Senior Art Prizes 2024

Congratulations to all the pupils who participated in the Senior Art Prize for 2024. The level of dedication and craftsmanship displayed in each submission is a testament to the commitment of the pupils. Throughout the academic year, amidst the mountains of responsibilities and extracurricular activities, the pupils worked away on their submissions in the art room.

We are very thankful to multidisciplinary Irish artist Serena Kitt, who was invited to judge the entries, which were based on the themes ‘Territory’ and ‘Encounter’.

The Earl of Meath Art Prize, Senior, was won by Ivan Zhu, Form V (his piece above). Serena commented that the work was extremely skilled and innovative for showing the other side of the war through the lens of the camera and for all of the hidden messages around the composition.

The Craft Prize, Senior, was awarded to Felicitas Ratibor. Serena added that her work (above) was thought provoking and visually arresting as it leaves you wanting to see more.

The Photography Prize, Senior, was awarded to Ella Taylor, Form VI. Serena thought this work (below)by Ella was beautiful and a really interesting and innovative take on the theme of territory.

Commendations for the Art Prize were awarded to Ella Taylor, Form VI, for her conceptual, sentimental painting. And to Sofia Gill-Torrejon, Form V, for her painting of the rabbit and fox and for its meaning about two animals in the animal kingdom each vying for territory. A distinction for the Art Prize was awarded to Georgia Goodbody, Form VI, for the scale and sheer skill in her work. Serena added that it was a joyous piece to look at. A distinction was also awarded to Calvin She, Form VI, for his sensitive, gentle rendering of a young girl.

Commendations for the Craft Prize were awarded to Constance Chambré, Form V, for her provoking ideas that she communicated through clay modelling, and to Arthur Jellett, Form VI, for the ship that Serena commented was “beautifully made” and reflected a lot of detailed work and skill and very interesting accompanying drawings. Distinctions in this category were awarded to Maximilia Holstein, Form VI, for her lively batik.

A Commendation for the Photography Prize was awarded to Jacob Owen, Form V. Serena was so impressed with the compositions and the dedication and effort he went to to shoot his photographs.

Generally, Serena expressed how impressed she was with the standard and variety of the submissions, which also included; pottery pieces by Aeladh Bradley-Brady, Amaya Street, Elisa Bulla, Ella Taylor, lino prints by Hedley Butler and batik by Joy Orogun. Photographs by Calvin She and Jason Zhang and drawings and paintings by Clodagh Walsh, Liberty Jacquier-Kende, Finn Tabb, Elisa Bulla.

We commend all the pupils for their outstanding achievements. Please enjoy viewing the work in the gallery below.

Art Prizes 2024
Art Prizes 2024
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Seachtain na Gaeilge

Fáilte!

As Seachtain na Gaeilge draws to a close, we want to highlight some of the events and competitions which took place throughout the fortnight of the festival. Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Week) is celebrated every year from the first day of March, all the way up to St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th of March. The festival aims to celebrate and promote the Irish language. The pupils’ enthusiasm throughout Seachtain na Gaeilge was outstanding and we want to extend our gratitude to all who participated and made it possible! 

We began our Comórtas Bileog G, or Bileog G Competition on the first day of the festival. The G stands for Gaeilge (Irish) and a bileog is a sheet or slip. Pupils can earn a ‘Bileog G’, if they are heard making an effort to speak Irish around the school. Every student can take part, and it is safe to say we heard more ‘Dia dhuit(s)’ around the school than ‘Hello(s)’ during the course of SnaG! Congratulations to Henrike Tertilt (Form V) who won 1st place in the competition, followed by Euan Flanagan (Form V) who won 2nd place, and Hughie Casey (Form VI) who won 3rd place. 

We had a Seachtain na Gaeilge chapel service on Friday the 8th of March. Thank you to Ms. Maybury who read the reading ‘as Gaeilge’. We also sang ‘Here I am Lord’ in Irish, and a big thank you to Ms. Lynch for the beautiful translation of the song and to the pupils for their excellent singing. 

The crux of the festival fell on the 9th of March, when we had our School Céilí! Each form had the chance to learn two famous Irish Céilí dances – Ballaí Luimnigh (The Walls of Limerick) and Ionsaí na hInse (The Siege of Ennis). Well done to all pupils for their boundless enthusiasm which made the evening unforgettable. Maith sibh! 

