Important Dates

Wed 5th Oct - Parent Teacher Meeting (Year 12)

Fri 7th Oct - Past Pupils’ Union Dinner

Tue 11th Oct - Parent Teacher Meeting (Year 14)

Thu 13th Oct - Careers Fair Wed 19th Oct - Junior Prizegiving 7.30pm

Welcome to the St. Columb’s College Monthly Newsletter

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Should you have any queries or contributions, please email:

bodonnell202@stcolumbs.com

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University Open Days September 8th and 9th 2011

Many of our Year 14 pupils availed of the opportunity to visit both Jordanstown and Queen’s University campuses in order to catch a taste of what university life will be like. These v i s i t s occ u r r ed u nd e r t h e sh ad o w o f threatened rises in student fees. Fortunately, on Thursday September 8th, the Stormont Executive decided not to increase fees for students from Northern Ireland studying at Queen’s or UU for the lifetime of the current Assembly. This will come as welcome news for p r o s p e c t i v e s t u d e n t s a n d t h e i r long suffering parents alike. Many thanks to Mr. D. Grant, Head of Careers, for his work in organising and supervising these days when our pupils obtained an experience of the wider curriculum.

— Pictured are several of our Year 14s on the steps of the Students Union at Queen’s, no doubt dreaming of challenging careers ahead. We wish all our Year 14s the best as they face up to the challenges and opportunities that await them.

Issue 1 - September 2011

Past Pupil Union News The annual Past Pupils’ Union dinner is to be held in the Everglades Hotel Derry on Friday O c t o b e r 7 t h 2 0 11 , 7 . 3 0 p m f o r 8 p m . The dinner will also mark the presentation of the Union’s Alumnus Illustrissimus Award. There is a subscription of £35 and, since there will be a choice of main course, advance book ing i s e ssen t i a l . P l ease con tac t Mr. D. Carlin in the school office or go to info@stcolumbs.com

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Bereavements Since the summer holidays began, we have been saddened to hear of the deaths of Eamon O’Doherty, John McDaid, Sean McNair and Monsignor Austin Duffy. May their souls rest in peace.

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Core Values

Over the course of the last year and a half the Pastoral Team has been working with teaching staff and the Knockavoe Resource Centre to identify a range of key values that could serve as the basis of our daily work within St Columb’s. The outcome of this extensive period of consultation has been the creation of our Core Values Strategy. These values flow naturally from the Rationale and Expectations that lie within our Code of Conduct. We believe that the fulfilment of these Core Values will provide each and every member of the school community with the f o u n d a t i o n ne c es s a r y t o a c h i e ve t h e ful lest Christ ian human development of which he is capable. The Core Values have already been introduced to our students and all elements of the Strategy will be in place by the end of September.

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John Paul II Award

The new diocesan co-ordinator of The Pope John Paul II Award is Mr Dominic O’Reilly. He replaces Mr. Justin McMahon, who is taking up a position with the GAA. We wish Justin well in his new position and would like to offer thanks for his sterling work during his tenure. Mr. Thomas Costigan continues to lead the Pope John Paul II Award in St. Columb’s and will be recruit ing before the end of September.

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Success for Languages The Modern Languages Department received good news from AQA and CCEA about pupils in Key Stage 3 who had sat GCSE languages examinations early.

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Four Year 8 pupils attained a grade A in GCSE Irish: John Rabbett, Feargal McAnaney, Riain Dunlop and Oran O’Hare. Caolan Flanagan, a pupil in Year 9, was awarded a grade B in GCSE Gaeilge, an advanced Irish exam. Also from Year 9, Lucasz Myszak and Mateusz Kubala attained grade A in GCSE Polish, their native language. The boys sat the examination under the tutelage of Mrs Ewelina O’Donnell. In addit ion, Declan Canning of Year 11 achieved a grade A in GCSE Russian. Like Lucasz and Mateusz, Declan attended classes w i t h M r s O ’ D o n n e l l i n p r e p a r a t i o n for this additional GCSE. Congratulations to the boys concerned and thanks to Mrs O’Donnell for her work in preparing the pupils for the examinations.

Image (left to right) Mrs P McConnell (Coordinator of Modern Languages), Caolan Flanagan, Feargal McAnaney, Riain Dunlop, Mateusz Kubala, J o h n R a b b e t t , D e c l a n C a n n i n g , Oran O’Hare, Lucasz Myszak, Mrs E O’ Donnell (Polish and Russian Teacher)

New and returning staff

We welcome new and returning staff: Mr. Darren Barr (Mathematics), Miss Lorraine Bradley (ICT), Miss Caroline Ferguson (Mathematics), Mr. Stephen McCay (Biology), Mr. Anthony McCourt (ICT/Computing), Mr. Gavin Millar (Chemistry), Mrs. Aine Northey (Technology and Design) Dr. Liam O’Donnell (Physics), Mr. Breandan Quigley (History/Politics), We also welcome back Mrs. Jane Kerlin.

— We welcome our new classroom assistants: Mrs. Aileen Doherty, Mrs. Yvonne Gallagher, Mrs. Ailish Gill, Mr. Lee Haslett. A big céad míle fáilte to our new language assistants: Miss Wang Ping Ping (Chinese), Miss Carmen Sanchez (Spanish), Miss Sophie Winckel (French). We are also delighted to welcome back: Mrs. Laura Pozo O’Connor (Spanish). Mrs. Ewelina O’Donnell (Polish and Russian), Mr. Gearalt O’Mianain (Irish), Mr. Rudie Schwittay (German)

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Staff News

We would like to take this opportunity to wish staff member Mrs. Stacey Beatty all the best as she sets out to spend a year in Australia. Fair dinkum, Sheila and we look forward to seeing you again at the end of summer 2012.

Mr. Liam Boyle is also taking a year out to revisit the halls of academia. We wish him well and again we hope to see h im at the end of August 2012. Mrs. Miriam McMullan is on a career break. Mrs. Siobhan Tohill is currently on maternity leave. Mr. Martin McIlveen and Mr. Tony Harkin a r e o f f r e c u p e r a t i n g f r o m s u r g e r y. Mrs . Grainne McGi l l is on a year out .

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Parents Have you availed of our resources on our schoo l webs i te www.s tco lumbs .com ? There you will find a wealth of information to help you. Of particular note are our micro sites, w h i c h a r e p a c k e d f u l l o f t h e information both you and your son need. For example, the Year 8 and 13 Induction micro sites help guide you and your son t h r o u g h w h a t c a n o f t e n b e a testing time of transition.

There are also presentations to download with regard to the process of applying to university.

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Our Parents’ Association does a lot of good work on behalf of our pupils. Initial plans for the 2011-2012 academic year include the ever-popular Chr is tmas Fayre, a long wi th a new Halloween event. The Parents’ Association is always on the lookout for new members; if you are interested in helping out in any way, please contact: Mr. F. Madden fmadden830@stcolumbs.com

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Farewell To Mr. Frank McCauley and Mr. Noel O’ Donnell we bid a fond farewell. We wish you both health and happiness in your re t i rement and t h a n k y o u f o r y o u r c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the life of St. Columb’s College over your many years of service. Farewell also to Mr Sean Grant and Mr Brendan G r i m e s o f t h e P a r e n t s ’ A s s o c i a t i o n . As Chairperson and Treasurer respectively, Sean and Brendan played a key part in the re-invigoration of the Association over recent y e a r s , e n a b l i n g i t t o c o n t r i b u t e t o many aspec ts o f l i f e i n S t Co lumb ’s .

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And finally ……… Remember – the early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. See you at the end of October!