Back on the Pitches at Willow 🏉🏐

It has been wonderful to welcome the boys back to school and to see the Willow pitches full of energy once again.

The boys have been getting straight back into sport, enjoying both GAA and rugby sessions in the sunshine. From learning new skills and practising teamwork to simply enjoying being active with their classmates, there has already been a fantastic buzz around the grounds.

A great start to the new school year — well done, boys! We look forward to many more exciting sporting moments ahead.

Coach Development Day
with Russell “Rusty” Earnshaw

By Mr. Jay King

While the boys have been enjoying their summer break, our Willow coaches have been keeping busy behind the scenes, continuing to learn, reflect and prepare for the season ahead.

We were extremely fortunate to welcome Russell “Rusty” Earnshaw for a dedicated Rugby Coaches Development Day, providing our coaches with a fantastic opportunity to learn, reflect and challenge their thinking around how we develop players and create outstanding learning environments.

Russell is widely regarded as a leading figure in coach and player development. His experience spans both elite-level playing and coaching. 

Following his playing career, Russell developed an equally impressive coaching CV. He spent several years coaching England Sevens, including a period as assistant coach during which England enjoyed considerable success on the World Sevens Series and reached the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens final. He has also worked within the England Rugby pathway with the U18 and U20 programmes and as an RFU International Performance Coach. 

Russell’s influence extends far beyond rugby. Through The Magic Academy, which he co-founded with John Fletcher, he has supported coaches, leaders and organisations across a wide range of environments. His work has included organisations and teams such as GB Hockey, The FA, the Premier League and Google, numerous professional rugby organisations, and most recently has been working with the Super Rugby champions, The Hurricanes.

This breadth of experience is one of the things that makes Russell’s approach so valuable: he encourages coaches to look beyond traditional rugby methods and think more deeply about how people actually learn and develop.

The Development Day proved to be a huge success. Rather than simply giving coaches a collection of new drills, Russell challenged us to think about how and why we coach. The day explored areas such as creating engaging and enjoyable practices, developing decision-makers, encouraging players to solve problems, using games effectively and giving players greater ownership of their learning.

There was a real energy throughout the day, with coaches encouraged to question, discuss, experiment and share ideas. Most importantly, the learning was practical and relevant, giving coaches ideas and principles that they can take straight back into their own environments.

Having someone of Russell’s experience and standing spend time working directly with our coaches was a fantastic opportunity. The success of the day was not simply measured by what we learned on the day itself, but by the conversations and reflections it generated afterwards.

A huge thank you to Russell Earnshaw for sharing his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with us. It was an inspiring and thought-provoking day and an important part of our continued commitment to investing in our coaches — because by developing better coaches, we ultimately create better experiences and better opportunities for all of our players.

My Summer Trip to Henan in China

By Suxin, J2

During my summer holidays, I went to Henan in central China with my family. Henan is a very important place in Chinese history, and many old Chinese capitals were here.

I visited the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. There are thousands of old Buddhist statues carved into the rocks.

This is a photo of me with the huge Buddha. It is about 17 metres tall! It was made during the Tang Dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago. There is a story that the Buddha’s face was inspired by Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman emperor in Chinese history.

It was amazing to see it in real life! 

Something awesome happened? Tell us!

From mastering a new hobby to smashing a personal milestone, we want to hear it. Email your son’s name and class, one photo, and a short blurb to willowweekly@gmail.com with BOYS BLOG in the subject line. We’ll share as many stories as we can!

A Grand Slam Holiday Surprise for Ben! 🎾

What a fantastic holiday surprise for Ben (6th Class), who had the chance to bump into tennis legend Boris Becker during the holidays!

Boris Becker is a former world No. 1 tennis player and a multiple Grand Slam champion, best known for winning Wimbledon as a teenager. What an exciting moment for any tennis fan — and definitely one to remember!

Golden Moments at the National Finals 🏃‍♂️🏅

A huge congratulations to CJ & Senan (P2), Noah (J3) and Rowan (K3), who enjoyed fantastic success at the Juvenile Children’s Games National Finals 2026 over the summer. 

After qualifying through the Dublin Athletics Championships with Blackrock Athletics Club, CJ, Senan, Noah and Rowan went on to compete at national level on 21st June.

There were some brilliant results for the boys, with CJ and Noah becoming National Champions after winning gold in the Boys U9 60m Sprint. CJ also teamed up with Rowan to win a fantastic silver medal in the Boys U9 Long Jump.

The boys were also part of the relay team, and put in a great performance to finish 5th in the final — a wonderful achievement at national level.

What a fantastic set of results and a summer sporting memory to be very proud of — well done to CJ, Noah, Rowan and Senan! 👏

For a chance to win a Rugby Ball, courtesy of Rhino Rugby, please submit your answer below by Monday,7th September. The winning answer will be randomly picked.
Good luck!

Q: What rare astronomical event took place on 12th August 2026, and will not occur in Ireland again until 2090?

Thank you to Rhino Rugby, who kindly sponsors the weekly quiz.

There is always something special about the first day of a new school year. After weeks of quietness around the school grounds, the familiar sounds of laughter, conversation and busy footsteps once again filled the corridors and classrooms. During those quieter weeks, there was a great deal happening behind the scenes as our staff prepared the school for the return of our pupils. While the buildings and grounds may have seemed quiet, there was a real sense of anticipation as we looked forward to welcoming everyone back.

It has been wonderful to see the boys settle back into school so positively. They have made a fantastic start, and their teachers are already hugely impressed by their enthusiasm, effort, manners and attitude to learning. It is a very encouraging beginning to the year, and I would like to congratulate all of the boys on the way they have approached their return to school.

Of course, a good start is just that; a start. I would challenge every boy to build on the positive beginning he has made. Continue to work hard, be kind to those around you, take pride in your work, make the most of every opportunity and, most importantly, strive to be the very best version of yourself. We are looking forward to seeing what each of you will achieve throughout the year.

A particularly warm welcome goes to our new Junior Infants, who have begun an exciting new chapter in their lives. For many of our youngest boys, these first days at Willow Park are the beginning of a very special journey. We hope that their years here will be filled with friendship, discovery, learning, laughter and wonderful memories. Our hope is that, as they journey through Willow Park, Blackrock College and beyond, they will carry with them the values and standards that have been instilled in them throughout their time in our care. 

Finally, I would like to wish all of our families every success and happiness for the year ahead. A new school year brings new opportunities, new challenges and many experiences to look forward to. We are delighted to have our pupils back with us and look forward to working in partnership with you throughout the year.

Here’s to a happy, successful and memorable year for everyone in the Willow Park community.

Mr Cormac McAleer
Principal

After-School Programme