The Seachtain na Gaeilge Poster Competition ran throughout the fortnight also. Pupils based their posters on Irish ‘seanfhocail’ (proverbs). Congratulations to Hannah Fitzgerald (Form III) for winning 1st place, and to runners-up Harry Bowles (Form III), Chenjie Long (Form III), Bay Bunbury (Form III), and Alice Castagna (Form III). 

All in all, it was a fantastic fortnight which was all made possible by the pupils enthusiasm, curiosity and participation. Remember – Beatha teanga í a labhairt (The life of a language is to speak it.)

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Success in Maths & Computing Olympiads

Congratations to Form IV pupil Herbert Feng who achieved fourth place in the All Ireland Programming Olympiad (AIPO) in UCC and, in doing so, has qualified for the national team. He will now go on to represent Ireland at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2024 in Egypt next September.

Herbert also recently competed in the 37th Irish Mathematical Olympiad (IrMO) at the end of January, finishing in tenth place, once again earning him a spot in the national training squad. This squad will be whittled down to a team of six, who will represent Ireland at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2024 in Bath, UK, in July.

In other mathematics success, Form I pupil Laurence Sun took part in the Irish Maths Teachers’ Association 1st Year Maths Quiz, which has been taking place since 1994. The quiz, which was sat by over 14,000 students around Ireland, consists of 15 multiple choice brain problem solving questions, to be answered within a 40 minute period. Laurence was one of only 63 who achieved above 84% and was awarded a trophy. He scored a hugely impressive 93%.

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Music Prizes 2024

On Sunday last, the pupils, staff and visiting parents were treated to a hugely enjoyable and varied Music Prize Concert. The best musicians and singers in the College performed, all hoping to win one of the coveted Music Prizes. We were hugely thankful to Mr Jonathan Browner (BMusEd), Principal of Educate Together Secondary School in Goatstown, for acting as the adjudicator for the evening. The winners of the Music Prizes 2024 were announced on the night; congratulations to everyone who performed but, in particular, to the following winners:

Junior Music Prizes: Matilde Matera (Form II) and Laurence Sun (Form I)

Senior Music Prizes: Sarah Bruder (Form V), Harry Powell (Form V), Rachel Shaw (Form VI) and Coco Xu (Form VI)

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Florence Trip Report

Aeladh Bradley Brady, Form V, reports on the Art History trip to Florence at the end of January.

The senior art and culture trip this year say us travel to beautiful Florence, Italy to immerse ourselves in the culture and to see the art we have been studying in class. We took an early flight on Friday morning the 26th of January and arrived at our Bonifacio hotel later that day. We unpacked, settled into our rooms and then went to the San Marco Restaurant for a three course evening meal. (The tomato pasta dish was absolutely delicious.) After we sat, ate and caught up with each other we were brought to see the Duomo for the first time. The Duomo was absolutely beautiful, the sheer size and detail that went into the building of the cathedral was breathtaking. The detailing on the doors in particular caught my eye. I was amazed at how someone could create such a technically detailed piece of art.

On our second day we got up at around 7:30 am for breakfast. We were greeted by a spread of delicious pastries, cold meats, bread, cereal and fruits. After our breakfast we got ready for the day and collected our sketchbooks to go on our way to the Galleria Dell’Accademia. The gallery was full of people from all around the world who had come to see pieces like the sculpture of David and the numerous collections of paintings and sculptures. I was taken aback by the realistic aspects of the sculpture of David by Michelangelo. The musculature and veins were particularly impressive. My favourite part of the tour was the sculpture room. Numerous sculptures of men, women, young boys and girls were littered throughout the expanse of the room. It was very interesting to see the process of how they would have been made on a video also. I really enjoyed my time in the Galleria Dell’Accademia.

After this we went to visit the Piazzale Degli Uffizi. We saw paintings by Giotto, Cimabue, Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raffaello, Michelangelo, Titian and Caravaggio. We saw paintings we had studied by Giotto and Cimabue, both their renditions of Madonna enthroned. The sheer size of the paintings were incredible. We went around the town to find somewhere to eat.

