October 2011, No 28
Art Attacks! This year, my Fifth Year art class got to partake in a great project, as part of the Dublin Contemporary Roadwork’s Exhibition. Dublin Contemporary got in contact with Ms Mulrooney and Mr Sweeney in May and we were invited to go into the exhibition and have a look at what was going on. We met some top artists like Maser, John O’Reilly and Will St. Ledger. Will and John came to the school four times to work with us and gave us some great tips on how to expand our artwork and make our school a more interesting place. (You can see some of their input in the sleeping bag on the nurses’ office and the plant outside the B corridor!) We were taken on tours of the exhibition and the ‘roadworks’ by two women, Lynn and Barbara-Ann, who gave us a good idea of what went on behind the scenes and the ideas behind the pieces. There has been a lot of hard work going on in our class to brighten up the school and we are very grateful to Mr Lowry for allowing this project to go ahead, to Ms Mulrooney for her support throughout and to everyone involved. It’s a shame that our work will be knocked down for the new school, but at least it will go out with a bang! Madison Porter, 5LT
Photos: Anna Moran 5DM & Bobby Ryan
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The new school term is well under way and I welcome all the Newpark community to another school year especially the new staff, First Year students and all new students from Second to Sixth Year. First Year is full this year—as has been the case over recent years. This year, following changes made to the Admissions policy, only a tiny fraction of those applicants on the B list were offered places and the waiting list for places up to the start of the year was over 40. This is a very healthy position for the school to be in. The process for next year’s applications will begin directly after the mid-term break. The total number of students in the school this year will be 827. Although there is demand at present to increase the numbers, there is no spare capacity in terms of our current accommodation to take in any more students. Furthermore, the new school building is designed to accommodate 800 students, so in the long term our numbers will remain in and around that figure. At the Board of Management meeting on Wednesday 5th October, architect Martin McKenna outlined the present position in relation to the production of tender documents for the new school building. It is hoped to submit these documents to the DES by the end of November. Other related issues were addressed including campus access during the demolition phase, provision of services to the temporary accommodation and new building, the logistics of moving to the temporary accommodation and the provision of canteen facilities. My congratulations to the Leaving Certificate class of 2011 who performed extremely well in their exams—I wish them well in their future careers. One of the features of the 2011 year group was their excellent attendance record. It is well documented that consistent attendance is linked to good academic outcomes. Therefore it is vital that parents/guardians try to ensure that absences are kept to a minimum. The school is obliged to inform the National Educational Welfare Board of the names of any students who are absent for twenty days or more. We aim to instil good habits in relation to timekeeping to minimise disruption to class-work. Therefore a graded system of consequences is in place for students who are regularly late without a valid explanation. Any student in Senior Cycle who accumulates a critical number of unexcused lates will simply not be admitted to class late again. This is only instituted after a very fair and graded system of other consequences (including early morning detention, Saturday morning or Wednesday afternoon detention) has run its course. You can see details of these procedures on the website. 2
Mr Derek Lowry
At present, meeting the expenses of school— especially in relation to uniform and books—is difficult for many. It is therefore quite surprising how many students do not have their names on any books, equipment or clothing. These items are often mislaid or lost and sometimes assumed stolen, but usually they end up in the lost property room with no way of identifying the rightful owners. I strongly urge all parents/guardians to ensure that schoolbooks, copies and uniform are clearly named to help ensure that mislaid items can be returned. The year has kick-started with so many different activities. Well done to Ross Coleman on his superb Joint 1st prize in the English Teachers’ Association Poetry Competition. Congratulations to all those who entered proposals for the BT Young Scientists. Two projects have been accepted: Fifth Year group Sian Demery, Madison Porter and Manon Gevers, and an individual project by First Year Anna Porter. This is our third consecutive year of involvement and we wish our Young Scientists the very best of luck. We were once again well represented in the Poetry Aloud competition and Fifth Year Oisín Lyons has qualified for the regional semifinals. Four Sixth Years, Harry Connor, Fergal Howley and Brendan Clarke, were selected for the Leinster A rugby squad and the Senior Boys’ hockey team has qualified again for the All Ireland Schoolboys’ Championship. Transition Year Stephen McCormack represented Ireland at an international Motocross event. Rehearsals for three musical and dramatic productions are underway and the school is alive with dynamic street art in a project supported by Contemporary Ireland. An exciting Graphic Novel project with Fighting Words is also due to begin. Congratulations to all students and staff involved in these and the many other Newpark teams, projects and events. The message is clear: find out where your talents and interests lie and get involved!
