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Discover Lifelines: letters from
famous people about their favourite poems
More
Photos-click here
Link-click
here
This National Library exhibition marks the 25th
anniversary of the Lifelines project. The exhibition celebrates the
Lifelines project which began in 1985 when English teacher Niall
MacMonagle suggested to his Fifth Year class in Wesley College,
Dublin that they do something
 to
help those suffering in Africa. They wrote to famous people and
asked them to name a favourite poem and give a reason why. The
replies were compiled in a simple booklet and sold out in two days.
Further booklets, also compiled by Wesley College pupils, were
published in 1988, 1990 and 1992.
The success of the booklets resulted in the
publication of the Lifelines book in 1992, with a foreword by Seamus
Heaney. Lifelines 2 appeared in 1994 and Lifelines 3 in 1997. A
selection from Lifelines was published by Penguin in 1993, and a
further volume, a New and Collected edition, published by Townhouse
in 2006. Royalties earned on the various editions had, by 2006,
raised over €100,000 for Concern to fund the organisation's work in
the developing world.
The National Library of Ireland purchased the
original letters that were included in the first Lifelines
publication and the money was donated to Concern. Subsequently
Wesley College donated all correspondence, photographs and other
related archival material to the Library. The Discover Lifelines
exhibition in the Library's main hall shows letters from this
archive from writers, poets, actors, artists, media personalities
and politicians.
The exhibition was formally opened at an event in
the National Library on Thursday 4 February. Wesley College Head
Girl, Thelma Harris, welcomed the many guests. Graham Norton,
broadcaster and comedian, opened the exhibition with an inspired and
highly entertaining speech. Gerry Danaher, chairperson of the Board
of the National Library introduced four speakers who gave us a
flavour of the anthology: Joy Marshall, one of the first pupil
compilers of Lifelines in 1985; poet Paul Durcan; novelist Jennifer
Johnston; Fiona Masterson, pupil at Wesley College.
Mr Christopher Woods, Principal of Wesley
College, thanked Mr MacMonagle for Lifelines, for Poetry Aloud and
for his inspirational teaching. He called on Mr Pat Murphy, teacher
at Wesley College, and pupil Dónal O’Connor to present a cheque to
Mr Tom Arnold of Concern. Carla, Rory and Phoebe White, pupils at
Wesley College provided the musical accompaniment.
The exhibition continues throughout 2010.
Lifelines New and Collected is available from the
National Library Shop.
Opening Hours
Mon – Wed: 9.30am – 9pm
Thurs – Fri: 9.30am – 5pm
Saturday: 9.30am – 4.30pm
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WCDMUN2010
More Photos-click
here
 WCDMUN2010
saw about 350 students from Ireland and Great Britain come
together to discuss and propose resolutions to some of the
most difficult problems facing the world in 2010. The
delegates sat on 8 committees, including the Security
Council and Human Rights Committee as well as meeting
altogether in a simulation of the United National General
Assembly to deal with a simulated international emergency
and the question off 21st Century democracy. This
was the 3rd Annual Wesley Model Untied Nations
Conference, and this year debate was spread across two days,
Friday 26th and Saturday 27th
February. After a Banquet, Opening Speeches from the
Secretary General and Guest Speaker, Minister Eamon Ryan,
the
students delegates Met in their committees to win support
for their prepared resolutions to be debated on the
Saturday.
 This
year, for the first time, the Late Late Jazz Café was open
after the formal proceedings for students to unwind and
relax before the next day’s more intense debate. Many Wesley
delegates picked up awards for their efforts, and there was
praise for both the high standard of debate and the
professional chairing of committees provided by Wesley
students and a few Guest Chairs from Methodist College
Belfast, and Terenure College. The overall winning
delegation represented the USA from Terenure College and
they took home the WCDMUN2010 Salver.
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Debating
Congratulations to Carin Hunt (Form 5) who was part of the
five-speaker Irish Schools’ Debating Team that made the break at the
World Schools in Doha, Qatar at the mid-term. The tournament
featured 59 nations. The Irish team were unfortunate to run into
eventual World Champions Canada in the knock-out stage at the Octo-finals.
Since returning, Carin and her Wesley speaking partner Dara O’Brien
have won the University College Dublin Law Society Mace competition.
Jamie Haughton and Tara Masterson-Hally were runners-up by a split
adjudication. Both teams also shared the distinction of topping the
tab.
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Author Visit: Garrett
Carr 26 February 2010
View more photos
here
Garrett Carr is a
new, young Irish writer who has just published his first book, the
Badness of Ballydog. He spoke to Preps and
 Form
I on Friday, 26 February. A leisurely, relaxed speaker he spoke of
growing up in Killybegs, his boyhood obsession with monsters, why
‘bad bad bad’ is more interesting than ‘nice’, how and where to find
your characters' names and the need to keep reading, reading,
reading if you
 want
to become a writer. He showed a series of slides depicting monsters
– he was very impressed that Wesley pupils identified the wyvern
(until he was told that it was part of the school crest) – more
monsters, Donegal, images from his school copybooks, and cover
designs for his novel, the first in a trilogy. He also read a [very
short] story that he had written when he was in Second Class, called
'A Day at the Zoo'. He had never been to a zoo - 'There is no zoo in
Killybegs' - but that didn't prevent him from making it up.
To coincide with this
visit pupils were invited to read the opening three pages of The
Badness of Ballydog and to tell the story so far in two haikus.
Garrett Carr judged the short list, placed Adam Curry, third, James
Austen, second and named Jessica O'Hanlon first. Her haikus went as
follows:
The terrible town -
Was not seen but smelt and heard - Ewan was upset. The Ballydog
smell, Smelt of a fishy fog that - Hung around all day.
Dylan Lewis thanked
Garrett Carr on behalf of everyone there and presented him with a
gift.
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Concern
This years Concern
Christmas Fast attracted 61 pupils and 13 staff. All years
participated; three preps, five year one, nine year two,
fourteen year three, thirteen year four, twelve year five and
five year six. The main message for the annual fast is to
‘do something positive for
people in need'. The main activity again this year
was the 24 hour food fast but there was also 24 hour silence and
the five mile Wesley run. The event that attracted most
attention was three sixth year boys who offered their legs for
waxing. They received a lot of sponsorship for the pain
involved. The total collected this year for the fast was
€4,895.60.