Myself and some of the other fifth years went to get pizza. It was so delicious. Possibly the best pizza I have ever had. After lunch we went to the museum of the Medici Chapel. The Medici’s were a patron family who sponsored the artists and commissioned some paintings. In some cases they even paid to be in some of the paintings. Many students were drawing in their sketchbooks during our visit here as they were rightly very impressed by the architectural style and beauty of the chapel. That evening we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. There was a large selection of meals on offer from burgers to Caesar salad. All were thoroughly enjoyed. We were allocated free time. We went around and admired the architecture and tried some deserts such as tiramisu and macarons. Later on in the evening when we all met back at the carousel a man was playing the accordion. Soon a dance had begun in the square started by two fifth form pupils and many other pupils on the trip and locals joined the conga line.

Day three we went to the Pitti Palace (Galleria Palatina) and the Boboli Gardens. It was a lovely warm, sunny day so walking around the gardens was very relaxing. We soon after walked over the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence’s six bridges. It is one of the city’s most famous images. The shops housed under the porticos first belonged to the Commune. Towards the 15th century, they were sold to private owners and they began to develop them further structurally.

That night for our final dinner out we went to the Vecchia Firenze Restaurant for our final three course evening meal. We had a lovely pesto pasta, chicken and also an ice cream dessert. We then headed back to the hotel for an early night as we were going on an early flight back to Dublin.

I would like to thank Ms Murphy for organising the trip and I’d like to thank Ms. Cullen and Mr Finn for the amazing trip also. We all had an excellent and unforgettable time and made many new special memories in Florence.

Florence Trip, Jan 24
Florence Trip, Jan 24
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Wesley Interschools Music Festival

In the first weekend in March, the Wesley Interschools Music Festival took place at nearby Wesley College. Hundreds of secondary school pupils from all over the country gathered to take part in over fifty competitions, including twenty two pupils from St. Columba’s College, competing in both singing and instrumental competitions. We were delighted when Laurence Sun took first place in U14 piano, Lauren Ng was placed second in O17 piano while there was a number of third place finishes. Below are the notable results from the competing pupils from St. Columba’s. Congratulations to every pupil who took part; we’re exceptionally proud of all our wonderful young musicians.
Laurence Sun, 1st Place Piano U14
Eric Wang, 3rd Place Piano U14
Sarah Bruder, 3rd Place Popular Singing U17
Lilei Spies von Buellesheim, 4th Place & Highly Commended U17 Singing Classical
Sarah Bruder, 3rd Place Singing Classical U17
Cerys Mordaunt, 3rd Place Singing Popular U17
Lauren Ng, 2nd Place Piano O17
Alison Wang, 3rd Place Piano O17.
Saul Fitzgerald Hollywood, Highly Commended & 4th place O17 Piano.
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London Foundation Event, May 2024

Old Columbans, parent and friends of the College, who live in (or regularly visit) the UK, are cordially invited to attend reception in the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London on Thursday 9th May, 2024 between 6:30 – 8:30pm. 

At the event, I will bring you up to date with news of the College and its plans through the Foundation. We will also hear from a number of OCs about their careers and what they are doing now. 

This event will provide a great opportunity for our community to get together and is very kindly being hosted by a current parent and OC who is a member of the Athenaeum (a private members’ club which is not open to the public). Joining me at the event will be Sarah Love (Chairperson of the Fellows), former members of staff and current staff members. 

The event is now full. For queries, email Sonia Young using the details below.

The club dress code: as a private club, the Athenaeum has a strict dress code which it describes as jacket and tie for men and for women to dress with equivalent formality. Please see the club’s website for more details.

Whilst the Foundation is, of course, willing to meet the cost of refreshments we would very much welcome a voluntary contribution of £25 per person per ticket, if you are able to do so, so that we can concentrate our funds on the College itself. For more details, please email Sonia Young directly at: foundation@stcolumbas.ie. 

I very much hope that you will be able to join us for what will be a most enjoyable evening in London. 

With very best wishes, 

Mark Boobbyer Warden 

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The Hope Foundation Kolkata Adventure

Over the February half term two TY pupils, Safia Walker and Delia Brady, visited Kolkata in India with the Hope Foundation. This is their report.

On the February 8th, we began our journey to Kolkata, a city in northeast India (formally Calcutta). We arrived exhausted on the following day and, after sleeping for a few hours, we visited our first project sponsored by the Hope Foundation. The project was an orphanage for disabled children aged 0-6. While we were there they sang us a few songs and we coloured in pictures with them. That evening we went to a temple and we walked around for fifteen minutes. The next day, we visited the tomb of Mother Teresa and saw artifacts from her life and we played a football match against a boys’ team from one of the Hope Foundation’s homes. Afterwards, we had lunch at the Hope Foundation’s skills cafe where they teach underprivileged individuals skills such as tailoring, cooking, computer coding and programming.  That evening we went to a local market to look around but also to buy traditional clothes for the last night. Dinner in the hotel consisted of naan bread, dahl, vegetables, noodles, rice and chicken in various spicy sauces. Each night there was an evening activity that took place in the hotel after dinner, so that night we got our henna done.

