Active School Flag

The Physical Education Department are currently reviewing the P.E. Curriculum and also the provision of extracurricular activities as part of the application for the Active School flag. Please see www.activeschoolflag.ie for more details.

 In addition to participating in a broad, balanced and inclusive P.E. and extracurricular programme, it would be envisaged that students would improve their activity levels outside of school time with encouragement from parents, family and friends.  For example, walking /cycling to and from school, if living locally, is a very easy way to improve activity levels and fitness.

 The nation’s health and obesity levels are currently under examination and the results show that improvements are needed.  In our P.E. classes, the levels of fitness recorded from the bleep test range from very good to very poor. In our class groups, approximately half the students participating in the bleep test fail to reach the required standard for their age and gender. It is obvious, that those students require more vigorous exercise, and more often than one 80 minutes P.E. class will allow for.       

We hope to have an ‘Active School Week’ taking place later in the term where novelty activities will be taking place that students can participate in.  Many thanks to our colleagues from other subject areas who are assisting us in organising this.                                                                                 

University and Schools Rowing Championships 2012

This years championship was well attended with all the Universities and almost 20 schools from all 4 corners in Ireland in Cork.

 The weather was a little chilly but dry and the 2000 metre 7 lane course had a tricky cross course breeze. All rowers had to contend with the wind trying to get under there blades and tipping them over.  This was Castletroys College 3^rd year at the championships and there was a team of 20 students from 3^rd to sixth year at the regatta

Many students had risen at 5am to be in Cork by 8am were now ready for action. They had spent the last 8 months training in the UL rowing centre and in the picturesque village of Castleconnell, on the banks of the Shannon River.

Our 1^st race was off at 9.10 am with Alison McDevitt and Leah Quinlan in  a double scull , The ladies were under press from the off when a strong cross wind pushed the crew broad side into their lane . There were not able to recover from this start but finished a creditable 3^rd from 5 entries.

Next up was the Mens J18 Double scull of Adrian Sheehan and David Quinlan -national champs from 2011 and both Irish international rowers. They raced the heats and semi s with confidence but unfortunitly after a long days racing they were late to the start of the final and disqualified. This was a race that they should have easily won.

At 12.30 we had the women Junior 18 quad of Ailish Griffin, Megan Donnegan, Claire Silke and Leah Quinlan they won the heat by a very impressive 3 lengths. In the Final the girls had technical difficulties with the steering a and could not get the boat to row in a straight t line.

This ladies race was followed at 12.40 by a new and impressive pairing of Grainne Fullen and Eileen Russell in there first race together.

The men came back at 12.50 with Eoghan Whittle 2^nd year and Cathal Killeen TY again a new pairing going thru the heats semi’s and final to win the Mens first medals of the day.

Following the juggling of some start times and sharing a top class Empacker 8+ kindly loaned by Castleconnell Boat Club, the ladies were off first. They were expertly stroked by the international experienced pair of Aoife O Leahy and Hanna O Sullivan. The rest of the crew was made up of the ladies J18 quad and Bow pair of Laura Walsh and Alison McDevitt, with Eileen Russell as Cox. The ladies were in the lead from the off and finished a lovely race 2 lengths in front.

The Junior 18 Men had a very tough race. The crew include Cian Costello and Julian Corbett returning to the crew while preparing for his leaving cert. The boys were beating to the line by a CBC, Cork crew; the verdict was ¾ of a length.

Our men’s J18 Quad was now in the final at 4.45 pm it was stroked by Adrian Sheehan and David Quinlan at 3 seat. The bow pair was the experienced Cathal Moloney and a new rower Stephen O Connor. The guys rated 50 strokes a minute off the start and the plan was to lose all opposition early on, but after 800 metres in lane 7 they had Presentation Brothers Cork matching them stroke for stroke. The Stroke Adrian Sheehan called for a power 10 at the 1000 meter mark and the rest of the field started to drop off on at a time. The lads finished by a clear 3 lengths and with wild cheers form the enclosure, this helped make up for the early loss in the 8.

On the day we had wins in the Ladies J18 eights, the men’s J18 Quad and the junior 16 2X. These results with top 3 placing made sure that the Castletroy college crews finished 2^nd in the league on the day. What makes this special is the fact that the school rowing program is only in place since 2010 and we were beating into 2^nd place by Colaiste Iognade, Galway with over 60 years of rowing pedigree.