Gold Medal for Ros Steer
Congratulations to past pupil, Roslyn Steer, who won an Oscar Wilde Gold Medal in the Undergraduate Award Scheme. 23 students from Irish (North and South) and US universities were selected from over 2,381 applicants. Ros won in the ‘Modern Cultural Studies’ category with her essay ‘The Influence of Music on Modernist Literature’ and was also a runner up in the ‘Celtic Studies and Irish’ category. The presentation takes place in Dublin Castle on Friday 28th October as part of a two day Undergraduate Awards Summit. President Mary Mc Aleese will be presenting the awards. Find out more at www.undergraduateawards.com
Derek Langran – A Tribute September 11th, 2011
Derek Langran, former Deputy Principal of Newpark Comprehensive School died recently. The following tribute was written by Derek West, former Principal of the school, who worked with Derek throughout his long career in the school both as a colleague on the teaching staff and then together as Principal and Deputy Principal from 1990 to 1999 when Derek Langran retired.
In September 1965, Avoca School acquired two Dereks. I had returned to my old school as a Dip. student/live-in master and the other Derek was a year ahead, just starting a probationary year and also living on school premises. After dossing my way through TCD, I was so happy to be doing something positive at last (against all prejudices I’d already tasted teaching and found I really liked it) and the other Derek was equally happy, having shed a loathed job in insurance. He loved his subjects—Irish and History—and he took particular delight in the growth of his eclectic library over the years, liking nothing better than a bargain barrow of books. So there we were ensconced in the old redbrick house—a bedroom each, a staff-room that became our sitting room once the other teachers had gone home, three meals a day and—until the Headmaster’s wife put her foot down—the run of the ginormous fridge in the main kitchen. Those were very happy days. Supervising the twenty-four boarders was an easy task, we were both fresh to the novelty of teaching, we both had hearty appetites and enjoyed our late-night feasts (accompanied by many windy expirations!) Our shared sense of humour was not that far removed from that of the boys in our care—puerile and vulgar a lot of it! We relished all the duties that attached to our posts in a small private school— supervising ‘prep’, when boarders and day-boarders sat and groaned over their studies for two hours in the late afternoon. We policed a silence that was only occasionally breached by a burp, a fart or a request by some miserable specimen to ‘leave the room’ or ‘go to his locker’. We especially enjoyed the closing moments of prep, when no-one could leave until the floor was spotless, the desks and chairs were straight and the silence had been ratcheted up 150%. We each spent at least one afternoon out on the hockey field, refereeing those who were never going to make the annals of Avoca Hockey Club. There is even an old photo of the two of us togged out for a match against the pupils—I’m certain they won.
Eternally hungry and always good-humoured, Derek was my close colleague in those halcyon days. The end of boarding, the arrival of wives, houses, mortgages and kids (his and mine) meant that we were never as close again. The sepia-tinted days were replaced by the realities of a large, bustling state school. We were drawn closer together again, in the 1990s, when between us we became the ‘senior management team’ at Newpark. Fine title that! We blundered our way through our new responsibilities, attended improving courses together, went to earnest meetings of outfits called APVC, ESHA, ACCS and so forth, and spoke to each other on a daily basis. I think the fact that we had soldiered through long evenings ‘on duty’ at Avoca, talked at length to each other—sometimes even seriously—meant that we were, instinctively, quite a good team. The territory of school admin. was divided easily if not evenly. I became the pen-pusher, the curriculum bod; Derek managed day-to-day affairs, discipline and, as he put it poetically, kept the sh*t from my door. We generally understood each other and I can’t remember a cross word between us. Derek’s ‘anger’ was an entirely theatrical device, ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’, employed to scare the daylights out of pimpled, misbehaving wretches. We were on entirely different planets regarding smoking, drinking and matters of faith. As Terry Browne indicated in his tribute poem, Derek might have been ‘langers’ by name, but never by nature! Smoking was something that other people did (miscreants meriting suspension). In Avoca, I was exempted because smoking was the adult way of life in those days, DGL being a rare exception. My faith stretched to marching the boarders up to St. Brigid’s in Stillorgan for Morning Prayer; Derek did that and a lot more besides. We didn’t see much of each other after Derek retired. Joyce and Shirley were in and out of school, so I kept loose tabs on the Langran family. One thing that makes me angry is the raw deal that Derek got in his final years of poor health. He was a man made to relish his superannuated years and he was denied that. He deserved much more time with his books, his home in Mayo, tending his garden and his colourful tie collection, his church and his family. Derek, you were a part of my life and the life of this school for going on half a century. You brought lightness and laughter into the lives of countless boys and girls, men and women. There was an enigma behind the eccentric and the extrovert, a private, serious side. I’m not really sure how well I knew you, Derek, but you were a great companion, a sterling colleague and, along with so many others, I will miss you. Derek West, September 2011
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Basketball training started in early September. This year we have noticed a slight drop in the numbers playing basketball, especially in First and Second Year. New players are welcome in all age groups – please see the relevant coach or Ms Costello if you would like to play. The Friday training session will be open to all players (boys and girls) to practice drills, skills and play some games. This is an ideal opportunity for new players to try basketball and for old players to improve their skills. Many thanks to the coaches from Newpark staff and Matt Kingsley for all their hard work, commitment and dedication to basketball each year. Best of luck to all the players involved this season!
