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John Scottus School Newsletter December 2009 has been published.
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4th and 6th Class Project Entries for Young Scientists' Exhibition 2010.
4th Class and 6th Class boys and girls, led by Dr Fiona Doris (parent) and Dr Declan Kelly (Science Teacher) respectively, are working on their respective projects which will be exhibited in the RDS from 12th - 16th January. We wish them the very best of luck with their preparation and competition entry.
4th - 6th Class and 1st - 4th Year pupils will attend the YSE in January with their Class or Science teachers.
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Festive Lunch
Junior School - 15th December
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Our amazing catering department continue in their tradition of making the end of this term particularly enjoyable. Combining their own considerable artistic and culinary talents, walls are decked with posters, Santa regalia is donned, treats appear and we are all serenaded with rousing Christmas songs all to the delight and glee of classes who can’t wait to offer thanks to the ‘best catering ladies in the world’. |
Mr Fran Dempsey as Playwright
We know Mr Dempsey as Head of Music Department and Director of the Senior School Choir, and more recently, as Director of the Transition Year Irish Play, which was performed on 10th December, TY Display Night for Parents. Now his talents as a playwright are being recognised internationally.
For The Trumpet Shall Sound, a Musical Drama by Fran Dempsey, (it's about the first performance of Messiah in Dublin, 1742) has just been shortlisted in the McGuire International Playwrighting Competition run by the Irish Classical Theatre Company of Buffalo, New York!
Photo below of Mr Dempsey with last year's Headboy, Simon Acres.
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Festive Lunch
Senior School - 18th December
A great time was had by all!
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Junior School Visit to the Ark
9th December
Form 2’s, 3rd and 4th class got to visit the Ark this time. On the positive side, the space, resources and expertise of the staff were very good, particularly for the younger children. When it comes to older children, who have had quiet a good grounding in art and craft techniques, feelings were mixed as to whether 8 and 9 nine year olds were fully challenged. What was very clear was that everyone enjoyed themselves. The rather strenuous walks to and from the venue were also a treat as parents teachers and children all revelled in the good conversations which these trips afforded.
View Gallery of students in action at the Ark.
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Annual Senior School Speech Competition
4th December
This annual event took place with great success on Friday December 4th. The afternoon was given over to this event and during the week building up to it, it would not have been strange to see a student with his/her teacher or fellow classmate sitting on a landing or in the lunch room practicing pronunciation and voice projection. Read more.
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Photos of Junior Speech Competition finalists and entertainers below and Senior Speech Competition finalists opposite.
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New John Scottus Christmas CD For Sale
Mr Dempsey launched the new John Scottus Christmas CD (cover photo below).
The CD has four tracks, with recordings of the Senior Scho
ol Choir and the 5th/6th Class Choir. Tell me more.
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Joint Schools Musical Performance
8th December
The Senior Choir led by Mr. Fran Dempsey, the Senior Orchestra (recently reconvened) led by Mr. Paul Kerr, the Junior School Choir led my Mrs Máire Ledwith-Butler, and the Junior Orchestra led by Mary Barnicott, all performed pieces of their choice. The music was sweet and the audience attentive.
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Leah Telford - Leinster Irish Dancing Champion
Leah Telford, Transition Year student, won the U16 Leinster Irish Dancing Champion recently. Leah is defending her title for the 5th year running, an amazing achievement.
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Poetry Aloud Semifinal Competiiton
4th December
Two 1st year girls, Christine Mc Caffrey and Kiah Ronaldson competed in the semi-finals of the Poetry Aloud 2009 competition in Wesley College. Neither Kiah nor Christine got through to the final of the competition. However, the performances of both girls was excellent. The standard was very very high. The two girls are to be commended for the hard work they put into preparing for the competition. They had to learn 5 new poems off by heart. Entering for the competition raised the standard of speech in the classroom which filtered through to the Speech Competition in school. |
Christmas Fair, 6th December
The attendance was good and the atmosphere was seasonal. Mulled wine, mince pies, Christmas cards and gifts, Sports paraphenalia, all sold well. Trendy cupcakes were very popular. Many thanks to all parents and students who attended as helpers or as comsumers. Santa was especially well set up (photo, below).
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Oliver! The Musical - an Update
Rehearsals are going well. An taster of things to come was well-received by visitors to the Christmas Fair on Sunday, 6th Dec. Fagan and his Gang performed a couple of songs - very well.
Fundraising events for this ambitious show are going well. Costumes, professional sound, lighting and orchestras do not come cheap! The production time really appreciate your ongoign support. And of course, we will let you know when the tickets are on sale.
Cake Sale, Nov 26th - 5th and 6th class girls ran an excellent cake sale in the front yard of the Senior School. 281 euro was raised for Oliver! and a great time was had by all. A feature of the event was that each girl wore a hat. This looked very colourful and and ensured they were all warm! Don't they look swell? (photo - opposite) |
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Oliver! Fundraising
Book Sale, Dec 2nd - 5th and 6th class pupils donated books. A book sale was held in the Senior School and raised 140 euro. The remaining stock was sold at the Junior School and raised 250 euro. There must have been some good material there. Photo, opposite, shows the setup at the Senior School.
Cake Sale, Dec 11th - 5th and 6th class boys ran an excellent cake sale in the front yard of the Senior School. 299 euro was raised for Oliver!.
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Green Schools Project Update
December
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- We have put up posters around the school
- Recycling bins have been bought by Mr van de Belt.
- We now have a box for collection of mobile phones and and another for batteries.
JSS Green School Project Page
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League Table publications
Thursday 26th November
Both The Irish Times and The Irish Independent have John Scottus Secondary School as the top school in Dublin 4, judging by its College entry this year. Furthermore, we are top equals with 23 other Dublin schools in having 100% college entry statistic, and with 26 of the Fee Paying Schools nationwide. This speaks very well of our academic standards and of the work going on here to achieve the best for our students.
Read more on page 2 of the John Scottus December Newsletter. |