I would like to thank all those that contributed to making this regatta a tremendous success- the rowers, parents, teachers, school, helpers on the day and Castleconnell Boat Club.

Google Apps Training

For more Google Apps video tutorials visit The Google Apps Channel on YouTube

Vote for Aine Hayes in The Le Crunch PhotoByte Competition

The Le Crunch PhotoByte Competition is a national photography competition looking for the most exciting, creative and inspirational images of Le Crunch Apples!

The 12 Finalists’ PhotoBytes will be showcased at the National Final Exhibition, which will take place at the prestigious Hugh Lane Gallery, Charlemont House, Parnell Square North, Dublin 1, on 14th May 2012.

The images will be judged by some of Ireland’s top photographers, and the Finalists are in with the chance to win thousands of euros worth of prizes!

Aine Hayes in Transition Year has reached the top three in her category. She needs your vote to win!

View and Vote

You can view the 12 Finalists’ PhotoBytes here and vote for your favourite to also win the “Dunnes Stores Peoples Choice Award”. AND by voting for the “Dunnes Stores Peoples Choice Award” winner, you will be entered into a free draw to win a Canon Powershot SX40, worth €500, for yourself too!

The easy way to vote for Aine is: Email: info.irl@sopexa.com  , Subject: Vote for PhotoByte K

Thats it!…………………………Good luck Aine.

Fionn 1 – Archaeologists for a day!

Fionn 1 recently took a trip back in time with a visit to the Dublinia Exhibition near Christchurch in Dublin.

On our arrival to the exhibition, we quickly observed our surroundings taking note of the flying buttresses and Gothic windows on Christchurch Cathedral that we had discussed a day earlier in class. Our history notes were suddenly gaining a pulse with these real life examples!

Inside the building, we were met by our tour guide dressed in medieval clothing and slowly we were beginning to slip back in time as we climbed aboard a Viking warship and listened to the myths and mysteries surrounding the Vikings and their legacy.

The next stage of our tour took us up to the second floor of the building where we found ourselves in the middle of a busy medieval fair with many different stalls to visit and we even got to play some old medieval games – very different from our modern day Wii! We tried on chain mail worn by medieval knights and could not get over the weight of it. Many of us are never keen to take a trip to the doctor but we certainly would not liked to have visited the medieval doctor who cured an earache by placing a clove of garlic in a patients ear or solved a toothache by removing the tooth with a pliers and no anaesthetic! Ouch!

As we wandered down the narrow medieval streets we stopped to throw things at the baker who was in the pillory for selling stale bread to the people of the town. I don’t think he will sell stale bread again!

Life was certainly difficult during medieval times. People lived in fear of catching the plague. Once caught, large black boils began to appear on their body and within a short period of time the person passed away. As we passed a reconstruction of a scene from the Black Death, we couldn’t help noticing the large black boils on the bodies that were piled up on a cart and the coughing sound effects that echoed around the room on this part of the tour. Needless to say we were eager to move on.

To complete our tour we got a chance to carry out a ‘dig’. We each put on a hard hat and high visibility vest which clearly stated ‘History Hunter’ on the back and got to experience what it would be like to an archaeologist on a dig. We grabbed a trowel and a brush and quickly began brushing away the layers of sand for any old items we could find. There was great excitement when someone discovered a sword and an old jaw bone of a wolf! We gathered up the artefacts we had found and returned to the lab where we discussed what time period each of the items came from and what they were used for with our guide.

After a long day of fun and excitement we were starving and of course no school trip would be complete without a stop at Supermac’s on the journey home! This was a time to chat and enjoy each other’s company and have a laugh.

Finally, we would like to thank our teacher, Ms. Gallahue for organising the trip. We all really enjoyed our day and picked up lots of interesting pieces of information. Our trip was such a success that we are already looking forward to the next one!

Lollipop Day Fundraiser for Oesophageal Cancer Fund

Castletroy College students and staff managed to raise 2725 euros in their recent joint Colours/Lollipop day. All proceeds will go towards improving the journey of oesophageal cancer patients, highlighting the disease, promoting awareness of this cancer and funding research projects.Transition Year students helped to raise a further 600 euros in the community by helping with fundraising in Castletroy Shopping CentreWell done to everybody and thank you very much for contributing to this cause.