Stephen McCormack— BYMX 2011
Transition Year student Stephen McCormack was selected to represent Ireland at the British Motorcross Team Event on the 15th and 16th October last. As a member of the Irish International Motorcross team Stephen McCormack performed very well and did Ireland and Newpark proud, with the Irish team finishing a very impressive third place overall. Congratulations to Stephen and his teammates. Stephen McCormack in action at BYMX 2011
Siobhán Costello
Training schedule Monday: 1.10-1.40
Wednesday: Thursday:
4–5.00 4–6.00 3.05–4.00 4–5.00 1.30–3.30 1.10–1.40
Friday:
4–5.00 4–5.00
Tuesday:
First Year (Boys & Girls) Second Year Boys U16 & U19 Boys U19 Girls U16 Girls U16 & U19 Boys First Year (Boys & Girls) U19 Girls Open Basketball (Boys and Girls)
Basketball Coaching Team First Year Boys & Girls Ms Cloney Second Year Boys Matt Kingsley U16 Girls Ms Costello U19 Girls Ms Steele U16 & U19 Boys Matt Kingsley
Leinster and Proud!
Congratulations to Juliette King Hall who put in a great hockey season last year for Leinster U18s. Juliette also had a trial for the Irish U18 squad but unfortunately was not able to take this up due to injury. Juliette put in a fine performance at the InterProvincial tournament. Leinster won impressive victories against Munster, Connaught and South East but were held out of first place by Ulster. Juliette already has a fantastic hockey resumé for Newpark, her club Old Alex and Leinster: definitely one to watch for the future!
Overall team results: 1st Cambridge CJSC 1,824 2nd Scotland 1,962 3rd Ireland 2,424 4th Cumbria 2,591 5th Cheshire NWSC 3,176 6th North East MX 3,506 7th East Coast 3,662
Leinster A caps
Congratulations to Sixth Years Harry Connor, Fergal Howley and Brendan Clarke who all played for Leinster A Schools this year.
Senior Squad
The Seniors have started their League campaign really well. This team is in a newly formed league which gives them direct access to the Vinny Murray Cup. Basically this means that Newpark has stepped up a division and is competing at a higher level. Newpark currently stand at the top of the league table having beaten Mount Temple, St Columba’s and St Patrick’s Navan and drawn to De La Salle Churchtown. The Senior team play Templeogue College on Wednesday 26th October to see if they can qualify for the final on top of the group. Morgan Lennon
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Senior Boys Qualify for All Irelands
For the second year in a row the Senior Boys have made it through the qualifying stages to the All Ireland Schoolboy Championships. This year the tournament will be held in Ashton School in Cork, with the team spending three days in the rebel county competing against the best school teams in the country. The team came through the qualifying stages in early October, overcoming Dundalk and Kilkenny College in a nail biting match that was finally decided on penalty strokes. The team held their nerve thanks to some fine penalty saves from Stefan Gallagher to join St Andrew’s, Wesley, Sutton Park and St Columba’s as Leinster’s representatives in this year’s tournament. The tournament will be held on the 26th, 27th and 28th October. Newpark have been drawn in a group with Cookstown, Campbell College and Sutton Park and will be looking to improve on their performance since returning to the competition last season following a twelve year absence. We wish the whole squad the best of luck in this year’s competition. C’mon the Park! Carl Breaden
Clonakilty at Newpark
Clonakilty hockey is just as good as its puddings! On Thursday 20th October Clonakilty School travelled all the way from Cork to play us (the Minors) and the Junior Girls’ hockey team in a friendly match. We watched the Juniors play their match first and cheered loudly when our class and team mate Katie Lowry scored for the Junior team. The Minors then played the Cork team in a mini seven-a-side tournament. We had to do it this way because there are so many of us girls playing minor hockey this year that Ms Downes wanted to make sure all 30 of us got to play. We were excited to see how we would play against them but were also a little anxious that we played well. Their team (coached by Ms Catherine Connelly - a former Newpark teacher and hockey coach) was really fit and strong. They looked really big too, but we managed to score a few goals which boosted our confidence a lot. Overall we won two and lost two of the matches so it was a fair result. It was great to compete against a school from Cork that we didn’t know because in Dublin we often play the same schools all the time. It was really good fun and a great experience and we’d like to say a big thank you to all the girls from Clonakilty. Hannah Drumm, 2KC
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Senior Girls’ storm into League
The Senior Girls’ hockey team’s first league match against Loreto Stephen’s Green got the season off to a great start. Newpark worked really hard to get a goal on the score board after Loreto got the first goal of the match. At 1-1 we needed to take control of the game and fight for our first win in the league. After a quick team talk at half time with our coach, the second half of the match was a better game with hard work put in by all players. We put up a solid performance and secured the win with another two goals. This is a great start to the season: many thanks to our coach Ms Meredith for her hard work and dedication. Yvonne Nyingi 6SH/PH & Alison Sothern, 6DBT Photo by Anna Moran 5DM
