Vol 24 No 05     05 Oct 2018

Debutante Ball - Class of 2018

Last weekend our most recent graduates, parents, and teachers joined together at Leopardstown Racecourse for the HSD Debutante Ball.  This black-tie event is a very special one, marking the end of six wonderful years at The High School.  Pupils took a break from their hectic lives at university and college to gather together one last time as the class of 2018, dressed in their finest attire and looking radiant.  We wish them all the very best in whatever their futures hold and we hope that they remember us fondly as we do them for many years to come.

A New Pitch on the Horizon

How exciting it is to see work progressing at such a pace on the new rubgy pitch at The High School.  This full-size pitch will be the first of its kind in Ireland with the latest innovation in synthetic turf fibre technology.  The surface will provide unrivalled durability and player comfort.  It is ideal for schools and clubs who use their pitch for highest-level competition as well as for training and general play during the school year.  The work is expected to be completed by the end of the October.

TERMUN 2018

To begin the MUN season, Terenure College hosted the opening conference of the year on 28-29 September.  MUN stands for Model United Nations - put simply a junior version of the UN.  The whole event is run entirely by pupils.  All those participating in the event itself act as delegates of a designated country.  For TERMUN 2018 The High School was assigned the countries Belgium, Kenya, and Ukraine.  All delegates choose a group that they would like to participate in as a representative of their designated country.  These groups are known as committees.  For TERMUN there were 6 committees in total - Political 1; Political 2; DISEC (Disarmament and International Security Committee); Ecology and Environment; ECOFIN (Economics and Finance); and SOCHUM (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural).  Questions discussed in these rooms included topics such as the death penalty, election tampering, gun laws, and desertification.  The committees are chaired by pupils from Forms 5 and 6 from schools across the country who have experience in MUN.  In addition, all the behind-the-scenes jobs for each conference are carried out by pupils. To kick it off on Friday afternoon The High School delegates jumped into a bus to go to Terenure.  Everybody was looking quite formal and bubbling with excitement.  When we arrived we went to our committee rooms and began our debates.  The first day was spent entirely in our committees discussing proposals called resolutions.  We went home tired but looking forward to the next day.   We arrived back in Terenure College for 9.00 am the next morning to continue the debates.  We went to our committee rooms and didn’t emerge until around noon.  Then we grabbed some lunch and headed to General Assembly.  At this assembly all the delegates at the conference come together and one resolution from each committee is discussed.  The writer of the resolution first makes a speech on what they are proposing.  Once they have finished the rest of the delegates can raise their placards (pieces of paper with their country’s name on it) and make a Point of Information (POI).  If you are in favour of what the speaker is arguing for you can use a POI to highlight a key factor that they have missed in their speech.  While if you are against the speaker’s opinion you might use a POI to try and point out a flaw in their argument.  The resolution then moves to open debate where anyone can speak for or against it.  Once open debate has concluded the resolution moves to a voting procedure to see if it has passed or not.  By the end of the conference we were all tired but wishing it wasn’t over.  Thankfully there are a lot more conferences to come because everybody attending, whether they were new or old timers, were thoroughly hooked.  MUN is on in The High School every Thursday after school from 4pm to 5pm in B1.  All are welcome and new faces are always appreciated.  If you need any further information please speak to Mrs Wilson. 
Jake O’Loughlin

Gaisce Hike

Last weekend a group of Form 4 pupils took part in a Gaisce hike as part of their preparation to climb Carrauntoohil next year.  The group set out from the school at 9.30 am on Sunday morning with Mr Rankin, Ms Garland, Mr McNamara (and his dog Nelson).  We arrived at Crone Wood at about 10.00 am and began our hike up Djouce.  From the start of the hike the weather seemed fine although as time went on, and as the group climbed higher, the weather slowly worsened. There was an incredible view of the Powerscourt waterfall and of the surrounding landscape as we climbed.  We reached the top after a couple of hours. It was very windy, cold, and foggy but everyone was glad to have reached the summit.  After a quick bite to eat the journey back to the minibus began.  We reached the bus at about 2.00 pm and fortunately the weather improved on the way down.  The rest of the Gaisce group will be participating in the same hike on Sunday 14 October and we wish them the best of luck.
Oisín Stapleton Doyle​ and Joshua Rance

Hockey Visitors

Last week The High School hosted a visiting hockey team from Bandon Grammar School.  The team had previously  played against our girls in Munster and it was great to face the same players on our own turf in Rathgar.   The players had a great day of sport and fun and we look forward to meeting them again in future competitions.  

Material Technology - Wood

Well done to all Form 1 Woodwork pupils who have been busy honing their skills with their latest 'wooden boats' project.  I am sure you will agree that the results are most impressive. 

Film Club

Junior Film Club takes place every Monday and Thursday at lunchtime in A22 while older pupils can attend Senior FIlm Club each Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime at the same location.  All are most welcome.
Ms Lyons