But then,
while the sponsorship money for the fast was being finalised in
January the devastating earthquake in Haiti happened. It was
obvious from the start that the Haiti situation was an emergency
and demanded an extra response. So another appeal was launched
and the money started pouring in. Pupils organised a coffee
morning for Haiti and a collection was done during tutor
period.
The total
collected was €7,167.74
which was a fantastic response by both staff and pupils.
The total amount
collected for Concern was €12,063.34
which was outstanding.
In February,
cheque for €12,063.34
was handed over to Mr Tom Arnold – Concern CEO - at the
Lifelines 25th anniversary event in the National
Library Dublin.
Many thanks to all
who participated in the fast and for your generous donations to
the Haiti appeal.
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Year 1 Speak week
On Friday, 12
February 2010, the Class of 2015 [aka Year 1] buzzed with excitement
and anticipation in the G B Shaw Auditorium at 9 a.m. Twelve
finalists, two from each class, were taking part in Speak Week and
the topics for their speeches this year were wide-ranging and
varied. Nadia Armstrong chose to speak on Brendan Kennelly; Sophie
Campbell advised us about Healthy Living; Sarah Cannon defended Red
Heads; Christine Cox focused on People who were Wheelchair-bound;
Isaac Harris explored Funny Names; Dylan Hughes denounced Graffiti;
Emmanuel Mansuk informed us about Scents and Smells;
Leo Micklem’s topic
was Seal Culling; Kevin Smith argued that a General Election was
needed; Jonathan Wilson urged us to abandon exams; Fiona Wolfe
celebrated Nelson Mandela; and Heather Wolfe warned against Animal
Extinction. Well done to all who took part.
The performances were
of a consistently high standard this year and Ms Glenfield and Ms
Rowan had the difficult task of selecting a one, two, three. Third
place went to Nadia Armstrong, Second to Leo Micklem and the Mr
Woods presented Jonathan Wilson with the Overall Prize. This year a
special Perpetual Trophy, the OAR Award [Oratory and Rhetoric] which
was specially commissioned and Jonathan Wilson was the first to
raise this splendid trophy [made from mahogany, oak and walnut by
Mark Ennis in Fifth Year] to thunderous applause.
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Christmas Music in Wesley
Wesley’s choirs were particularly busy this
Christmas season with a huge number of events taking place. he
Junior Choral Group were carol singing in Dundrum Town Centre on
behalf of Focus Ireland, raising almost €550 in just under an hour
an a half as they entertained passing shoppers with seasonal songs
such as Let it Snow, Winter Wonderland and many more. 
All of Wesley’s choirs from preps right up to sixth year were busily
preparing for the annual carol services which were a mix of old and
new music with every group giving of their very best - some even had
choreography from Ms Spicer to add to the festivities as they were
Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree! The Senior Choir really
took centre stage this term, however, with an extremely busy
schedule of performances in the Wesley Senior Carol Service, St
Ann’s Church in Dawson Street and in the amazingly beautiful
surroundings of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. At the invitation of the
Salvation Army for the second year running, the Senior Choir were
guest performers at the annual carol service in St. Ann’s on the
first Saturday in December performing for a congregation which
included the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Minister Mary Hanafin. Helen
Tempany gave an exquisite rendition of Oh Holy Night which
was a real highlight on the night. The Senior Choir were also
selected for the second year running to be broadcast on
Lyric FM as part of their annual Choirs for Christmas
competition. Following an excellent Senior Carol Service the Senior
Choir had yet to complete their final engagement of the season as
guest performers with the Celtic Tenors in St Patrick’s. James
Nelson, a former Wesley pupil, along with Daryl and Matthew are the
Celtic Tenors who have established themselves as
the most successful classical crossover artists ever to emerge from
Ireland. Just back from a successful tour of North America and
Canada, the Tenors were playing a number of dates around Ireland
with Wesley participating in their Dublin gig. Joined by
past-pupils and Sophie Clery-Browne on flute, the Senior Choir put
in an awesome performance to a packed audience of many favorites
such as The Holy City, Rutter’s Star Carol, Ireland’s Call
and the classic tenor aria Nessun Dorma. An amazing
experience for all involved ending the Christmas season in Wesley on
a real high.
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ISTA/Pharmachemical
Ireland Senior Science Quiz 2009
The Dublin Region final of the
Senior Science Quiz took place in Trinity College on Thursday 12th
November.
 There
was a great turnout, with 51 teams taking part. Wesley had two teams
of 6th Year students: Team 1 was Brandon Janse van Vuuren,
Hannah Pratt and Rebecca Geary while Team 2 was Soyama Anachebe,
Rupert Christie and Anna Tierney. The questions were challenging,
with two thirds taken from Leaving Cert Biology,
 Chemistry
and Physics and one third general knowledge. Both teams did very
well, but it was Team 2 that got ahead of the field early on and
stayed there all the way to win the trophy for Wesley. Their score
was an amazing 41 out of 48 and they beat Blackrock College into
second by three points.
Along with the other top five
teams, Soyama, Anna and Rupert go forward to the National Final in
Trinity on Saturday 28th November and we wish them the
best success there.
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Gaisce Awards
The Gaisce Silver Award requires a
large commitment of time and effort, with the participant
challenging themselves for a minimum of 26 weeks in various areas.
 While many of our students embark on the Bronze Award, not all find
themselves able to make the commitment necessary to see it through.
To gain the Silver Award requires further commitment and stamina. It
is a significant achievement and we congratulate Alexander Sloane
for it. Alexander undertook challenges in a number of areas,
 not
least his Adventure Section where he was part of the Wesley Habitat
Team in Honduras. If you ever need a bell ringer he could well be
the man to ask as he set this for his Personal Skill challenge. There are many students who are currently going for the Bronze Award
and many more who have already achieved it. It would be great to see
more Silver Awards being achieved and the Gold is certainly worth
striving for. Remember, while it is a challenge by the President of
Ireland to you, it is also your own personal challenge to yourself,
the only person you’ll compete with is yourself. We look forward to
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POETRY ALOUD 2009
‘No one will speak in prose, Who finds his way to these Parnassian
islands.’