First Year Girls
Record numbers of First Year girls are training with Newpark Hockey this year. We are delighted to have more than forty enthusiastic young players— enough to field three teams. Many thanks to the coaches for all their extra work and best of luck to all the teams. Keep up the good work! Seniors
Juniors
Minors
Boys’ Hockey Results Newpark 3-0 Dundalk (AIQ) Newpark 2-2 Kilkenny (AIQ) Newpark 3-3 St Columba’s (League) Newpark 5-4 St Andrew’s B (League) Junior A 3-0 High School Junior A 6-5 St Columba’s Junior B 0-3 High School Junior B 0-5 St Andrew’s A Newpark 1-4 St Columba’s
1 Years Newpark 2-2 St Andrew’s st
Drama Two very exciting plays are coming to the Hunter Theatre on the 17th and 18th November 2011. Sixth Years are performing The Fifteen Minute Hamlet by Tom Stoppard and the Newpark Theatre Company (comprised of past and present students) is presenting Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Both of these productions promise to be dynamic and thought provoking. Both Hamlet and A Doll’s House are on the Sixth Year English course so it is fantastic to have the opportunity to enjoy both so close to home. We are very lucky to have professional set designer Brían Vahey working with a group of Transition Year Art students on the design elements of A Doll’s House. This is part of a new Creative Engagement initiative. Tickets will be available in the library from Monday 7th November. Tickets are a bargain as you get two plays on one night. Adults are €12 and students €6. Weekly Junior Drama has been taking place after school since September. We are lucky to have some talented and enthusiastic Transition Year Drama students who are helping to lead these sessions. The day changes each week so that students involved in sports and other extra-curricular activities can get involved. There is a keen group of Third, Second and First Years taking part. Check the noticeboard each week to see which day it is on. Each year Fifth Years get to try their hand at directing short plays with junior actors. Last year there were four plays performed and all four directing teams wrote or devised their own scripts with their casts. Many Fifth Years this year are extremely keen and are making impressive pitches for the opportunity to direct. Auditions for the Junior plays will be happening in December. First and Second Years please keep a close eye on the Drama notice-board for further details. Newpark’s reputation for drama is widely known and several film companies have approached us recently looking for students to audition for film roles and as extras. The latest is a comedy horror called Stitches. Good luck to all those taking part in these Cathy Devis films!
Poetry Aloud 2011
On Tuesday the 18th of October, seven students from First to Fifth Year participated in the regional heats of the Poetry Aloud competition in the National Library of Ireland, along with twenty other students from schools around Dublin This is the second year Newpark students have taken part in the competition and it was a fantastic experience for all involved. Students are divided into three categories: First and Second Years are in the Junior category, Third and Transition Years are in the Intermediate category and Fifth and Sixth Years are in the Senior category. Students must learn by heart and recite one prescribed Yeats poem. This year, the Junior poem was ‘Down by the Sally Gardens’, the Intermediate poem was ‘An Irish Airman foresees his Death’ and the Senior poem was ‘The Second Coming’. All participants then chose a second poem to recite, taken from the prescribed anthology ‘Lifelines’. Everyone performed brilliantly with great expression and clarity, but there were only four places in the semi-final up for grabs. Oisín Lyons of Fifth Year impressed the judges and will now represent Newpark in the semi-final for the second year in a row. This takes place on Friday the 25th of November. We wish Oisín the best of luck - let’s hope he reaches the final again this year. Well done again to all involved; it is an achievement in itself to be able to learn a poem and recite it in front of a room full of people. Holly O’ Rourke of Third Year, also due to take part in the competition, did a great job of learning her poems, but unfortunately was unable to travel to the competition due to a leg-break! We hope she recovers soon; it brings a whole new meaning to the term “Break a Leg”! All the Newpark students who took part contributed to setting the really high standard of the competition. Congratulations once again! Amy Keating
Newpark Arts
Newpark has published a Draft Arts Policy on the school website. Look in the ‘News’ section of ‘Day to Day’. If you have an interest in this area, please have a look and see what you think. One of the recommendations of this Draft Policy is that we set up an Arts Committee of students, teachers, parents, past students and friends of the school. If you would like to be a part of this group, please let us know, at cb@newparkschool.ie.
Poetry Aloud team pictured above:
Oisín Lyons (5LT), Kwesi Fortune (5CQY) Skye Michel (1GC), Vanessa Toolan (1GC), Alice Hamman (3JH), Madison Porter (5LT) Saoirse O’ Coineen (5EG)
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Graphic Novel, anyone?
