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WCDMUN09 continued.....

This is the second time Wesley has hosted WCDMUN and this year facilitated debate in 7 committees: Health, Human Rights, Political, Ecology and Environment, Economic and Social, Historical and Security Council. In these committees, resolutions to world issues such as the Global Financial Crisis and the question of Tibet were submitted and amended. Uniquely, MUN is a student-run activity. All debates were chaired by 19 Wesley College students and 2 guest Chairs from Methodist College Belfast. 30 Wesley students took part as delegates are a number were rewarded for their efforts:

Christopher Sloane, Commended, Political Committee, CANADA, Kevin Stone: Highly Commended, Ecology and Environment Committee, CANADA, David Burke, Commended, Historical Committee, RWANDA, Megan Skelly, Commended, Human Rights Committee, SYRIA, Matthew Nuding, Commended, Human Rights Committee, FINLAND, Jayne Misstear, Best Junior Delegate, Political Committee, FINLAND, Jordan Boyd, Best Junior Delegate, Human Rights Committee, JAPAN, Conor Brady, Best Junior Delegate, Health Committee, JAPAN

 A large group of student volunteers also provided support as Security Guards, Secretaries, IT support and Press team. In all about 100 students from Wesley were involved in the Conference. Those who deserve commendation for hosting a very successful event are the office holders who formed part of the organizing committee.

Eve Kearney, Secretary General, Thelma Harris, Deputy Secretary General, Victoria Veitch, Head of Chairs, Katy Rae, Deputy Head of Chairs, Natasha Waugh, Head of Press, Olwen O’Meara, Head of Secretariat, Ben Doyle, Head of Security, Mark McGarry, Head of IT

London Choir Trip continued................

This was a hugely enjoyable morning in which we learned some traditional Gospel songs and moves, as well as performing an original composition by tutor, Danny Thomas.  Evensong in Westminster Abbey with all of its ancient ritual and formal musical settings, in stark contrast to the morning of Gospel music, was next followed by a very different perspective on the city sights from a pod on the London Eye.  Saturday night was a real highlight for many – Wicked the Musical in London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre.  A superb show packed full of brilliant solos, duet and ensemble singing that was absolutely full of energy from some of the best performers on an amazing set and with brilliant lighting effects.  The stunning Church of Alias Saint Vedast, which stands in the shadow of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, was our place of worship on Sunday where the Choir led the service with modern settings of the Kyrie, Agnus Dei, Sanctus and Benedictus as well as Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring as the Introit.  Sunday also included Shakepeare’s Globe Theatre as well as shopping, ice-skating and bowling.  Our final day in London brought us to Covent Garden where a tour of the Royal Opera House brought us into the very centre of this vast and technologically impressive building where we were lucky enough to see a ballet class, a technical rehearsal and even the royal toilet!  We were also very kindly allowed to sing in the floral room, a beautiful glass structure flooded with light.  Time to explore the markets or just enjoy lunch in the sunshine was followed by our final visit which brought us to the National Gallery where we were introduced to some music themed paintings by Renoir, for example.  A magnificent four days of music and culture in London with a brilliant bunch of pupils.

Michael Longley in Wesley continued.....

Longley spoke of his life as a poet and described it as 'an inner adventure'. He wrote his first poem at sixteen and the first poem he ever published, 'Marigolds', in the Trinity College magazine Icarus, he recited from memory, telling his audience that he wrote it to impress the girls, adding that 'it didn't work'. I'm still recovering from my broken heart.' That was March 1960 and his father, who died the following year, said of 'Marigolds' that 'it wasn't worth the paper it was written on'.
 
