November 2008

PARENTS ARE ANGRY

• Staffing curtailments
• Class size
• Grant losses for important courses (Transition Year, L.C.V.P., etc.)
• Grant losses for school books and library books
• The increase in transport costs for students is totally unacceptable
• Parents are being further penalised by the increase of Third Level Registration Fees from €900 to €1500. Many of our children will be unable to go to college in September 2009 because of this.
• Their aspirations for Third Level placement is further affected by the cut and abolition of the Children’s Allowance for 18 year olds.

CARLOW ENTERPRISE BOARD INVENTORS COMPETITION
Well done to Andrea Byrne 2nd year on taking second prize in the County Enterprise Inventors Competition. Andrea had to draw an invention and submit it for scrutiny. Her clever idea was a cane for the visually impaired equipped with sat-nav. The aptly titled “Stroll On” took second prize and Andrea graciously received a certificate €150 and a trophy.

DEBS 21ST AUGUST
Congratulations to the Leaving Cert Class 2008 who held their Debs Ball in the Ramada on the 21st of August. The evening proved a great success. The class enjoyed the evening and felt it was a wonderful last chance to reminisce on their time in Coláiste Eoin before embarking on new chapters in their respective lives. We wish them every success in the future.

ON TRIAL
Anna Byrne from Coláiste Eoin has been short listed for a new programme by RTE called ‘On Trial’. Thousands of entrants submitted ideas for the show where the winners will present their ideas to an audience and basically debate topical issues. Anna has submitted a tape and was called for interview. Her ideas ranged from Leaving Cert Stress to Economic Crisis- Cultural Redemption. Good Luck Anna.

COUNTY SPORTS
Congratulations to Coláiste Eoin who took third place in the County Sports on Tuesday 7th October. The team of 40 students represented the school incredibly well with each students giving their all in their individual event. Eoin Fitzgerald, Eoin Coogan, Ronan Byrne, David McCarney, Dylan Bowes, Conor McCarney and Dale Stevenson won the major accolades for the boys while Jackie Kinch led the way for girls. Well done to all involved.

MINI-COMPANY WORKSHOP
Sadie Whelan from Carlow County Enterprise Board spoke to the Transition Class. She explained to class the importance of marketing their mini-companies and bringing their excellent products to the attention of as many people as possible.

TAEKWONDO
The Transition Years are currently under-taking a ten-week program in Taekwondo. Their instructor Jimmy Dowling is highly impressed by their commitment and enthusiasm to date. The program has run successfully in the school since Transition Year began. The school is very grateful to Jimmy for the time and effort he puts into the program.

CARLOW I.T.
Paula Pollard from Carlow I.T. visited Coláiste Eoin to speak to Transition Years. She explained the courses on offer in the I.T. and the wealth of resources available literally on our doorstep. In the current economic climate it is very important that students realise exactly what is available to them in their locality. The talk proved highly successful.

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR VISIT
On Friday 6th November Zoltan Zing Collins visited Coláiste Eoin to address the students. At the age of five, Zoltan Zinn-Collis was torn from his home in Slovakia and cast into the deepest horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. In Bergen-Belsen concentration camp he survived the inhuman brutality of the SS guards, the ravages of near starvation, disease, and squalor. All but one of his family died there, his mother losing her life on the very day the British finally marched into the camp. Discovered by a Red Cross nurse who described him as ‘an enchanting scrap of humanity’, Zoltan was brought to Ireland and adopted by one of the liberators, Dr Bob Collis. Now aged 65, Zoltan is ready to speak. His story is one of deepest pain and greatest joy. His story will remain with the staff and students of Coláiste Eoin for a very long time. It is a story that should be heard by everyone.

HELIX
Third Year students went to the Helix to see a Second Age production of The Merchant Of Venice. The students found the day highly enjoyable and felt the production brought the bards words to life.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING PARENTS ASSOCIATION
The Annual General Meeting of Coláiste Eoin Parents Association took place on Thursday 13th November at 08.00 sharp. The Parents Association is open to all parents of students attending the school. The business of the meeting will end around 09.00pm. Speaker was Mr. Joe Kennedy Parents Representative on County Carlow Vocational Education Committee. Education Cutbacks in County Carlow.

HAIR TODAY GONE TOMORROW
Well done to Claire Gartland and Ciara Tompkins who have completed their project Hair Today Gone Tomorrow. The girls have worked really hard trying to discover the effects of hair dye on not just hair but also your body. The girls have submitted the project for entry in the Young Scientist Competition and hopefully their hard work will be rewarded.