The third day was one of our favourite days. In the morning, we started off with a city tour. We visited a church, saw the Victoria memorial, which is a beautiful building near the centre of the city, dedicated to Queen Victoria. We also visited the gardens and walked along the river Hooghly. Like the day before, we played another football match, but this time with a girls’ team from a different Hope home. They had practised all week and it really showed as they beat every team they played. Our activity that night was a presentation where we watched children perform traditional dancing and we had dinner with them. On the fourth day we got up early to visit a private school outside the city and that’s where you really noticed the road difference between India and Ireland. There were cows on the side of the motorway, motorcyclists driving the wrong way down the side of the road and people just running across. At the school we were welcomed warmly and we did different activities such as yoga, traditional dancing and art. Afterwards, we went to the first of many after school clubs based in a slum. You’ll never forget the look on these kids’ faces when they see you. You’re immediately ushered over to them to talk and play. They sang and showed us dances and we exchanged stickers and toys we brought. That night we did traditional dancing, which from experience is very hard, but beautiful and certainly an experience.

The next three days we visited more schools and crèches, but they were a lot harder to visit as they were in the centre of impoverished communities. Most of the children didn’t speak English, especially the younger ones, but it didn’t matter as we handed out stickers and played with them. On the last night we had our traditional clothes and dancing competition; the girls wore Saris while the boys wore a traditional long shirt.

Unfortunately, it was the last day and we visited our final crèche and visited a girls’ home. These girls were aged 6-17 and were some of the kindest people you would ever meet. They were amazing dancers and presented us with bracelets and home-made cards. When it was time to leave, nearly everyone was in tears. Six hours later we were back in the airport ready to start the journey home and twelve hours later we were back in Dublin. It was amazing to see these kids, who despite having very little in life, were so joyous, and we even met some girls who played cricket for India under 18’s. Overall it was an amazing experience and worth every bit of effort you have to put in to go.

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South Africa Trip, February 2024

Form IV pupil, Philomena Schneider, reports on the recent College trip to South Africa.

During half term, the Warden and Mrs Boobbyer took a group of 12 senior pupils to South Africa on a school trip. I was one of them and in the following report I’m going to describe the activities in which we participated, as well as our experience in a country unknown to all of us.

The Friday before half term, the 9th of February, we went set off; first stop, the airport. We had two flights; the first one, 7 hours long, to Doha airport which was mind-blowing to all of us in its greatness and creativity. The next flight to Johannesburg took us about 8 hours, which we didn’t notice much, because we were sleeping most of the time. As we arrived in Johannesburg airport, we quickly found our luggage and went off to take the bus to Tiger Kloof, the boarding school where we would be staying. The Warden was the former principal of that school, so he knew almost everyone already. It was a very warm welcome, equally by the people and by the weather. Because we had a lot of traveling behind us, we just unpacked and got to know four very nice prefects who were greeting us in the evening.

On Sunday we started off with our programme, which this day included a walk around the school grounds after breakfast. This ended up being a 7 km walk, as the school is around 10 times bigger than St. Columba’s. On this walk we discovered the quarry and some ruins of old buildings. Chapel in the late afternoon was a very different experience than what we are used to. People were dancing and singing out freely, which, from my point of view, was great fun and not at all comparable to our chapel services. During this service, we first came across the amazing marimba band. This day was very exciting for everyone, so we talked about our experiences while playing cards after dinner, before we went to bed at around 11.00 pm.

Monday, the actual work started. Again, after breakfast, we made our way to the nearby primary school where we were supposed to help with classes and play with the kids. There was a little awkwardness on our side, but the kids soon were all in and had us playing with them until we couldn’t do anything any more. But that was not the end of the day yet! We had lunch after the primary school project and at 4:00 we went on to have two workshops. The first one was about how to do gumboot dancing and the second one about how to play the marimbas. Nobody from our group knew anything about either of these activities, so we watched and learned. It was very interesting to see how they would dance and it was very funny seeing them trying to tell us to loosen up a little.  It took us a few tries, but in the end we mastered at least the basics. Later that night we went out to dinner, where we got to witness a thunderstorm, which was really impressive. The rest of the night we played cards again until we went to sleep.