Longley told some wonderful stories – for example, of his visit to Buckingham Palace to receive the Gold Medal ('it looked like there was chocolate inside!'). When the Queen asked him ‘What are you going to do with it?’ he told her that he was going to wear it going shopping’. He told us how it felt so strange when he walked into the room ‘and there she was. We sat on a sofa, it’s not a conversation, it’s called an audience and I was told by her equerry to call her Ma’am, which rhymes with lamb. I brought with me photographs of my father who had received a medal, from the Queen’s grandfather, George V, for bravery during the Great War and she was interested to see those.’ In those photographs there was a balustrade in the background and the Queen had an equerry show Longley the exact spot where his father has stood for his photograph in the gardens of the palace years earlier. ‘And I thought as I stood there that perhaps my poetry was worth the paper it was written on after all.’ He added that he had gone into Buckingham Palace a Republican and had come out a Royalist.

Longley read ‘Wounds’, ‘Carrigskeewaun’, ‘Wreaths’, ‘Last Requests’, and ‘Ceasefire’, powerful and evocative poems, and offered marvellous and detailed commentaries on each one. He also spoke, from memory, a recent poem about his grandson and answered questions from the audience including a question from Keith McElligott: ‘Do you have a special place where you write?’ Longley replied that he liked a quiet place but that said he began one of his best known poems, ‘Ceasefire’, on the Dublin/Belfast train.

‘Poetry, it is my religion. There were eight years of silence when I didn’t write, the poems just didn’t come to me’ but he recommended the life of a poet and ‘the strange adventures’ that poetry made possible. He likened our growing old to the shedding of skins, as a snake does, ‘but there is no shedding of skins for the artist. Never grow up is good advice for the artist and out of the ramblings and rattlings in the back of my head I make poems.’

Longley talk was warm and generous and humorous and entertaining and he captivated his young audience. Kate Willis thanked Michael Longley for a wonderful visit and she and Ben presented him with a gift on behalf of everyone lucky to have been there.

When the dazzling and colourful Romantic poet Shelley (1792-1822) died by drowning at the age of thirty, the Victorian poet Robert Browning was only a ten-year-old boy. Years later Browning met someone who had known Shelley and he wrote those famous lines that capture the magic of having met someone who had known someone unique and special. The teenagers in the Myles Hall on that January day saw Longley plain and he did stop and speak to them. They will remember it in years to come; it is something that they will tell their children. ‘How strange it seems and new’.

Niall MacMonagle

Senior Choir Trip to Paris continued........

Day two brought us right into the centre of Paris with a cruise down the Seine, taking in the Eiffel Tower, the decadent Alexander Bridge, the Louvre and countless other spectacular sights which are so abundant in this incredible city.  Disneyland was our next stop and this was a real favorite with the students and, indeed, with the teachers too!  Shopping completed another fantastic day and we retired to the hotel for a very pleasant group dinner together before a well-earned rest.  A visit to see Monet’s magnificent Waterlillies at the Orangerie Gallery followed by a walk through the Tuileries Gardens in beautiful sunshine began our third day in Paris. 

The luxurious and dramatic Opera House was our next port of call and a guided tour here left us wanting to go to an opera in such wonderful surroundings as these at some time.  We sang in one of the oldest churches in Paris, Saint Germain, which is said to have been built in the 6^th century and was the chapel of the Palais du Louvre back when the Louvre functioned as a royal palace.  Vespers in Notre Dame was followed by more crepes on the street nearby and a visit to the Arc de Triomphe.  We were hosted by the Scots-Kirk Presbyterian Church on our final day where we sang a beautiful Palm Sunday Service and were made to feel very welcome by their congregation. 

Our musical programme in Paris included many Palm Sunday hymns including All Glory Laud and Honour, You are the King of Glory and O Sacred Head! Sore Wounded from Bach’s Matthew Passion, as well as a body of stunning unaccompanied items such as Nearer My God to Thee, I Vow to Thee My Country, How Can I Keep From Singing and With a Joyful Song, to name but a few.  All that remained for us to do was to return home, exhausted but in high spirits, and get on with our Easter holidays.  Every single member of the choir made this trip a real success through their enthusiasm for everything and their high standards of musicianship and conduct throughout a really fantastic four day tour. 