Comics Club is back, and is about to leave the building! Fighting Words has teamed up with Newpark to develop and publish a graphic novel this year. We will be working with professional comic book creators and illustrators every Wednesday after school, and a few Saturday mornings in Fighting Words in Dublin 1. Fighting Words has worked with schools over the last two years to publish anthologies of creative writing, but this is the first time they are working with a school to create a graphic novel. You can find out more about Fighting Words on www.fightingwords.ie Places on this project are limited, so if you are interested in taking part, please contact Mr Byrne as soon as possible in person or by email: cb@newparkschool.ie. Ciaran Byrne
Images from Street Art project
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Photographs by Bobby Ryan—you can see them all in colour on the school website
Newpark Rocks!
This year, Newpark will be presenting We Will Rock You, a jukebox musical based on songs by the Rock band Queen. The stage musical was written by comedian Ben Elton and Queen band-members Brian May and Roger Taylor. The show will be on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of December 2011 so make sure you keep one of those nights free to come along and watch what promises to be a great night. Many students from First to Sixth Year are currently rehearsing long hours every day with Ms Keating, Ms Glancy, Ms Devis and Ms O’Keefe to make sure it will be an unforgettable show! The musical is set 300 years in the future… Earth has been renamed as Planet Mall and is controlled by Globalsoft Corporation. Originality seems non-existent and everything anyone wants they download off the internet. The Bohemian rebels are fighting against this and they go through many obstacles (and songs) which you’ll have to buy a ticket to see… The cast is brilliant—there are so many talented musicians and actors in Newpark. These include Ciara Ryan and Sinéad Keegan as Scaramouche, Sam Nicholson and John Cummins as Galileo, Rosalie Lockhart and Megan Jungmann as the Killer Queen, George Ryan and Diolmhain Ingram-Roche as Brit, Amy Corcoran and Isobel Horner as Meat, Mark Ball as Pop and Charles Marchant as Kashoggi, as well as the many other students who make up the chorus and the Bohemians, Yuppies and Teen Queens. It has only been a few weeks and I can already say with complete confidence that the directing crew and cast have really outdone themselves. Everything is starting to come together and it will be an amazing show. After all, this is Newpark! Madison Porter 5LT
Linked into Eastern Cape
Newpark Science teacher Vicky Meredith describes her experiences working for an Education NGO in South Africa
In April 2011, the First Years gave their support to my summer plans and took part in a sponsored silence. I presented my project to them and they raised an amazing €2,300 which was a superb achievement. I flew to South Africa with eight other Irish teachers on the 11th July. Our destination was Eastern Cape Province and we were travelling with an education NGO called Link Community Development. Eastern Cape was the birthplace of many of South Africa’s key figures in the fight to end apartheid, such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Steve Biko. Currently it is a province facing huge challenges. While I was there the papers widely reported crises in the education and health systems. It is a province of sweeping rural areas with small rural communities interspersed with large towns. My home for the month was with the Sigidi family, Mr Sigidi is the local chief and his household has ten people altogether, a contrast to my apartment and one housemate in Dublin! I was working with the staff and learners of Thompson Junior Secondary School. The school is a one hour drive on a dusty track from the tarred main road. Thompson is a school that caters for ‘learners’ from age 5 to age 16, there are eleven staff and approximately 300 learners. There are three buildings, and one of the classrooms doubles as the school office. In terms of resources the teachers have access to many excellent resources but the school buildings themselves are in poor repair and half of the classrooms have no electricity or ceilings. Poor buildings are a challenge facing many of the rural schools. My job was to work with teachers to design new resources and to suggest teaching methods that they could use. I taught many of the classes including the infants which was very interesting as I spoke no useful Xhosa and they spoke no English ... so we practised our colours and counting and ‘Ringa-ring-a-Rosie’ helped to bridge the language barrier! At the end of what had been an experiencefilled month we completed our journey with an unexpected and life-fulfilling event. We were invited
by Nelson Mandela’s grandson to dinner at his home nearby in the Eastern Cape and with luck on our side we were introduced to Nelson Mandela himself! We spent five minutes in his company with his grandson explaining who these nine muzungus (white people) were before taking a group photo and leaving him to rest while we went to eat dinner with some of his family. An incredible end to a fascinating month living and working with warm and determined people who had never before had a muzungu living in their community but showed incredible hospitality and made me part of their family and community.