Something different was planned for us on Tuesday. We went to help Mamma Maria cook and serve food in a soup kitchen which she supervises. Because we were done with the food quickly, we went next door to play with the kids in day-care who were about 2 or 3 years old. Then it was time to serve the  aforementioned food to the people who came. The soup kitchen was located in Vryburg’s township, Huhudi, so most of them were starving and very happy about the meal they got. At around 2:oopm, we went to get our own lunch, of course, after helping Mamma Maria to wash the pots and plates. In the afternoon, we went to church again, where this time, a cultural evening was held by the Tigers. The marimba band as well as the gumboot dancers were performing. From our side Cerys was the only one brave enough to go forward and play something. It was rather spontaneous, so everyone who wanted to contribute anything could do so. For dinner we were supposed to cook our own meal, which was a chicken stew. Split into 4 different groups, we cooked it over an open fire and in the end, a “Jury” got to test it and determine a winner. This evening we went to bed early.

We got to hear the early bird song on Wednesday, at 5:30am. The sunrise walk was, in my opinion, very early, but totally worth it. It was really spectacular seeing the sun rise above the quarry, from where we were watching. Because it was so early, most of us went back to sleep right after it, to have a little rest before breakfast. This day, we were again doing the primary school project and got to see the kids again. Sadly, just short this time, because at 11.00 we drove off to another school to hand out sanitary pads as a part of the HER project at a school with major social issues. Right after it we went to have lunch and to go to a farm which had a huge wedding venue. There, we could do things like horseback riding or Kalahari surfing, but we mostly just played football. For dinner we had a barbecue, or braii, and went back to Tiger Kloof after that.

On Thursday we went to a disabled home, not far from the soup kitchen. It was very humbling to see the conditions under which the staff had to work and the people being taken care of. They were mostly children, but there were also 2 or 3 adults. We helped with feeding them and after a short break, where we went to see a lion farm, we got to play games with them outside and give them their lunch inside. We picked up our own lunch and later that day we went swimming in the quarry, where we played a few games like Marco Polo. For dinner we went to Orexi’s,a steakhouse in Vryburg, and after eating we went back to pack our bags for the next day.

Friday morning after breakfast we got a bus to take us to Pilanesberg. We said goodbye to everyone and off we went. The bus travel was about 5 hours with two short breaks. When we arrived at the game park, welcomes by monkeys, we had to hurry to bring our bags inside and go out almost immediately after, because we had a safari booked for 15 minutes after we arrived. On the first game drive we saw a lot of elephants, wildebeest, and even a warthog and three cheetahs, among many other things. This drive lasted for 3 hours, so when we came back, we jumped in the pool and went straight to dinner. We also went to bed quite early as we had to get up at 6 am the next morning.

As I mentioned, the second game drive was at 6:00 am. This time, the most seen animals were rhinos, which was very exciting. After this safari, we had breakfast and packed our last things. At about 10:00am, we took the bus to Johannesburg and first visited an African market, where everyone got souvenirs and later visited the Apartheid Museum. This taught us a lot about the apartheid system, which was very interesting to me and I wish we have had more time to spend in it. Finally, for the end of our journey, we drove to the airport, where we went on the 8 hour flight to Doha followed by the 7 hour flight to Dublin.

I think this trip was a once in a lifetime experience and I would recommend it to anyone considering it for another year. I brought back lots of memories I won’t ever forget.

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Junior Play review

Last night the ‘Junior Sandwich‘ which was this year’s Junior Play production came to a conclusion with two performances in the Big Schoolroom. Particular thanks are due to Mr Swift for conceiving this unusual evening of three short (and very different) pieces flowing into each other. They were very effectively staged in the round on the floor of the BSR, with the audiences on all four sides.

The evening began with the two-hander Now Hear This by Michael Frayn (whose Matchbox Theatre productions ran in late 2021 in the same space under pandemic restrictions, from Seniors). Finn Vanmalder appeared as Person 2, lay down on a mattress, and started trying to solve a Rubic’s Cube, a visible manifestation of his ignoring of Person 1, who came in to complain about how little he listened to her. Unfortunately Harry Casey, the original cast member, was ill, so stepping into the role of Person 2 was another Second Former, Alice Hutchon, and great credit goes to her for an excellent performance with one hour’s notice (she read her lines), with thanks to director Mr Jameson.