Poetry Aloud, founded in Wesley in 1993, is
celebrating its seventeenth year and it goes from strength to strength.
Over forty pupils from all years entered Poetry Aloud 2009 and Round One
took place in the G B Shaw Auditorium on Wednesday 14 October. On that
occasion Mr Frank Bredin was judge and he nominated eighteen pupils to
go forward to the Final Round which was held on Thursday 12 November:
JUNIOR: Sadbh Grehan; Katie Hastings; Edwina
Hilton; Helen Major; Gianna Nordon; Grace O’Reilly
INTERMEDIATE: Lucy Gaynor; Esther Glenfield;
Emer Haughton; Matthew Nuding; Peter O’Donovan; Nathan Walsh
SENIOR: William Dwyer-Joyce [ill and unable
to attend the Final]; Carin Hunt; Fiona Masterson; Dara O’Brien; Alice
Ritchie; Natasha Waugh
The judges for the Final Round were Mr Frank
Bredin, Mr Ken Dover and Ms Maureen Sheehan and many members of the
audience felt that the standard this year was the highest ever. Grace
O’Reilly spoke sensitively and beautifully, especially the Fanthorpe.
Nathan Walsh gave a dazzlingly entertaining performance of Ogden Nash’s
‘Very Like a Whale’, Carin Hunt spoke Eavan Boland’s ‘The Lost Land’ and
MacNeice’s ‘Les Sylphides’ with great insight, Natasha Waugh’s version
of Elizabeth Alexander’s ‘Praise Song for the Day’ was truly memorable.
The judges took a long time deliberating and awarded a special prize to
Lucy Gaynor and Natasha Waugh. Then Mr Woods opened the envelopes and
announced the three winners of the individual categories: Gianna Nordon
won Junior; Esther Glenfield, Intermediate and Fiona Masterson, Senior.
Linda Dwyer-Joyce presented the prizes and then the overall winner of
Poetry Aloud 2009 was announced by Mr Woods. It was Gianna Nordon,
Preps, for her exceptional and outstanding performances of Yeats’s ‘The
Wild Swans at Coole’, ‘Stones’ by Brendan Kennelly and ‘BC:AD’ by U A
Fanthorpe. This is the first time that a pupil from Preps will have a
name engraved on the Perpetual Trophy. She has a glittering career ahead
of her. Congratulations to everyone who entered, they are winners all
and will have poems in their heads and in their hearts for years to
come.
Poetry Aloud is generously supported by the
Parents Association. There is a Perpetual Trophy and a first prize of
€150. This year the overall winner also received a signed first edition
of Seamus Heaney’s District and Circle.
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MUN Methodist College
Belfast
Fourteen students, accompanied by Ms Reid and Mr
McConnell, made the trip to Belfast to participate in the annual
Methodist College Belfast Model United Nations Conference. Northern
Ireland’s only MUN conference,
MCBMUN saw over 400 delegates from schools across Ireland Britain and
Europe assemble for the 3-day event. Representing Costa Rica and
Indonesia, Wesley delegates soon made an impression on their committees.
As well as debating issues as diverse as marital rights and reform of
the UN Security Council, delegates were addressed by ITV News Foreign
Correspondent Bill Neely. He reminded the General Assembly that the
world can change dramatically overnight, citing his experience in post
9-11 America and Berlin as the Wall fell in 1989. During the closing
ceremony, the Wesley team representing Costa Rica were awarded the
McMordie Cup for being the best Delegation in General Assembly debates,
no mean feat for this group of TY students in a crowd of students most
of whom were older and more experienced on the MUN circuit. Also of note
was Jayne Misstear’s impressive individual achievement. She was awarded
a gavel for being the best Under-16 delegate at the Conference. Others
who achieved individual awards were Nathan Walsh (Security Council,
Commended Delegate Award) and Yvonne Corcoran, (Human Rights Committee,
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MARK WALDEN Author
Visit 6 November 2009
On Friday morning, 6 November Walden told Preps and
First Years about his fiction, he explained why a book is more freeing
than a movie or a video game and why he is more interested in villains
rather than heroes. H.I.V.E. stands for Higher Institute of Villainous
Education and in Walden’s novels, including Escape Velocity,
Dreadnought, Overlord Protocol, he explores the bad rather than the
good, the dangerous rather than the safe. He read from book four in the
series which featured an exciting car chase.
The pupils were familiar with Walden’s work before he
stepped into the G B Shaw Auditorium. They had read the opening pages of
three of his novels in class and they were encouraged to Google. They
also wrote their own opening beginning with Mark Walden’s words ‘All
that I could see was blackness . . .’ There were three prize-winners
until the judges insisted that there be a joint Third. In Third place –
Patrick Gifford and Siobhan Slater; in second, Fiona Wolfe and first
prize went to Nadia Armstrong whose piece began: ‘All I could see was
blackness. It engulfed my body, pulling me down to its lowly depths,
like a human ivy creeping its way around my torso. It took me deeper
into its lair. Cobwebbed fingers gently felt the pulse upon my neck, its
sense taking in the mouth-watering feast that was me . . .’
Leo Miklen thanked Mark Walden for his very
entertaining talk and presented him with a gift on behalf of everyone
there that day.
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SOPHIE McKENZIE AUTHOR
VISIT 20 October 2009
On YouTube Sophie
McKenzie describes herself as ‘persistent’, ‘curious’ and ‘clumsy’ and
two of those are essential qualities in any writer. In the past
three years she has written eight books. She likes the unexpected but
she always wants her stories to be convincing. Aliens and flying saucers
are not for her. The thriller novel was what she wanted to write.
She read from her most
recent novel The Set-Up in which four teenagers have psychic powers. The
one the audience liked best was telekinesis and the extract vividly
described Nico causing commotion in School Assembly.