Thank you so much to this year’s Second Year who helped with my fundraising for Link Community Development. Link organise and partly fund the Global Teacher program and many other educational programmes in South Africa and four other African countries. For more information on Link and their work you can visit www.lcd.ie. Vicky Meredith
Echange Bellevue-Newpark
Les élèves de Section Européenne se préparent pour l’arrivée de leurs correspondants français en novembre. Nous aurons la chance de les accueillir à Newpark du 7 au 14. Cette année, ils assisteront à des cours visiteront Dublinia et House Number 29 à Dublin et passeront une journée à la Causey Farm avec leurs correspondants irlandais. Laetitia Tessier
Nous sommes tous impatients de les accueillir! - Astrid Tidey
Ça sera une expérience super! - Alice Pyper J’espère que les élèves français vont aimer l’Irlande. - Katie Lowry
Aux élèves français: Préparez-vous pour le froid et le mauvais temps! - Ross Coleman-Davis J’espère que les élèves français vont bien s’amuser. - Elaine Cullen
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Tag der Deutschen Einheit
On Monday the 3rd of October all the German classes in Newpark (apart from the Second Years who had to wait until the next day!) celebrated the German National Holiday Tag der Deutschen Einheit, when German people celebrate the Reunification of Germany.
Mountains to the Sea
On Wednesday the 7th September, thirty-five students from Third Year and Transition Year went to the Mill Theatre in Dundrum for the DLRCC Mountains to the Sea Book Festival. We went for a talk by writers Meg Rosoff and Patrick Ness. Dr Padraic Whyte (professor of Children’s Literature in Trinity College) acted as a go-between, asking them questions and telling the audience facts about their lives. Both writers are American but live in London. They read extracts from their latest books and answered questions from the audience. Afterwards there was a book signing upstairs. Aaron McLaughlin & Mollie McAlister, 3SO
Some thoughts on the trip—Form 3SO In Second Year we read the ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’, the first book of the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. I then went off and read the rest of the series because it was amazingly thrilling and exciting. Because of this, I was really looking forward to the festival. The Fifth Year classes helped to decorate D3 with German flags and bunting to create a cheerful environment which all enjoyed. Throughout the day the German classes were busy learning about the history of the Berlin Wall and were very interested to watch authentic clips of the putting up and taking down of the Berlin Wall from You Tube, thanks to the recently installed computer and digital projector in the classroom. Students also did quizzes, played German board games (including Scrabble auf Deutsch!), listened to German music (anything from the popular German group Rammstein, to Mozart, to a clip of Franzl Lang one of the most famous German yodlers - yodelling!) and watched a DVD about the Oktoberfest. All the students received some real German Gummi Bears and the Transition Year class were also treated to some home-made Brezels made by Beatrice Ritzen. The students were also happy to receive German pencils/pens, bookmarks, stickers, name stickers and badges. Many thanks to Ms Dempsey for all her help and also to the Goethe Institut for their support. Wir haben alle viel Spass gehabt und freuen uns schon auf Deirdre Mackey naechstes Jahr. Just a quick note Mind your Valuables: Valuable items have gone missing
recently from schoolbags and changing rooms, so be careful. • Don’t bring expensive and unnecessary items to school • Don’t leave valuables in the changing rooms • Make sure your locker has a proper lock
Cyclists: please do not cycle on the footpaths outside the school. Many pedestrians (including small children) walk these paths every day and speeding cyclists are a hazard. Please remember to use the student bike entrance. 9
Rebecca Sullivan
Meg Rosoff and Patrick Ness. Both American, one over fifty years old and the other born and raised in a US military, Christian fundamentalist family, you could be forgiven for thinking it would be boring, put you to sleep. But for me at least the opposite was true. Both authors were very good speakers – although Meg Rosoff talked a bit too much, sometimes talking over Patrick and Padraic. The readings really stuck out for me as you got the sense that they were reading the words in the same rhythm as they had written them and it just seemed right somehow. It was interesting hearing their tips on writing a book and I learned some things that will help me out. I was surprised by how amusing the whole thing was and almost wished it had gone on longer (and not just because I love Patrick Ness’s voice). Thanks to Ms Johnston for arranging the trip. Danú Connolly Fanning Rosoff’s reading was from her book ‘There is no Dog’ about a nineteen year old whose mother won him a job as God in a poker game and the extract was an alternative view of Genesis. Ness read from his latest book ‘A Monster Calls’ which was started by an author called Siobhan Dowd who passed away so Ness was asked to finish it. It’s about a boy called Conor whose mother is very sick. I found it very interesting where Ness got his idea for “Noise” in the Chaos Walking trilogy. [“Noise” is the sounds and pictures of all men’s thoughts being broadcast—no thought can be kept private]. He said that teenagers nowadays have the least privacy anyone has ever had. He also said that in that series the women had no “Noise” because he wanted to highlight the fact that a difference was simply different: no Sinéad Gallagher worse, no better, just different. Both writers told us that if you try and please audiences by writing something you think they’ll be interested in but you’re not, then it will be boring – if you’re not interested or happy with it then probably no-one else will be. Siobhán Franks
In Transition First Impressions
Below are some highlights of Module One by Transition Year form-group 4CD