AUTHOR VISIT      CHIMAMANDA  NGOZI  ADICHIE continued....

Some pupils there that afternoon had already read her work including one Form V class who is studying Purple Hibiscus for Leaving Cert.  Adichie not only has a fine, questioning intelligence and a sensitive imagination but Adichie is a true storyteller. Her characters come alive with great immediacy and her evocation of her native Nigeria is brilliantly done.

She writes on the big themes of tradition, politics, colonialism, sexuality, religion but she roots her narratives in family life and relationships in such a way that the reader is totally caught up in the story. She writes what are called extraordinarily good reads. In Purple Hibiscus fifteen year old Kambili tells a riveting story of her immediate and extended family in which she is forced to question everything that she once took for granted and the powerful ending is just unforgettable. A character in the opening pages of Half of a Yellow Sun says that ‘in the bigger picture we are all one race’. In contemporary Ireland we are now witnessing the complexities, challenges and benefits of multi-culturalism and Adichie’s work is more relevant than ever.

Adichie’s work prompts her reader to ask what civilisation should be; she explores and examines cultural differences, cultural tensions and reminds us of the need for an openness, a way of living and looking so that one day, to borrow John Lennon’s beautiful idea, the world might live as one.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke about her writing life, read the opening pages of Half of a Yellow Sun and then took questions from the floor. She prefers the Q&A format because then, as she explained, she focuses on what her audience wants to know about. There were several questions including one from Ross McKinley which Adichie thought one of the most unusual and interesting questions that she had ever been asked: ‘If you were an animal what would you choose to be and why?’ Instead of answering she turned the question back on Ross who unhesitatingly told a packed Myles Hall that he would be a dolphin – for its liberty and grace.

Eve Kearney, Aine Keegan and Juliet McCutcheon, winners of a literary competition run to coincide with the visit, were presented with copies of Adichie’s book and Michael Naude eloquently proposed a vote of thanks on behalf of everyone and presented Ms Adichie with a gift and purple tulips – no hibiscuses to be had. The afternoon ended with a very long queue of staff and pupils lining up to have their novels signed.

WCDMUN08

The aim of MUN is to pass resolutions which a majority of countries can sign up to and to put these forward to the General Assembly for further amendment and discussion. Assisted by a strong Secretariat and Security Team, delegates engaged with the issues and were successful in passing 5 Resolutions, which were put on the General Assembly Agenda in the afternoon. However, when the Conference Infogram Vetoed!  reported an Emergency in Kosovo during a recess in General Assembly,  a swift change to the agenda was prompted. Delegates were finally able to achieve consensus on the issue. Led by the USA, UK, France and China (although opposed by Ireland and Finland) a resolution was put forward that attempted to resolve the crisis.

At the closing Ceremony, the GA recognized the USA (Cheadle Hulme School, Manchester) as the best delegation. A number of other delegates achieved Highly Commended and Commended Awards, and a number of Wesley students (Aoife Cassidy, Jordan Boyd, Jayne Misstear and Sarah Cullen) also received special recognition for their contributions in committees. In all over 80 Wesley College students took part in the conference in roles such as Delegates, IT/ Audio-Visual Technicians, Photographers, Secretaries, Security Guards, Committee Chairs and Press Reporters. Congratulations to the WCDMUN Committee of a very successful first conference, particularly to the five office holders:

Secretary-General                    Ben Healy

Deputy Secretary-General        Alex Coleman

Head of Secretairat                   Thelma Harris

Head of Press and Publicity      Eve Kearney

Head of Security                       Ben Doyle

Classical Studies Trip-Rome and Pompeii 

November 14 2007, thirty Classical Studies students and three staff from Wesley College travelled abroad to Italy on an educational tour of Rome and Pompeii. Each day was filled with walks, discussions and guided tours around the ancient city of Rome and the lost town of Pompeii.