Preps and First Years
read the openings to six of McKenzie’s novels before her visit and also
wrote a personal response to their favourite. The standard of work was
very high [the Class of 2015!] and prizes were awarded. Hannah McKay,
Nathan Hayes and Sam O’Connor were named best in the personal response
category. Pupils were also asked to write their own opening page to a
novel and the judge insisted on four prize-winners not three. Michelle
Groos came fourth, Christopher Maher, third, Rory O’Callaghan, second
and first place went to Luke Campbell whose story began:
Then, prizes presented,
Sophie McKenzie signed copies of her novels and away she went into the
rain leaving behind her a feeling of excitement and a heightened
awareness of the power of storytelling.
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Bullying Awareness Week
2009
Wesley College’s annual Bullying
Awareness Week took place from Monday 21st to Friday 25th
September. The theme “I Have a Responsibility” was drawn from the
Wesley College Rights and Responsibilities Charter, incorporating our
new anti-bullying logo. This logo also featured on the Wesley College
pens which were sold throughout the school by prefects to support our
chosen charity, Barnardos.
The Chief Executive of Barnardos, Mr.
Fergus Finlay, came to speak to parents on the work of Barnardos and our
collective responsibility towards the most vulnerable of our children.
The following day all students were
addressed by Mr. John Lonergan, Governor of Mountjoy Prison, who spoke
passionately about individual responsibility towards the vulnerable
amongst us, both here in the College and in the wider community. His
talk was followed by a lively question and answer session.
Students were invited to participate in
a poster competition, while junior students also took part in a slogan
competition, both highlighting the responsibility theme. The art work
and decorative slogans created a wonderful, colourful display and focal
point in the Concourse and the library.
Assemblies during the week had bullying
awareness themes, while those given by the Head and Deputy Head Boys and
Girls and the Prefects were particularly entertaining and
thought-provoking. Prefects were also involved in the “buddy” system
with First Year students and Preps.
The theme “I Have a Responsibility” was
further explored in CSPE and RE classes. All in all, a very successful
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MUNCH IX (Manchester) 2-4 October 2009
It was an early start for the French delegation.
After a 6.30am flight, a bag drop at the hotel, and a chauffeur driven
excursion around Manchester’s M60, there was shopping to be done at one
of the UK|’s largest retail meccas, the Trafford Centre. Later that
evening Delegates Nuding, Walsh, Corcoran, McNamara, Doherty and Cullen
dined with their Chauffeur at TGI Fridays before a final briefing in
advance of the opening of the Conference.
At the opening ceremony on Saturday morning, the 450
Delegates representing 90 countries and from 30 schools, were addressed
by Mr John Stalker, former head of the Greater Manchester Police.
 He
told delegates that he was heartened by their involvement in
“internationalism”, something which he only began to see the importance
of in his mid-thirties. By 10.30am the Committees were up and running
across the Cheadle Hulme Campus, and as debating got underway it was
clear that France would make a significant impact.
Sunday saw joint committee debates before lunch and
the closing ceremony at which Wesley delegates were recognised in the
awards ceremony. They were as follows:
France: Commended delegation (One of 6 Delegations
out of 90)
France: Human Rights Council Yvonne
Corcoran – Highly Commended
France: Human Rights Committee Matthew Nuding –
Best Young Delegate
France: Middle East Committee Sarah Cullen –
Commended Delegate
France: Security Council Nathan
Walsh – Best Young Delegate
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TERMUN, Dublin,
September 2009
Saturday 26th
September saw the opening (and closing!) if the first ever Terenure
College Model United Nations Conference. Organised to mark the
school’s 150th anniversary, the one-off conference saw
about 150 delegates participating from the surrounding Dublin
schools. Wesley students made up 2 delegations representing
Palestine and France in the Committees and the General Assembly.
Of those who took part,
the following students deserve particular mention as they were
awarded Outstanding Delegate awards at the end of the day:
Eve Kearney: Year 6
Political 1 Committee, PALESTINE, Nathan Walsh: Year 4 Security
Council, FRANCE, Yvonne Corcoran: Year 4 Human Rights Committee,
FRANCE.
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RDS McWilliams Young Science
Writers; a Wesley Prize-winner!
Paul
Kelly (6th Year) has won a prize in this prestigious
competition, renamed last year in honour of the late meteorologist and
science writer Brendan McWilliams. The Weather Eye column in the
Irish Times showed over many years how science-related topics could be
explained in an entertaining way for the general public. Secondary level
students were invited to write either factually or in fiction on a topic
of their choice and hundreds of entries were received from all over the
country. Paul’s essay, entitled Particle Physics: a Catastrophic
Waste? was entered in the factual senior category. He wrote about
the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and particle physics generally. This
was a big media story last year, with alleged threats of annihilation by
a mini black hole! He seriously impressed the judges with both style and
substance. He won second prize in this category, one of only 14 prizes
awarded overall.
He was invited, with his family
and his teacher, to the RDS on September 16th to be
congratulated by the Minister for Education, who unfortunately couldn’t
make it due to urgent business in the Dail. Dr Tony Scott, President of
the RDS, presented the prizes and praised the very high standards of the
prize-winners.
Paul continues an excellent
tradition for Wesley in this competition, with Aoife Cassidy winning a
prize the previous year. His article can be read on the RDS website at
this link:
http://www.rds.ie/index.jsp?a=290&n=280&p=182 |
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4th Year
Bonding Day-September 2009-click
here for photos
On the morning of the
day that we received are Junior Certificate results, all pupils from
Fourth Year and many teachers climbed Ticknock mountain. It was good fun
working as team on many activities along the way allowing us to get to
know our new class group a little bit better and took our mind off the
results to come later that day. Although it was very tiring, it was a
great experience.
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SciFest: May 2009
Nine students form First and
Second Year represented Wesley at this year’s SciFest science
investigation competition. They presented the results of their four
projects along with other Dublin schools at the Institute of Technology
in Blanchardstown.