Engineering Forum at Castletroy College

An Engineering Forum, Education for Innovation, was organised and held at Castletroy College on Thursday 23^rd February to promote and encourage students to consider engineering as a future career prospect. Several professionals, from a variety of engineering backgrounds, visited the school and spoke to more than 300 students about their jobs, the products they develop, the technology they interact with and the skills which form the basis of their success in their chosen field.

Special guest at the forum was former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Mr. Sean Gallagher. Mr. Gallagher spoke of the vital importance of education for the future of our country. He emphasised the significance of the promotion of skills of innovation, problem solving and creativity, skills which are at the core of the Technology Subjects, if we are to fulfil the demands of a smart economy. He also commented on the fact that Ireland is recognised throughout the world as having a world class education system. High quality teachers, teaching and standards of education are necessary if we are to be successful. He went on to say that the high quality of education in Ireland continues to give us an important foothold in the International community and is an integral part of our identity as a nation.

Mr. Gallagher was refreshingly honest about his own experience of education and emphasised the impact teachers can have on students’ lives. He encouraged every student to” be the best that they can be” and follow their dreams. He emphasised the importance of pursuing a career which will provide them with fulfilment.

Several multi-national companies form the south west region generously gave of their time and expertise in order to give students first-hand knowledge and experience of the day-to-day work of an engineer. Speakers from the Aeronautical, Information Technology, Medical and Education sectors came from Air Atlanta, Dell, Stryker Orthopaedics, Limerick Institute of Technology and University of Limerick. Castletroy College believes that collaborations such as these between second level, third level and industry are essential if students are to make an informed choice on their careers. Now more than ever students need to choose viable career paths that are in line with developments worldwide.

The Engineering Forum is an important part of Castletroy College’s commitment to maintaining excellence in teaching and learning.  The proximity of the school to excellent Third Level Institutions as well as to prominent multi-national companies enables the school to ensure that innovation and enterprise are central to all curricular programmes.

Junior Cup team reach the Semi Finals.

Castletroy College: 10 – Crescent College Comprehensive: 8

Castletroy College were victorious in the Avonmore Supermilk Munster Schools Junior Cup quarter final at Annacotty and ended Crescent’s hopes of a treble.
They did all their scoring in the first half and they then withstood a late rally to hold off Crescent in an entertaining game.

Castletroy went in front with a penalty by Conor Linehan and when Niall O’Shea got in for a try after 34, minutes Linehan converted to have his side 10-0 clear. Castletroy’s try was due to some great pressure and field position.
Crescent hauled themselves back into the game with a penalty and it was Linehan’s turn to be off target with another penalty before Crescent had their late try. A late surge nearly punished Castletroy for not taking their opportunities when they had dominance.  The game looked destined for extra time when Crescent scored a try five minutes from the end despite protestations from the crowd due to a forward pass. A missed conversion left them two points adrift and Castletroy showed great composure to close out the game.

There were strong performances from Eoghan Fitsgerald and Ronan Murphy in the pack, while Barry Nash and Brian Donovan were prominent out wide. Rory Cunningham played the captains role and was excellent throughout. Well done to all.

Castletroy now face C.B.C in the semi after they beat Glenstall 12-6. The match is fixed for March 14th at 3pm. It will take place in a Limerick venue which has yet to be decided.

Team captain Rory Cunningham in the break. ‘Photograph Copyright John Humphreys 2012 Used With Permission.’

To see more photos go to http://johnhumphreys.zenfolio.com/p771889763

Scorers Castletroy College: Niall O’Shea try, Conor Linehan con, pen.
Castletroy College: Brian Donovan; Paddy Morrissey, Barry Nash, Stuart Hoare, Jamie Porter; Conor Linehan, Rory Cunningham; Eoghan Fitzgerald, Lorcan Lyons, Mike Finucane; Joe Doyle, Shane O’Hara; David Rowsome, Niall O’Shea, Ronan Murphy.
Replacements: Mark O’Meara, David Kennedy, Sean Shinners, Tom Morrissey, Evan Slattery, Ross Kennedy, Sean McBrearty, David Garry.

Referee: Richard Horgan (M.A.R.)