On Wednesday we made our way to the Forum of Rome, the social, economic and religious centre of the ancient empire. The Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), Trajans Column and the Arch of Constantine remain as stark reminders of the glory and power of the Ancient Roman Empire, overwhelming both in size and significance. Thursday we travelled to the Vatican, to stand in awe of St. Peter's Basilica and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

Rome is a unique and indeed breathtaking city and not one that can be fully appreciated in a two day visit, not matter how hard one tries.

The Naples Archaeological Museum was the centre of attention on Friday where many famous artefacts reside such as the Cave Canem (beware of the dog) mosaic, the famous mosaic from the House of the Faun at Pompeii of The Battle of Issus depicting Alexander and Darius and the colossal marble sculpture of the Farnese Bull.

Saturday began with a guided tour around the ancient town of Pompeii which simply cannot be described in words. To walk on the very same streets or venture into the shops, baths or houses like the ancients did as part of their daily routine is a vivid journey back in time aided by the uniquely preserved buildings, frescos, graffiti and mosaics.

Below are a series of photographs taken on the four day tour.

November 2007

ANTHONY HOROWITZ VISIT

On Thursday 8 November 2007 the best-selling author Anthony Horowitz visited Wesley and spoke to a packed Myles Hall. Preps,Years I, II and III – 466 pupils in all and several members of staff – were entertained with anecdotes and advice. Horowitz prefaced his roller-coaster performance with a reminder to his audience that he is a liar. He invents, he exaggerates, he plays with the truth and offered a shining example of his techniques when he pounced upon Ms Glenfield’s handbag and spun three outrageous stories in three different genres, horror, romance and spy, there and then. 

When asked if Horowitz were his real name he explained that, yes, it is. And better still he likes how his name contains “horror” and the German word for joke, his trademark techniques. He has published over fifty books and reached a worldwide audience with the Alex Rider novels which to date have sold ten million copies and have been translated into twenty-eight languages. Stormbreaker, the first in the series was published in 2000 and Snakehead, the seventh Alex Rider book was published the week he visited Wesley. Rider is a young James Bond and no one packs more action, adventure, plot-twists and plot turns into a story than Horowitz. This new book tells of two weeks in the life of fourteen-year-old Alex. It begins with a splash (check it out) and is set in Australia, London, Bangkok, Jakarta. And it tells of how baddie of baddies Major Winston Yu’s mother is buried in the rose gardens in Buckingham Palace (go figure!). Horowitz says he got the idea for that when he was invited to Queen Elizabeth’s eightieth birthday party.

All Junior pupils are familiar with Horowitz’s Myths and Legends, his brilliant re-telling of some of the greatest stories ever told which they read in class. Many are avid fans and when RTE covered the event for The Den ICE programme and television presenter Rob Ross interviewed Horowitz and many Wesley pupils about the Alex Rider series the Myles Hall buzzed with excitement.

Before the visit all pupils were invited to read six Alex rider openings and to say which one was their favourite. They were also invited to write their own version of an Alex Rider opening. The judges drew up longlists, shorter longlists and eventually, after great difficulty (the standard was exceptionally high) a shortlist of winners. We also plunged into the big box of all entries and Daisy Maloney (1A6), Rebecca Reeves (3A5), Jack Daly (2A3),  Tom Samuel (3A5), Alexander Sloane (3 A5) and Kate Carey (1A5) were presented with “The Luck of the Draw” gifts.