One group form 1st
year, Emma Telford and Orla Reynolds, achieved particular success. They
studied the friction on different surfaces around the school campus in a
project entitled “Slippy or Grippy? …our school surfaces”
The judges were very impressed by
this project and they won the Discover Sensors award for their
innovative use of data logging and sensors.
Congratulations to Emma and Orla
and all the other students who took part: Sarah Clarke, Conor Brady,
Edwina Hilton, Sophie Andrews-McCarroll, Sara Ensor, Lara Sutton, Grace
Mason.
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Burren Field Study
On 7th May, 69 cheerful 5th
formers, 6 enthusiastic teachers and 1 very helpful technician set off
for the annual Biology field study to the Burren. Fifth formers got to
sample the delights of one of the most beautiful and unique landscapes
in western Europe. Despite a dismal forecast, Friday morning was bright
and fresh, perfect weather for quantitative surveying of the rocky
seashore! Students were inspired by the weird and wonderful ‘egg carton’
beach and by the many curious animals found there. One of the most
exciting finds was a mother common crab with a full brood of eggs on her
abdomen!
The marine study continued with a visit to Lahinch
Aquatic centre where students had an opportunity to tour the facilities
with some very enthusiastic and friendly marine biologists. One of the
highlights of the centre was the lobster hatchery were baby lobsters are
raised in separate containers to prevent cannibalistic activities!
Students also had a chance to get up close and personal with some of the
monsters of the deep. Some very intrepid 5th formers were
allowed to ‘pet’ and hold spider crabs, relatives of the giant spider
crab, one of the largest crustaceans in the ocean.
Students had a welcome break from all the hard work
of the morning at the Cliffs of Moher. A short tour of the visitor
centre was followed up with some souvenir shopping and the obligatory
treat for any seaside trip, icecream!
Our last night in Clare ended with a general
knowledge quiz final and spot prize distribution.
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WCDMUN09
Click here for
more photos
Around 250 delegates arrived at Wesley College on the
morning of Saturday 21st March 2009 for Wesley College Dublin
Model United Nations 2009 (WCDMUN09). Model United Nations is a
simulated meeting of the UN at which students participate as
representatives of UN members. 40 Countries were represented by the
delegations from England, Northern Ireland and Dublin. The Conference
was opened by Mr Tom Kitt TD who addressed delegates on the issues of
development aid Global responsibilities. In the afternoon session,
Senator David Norris addressed the General Assembly with his
encouragement to get actively involved in world politics.
read more....
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London Choir Trip
A motley crew of almost forty choristers and staff
headed for London this year on what is happily becoming the annual
Senior Choir trip. A huge amount of music, theatre, history, art,
well-known tourist sights and even the odd rugby game was packed in to a
four-day tour of the British capital, leaving everyone exhausted but
exhilarated. A guided tour of the Westminster area by night took in
many of London’s iconic sights including Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and
the impressive Horse Guards Parade as well Churchill’s Cabinet war
rooms, to name but a few. Saturday morning brought us to Islington
where the Senior Choir was introduced to a totally new sound by two very
talented musicians in a Gospel workshop.
read more here.....
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The Student Enterprise County Final took place in the
Marine Hotel DunLaoghaire on Thursday March 26th.
We
are delighted to announce that out of the three awards in the
Intermediate Section, Lucy Gaynor & Scott Ringland won 1st
place with their fimo models and decorations business “Funky Fimo”.
Yvonne Corcoran and Nathan Walsh took 2nd place with “Wicked
Wicks” (candles and wick based products) Lucy and Scott now go
forward to the National Final in Tullamore on May 14th and we
wish them the best of luck.
“The
Calendar Company” – Conor Brady and Nicholas Stratford didn’t win a
prize in the Junior Section but represented Wesley very well on the day.
There
was also an optional extra dimension to this year’s competition –
businesses were invited to make a presentation on their business to an
audience of teachers and students – Yvonne Corcoran and Nathan Walsh won
the prize for the best presentation.
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Ready Steady Cook 2009 (view
more photos)
The Home Economics
Department held Wesley’s “Ready? Steady? Cook!” on Wednesday
3rd March for its sixth year running. Thanks to the generous
sponsorship of the PTA, students of all ages competed for
generous prizes of vouchers for the Cooks Academy in Dun Laoghaire
(First and Second prize) and a book token (Third prize). The Ready
Steady Cook Cup (First Prize) and Prizes are awarded at the Wesley
College Annual Arts and Sports Awards evening.
This year, the brief was
given a new twist as Wesley’s young chefs and cooks were asked to
prepare cook and serve an international main course dish, in one
hour thirty minutes. The main course dishes ranged from Japanese,
Indian, Italian, French, South African and Irish dishes, to name but a
few regions. Each dish was skilfully prepared by students from Form one
up to Form six.
The mystery Judge for this
year’s competition was none other than the highly acclaimed Michelin
star chef, Kevin Thornton. With the help of Sandra Pullen and
Anna Keogh from the PTA, Mr. Thornton carefully assessed the culinary
skills of all 18 participants and found it quite difficult to choose
between them. He was impressed with all the competitors but in the end
it came down to three talented people. In third place was Peter
Mawhinney (Form one) who served up a tasty Chicken Satay and
Basmati Pilaf from India. Second prize went to Kyrsten Baker,
who made a mouth watering Asparagus and Gruyere Cheese Quiche with
Garden Salad. First place was awarded to Conor Brady (Form
one) who prepared a French/Asian fusion dish; Curried Monkfish with
Mussels. It was superb!
An appreciative audience
had gathered and the clean plates left behind were testament to the
skills of the competitors. On behalf of the Home Economics Department,
Ms. Fallon would like to congratulate all the talented competitors and
the winners on their impressive work during Ready, Steady, Cook, 2009.
