ST. PIUS X BOYS NATIONAL SCHOOL
JUNE 2006 NEWSLETTER
Who was it said, “Tempus Fugit”? One smart guy. We’re at the end of another year and we’re left wondering where the time went. I would like to express my gratitude to the parents for their support throughout the year. I would also like to commend their children for their superb attitude and application and their impeccable behaviour. As they say , “ Briseann an dúchas trí shúile an chait."We want to wish the 6th class boys well as they progress to Secondary School in the autumn. They have been a pleasure to teach and are a credit to themselves and to you their parents. We have no doubt that they will continue to do extremely well in the next phase of their school lives.
BUILDING
We are delighted to inform you that the building of our new extension will begin immediately the school closes for the summer holidays. This building will provide badly needed accommodation for the children. It will incorporate a Science Room, General Purpose Room and five Resource Rooms. The upgrading of the heating system which includes replacing all of the radiators and the pipe work in the school will also take place during the summer break.
SACRAMENTS
First Holy Communion and Confirmation were two of the highlights of the school year. The teachers of 2nd Class and 6th Class did Trojan work in preparing the boys for these sacraments and this was very evident on both occasions. I would like to thank most sincerely Ms. Elliott, Ms. Dempsey, Ms O’Neill and Ms. Lally for making both days very special for the boys and their families.
SPORT
Hurling, Gaelic Football, Olympic Handball and Cricket provided opportunities for many boys to participate and excel in the sporting area.
Olympic Handball
It was another great year for Olympic Handball. The u13 boys were beaten in the Dublin Finals in a penalty shootout. The u11 team won the Dublin Finals. The Senior Team was captained by Seán Nolan and the Junior team by Tiarnán Creagh. The teams were coached by Mary Kneafsey, Aileen Dunne and Linda Pléamonn.
Gaelic Football
Our Junior and Senior football teams, managed by Mr. Kenneth Kerins and Mr. Lorcan Coyle had another great season in the Primary Schools' League (Cumann na mBunscol). Despite competing in the two top divisions, our players excelled under pressure and never lost their fighting spirit. While we failed to reach the semi-finals, all were agreed that our skills and sportsmanship was never in question. A big thank you to all the players' parents and teachers who gave so willingly of their time to support our school teams in all of their matches. Despite the fact that no new silverware was acquired, St. Pius X Boys' school has had a fantastic year in Gaelic Football. A skills programme (Clár, Scileanna, Spórt, Spraoi i bPeil) was set up in January and afforded children from 2nd-4th a chance to improve and hone their Gaelic skills. The sessions were a huge success and were rounded off with a visit by the Dublin Football Captain, Mr. Colin Moran who praised the children for all their efforts and urged them to become involved in their local club. In addition to the C.S.S.S.P., a Gaelic Football Tournament for 3rd and 4th class took place in Bushy Park. This inaugural competition was run over a period of 3 weeks. The final finished up with Dublin Captain Robert Moynihan raising the trophy after a nail-biting match, which saw Galway (captained by Wade Russell) narrowly loose out after extra time and a golden score. We look forward to another outstanding season of Gaelic games next year and are quietly confident that the seeds sown this year will come to fruition in the near future!
Hurling
The boys have had an outstanding year in both Inter school and Inter class Hurling competitions this year. Both the Senior & Junior teams made it out of the group stages and were narrowly beaten in the semi finals. Senior Hurling Captain was Caoilte Burke and Junior Captains were Robert Power and Shane Gibbons. Caoilte also received the honorary award of Hurler of the Year. The boys showed great commitment throughout and concluded the year with a great display of Hurling in Bushy Park at the end of year Blitz. A big Thank You to coaches involved namely Ms. Dempsey and Mr Robinson and also Faughs Hurling Club who provided valuable coaching throughout the entire school year. And finally a big Thank You to Dave and Noeleen from Faughs for all their help. We are looking forward already to another fantastic Hurling year!
PE Fundraising
Ms Goddard's recent PE fundraising tea/coffee mornings and raffle held on our three Sports Day was a wonderful success. Over €3,000 was raised, which will go towards purchasing PE Equipment. Ms Goddard would like to thank all those connected with the event especially companies that sponsored us, parents that donated prizes and ran the Tea/Coffee stalls on the days.
SCHOOL CHOIR
The school choir under the direction of Anne Purcell performed exceptionally well at various events during the year and helped to make the Confirmation a really memorable occasion. In April St. Pius X Boys' choir travelled up to Bangor to participate in the “Bangor International Choral Festival” (BICF). The choir returned to Dublin that evening with the first prize of £150. The festival was held in St. Comgall’s Parish centre. The English adjudicator, Mr. Gareth Braiden, commented on the choir’s extraordinary blend of voices, and the “floating high notes” that the choir so beautifully mastered. He also found that the second piece our choir director, Ms. Anne Purcell, had chosen was very difficult, a point on which the distinguished adjudicator Ms. Blánaid Murphy commented on earlier in the year, when the choir won the Taney Cup in Wesley College. This was the choir’s first time performing outside Dublin, and the standard of choirs far surpassed the standard of competitions the choir regularly performs at. The choir has been singing at the Corfhéile na Scoileanna for several years and has won the Taney Cup twice in the past three years.
BOOKLISTS
Booklists have been handed out to the classes and copies of our booklists will be available in Rathfarnham School Supply, Rathfarnham Shopping Centre and on our website www.piusxbns.ie for those that are mislaid!
SCHOOL UNIFORM
A school uniform sale will take place on Wednesday 30th AUGUST from 12.00 to 1.00 p.m. in the school Hall. School Crests and ties will also be available in the office.
TESCO VOUCHERS
We would like to say a big Thank You to everyone who made the effort to send in their Tesco Tokens. They will go a long way towards the acquirement of televisions and computer software for the school.
SCHOOL RAFFLE
We would like to thank all who contributed so generously to the School Raffle. It was a great success and well done to everyone involved.
RESULTS OF THE RAFFLE
| PRIZE | WINNER | SELLER | CLASS | ||
| 1. | MOUNTAIN BIKE | Conor Callaghan | Conor Callaghan | Mr. Coyle | |
| 2. | MOUNTAIN BIKE | John Whitty | Darragh Whitty | Ms. Purcell | |
| 3. | IPOD | Luke Conlon | Cara Conlon | Mr. Kerins | |
| 4. | IPOD | Rys Grainger | Rys Grainger | Ms. Kneafsey | |
| 5. | Portable DVD | Ben Lenehan | C. Lenehan | Ms. Devenney | |
| 6. | Travel Voucher | Colm Delaney | Karl O'Brien | Ms. Mooney | |
| 7. | Travel Voucher | Dónal Keating | Eoin Keating | Mr. O'Sullivan | |
| 8. | Bottle of Wine | Cian Meagher | Meagher family | Ms. Dempsey | |
| 9. | Bottle of wine | Andrew Jordan | Aifric Jordan | Ms. Lally | |
| 10. | Bottle of wine | Liam Cronin | Liam Cronin | Ms. Kneafsey |
Finally I would to thank everybody who contributed so much towards making this year such a successful one, Children, Teachers, Parents, Board of Management, Parents Association and indeed everyone associated with the school.
I would like to wish you all a summer of smiles and sunshine and I look forward to seeing you all again on Friday 1st September.
Guím rath Dé oraibh agus Samhradh sona taitneamhach daoibh go léir.
Dermot Lynch
PRINCIPAL, B.N.S.