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Drama is absolutely brilliant – it doesn’t matter if you are a shy or nervous person—you will get over that in a confident drama group. I really liked tennis and found out that I am really quite good! I am now considering joining a tennis club. I have enjoyed many high spirited and competitive games—I was lucky to get paired with the best person there! I enjoyed auditioning for a movie ‘Stitches’. This was fun and I hope it opens up opportunities. I have really, really enjoyed my English classes. We read ‘One Day’ which I enjoyed profoundly and watched ‘Good Will Hunting’ – a fantastic film. I really enjoy aikido—apart from learning a martial art we do a lot of breathing exercises and meditation so it is a really relaxing class. We also have more input within the classes, eg in History we are doing things out of the ordinary such as the Salem Witchtrials and the 9/11 attacks. I really enjoy catering for Work Area because I love cooking and we are given loads of time to finish our dishes. I like the way that we get so many opportunities to do things that we’ve never done before like European Computer Driving Licence, Aikido, Japanese, Sign Language or Kayaking. A class I’m particularly enjoying is religion. Even though I’m not a believer in God I love hearing the stories from Hayley and Matt. I enjoy kayaking so much that I wish I could do it every day – when you have such a sound teacher it tops it off. I do ECDL and from the first lesson I could tell it wasn’t just for people who knew about computers, but also for people who wanted to learn more. I have enjoyed my school time as well as my free time as I have taken on a fresh outlook this year. ...
Eco Seminar at DLRCC
On Tuesday the 11th of October, twelve Transition Year students spent the day at Dun Laoghaire County Hall at a seminar on Environmental issues organised by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Two other local schools were also represented at the seminar.
During the first part of the day we watched three slide shows. The first one showed how a small increase in climate temperature can cause worldwide hardship to people and animals. Many species of animal are more likely to become extinct, diseases will be more common in the developing world and hurricanes and flooding will increase in the Northern hemisphere. The second slide show was about the Young Environmentalist award which takes place for young people all across Ireland. Entrants pick an environmental theme for a team project. Each team needs between two and twenty-six students who agree on an issue, then develop and carry out a plan to spread environmental awareness. We were also told about Eco-Den which is open to young people between the ages of ten to eighteen. This gives students the opportunity to make a difference to the environment while developing new skills and motivation. In the third presentation we learned about a Europe-wide club called Young Friends of the Earth. These clubs discuss and plan environmental campaigns, host the annual Green World event and promote eco-friendly ideas like cycling to school or using public transport instead of a car. Those involved make new friends, build confidence, share and develop skills like photography and film-making. After break we paired up with students from the other schools to play a team game. Each team represented a country and began with limited resources. Some teams had more resources than others – eg, Great Britain had far more than Kenya. The goal was to make as much money as possible by selling shapes which we had to make with our resources. Each different shape was worth a different amount of money. My team, Great Britain, came second while Cambodia came first. We then came up with ideas on how to make secondary schools more eco-friendly. The day was extremely enjoyable and fun to participate in. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it so much but the slideshows and games were both educational and fun. I would recommend it to anyone for next Peter Vero 4CB year. Best of luck to Transition Years who are going out on Work Experience after mid-term. Two groups will be making the trip to Gartan in Donegal for five days of outdoor pursuits, while the others take part in Arts activities and Dublin-based trips
T4EU-R
Newpark has been approved to take part in a Comenius project called Train for Europe— RELOADED. It involves the Fifth Year engineering class building a model locomotive and ten carriages to a design agreed with the other 23 partner schools around Europe. The language of communication is English and we are the only English speaking school involved. The class has been arranged into six teams with four members each. One team has taken on the job of building the locomotive and the other five teams will build two carriages each. Within each team the members have identified personal areas of responsibility e.g. technical, communication, digital and design which correspond to the main areas of project activity. Over the two years that the project runs, six schools will host project meetings and each team will send a representative to the meetings. The first meeting is in Zagreb, Croatia in mid-November and the other meetings will be in Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Austria and Germany. This is a great opportunity for our students to collaborate with their counterparts in the various schools around Europe and experience at first hand the culture of the host countries. They will be involved in eTwinning, project Facebook, emailing and face to face dialogue when we travel abroad. Further information can be had by visiting the website http://www.cnc-network.eu/ or by emailing me at john.oneill@newparkschool.ie
Hopeful Young Scientists
Newpark science teachers have once again helped students from all years with their projects. Each hopes to be one of the 500 out of 1500 who get a place in the BT Young Scientists exhibition 2012. This year there is a group project from Fifth Year and two individual projects from First Year. All of the entrants have put in a lot of work and are anxiously waiting for news. Anna Porter 1SFH
STOP PRESS: congratulations to Anna Porter and Fifth Years Sian Demery, Manon Gevers and Madison Porter whose projects have just been accepted for the BT Young Scientist Exhibition.