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Model United Nations,
George Watson’s College, Edinburgh 13-16th March 2009
11 Wesley students made the trip
to Edinburgh (via Belfast and Glasgow!) for the 3rd Annual
George Watson’s College MUN Conference over the weekend 13th
– 16th March. As well as enjoying the sites of the Old Town
in Edinburgh, the delegates distinguished themselves as representatives
of Palestine and Nigeria. George Watson’s College stands on Colinton
Road, Morningside, close to the home of J K Rowling. It is the largest
Independent School in Scotland and its imposing 1930s edifice was a
grand location for a MUN conference. The Conference was opened by the
BBC foreign correspondent Alan Little who encouraged delegates to change
their world and not to allow the metaphorical “blood bath” he has
witnessed during his career to become a reality in the 21st
Century. All the Wesley delegates spoke well but the following deserve
special mention for the awards they received:
Eve
Kearney (Highly Commended, Middle East Committee) Anna Tierney (Highly
Commended, Health Committee), Thelma Harris (Commended, Political
Committee), Victoria Veitch (Commended, Human Rights Committee) Katy Rae
(Commended, Disarmament Committee Megan Skelly (Commended,
Environment Committee) Nathan Walsh (Commended, Disarmament Committee)
Yvonne Corcoran (Best Junior Delegate, Human Rights Committee) Sarah
Cullen (Best Junior Delegate, Health Committee)
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Justin
Somper Author Visit 12 March 2009
click here
to view photos
The best-selling author
Justin Somper was in Dublin for two days: a morning television
appearance, a Pat Kenny radio interview on the Friday, a talk in Liberty
Hall Later on Thursday but his short Irish visit kicked off with Wesley.
There are several genres of storytelling and Somper, in what he calls a
‘Eureka! Moment’, had the idea one day of combining a pirate adventure
story and a vampire tale and to give the narrative a fresh twist he
added in a futuristic element. The Vampirates books take place 500 years
from now when ocean levels have risen and ruling the waves is paramount.
That morning Somper
announced his storyline and characters, including Connor and Grace
Tempest, fourteen-year-old twins, several baddies and one of his
favourite characters Lorcan Furey from Dublin. He explained how he did
research during which he discovered that Julius Caesar had been captured
by pirates and that ended up in one of the Vampirates series. There are
four books to date and the first three have sold 250,000 copies and are
available in twenty-six countries.
It was a very entertaining
and enjoyable English class and, following a Q & A session, Murray
McDonald having thanked Justin Somper for visiting Wesley the winners of
various competitions were announced. Pupils had been asked to write an
outline of the plot of Somper’s Demons of the Ocean in three haikus and
to write a short story using the Somper sentence ‘There was steel in her
voice’ somewhere in the story. Sophie Campbell came third, Aaron Clarke
Maher, second and first place was awarded to Edwina Hilton for their
haikus. Justin Somper, on arriving in Wesley that morning, read three
short-listed stories and named Andrew Nicoll, third, Zach Mosse, second
and first prize was presented to Katy Thornton. Katy’s story, which she
called ‘Steel’, impressed Somper with its mixing of genres and he read
her opening paragraph aloud to a wonderful audience. |
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Habitat For Humanity
Army Band Concert
On
Thursday the 29th of January, a special fundraising concert
was held in the Myles Hall for Habitat. The renowned ‘Celtic Tenors’
were singing in our school, as well as (thanks to efforts from Wesley
parent Mark Armstrong) the Army No. 1 band. The sell-out show raised
over €11,000 for the Honduras 09 team, and was a great night out for
all involved. At the end of the night Mark, the Army bands conductor,
even got Rev. Mackey up on stage to try his hand at some conducting.
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An Inner
Adventure: Michael Longley in Wesley
'Ah, did
you once see Shelley plain,
And did he stop and speak to you
And did you speak to him again
How strange it seems and new.'
On Friday, 16 January
2009, Michael Longley gave a Reading in Wesley College. Longley is a
distinguished poet and Ben Healy who introduced him to an audience of
Fifth and Sixth Years spoke of his eleven collections, a Collected Poems
(2006) and his many honours including The Whitbread Prize, The
Hawthornden Prize, The T S Eliot Prize and the Queen's Medal for Poetry.
Michael Longley is a member of Aosdana, The Royal Society of Literature
and is Ireland Professor of Poetry.
read
more...
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Christmas Day Service
At the kind invitation of Dr John Stephens and The
Methodist Church in Ireland, Wesley College was afforded the amazing and
challenging opportunity of leading Christmas Day worship on RTE
television. The school’s Senior Choir (the majority of whom had just
stepped off the stage following their superb run in this year’s
production of Grease), along with Rev. Nigel Mackey and Mr
Christopher Woods had a long and tiring afternoon of filming out in the
studios in Montrose at the end of November, having put in many hours of
rehearsal and careful preparation over the winter term. Ben Healy and
Aoife Cassidy, as well as Wesley Shaw, Lisa Delacey and Mr Woods
recounted the story of Christmas and Rev. Mackey delivered a
thought-provoking sermon, all against a back-drop of carols such as
Oíche Chiún,
Ukrainian Bell Carol
and
The
First Noel.
Many thanks to our accompanist Ms Paula Dowzard and to each member of
the Senior Choir, all of whom worked with great dedication and
commitment in the run-up to this engagement and who represented Wesley
College so well.
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4th Year Ice
Skating and Charity Collection
On the 17th of December
4th Year students travelled to Smithfield on Ice for the annual tradition of festive ice skating and charity
collecting. Following a fun filled and indeed relatively injury free
hour on the ice students went to Molesworth street to the ISPCC.
Here students were designated streets, given bright yellow bibs to wear
and boxes of Christmas holly pins to sell for 2 euro in the city centre.
The students were well received on the streets and were very successful
in raising much needed funds for the charity.
Click
here for more photos |
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POETRY ALOUD 2008
Poetry Aloud 2008 celebrates
sixteen years of poetry speaking in Wesley College.
This year the standard was
extraordinarily high, the highest ever in my memory and the fifteen
pupils who took part gave remarkably fine and impressive performances.
At the Interval no one could predict the winners and naming them was the
judges’ difficult job. Katie Hastings was named winner of the Junior
Category, Louisa Harland, the Intermediate and Natasha Waugh was named
the Senior winner. The Principal, Mr Woods presented the prizes. There
was also a special prize this year, a signed copy of Midnight’s
Children by Salman Rushdie and this was awarded to Carin Hunt by the
judges for her performance.