The lights went down, and the voice of Marianna O’Shaughnessy came over the PA to describe the odd creatures called ‘Shapeshifters’ in Frayn’s Blackout Number, masked figures dressed in black who scurried around in dim red light, setting up the props and furniture for the main play. Those First Formers were Richard Cosby, Max Heidenfeld, Louie Morphew and Tony Fang, and their movement caused much amusement for the audience.

So finally we saw J.M. Synge’s 1903 one-act In The Shadow of the Glen, updated to a remote part of Wicklow in 1981. Rebecca Flanagan welcomed stranger tramp Alice McCarthy into her house while the body of her ‘dead’ husband Ferdia Murray lay on the pool table in the corner. Of course, he was not dead at all (Ferdia deserves a special award for his sheer stillness for so long). The fourth member of the cast was Jack Francis McKeown, a young man caught by the man of the house at the end for a stiff Jameson or two. Congratulations to all four actors on the compelling way they delivered Synge’s distinctive cadences.

Junior Plays 2024
Junior Plays 2024
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Junior Art Prizes 2024

Congratulations to the winners of the Junior Art Prizes 2024. Harry Bowles, Form III, is awarded the Earl of Meath Art Prize (Junior) for his piece ‘Gazing’ – an evocative painting of a squirrel. Angela Ge, Form II, is awarded the Junior Craft Prize, for her sculpture ‘Under the Sea’ . Finally, the Junior Photography Prize is awarded to Sophie Dobbs, Form III<, for her photo  ‘Rugged Connemara’. Congratulations to all pupils.

Art Prizes 2024
Art Prizes 2024
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Junior Play 2024 – Junior Sandwich

This year’s Junior Play is made up of three short pieces ‘sandwiched’ together, hence the production title: Junior Sandwich. Two acted pieces Now Hear This and The Shadow of the Glen provide the bread while the central piece (the mature cheddar and pickle) is Blackout Number, a narrated item involving creatures seldom seen on an Irish stage.

The Junior Play is open to pupils in Forms I, II and III and from the eleven Columbans involved all three forms are represented.J.M. Synge’s ‘Shadow’ is as playfully twisted as his more famous full length play, The Playboy of the Western World. Michael Frayn’s Matchbox Theatre collection is the provider for the other two mini-dramas: wordplay and humorous observations abound.
Junior Sandwich will be performed in Friday evening (February 24th) at 7:15pm in the BSR, with two further performances on Saturday evening (7:00pm and 8:15pm).
All are welcome!
Update: See some photos from the first performance below:
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The Warden’s Thoughts on …. Apartheid

I spent half term in South Africa at my old school, Tiger Kloof, with a group of 12 Columbans. In the past I have written about the extraordinary history of the school and its stand against the apartheid government, but that is not the subject of this blog.

I spent some time in the lead up to the trip telling the group about apartheid, but I am not sure what was going in. People of my generation and a little younger grew up hearing about it in the news regularly, but for the current generation it is a vague concept at best. They know nothing about townships, homelands, Sharpeville, Soweto riots, sporting boycotts etc., and although they will know the name of Nelson Mandela they probably know very little about him.

To understand South Africa now, you have to understand its history, or else it makes no sense. Why do the racial groups still live in separate parts of cities and towns? Why do some South African whites speak English and others Afrikaans? Why is there such a huge gulf between the rich and the poor? To go into the soup kitchen which I set up in 2015, surrounded by shacks and piles of uncollected rubbish, one cannot fail to ask questions and be disturbed. South African history is a little like Irish history…it is very complicated and confusing, but that does not mean that one should not try to understand it.

After most of a week at the school, we headed off to see another side of South Africa, visiting Pilanesberg, a beautiful game park. We didn’t see everything but we did see plenty and it made a great contrast with some of what we had experienced before. Then, on the way to the airport we stopped off in Johannesburg at the Apartheid Museum and I commented to my wife that this might be one thing too many; the group were tired, the weather was so hot, they were looking forward to going home. Let’s keep the visit to the Museum fairly short, I suggested, as they may not get a lot out of it.

