have been running a very successful School Exchange programme with a school in Weurzburg for over 34 years. This year a group of 22 students from Matthias Grunewald Gymnasium, Wuerzburg travelled to Bray and were hosted by students from St Kilian’s CS for 10 days. They all had a fantastic time here in Bray, participating in many organised cultural and fun trips, and they also had the opportunity to attend school with their exchange partners.
The German students and their Irish partners were welcomed to Bray at a Civic Reception which was hosted in the Town Hall by David Forde and Eugene Finnegan. This was followed by an array of activities during the week, which included a trips to Glendalough and Dublin, a walk up Bray Head, with the highlight of the week being the Trip to Causey Farm and Trim Castle in Co. Meath. The exchange came to an end with a Farewell Concert and Party for all the participating families and their exchange students which took place in the school the evening before departure.
Next Easter 2019, a group of students from St Kilian’s will travel to Wuerzburg, Germany and will stay with their German partners for 10 days. They too will participate in many cultural trips and outings, as well as experiencing school in Germany.
A very big ‘thank you’ to Ms Garvey, who has been the organising mastermind behind this very successful and popular trip for years. It is truly a wonderful experience for our students, and many make friends for life in Germany. Well done to everyone who participated and supported the exchange this year, and we look forward to our trip to Germany next year.
TRIP TO KILLARY
The highlight of everyone’s fourth year was the two night stay in Killary Adventure centre in Co. Galway in mid-April. We were scheduled to go at the beginning of March, but Storm Emma put an end to that.
Thankfully, Mr Kelly was able to reschedule the Killary Trip to mid-April and the weather wasn’t too bad in the west of Ireland when we got there. We would have been devastated to have missed out on Killary, as everyone was looking forward to this trip ever since Mr Kelly mentioned it all the way back in September.
Groups were created for different activities. The groups were a mix of girls and boys and we all had to help and encourage each other during the activities.
There was a timetable assigned to each group to know what activities we were doing. Examples of our activities were: The Turf Challenge (seen on Ireland’s fittest families); Archery – Combat and Target Archery; Skyfall/Highropes – Solving physical and mental challenges using teamwork. This was called the Killary Challenge.
Everyone loved trying new things and also mixing with their group members, everyone became a lot closer to the other people in their group. The teamwork involved in all the activities helped us to grow together and definitely bonded us more as a year group.
The trip to Killary brought everyone in the year group closer together and also helped give us more confidence, as we were all trying new things and also talking to many people in the year that we hadn’t really spoken to before.
We all behaved very well on the tour.
Thank you Paris for your nice article I’m quite sure YOU behaved wonderfully. A very big ‘thank you’ to Mr Kelly, who has yet again provided fourth years with a fantastically interesting and exciting year.
MUSIC NEWS
As always, the Music Department, under the always innovative and hugely enthusiastic baton of Ms O’Sullivan has been ‘wowing’ us all year with a feast of events.
THE RUSANGANO FAMILY
On Thursday, April 12, the Rusangano Family came to do a Rap workshop in our school. The Rusangano Family are based in Limerick and they produce socially engaged music that mixes a global variety of cultures and traditions. Two members of the group, MuRli and GodKnows, delivered a very engaging, entertaining and energetic workshop to about 20 students.
Students learned about the Three Rs of Rap: Rhythm, Rhyme and Reason. They learnt the history of rap internationally and nationally. Students also received a live performance of three raps about social integration, Irish life, and some random musings. They got the opportunity to discover their own talent to feel the groove, and allow their own narrative to speak from their own souls in a very creative way.
It was a workshop which encouraged positive expression between the poet and musician within each of us. I am sure that we will hear more from the students in the future. We are very grateful to Ann Catherine Nolan and Music Generation for providing us with this wonderful opportunity.
JAZZ WORKSHOP
Music Generation ran jazz workshops for participating students from different schools over six Saturdays. Two of our students participated: Rachan Mandyam, from Fifth year, on keyboard and Weronika Roszczak, from Transition Year, on drums. Here is what Rachan said about the experience: ‘I joined a weekly jazz workshop in the Mermaid Arts Centre with Music Generation. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the workshop and looked forward to our own showcase in the Harbour Bar over the May Bank Holiday weekend as part of the Bray Jazz Festival. As for the performance itself, I loved it. The atmosphere in the Harbour Bar was electric, with dark walls and colourful lights, and even though I was nervous and the performance probably wasn’t as awesome as it seemed, it sure felt amazing.’ We hope to have more engaging, exciting and wonderful musical experiences and collaborations in the years ahead. Thank you again to Music Generation for facilitating this.
EMMANUEL
Some of the concerts for the annual Dublin diocesan liturgical event were deferred to May due to adverse weather conditions. We were one of 19 schools and over 600 students in total participating in the Helix on May 2. Each school had been working over months on a common repertoire of 21 songs from contemporary liturgical music composers including Irish composers, Ian Callanan, Ephrem Feeley, Liam Lawton, Bernard Sexton, Ciaran Coll and Brendan Dowd.
We began our day in the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Ballymun with rehearsals and inspirational talks from Simon Marriot and Liam Burke. Rehearsals followed in the Helix all afternoon and finished with a wonderful concert that night. Well done to the students who took part and all those from the Dublin Diocesan Liturgical Music Group, who make this logistical feat possible each year.
LUNCH-TIME TO SHINE
On Friday, May 11, we had a Lunch-Time to Shine Special in conjunction with the Darkness into Light event taking place the following morning. Brian Duggan, one of the teachers in our school, had organised that a group of approximately 46 students and teachers would take part in the walk on the Saturday. In the same spirit, we decided to theme the previous day with the same caption ‘Darkness Into Light’.