Then Mr Ken Dover of the PTA
opened the envelope and announced that the Overall Winner of Poetry
Aloud 2008 was Natasha Waugh who spoke ‘A Nun Takes the Veil’ by Bernard
O’Donoghue, Shakespeare’s ‘All the World’s A Stage’ and Thomas Hardy’s
‘Drummer Hodge’. Mr Dover presented Natasha with the Perpetual Trophy,
and a handsome cash prize of €180 at the end of a very, very enjoyable
and enriching evening.
And when Sir Salman signed
Midnight’s Children he wrote ‘Poetry Allowed 2008’! Poetry Aloud and
Poetry Allowed.
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THE BIG SING
The ‘Big Sing’, an attempt to break the current world
record for the greatest number of people singing simultaneously, took
place on November 28th, 2008.
All 150 Transition Year students participated, and
each donated an amount, which will be given to
Special Olympics Ireland and the
ISPCC Childline service. €300 was raised for
these worthy causes.This
year, Special Olympics Ireland celebrates 30 years of changing the lives
of people with an intellectual disability by giving them a real
opportunity to achieve in life, through sport. The money raised through
the BIG SING will help them to expand the programme throughout Ireland.
The ISPCC Childline Service is
Ireland’s only multi-media listening service for children, operating 24
hours a day, every day of the year. Nearly 2,000 children contact
Childline each day, yet, due to lack of funds, only half of those called
are currently answered. The money raised by the Big Sing will help
Childline reach its goal of 100% call capacity by 2011.
The
Transition Year class joined with 600,000 students across the country,
to sing ‘You Gotta Be’ by Desiree. They are currently awaiting
ratification of their record-breaking achievement. The class was
accompanied by Carl Pullen on drums and Ms. Hiney on piano.
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Science Week 2008
Wesley’s Science took place in the second week of
November. 1st and 2nd Years had a visit from
“Galileo” in the Auditorium. He explained how he made his famous
discoveries and we felt like we had gone back in time to see them as
they happened! Transition Year saw the speculative docudrama
Supervolcano, in which the massive volcano in Yellowstone Park
exploded with global consequences. A great buzz of discussion on “could
it really happen” was created after seeing this film. A highlight of
the week was the visit of the AgriAware Mobile Farm, including two
seriously cuddly donkeys. A quiz and a competition for the best” Science
Fact” poster also took place ( one of the winners is shown here), well
done to all the pupils who took part.
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HEALTH WEEK 2008 17- 21
NOV
Health Week is our annual reminder of the importance
of looking after ourselves.Some of the activities going on during the
week were:
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Artistic Wesley students brightened up the school with their
colourful, eye-catching posters
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The catering staff provided us with their usual fare of healthy,
nourishing foods
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In particular we were provided with and encouraged to eat more fruit
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During assembly we were reminded by no less an expert than Professor
Ian Graham, who is Professor of Cardiology in TCD, of the damage
that poor eating habits can do to that most important body organ –
the heart!
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Recognising that teenagers are not always at their best first thing
in the morning, Mr Lemon produced a 10 minute exercise programme
that can be done with minimal effort but maximum return. There were
some interesting sights in the staffroom as teachers practised the
routine before heading off to their classrooms!
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But of course it was the 6th years who stole the show.
They organised, with great enthusiasm, gladiator-like challenges
against the staff. These feats required great skill and strength.
Guess who were the mightier warriors on the day?
Hopefully we are now a little more
conscious of how simple it is to include some healthy food and a little
more exercise in our busy lives. It can also be good fun.
Thanks to everyone who
participated in the week and most importantly, look after yourselves! |
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Grease
After the extraordinary
response following the announcement of Wesley College’s 46th
Dramatic Production, ‘Grease’ was the word echoing through the halls for
the following two months. As opening night dawned upon us, everyone
involved in the production, from our cast of 90 students to the artists,
the backstage crew and the sound and light team, began to sense that
they were a part of something quite special. Their performances over
the three nights were filled with energy, enthusiasm and fun and every
single student who participated could relax in the knowledge that their
incredibly hard work had paid off. Congratulations in particular to the
T-Birds and the Pink Ladies who, in spite of remaining incredibly
focused throughout, were possibly having more fun on stage than off
it!! They worked so well and with such diligence throughout every
rehearsal and the audiences’ applause was well deserved. Well done to
one and all. And as for next year……!
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Book Week
Author visit: Jenny Valentine
On Tuesday 21 October Jenny
Valentine spoke to Form II. Jenny Valentine lives in Hay-on-Wye with her
husband and children and runs their shop three days a week. The rest of
the time she devotes to writing. She published her first novel, Finding
Violet Park, in 2007 and it won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.
Broken Soup followed in 2008 and she told Form II that her third novel,
The Ant Colony, which she has just finished will be published in March
2009.
She finds openings easy and
explained how and where she gets her ideas. Her first novel is told from
a fifteen-year-old boy’s perspective, her second has a female narrator
and she has already been translated into Italian, German and Dutch as
well as being published in America where Finding Violet Park was
re-titled Me, the Missing and the Dead. Valentine read from her first
two novels and this was followed by a question and answer session.
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Author visit: Kate Thompson
On
Thursday, 16 October, Form I and Preps met Kate Thompson, author of
many highly-acclaimed novels and winner of the Whitbread, Guardian,
Bisto [four times] Awards and she has also won the Dublin Airport
Authority Book of the Year Award. Living in Ireland since 1981 and
daughter of the distinguished social historian E.P. Thompson, Kate
Thompson’s work combines the realistic and the supernatural. All of Form
I were familiar with Thompson’s work Creature of the Night [which
had as its working title The Small Woman] which they read in class and
it proved a very popular choice. They hung on her every word and they
had many, many questions. She told Form I and Preps that she wrote in
longhand, could write a first draft in three weeks but a novel really
took a year to complete. She named Jan Mark’s The Eclipse of the Century
one of the best books for teenagers ever and she also praised Geraldine
McCaughrean’s work. Creature of the Night is being published in America
and she showed us the American cover. She is now working on a novel
about climate change.