I was wrong and felt slightly ashamed. It is a great Museum and it was apparent that the story of apartheid still has the power to shock a new generation. To the credit of the party they were gripped by the pictures, the personal stories, the brutality and the violence. They even clambered inside a Casspir, one of the armoured cars in which terrified young white boys used to patrol the townships. Be of no doubt that apartheid was dehumanising and only enforceable through violence. The sad state of South Africa now owes much to the legacy of those times…the deliberate separation of family units, migrant workers forced to work away from their families, the school boycotts, detention without trial. A regime that was enforced by violence and disenfranchisement has left its DNA in the new South Africa. Trauma does not heal overnight…it will take generations.

The genuine interest of our pupils demonstrated to me again how the story of apartheid in South Africa still has much to teach us. Next time I take a group there I want to go the Apartheid Museum on arrival and not on departure, because what you experience subsequently will make much more sense once you understand the history and the context.

South Africa can be depressing but when things are dark one can choose whether to despair or not. As the saying goes, ‘it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.’ I choose not to despair, as I know so many wonderful people there who make great sacrifices on behalf of others and do extraordinary things for their communities. It may have many villains but there are also many heroes and they give me hope for the future.

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Mental Health Awareness Week 2024

Mental Health Awareness Week is under way, with a jam-packed programme of events, workshops and themed lessons focusing on gratitude as a central theme. On Tuesday, we welcomed the award winning Shona Project who spoke with Forms I to V. There are further workshops with psychologist Tom Tate with Form VI, morning walks and evening yoga, mindful music in chapel and movie nights. There is also a gratitude wall and art display in Whispering House and, finally, on Friday everyone is encouraged to wear “odd socks’ to celebrate our individuality!

Also, check out our Spotify Playlist! We hope everyone enjoys this important week.

Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week
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Transition Year Update

It has been another busy half-term for the Transition Year pupils. Some braved the elements in the first week of January for an early-morning hike up Kilmashogue and the following week we had a TY Bake-along and made delicious chocolate cookies. We had a fascinating talk from Law Ed on the Irish legal system and Irish classes had a two-hour drama workshop which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. TY Geography classes visited Irish Aid and the EIPIC Museum in the city centre.

The highlight of the term so far was the TY Carousel Day. Pupils tried out at least three different activities throughout the day, including Barista Training, Segway Driving and Hurling or Croquet. We also had a very impressive talk and workshop from The Reptile Haven and we all had the chance to get up close and personal with tortoises, iguanas, lizards and snakes.

This week, TYs are out on their second week of work experience and some are heading off to Kolkata with The Hope Foundation and others on the South Africa Trip. We look forward to hearing about all of these experiences upon their return.

Transition Year 2023-2024
Transition Year 2023-2024
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Warden’s Thoughts on … “Inspiration, Joy and Love in Schools”

Sir Anthony Seldon, who has written biographies of the last 6 British Prime Ministers and is currently working on that of Liz Truss (a slim volume?), writes in the Spectator today that ‘our young people deserve inspiration, joy and love in their schools, which should be places that discover and celebrate what they can do, not what they cannot. At present, our lacklustre education system at large is failing our young people, employers and the country.’ Of course, he is writing about the UK and not Ireland, but I love the sentiment about what schools should be all about.

I actually think that Ireland gets it more right than the UK does in some aspects. In the UK pupils spend the last four years of their secondary schooling on a relentless exam treadmill, culminating usually in three A Levels, the narrowest finishing exam system of any country. Children at 16 choose just three subjects in which to specialise, when most young people have yet to realise where their gifts and interests lie. About 25 years ago AS Levels were introduced and pupils were able to opt for 4 or 5 subjects for a year, before going down to 3 or 4 A Levels for their final year. That was an improvement but it has been thrown out and almost all now just do the three subjects for their last two years.

One of the results of this is that creative subjects such as Music and Art in the UK are taking a hammering. If I want to do Medicine I need to do Biology Chemistry and probably Maths of Physics and there is no room for the luxury of the creative subject, which would provide balance and inspiration. Candidates for Oxbridge and Russell Group universities are told to avoid ‘soft’ subjects, which suggest a lack of academic seriousness. With four or five subjects there was some room for the extra creative option, but with only three…forget it!