In the Personal Response category, Carla White (3A4) was third, Esther Glenfield (2A4) second and Shane Kennedy was named first. Anthony Horowitz kindly presented prizes.  Horowitz himself, on arriving in Wesley, judged the Creative Writing category. He read the shortlist of three and named Jack Woods (Preps) third. On Master Woods’s manuscript [which contained the memorable sentence ‘Jed P. Marshall liked reclining on a leather sofa watching Die Hard – he almost knew it off by heart’] he wrote: ‘You write with great energy. Keep it up!’. Dara O’Brien (3A5)  was placed second. Her piece began ‘Alex Rider looked up and out, but not back’ and Horowitz wrote ‘I wanted to read more. Well done!’ and Sahr Yambasu’s (3A5) was named number one. ‘What a great story,’ wrote Horowitz, ‘terrific atmosphere’. Here is how it begins: ‘There was a damp, cool mist from the river Thames billowing out towards this private boarding school in North London. It made the cold, unforgiving grey brick seem to almost disappear . . . . ‘

Anthony Horowitz is a dynamic, inspirational, energising speaker meant that there was no shortage of questions from the floor and the huge, attentive, impeccably-well-behaved audience that day was a credit to Wesley College. He signed books, chatted with pupils was interviewed by Eve Kearney for Full Stop before heading away into his very busy life.

Australia Senior Girls Hockey Trip Summer 2007

Over the summer 25 of the senior girls and 3 staff travelled to Singapore and Australia on a hockey tour.  The first stop was in Singapore where we played matches against Singapore U21s and U19s.  It was a new experience to play in such humidity but the girls coped admirably and competed very well with such opposition. 

The next stop was Sydney where we took part in a coaching clinic at the Olympic Hockey Stadium.  The facilities here were fantastic and the girls learnt a lot form the coaches there.  We also played a series of games against a Sydney area representative side and a local club side. 

We then travelled up to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast where the highlight of the weekend was learning to surf. 

The first two weeks of the tour afforded many different experiences along with the hockey whilst we prepared for the intense week of matches that would be the Southern Skies tournament.  We had two teams entered in the competition which meant that the squad was involved in 4 games every day.  It was intense but most enjoyable.  There was a break on the 3^rd day with a visit to a Water Park down on the Gold Coast.  The final group games were on the Thursday and the 1^st XI qualified for the semi-final whilst the 2^nd XI qualified for the 2^nd tier Bowl semi-final. 

On Friday both teams were successful in the semi-finals.  The Bowl final took place first and in a fantastic performance the team beat Frensham 3 – 1.  This was a great achievement for the 2^nd XI and was the result of some very hard work by them.  The progress that they had made over the tournament was excellent.

The Trophy final followed immediately  after.  The 1^st XI were up against Moreton Bay College from Brisbane, who had looked a very strong team the whole way through the tournament.  Moreton Bay struck first and were 1 – 0 up by half time.  The Wesley girls showed great character though and scored twice in the second half to take the trophy. 

The highlight of the tour was the performance of the 2 teams through the tournament.   Every player made massive progress in their hockey over the 3 weeks of the tour.  At the awards ceremony it was the first time ever that the two trophies had gone to the same school.  Jennifer Wilson, captain of the 2^nd XI, received the Bowl and Jennie Fair, captain of the 1^st XI, received the Trophy.  Two Wesley players were also selected onto an All Stars team.  These were Rachel Scott (who scored 17 goals) and Sarah Lewis. 

Australia Hockey Trip

Results

1^st XI Southern SkiesTournament Results

Group Games: bt Wesley 2^nd XI 3 – 0; bt St Margaret’s 4 – 0; bt Oxley 10 – 1; bt Rydhal Penros 14 – 0; bt All Hallows 7 – 0; bt Woodford House 3 – 1;

Trophy Semi-final: drew Woodford House 1 – 1 (won match on result of group game)

Final: bt Moreton Bay 2 – 1

2^nd XI Southern Skies Tournament Results

Group Games: lost Woodford House 0 – 2; lost Wesley 1^st XI 0 – 3; drew Carmel College 0 – 0; lost BWHA 0 – 5; drew Frensham 1 – 1; lost Moreton Bay 0 – 3;

Bowl Semi-final: bt BWHA 1 – 0

Bowl Final: bt Frensham 3 - 1