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Book Week Author visit: Keith Gray
On Tuesday 14 October the
Edinburgh-based, English writer Keith Gray brightened up a rainy
afternoon when he spoke to Form III about himself and his work. He began
with a commentary on some of the eighteen different instructions that
came with a ladder he had recently bought and then produced a rock from
the shores of Loch Ness and a cigar (he HATES smoking) and told two
fascinating and engaging stories about both. Then having had the
audience in the palm of his hand he announced that one of those stories
was a lie. He didn’t read much as a boy but loved comics and his
favourite book is The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall: ‘It ‘s not the
best book that I’ve ever read but when I was thirteen a really cool guy
in school, a year above me, was reading it so I read it too and it won
me over to the power of storytelling.’
He spoke about his six novels,
showed pupils different editions of his work including a Japanese
version of Creepers and also produced the manuscript of his next novel:
he writes in pencil on the right hand side of the page and on the left
makes notes and observations as he goes. He was a very entertaining
speaker and Jack Perdue presented Keith Gray with a gift and thanked him
for coming to Wesley.
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Bullying Awareness Week
2008
This year’s theme for Bullying
Awareness Week (22nd -26th September 2008) was
“Communication:” students and staff were asked to reflect on the impact
of their words, verbal, written and typed, on others. Advances in
Technology have only underlined the need for careful reflection on the
impact of the way we communicate on others, and so the whole area of
Cyber-bullying was broached in a series of talks to each of the Year
groups. Kyle Petrie, currently a resident master in Embury, spoke to
students about the issues surrounding message-posting of the internet
and the use and abuse of social networking websites. His informative and
relevant discussion of the subject was well received by students and
staff alike. On Tuesday 23rd September Junior Cycle parents
were invited to a talk on “Promoting Positive Mental Health in
our Teens,” and “Cyber Bullying and Internet Safety..” The
speakers for the evening were Suzanne Harris and Nola Lambert from
Newpark Comprehensive School and Kyle Petrie.
The week was a further opportunity to continue the
Prefect Buddy system which has been introduced over the last few years.
Under this initiative, Preps 1st and 2nd Year
students have been befriended by the Prefects to offer them advice and
support during the school day. Assemblies for the week were taken by The
Prefects and 6th Year Vocal group “Glitter” took assemblies
on the theme, as well as the Chaplain Nigel Mackey and Niall MacMonagle.
During these assemblies the Bullying Awareness wrist bands were
launched. The Proverb, “Words kill, words give life - they’re either
poison or fruit, you choose” (Proverbs 18:21) was printed on these bands
and this was the theme for the Poster competition. A stunning set of
posters was put on display in the Concourse. The new logo for Bullying
Awareness week was also launched during the week (designed by Freddie
Stevens, Year 6, 07/08) and unveiled in a number of banners on display
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Model United Nations, Cheadle Hulme School,
Manchester 3rd-5th October 2008
16
Wesley students had the opportunity to represent Indonesia, Israel and
Egypt at the 8th Annual MUNCH Conference in Manchester. Of
these, Victoria Veitch (Year 5) was invited as a Guest Chair for the
Human Rights Council having distinguished herself in this role at
WCDMUN08. The conference, one of the largest in England, attracts
students from the UK and Ireland, and this year there were 95
delegations and over 500 delegates. All of the Wesley delegates made an
impression in the Committee rooms and the General Assembly but the
following students were awarded during the closing ceremony:
Sarah Cullen (Yr 3) Commended Delegate Award, Yvonne Corcoran (Yr 3)
Best Young Delegate Award, Anna Tierney (Yr 5) Commended Delegate Award,
Eve Kearney (Yr 5) Commended Delegate Award, Katy Rae (Yr 4) Commended
Delegate Award, Kevin Stone (Yr 6) Highly Commended Award,Alex Coleman
(Yr 6) Special Mention
In
addition to these individual awards, Israel (Katy Rae (Ambassador), Eve
Kearney, Thelma Harris, Anna Tierney, and Natasha Waugh) had the
distinction of winning a coveted Commended Delegation Award.
Congratulations to all those who took part.
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Author Visit-Geraldine
McCaughrean
On 23 September Geraldine McCaughrean,
author of 140 books and winner of numerous awards [the Carnegie Medal;
the Guardian Children's Fiction Award; the Whitbread Children's Book of
the Year Award (three times); Smarties Bronze (four times)] and whose
work has been translated into 38 languages visited Wesley and spoke to
Preps, Forms I and II about her life and work, during which she invited
her lively and enthusiastic audience to shape the opening of a new
story. A young woman from Afghanistan, with a facial scar and a fear of
chicken bones were some of the pupils' suggestions. And she urged her
audience, even if they didn't like reading, to keep their imaginations
open. And she provided an example which involved a cliff top, crashing
waves and a deathly plunge.
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Wesley MUN Committee meet David Miliband
On 11th
September 2008, five Year 5 students were invited by the British
Embassy to attend an event in the Mansion House, Dublin
entitled, "Delivering a Global Europe: a conversation with The
Rt Hon David Miliband MP, British Foreign Secretary."
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Student Enterprise Awards- by Glen Byrne
The Student Enterprise Awards was an amazing
experience for me. I had great fun every step of the way, but I also
learnt so much about running a business, and more. My product was very
successful and created a lot of interest. I sometimes have to relay all
the events in my head, just to make sense of it.
I wrote, illustrated and designed a comic book based on the
Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series, which took first place in the Wesley school
final and then again in the county final. I won the Innovation Award at
the national finals in Tullamore, a prize that I’m honoured to have been
given. My competition had some amazing ideas and even more outstanding
displays. Some used life-size cardboard cut outs to draw peoples’
attention, others used projectors and laptops to show off their
products.
All my hard work and attention to detail resulted in
profitable sales, sponsorship and advertising. It was tough going, but
I’m glad to say it paid off in the end. It just goes to show that in
business - dedication and patience will always be triumphant.
This competition taught me so much. The best part was the fun
that I had during it and all the people that I met. Business is part of
everyday life - it’s unavoidable - so why not
learn to enjoy it!
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