There are three things that I think Ireland gets right and from which the UK can learn. Firstly, the exam treadmill only extends to the last two years of secondary school rather than four. Yes, the Junior Cycle exams are important but they do not carry the weight of expectation and pressure of GCSEs. And, of course, they do not lead straight into the Leaving Certificate because of the Transition Year, the second thing that Ireland does differently. It is a great concept to give our children a year without the pressure of public exams, as they puzzle out who they are. As someone who did all of his classroom teaching in the UK, I am a big fan of the TY. At its best, it allows young people, before choosing which direction they want to go academically, to experience a variety of new subjects; it allows teachers to go beyond the curriculum, or outside it altogether, and pursue areas of interest that do not need to fit into the narrow and unimaginative constraints of the dreaded syllabus. The year allows for work experience, service work, trips, speakers and (dare I say it) some fun! Is that allowed?

Thirdly, as I hinted at above, the Leaving Certificate, while it may be rather limited in the way it is examined, allows for a far broader range of subjects for 16 year olds to study, keeping options open for longer and not cutting off avenues for the future at a stage when, for most pupils, interests are still developing. The German Abitur is far broader for far longer; the International Baccalaureate is much broader and still very rigorous and growing in popularity in the UK for schools that can afford to make the change; students in the USA keep going with a broad range of subjects right through high school and into their first year at College, only specialising in the second year. It also allows undergraduates to do modules and get credits for courses that are not connected to their main degree. I can study Astrophysics and still indulge my interest in Ancient Greek.

I think the UK system of three A Levels goes right back to an age when most subjects were seen as inferior to the ‘serious ones’ and all were inferior to Latin and Greek (which is true of course…I am a classicist!). But no one, inventing an education system now, would suddenly say ‘I have a great idea. Let’s get our 15 and 16 year olds to choose just three subjects, even though they have no idea what they want to do with their lives…and let’s make it really hard for them to do the creative subjects, as that won’t improve their earning potential.’

I need to own up…Anthony Seldon was my Headmaster for 6 years and he was staying with us last weekend! He mentioned St. Columba’s in his Spectator article because he sent it to me in advance and we weren’t in it…so I told him to add us in! As he says, ‘our young people deserve inspiration, joy and love in their schools, which should be places that discover and celebrate what they can do, not what they cannot.’ Doing seven subjects for the Leaving Certificate allows the brightest pupils to study the subjects necessary for Medicine or Economics, while still allowing space for the humanities, and for Art or Music, which nourish the soul and make us fully human…

And doesn’t that give us a greater chance of making our schools places of human flourishing, of inspiration, joy and love?

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End of Term Sports Update

The Senior girls’ basketball team recently won the East Leinster Regional Final and have qualified for the All-Ireland competition, to be played in the New Year. They defeated a strong Luttrellstown Community School side in that final, with brilliant performances from captain Abbie Murray, Ayodeji Ediale, Molly Mann and Laia Perich-Godo. See a full match report here.

The Senior rugby team’s excellent run in the McMullen Cup sadly came to an end on Wednesday after a 12-15 loss to St. Mary’s Drogheda. It was a hugely competitive game with two great tries from Gavin O’Dowd and Aaron Murray, and SCC almost snatched it at the death. The Junior rugby team’s cup run ended early too with defeat against Salesian College Celbridge, despite a four-try scoring performance from David Cron. Our Form I boys played in a highly competitive game against Wilson’s Hospital recently.

In boys’ hockey, our Senior XI had some good wins over High School and Temple Carrig and a narrow loss to Kilkenny College, while the Junior XI had strong victories over Temple Carrig and Kilkenny College. The girls’ teams have also had a good run recently, with big wins over East Glendalough, Sutton Park and Our Lady’s Grove for the Senior XI team, who actually remain unbeaten in their League this season. With one game remaining, they have already qualified for the league quarter-final. The Minor A girls have also qualified for their league quarter-finals; both games will be played in the New Year.

In golf, we wish Form V pupil Danielle Daniy the best of luck as she competes the school at the ‘Golf Mad Junior Open’ in Turkey this week. Danielle is one of the members of our Golf Academy.

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Musarum Comes – Arts Awards 2023

Last year, the Warden introduced a new set of awards called Musarum Comes to recognise a pupil’s contribution to the arts in the College. Awards for this year were awarded at an assembly yesterday to the following pupils:

Art: Georgia Goodbody, Ella Taylor and Isabella Treacy

Music: Harry Powell, Lauren Ng and Coco Xu

Drama: Naoise Murray & Phoebe Landseer

Debating: Cheuk Yin Wong

Congratulations to all the pupils who received these awards; each of them have made a wonderful contribution to the artistic life of the school and, in many cases, multiple disciplines.

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