Vol 26 No 19     05 Mar 2021

The High School Art Challenge

Portrait by Louis Dunne Form 6

One positive outcome of spending so much time at home is the opportunity it brings to be creative.  Some of our pupils have embraced the space and free time that Covid has brought to our lives. They have used various media to 
create some vibrant and evocative pieces of art, which have been curated 
as part of the art challenge that is running on the school's social media platforms.  These colourful pieces of outstanding quality showcase the wonderful talent of our pupils.  We should like to thank all those who responded so readily to the HSD art challenge.

HSD Motivate Me!

We have such a strong history of competition and participation in sport at The High School that it was felt to be important for the pupils to connect with people who have embodied the qualities of a true sportsperson.  Grit, determination, perseverance, and resilience just some of those key characteristics.  More now than ever the qualities that make a good athlete are also those which we are all relying on to get through these challenging times. It is for this reason that listening to what our speakers have to say will not only help and motivate our sports people, but can help all at The High School to work through challenges and keeping going.

A series of remote talks is taking place on Wednesday afternoons this month at 2.00 pm via MS Teams Live Event.  All speakers are participating in a question and answers session, discussing everything from sport to well-being.  

Our first speaker was David Gillick an Olympian, European Champion, Author and Health Advocate. He is one of Ireland’s most successful athletes, a two-time European champion, an Olympian, and a world finalist. His incredibly open and honest real-life experience engages, inspires, and motivates his audiences. His talk took place on 3 March.

Our second speaker is Shane O’ Donoghue - Olympian, European Medallist, Performance Coach, and Psychologist.  Shane is an international hockey player with 190 caps for Ireland. His most notable achievements to date were representing Ireland at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2018 World Cup as well as securing a European bronze medal in 2015 in London.  Shane holds a prestigious record in that he is Ireland’s all-time leading goal scorer with over 100 goals. He is a proud past pupil of The High School.  His talk takes place on 10 March. 

Our third speaker,  also a past pupil of The High School, is  Annalise Murphy -​ an Olympic Medallist, European Champion, and Ambassador for the promotion of women in sport. She is an Irish sailor who won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics and took gold in the European Championships in 2013. Annalise will be doing her talk from her Olympic training camp in Lanzarote.  She is an ambassador for women in sport.
Ms Fallon

Form 4 Gaisce Award

At the start of the year we joined the Gaisce programme in Form 4.  I was unsure what to do for the community section of the programme so my friend Gary Meaney suggested that I join him to help Ballyboden Tidy Towns.  We spent a few weeks doing gardening work and other outdoor jobs.  When the current lockdown began we still had to a few more weeks to complete. 
So, we decided that we would create a website for Ballyboden Tidy Towns as we had heard that they needed one.  We used the skills learned in our Web Design class and applied them to the website we are creating.  We will continue working on it through this lockdown and hopefully finish it in the near future. 
Matteo Sanvito

Drop Everything and Read

On 12 February the whole school took part in a successful Drop Everything And Read lesson.  Sometimes with the demands of everyday life we do not get the time to sit down read and this was 40 minutes dedicated solely to the pleasure of reading.  This is just one of a number of initiatives we have going on at The High School which are designed to promote literacy skills among our pupils.  Here are some images of our pupils enjoying the opportunity to take time out to read.
Mr Griffin

Form 2 Science

Over the last few weeks pupils in Form 2 have been studying acids and bases.  We looked at indicators used in the laboratory to show whether a sample is an acid or base and where it falls on the pH scale.  Working from home has meant we could not try out using these indicators at school.  However, through research on plant-based indicators we were able to come up with a solution! Pupils made red cabbage indicators at home with some very colourful reactions.  
Ms Rynne

February Review

Illustration by Daimee Ng