Bringing History to Life
The Sixth Year History classes of Ms Kennedy and Ms Caldwell were fortunate to have Ms Margaret McCluskey share her memories and experiences of growing up during the 1960s in Northern Ireland. Ms McCluskey is a familiar face to many staff as she worked in Newpark as a Home Economics teacher for over twenty years. Ms McCluskey is the daughter of Dr Conn and Patricia McCluskey who are credited with starting the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland and were founder members of the Homeless Citizen League (HCL) in Dungannon in 1963. The HCL was involved in direct action to bring the issue of housing allocation to the attention of a wide audience by staging protests and organising squatting in council housing.
John O’Neill (Engineering Teacher)
Pink with a purpose S t u d e n t s organised an unusual type of non-uniform day to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Here Second Year E u r o p e a n Section students Kirsty Nolan and Coley McManus wear pink to support the cause.
Dr Conn and Patricia McCluskey
When Nationalists asked them to help organise a wider campaign on housing they set up the Campaign for Social Justice in Northern Ireland. The campaign was heavily influenced by the actions of the American Civil Rights Movement and led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in 1967. Ms McCluskey gave a personal insight to the challenges and frustrations faced by her parents and family on a daily basis in Dungannon. The McCluskeys are key personalities on the Leaving Certificate course Politics and Society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993 and are an importance element of the course for History students. The firsthand insights provided through such a talk can’t be printed in a history book—it was a privilege to have such a speaker and friend visit our school. Mary Kennedy
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Newpark PTA – Calling all Parents
Welcome to the new school year and we look forward to seeing lots of parents becoming involved in the School this year. It’s really important for parents to get involved in their children's education and a great way of doing this is by joining your PTA. Remember, it is only by getting involved that you can make a difference in YOUR school. The PTA meets once a month. The next two meetings are on the 16th November & 14th December and both are on Wednesday nights in the School Library at 8pm. The meeting usually takes about an hour and all are welcome. Come along just to get a flavour of what is going on. We are looking for more parents to get involved, particularly parents who are new to the school, or who have students in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Years. The PTA is involved in such areas as: • Fund raising for the school • Organizing talks/Evenings for parents • Helping out at School functions such as the 6th Year Graduation and the wine reception in September • Buying equipment for Teachers/ Students • Lost Property Office • School Nurse
Lost Property The PTA manages and runs the Lost Property Office. This is a key service in the school, helping to reunite students and their lost items. There is an unbelieveable amount of lost property, ranging from designer clothes, to school books and school uniforms. The vast majority—at least 95% and at times nearly 100%—of the items are unnamed and unlabelled. Can we implore you to check that your son/daughter’s items have their name on them—this will mean that if items are lost, at least there is some hope of you getting them back. None of us can afford to have to re-buy items if they disappear. It is well worth calling into the lost property office, even for five minutes. It is open Tuesdays after school and Friday mornings 8.30-8.45. Sometimes the students themselves do not think to check
lost property, please remind them to go have a look if they have lost something!
Upcoming events: School raffle We will be holding our Annual Christmas Raffle this year again in December. It is always held at the Annual School Carol Service. This is a school tradition and it’s important to help us all get into the Christmas swing of things. All the students get into the Christmas spirit. Mince pies and refreshments follow the service and the raffle takes place at this time. We are urgently looking for prizes for the raffle, so if you have any items you would like to donate we would love to hear from you— so please email us (PTA@newparkschool.ie). Any prizes considered!! We are looking for items such as bottles of wine, vouchers for food, weekends away, TVs and electronic equipment, sports Equipment etc. Further details on the Christmas Raffle to follow. Talks for Parents We will be running parent evenings again this year. These are very informative. They also help you to get to know the parents of the other students in your child’s year and form some bonds with them. It’s good to meet and share information and help each other sort out issues and compare notes. We know it’s difficult to get out to meetings in the long winter’s nights, but one evening in the year should not be too much and they will be well worth it.
Evenings are planned for : 1st Years Weds November 9th @ 8 pm Topic to follow 2nd Years Weds November 23rd @ 8 pm Positive Parenting (or how to survive this age group!) 3rd Years Weds November 30th @ 8 pm Topic to follow
First Aid Course We plan on running a First Aid course for parents/students some time before Christmas. This is a key skill for all to have. There will be a four hour general First Aid course, covering all the key elements of First Aid. We also plan on running an eight hour certified Cardiac First Response course, if there is demand for this. If you are interested in either, can you please email us. You can contact us by email at: PTA@newparkschool.ie .... or drop a note into the PTA post-box at the Front office.
October Newsletter: Anna Johnston & Mags Downes Thanks to all our contributors this month. Please email contributions for the next issue to newsletter@newparkschool.ie
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