MINI-COMPANIES
Sadie Wheatly from Carlow County Enterprise Board visited Coláiste Eoin this week. She looked at the finished products developed by the Transition Years and gave them advice as to how they would most appropriately be marketed.

LADIES SENIOR GAELIC SOCCER
Well done to our ladies Gaelic team who defeated the Gaelcholaiste 4-21 to 1-4. The win was well deserved and we wish the team continued success.

GRADUATE.IE
Congratulations to Yvonne Kelly who participated in the Graduate online civic awareness competition and won a free four-day trip to Strasbourg. Twenty-five other students and three supervising teachers will accompany her. Yvonne will then spend one day at The European Parliament, where she will participate in Euroscola, which is a youth parliament where young people take part in discussions on various pre-selected topics about the EU. The public Appointments Service sponsors the prize. Well-done Yvonne.

GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
On Friday 7th 27 Leaving Cert students from Coláiste Eoin travelled to Kippure Estate in County Wicklow. The purpose of the visit was to carry out a fieldwork study, which is now a mandatory module in the Leaving Cert Geography Programme. Despite the cold and rain all had an enjoyable and interesting day. The majority of which was spent knee high in the river while measuring it s depth and width. Students also viewed many of the features along the course of the river.

BUSINESS STUDIES AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Anne O’Keeffe was awarded a certificate of excellence in Junior Cert Business Studies in Waterford Institute of Technology on Wednesday 5th November 2008 at the W.I.T./B.S.T.A.I. Business awards.

FRENCH THEATRE
On Thursday 2nd October students in Coláiste Eoin participated in the French play ‘Relevez le Defi’. The story is that of Maestro Michel who runs a television show where the contestants compete in a series of tasks. The contestants are students who have prepared for the play in advance with the help of their teachers. The exercise is very useful for students as it allows them to speak the language while also learning the true meaning of the words as they concentrate on the pronunciation and their acting skills.

CLASS REPRESENTATIVES
Congratulations to the following students who were selected as this year s class representatives, Martin Byrne, Ash Keogh, Colm O’Connor, Joan Doyle, Chris Smyth, Chelsea Kelly, Brendan Ellis, Daleen O’Brien, Enda McGrath, Shannen Corrigan, Andrew Clarke and Shannon Derry. The students are nominated by their classmates and become a member of the Student Representative Council. It gives the students the opportunity to raise issues of concern with the staff and management. The reps receive training and use the opportunity to enhance their leadership and negotiation skills.

RETREAT
On Thursday 2nd October a group of 6th year students headed to St. Benildus Pastoral Centre in Stillorgan. The retreat offers the students a short time away from their academic pressures to focus on meaningful time together. A spiritual dimension permeates activities and the students are encouraged to believe in their own worth. To have a greater appreciation of themselves.

DRIVE AWARE
The Transition Year students participated in The Drive Aware Program on Tuesday 30th September. The program is geared towards young drivers and presents the realities of driving in an in-depth manner. Students are shown real footage of the carnage on our roads and realise the implications of driving at speed and not paying due care and attention. The students found the day informative and interesting.

CARLOW ENTERPRISE BOARD
Members of The Carlow Enterprise Board visited the 5th Year students in C.E.H. The session was geared towards students taking the L.C.V.P Course. The students were shown how to market a business, improve your customer base and encouraged to see ways in which the business itself could adjust to changing economic climates. These skills are of life-long use to them.

GAEITY SCHOOL OF ACTING
On Monday 13th October Jim Roche from The Gaiety School of Acting visited Coláiste Eoin as part of the Educate Programme. Jim a working actor conducted two workshops one skill based and the other curriculum based. The day began with Leaving Certs and Jim held a workshop designed around Macbeth, which is one of the chosen texts for Leaving Cert. Later the Transition Year s participated in the Skills Workshop. This showed how to use drama as a way of encouraging and enhancing creative expression. Jim also worked on improving performance skills, using improvisation, acting movement and mime.

SHINTY
Well done to Sinead Byrne on her recent selection to the Irish Shinty Squad. Sinead is currently on the Wicklow team and having been scouted at a match during the summer against Tyrone was selected for the Irish team. Shinty is a Scottish game very similar to hurling. Both countries of course share a Celtic past and so the game of Shinty is basically hurling however you cannot catch the ball. Sinead has exceptional talent and we wish her the very best.

SELF-HELP AFRICA
Well done to TY & 5th year students who raised €430 for Self-Help Africa. Students organised a pizza sale and collected money locally.