Students and teachers participating in the walk donned their characteristic yellow T-shirts. We had a prayer service on the Friday morning to remember those who had died by suicide or those whose lives are very difficult or dark. In the music department, we decided to have a concert with the same theme. Our students entertained a packed canteen to the music of 1800, Lost Boy, Scars To Your Beautiful, Bridge of Light, We Are Ignited sung by Zach Fisher, Pearse O’Keeffe, Paige Warner, Hannah Daygo, Thomas Horan, and one newly written composition by a third year student, Leo Shortt. Our concert began with a reading of the Pieta House manifesto. We wanted to get the message out there that no one is alone, that there is always someone there for you, and the need to keep an eye out for one another. It was an amazing event and students were just brilliant.
ART NEWS
It has been a particularly busy year in the Art Department of St Kilian’s with the first year of the New Leaving Cert. Art projects, and the introduction of the New Junior Cert. art to first years.
Sixth year art students really enjoyed the experience of working in their project books for the first time, and produced lovely work. The new LC Art is a long overdue and very welcome improvement on the old art exam, and makes the subject much more enjoyable and relevant for students.
Fifth year art students enjoyed their visit to the fascinating World Heritage sites of Newgrange and Knowth on a very windy and cold May 1. Despite the cold, the students were fascinated by the experience, and were (as always) excellent representatives of their school.
Extra Art History classes and practical art classes have been a feature of the school in the evenings all year, and students from all year groups have availed of the opportunities being offered.
Thanks to the art teachers Ms Hume, Ms Murray and also to Ms Ring, who was with us till Easter this year, for all their hard work, and very best wishes to all our LC and JC exam students who have worked so hard all year.
MATHS NEWS
On a Friday night in April, St Kilian’s competed in the annual Pi Quiz, a maths quiz for Higher Level students organised by the Irish Maths Teachers Association. Third year students Tia McMahon, Lochlyn Walsh, Saoirse O’Neill and Leo Shortt made our school proud, answering complex questions against the clock. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening competing with other schools in the Wicklow area.
On Friday, May 18, fourth year and fifth year students will go head to head in an end of year maths table quiz. Best of luck to them all and their teachers.
Second years were busy creating art through the study of shape with their teachers Miss Kelly and Miss Ryan. Using their geometry constructions and their knowledge of shape properties they created fabulous Optical Artwork and symmetrical patterns. Well done class T Other second year groups have been getting out in the sunshine, using their Trigonometry and homemade clinometers to calculate the heights of tall trees and buildings.
Thanks to Ms Kelly for this update on the application of things mathematical at St Kilian’s.
CHEMISTRY NEWS
Last week, the fifth year Chemistry class was visited by Cillian, Dorottoya and Niall, from Tritnity College Dublin, who led a spectroscopy workshop. Students used IR and UV-vis spectrometers and analysed the readings to identify unknown substances. It was a fantastic insight into how scientists use Chemistry in universities and in their careers. Thank you to the PhD students who facilitated the workshop and answered questions about studying third level Science.
Thank you to Ms Lawlor for organising.
GREEN SCHOOLS
This was another productive year for our Green Schools Committee, who were back up and running in September, continuing to raise awareness of environmental issues, in particular energy consumption. A Green Schools Noticeboard was created and information was, and is continually added to it by the committee, highlighting green issues and fostering awareness among the student body and staff. Students and Teachers are regularly reminded to read the regularly updated information.
In October, the ‘Bin It’ roadshow came to the school to present to the first and second years. This highly entertaining show tries to make students thinks about the effects of littering and the damage that it causes to an area.
The fourth year student went to the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun for a workshop. The Rediscovery Centre is the National centre for the circular economy. It is a creative space for connecting people, ideas and resources.
The committee, with the help of the fourth year Environmental Studies class, carried out a number of surveys in the school to make sure bins were been used correctly, and to see if teachers were turning off lights and computers at the end of the school day. All results were displayed on the Green Schools noticeboard. During the same period all computers in the school were labelled with ‘Switch Off’ reminders to assist ‘forgetful’ teachers.
After the Christmas break, a large group of students went to the Green Schools Expo in the RDS This exhibition focused on Climate Action and what we can do in our schools, home and communities to combat climate change.
Throughout the year the committee and Mr Donohoe continued composting the food waste from the staff room and from the breakfast club and evening studies tea room where they all like their tea.
The Environmental Studies students carried out an enormous amount of gardening during the year in the school court yard and in the community garden at the entrance of the school.
In April, the Transition Year students and 6LCA took part in the National Spring Clean. This is an annual event that the school participates in around the Ballywaltrim area, and they removed a huge amount of litter. They can be very proud of their efforts. A workshop from Global Action Plan in relation to tackling water use, waste and conservation was given to all Transition Year students. The idea behind this workshop was to equip students with the knowledge and skills to respond to the growing global need to reduce water consumption.
As part of their CSPE Action project, a number of classes in the school raised awareness about many environmental issues, in particular, ‘Endangered Animals’ (causes, affects and plans to combat the problem) and ‘Climate Change’ (The effects in Developing Countries). Students have really benefited from doing these projects.
What can we say. Mr Donohoe is an absolute power house, ‘greening’ all of us into shape with his wonderful committee ever watchful, and ever innovative. In addition to all the above activities, he also finds time to teach his classes. Well done Mr Donohoe and his committees, we promise to be a lot ‘greener’ next year.