Vol 27 No 28     27 May 2022

HSD Class of 2022

Last week we bid a fond farewell to the Class of 2022, marking the occasion with an uplifting last Assembly which featured musical performances by numerous Form 6 pupils.  On Tuesday evening members of the school community gathered in Zion Church for The High School Graduation Service, presided over by the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough, Primate of Ireland and Metropolitan.  Then on Wednesday afternoon our most senior pupils and their families gathered in The Reynolds Hall to celebrate the last six years at The High School with powerful and moving speeches from the Head Boy, Julian Hauxwell and Head Girl, Ella Pasley.  There were musical performaces of original and popular songs, culminating with the auditorium joining the chorus of 'We'll Meet Again'.  The afternoon ended with the presentation of Certificates of Graduation to each pupil in turn and then it was suddenly time for all those gathered there to take their leave, for the last time, as pupils of the school.  We would like to wish the class of 2022 every success in the Leaving Certificate and in whatever their futures hold.  

Summer Concert Success

The rain clouds gathered outside as we sat in The Reynolds Hall waiting for the start of the annual Summer Concert.  The masters of ceremony, Israel Abumere and Emily Pryce promised us an unforgetable evening and they were true to their word.  For over two hours we were regaled by musical performaces of every genre. The school choir and orchestra performed together and alone, sharing the stage with the senior and junior chamber orchestras, as well as trios and duets.  Just before the interval, the auditorium was filled with the sound of pounding rain as the skies opened and the hall was plunged into premature darkness.  But inside, the lucky few gathered there were lifted by the beautiful harmonies and cadences of violin, clarinet and trombone, double bass, viola and piano.  The rainy atmophere was the perfect accompnaiment to all and seemed to capture the bitter-sweet delight as the evening came to an end and the pupils from Form 6 gave their final bow, playing their last few notes with the orchestra and choir where they have spent six happy years.  We wish to thank those members of The High School Orchestra in Form 6 who are leaving us this year.  We hope that they will return each year and join us in The Reynolds Hall for an unforgettable evening of music at Summer Concert. 

All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championship

We are delighted to announce that High School pupils have enjoyed great success at the All Ireland Schools Track and Field Championship.  The High School won bronze in the 100m race and also came second in the 4 x 100 metre relay race.  We wish to congratulate our pupils on their wonderful success in the  competition. 

Poetry Aloud National Success

High School pupil Tirzah Hutchinson Edgar has won the Senior Category of the Poetry Aloud 2021 - Virtual Competition! She gave a moving rendition of 'The Angel of History' by Theo Dorgan and 'A Winter Solstice' by Peter Fallon.  Jake O’Loughlin was runner-up in the Intermediate category.  We offer warm congratulations to both our pupils wish them every succcess in future competitions.

Leinster Schoolgirls' Cricket League Victory

On Tuesday the Senior 2 girls cricket team travelled to St Columba's College to play in the final of the Leinster Schoolgirls' Cricket League against Rathdown School.  We lost the toss and were sent in to bat first.  Our opponents had some strong bowlers but good running between the wickets and team support from the sidelines helped us to set a total of 75 for the opposition to beat.  In the second innings Jennifer Burns and Rachel Robinson opened the bowling and both got wickets in their first overs; good support from the field and sidelines meant we kept their opening batters to a low score.  Throughout the game team spirit was excellent with everybody putting themselves on the line to save runs.  Ruth Dillon and Moya Quigley also completed their spell of overs resulting in more wickets and it was clear by the last few overs that our strong team effort had been successful.  The opposition were unable to reach our total and we finished victorious .  We were well deserved winners and were awarded medals and the trophy following the game: a special mention goes to Jennifer Burns who was awarded player of the match for her excellent bowling and work in the field.  Both the Senior 1 and 2 girls have enjoyed a good cricket season this year and it was great to finish with a victory.  
Moya Quigley

HSD PPU and Leinster Hockey

Congratulations to The High School past pupils, some half a dozen of them, from three different year groups, who represented Leinster at the U-21 Inter-provincial Hockey Championship recently.  Calum Adair (HSD, 2013-19); Evan Jennings, Harry Lynch, and Ross Howard (HSD, 2014-20); and Ben Whelan and Ethan Jones (HSD, 2015-2021) played a superb game.  The Leinster team went on to win the competition much to the delight of the cheering supporters. We wish our past pupils every success in future competitions.

Cricket League Win

Congratulations to The High School U14 Boys A team following their Cricket League win against St Joseph’s school in Rush on Tuesday with Ben Dillon scoring 72 not out.  The game featured a remarkable feat of bowling by Ethan Clarke who finished with figures of 2 overs for 0 runs and 6 wickets including two hat tricks.
Mr Walker

Leinster U13 League Champions

Congratulations to all members of The High School U13 A cricket team who defeated Wesley College to win the final of the Leinster Cricket Union Schools Section competition for U13 boys.  We warmly congratulate the team on its achievements in 2021-22 and wish all members of the squad every success in future competitions. The Form 1 B and C teams both had fantastic campaigns narrowly losing out on qualification to the semi final stage.
Mr Malin

National Football League Win

Congratulations to this High School pupil who participated in the U17s Women's National League last weekend playing for Bohemians Football Club.  The Dublin team comfortably won their Cup match against Sligo Rovers 4-1 and have earned a place in the quarter finals.  Our pupil was named joint player-of-the-match!  We wish her every success in future football matches.

Dublin Hurling Training Selection

Congratulations to this pupil who has been selected for the Dublin U14 hurling development squad.  We wish our pupil every success in his sporting endeavours.

Form 4 Excursion

Many thanks to The High School Parents' Association for organising a fantastic excursion for Form 4 pupils - their final outing of the year.  Pupils enjoyed a day of outdoor activities - Airsoft, Pizza, and fun in the sun!

Form 4 Award Ceremony

This week the Form 4 Award Ceremony marked the fast-approaching end of the school year.  The event was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the year behind us and to appreciate the new skills we learned, the new certifications we acquired, and the new friends we made!  There was huge diversity in the prizes given, displaying the wide range of facilities on offer to Form 4 pupils.  Some of the prizes included a runner-up in Poetry Aloud (a national poetry speaking competition), silver medals in the Leinster Schools relay and 100 metre sprint, and three medal winners in the Mary Elmes Prize.  This is a national competition centered around a pupil’s reflection on the story of Mary Elmes, a woman who saved the lives of many Jewish children during the Holocaust.  This reflection can take the form of a historical essay or a piece of literature, art or music.  There were also many High School in-house prizes awarded during the ceremony.   Acknowledgment was given to members of the Student Council as well as a special mention to the best contributor to the Council,.  Prizes for debating were awarded and finally trophies were given to a standout player in each of the sports offered to pupils at The High School.  Overall the event was the perfect way to celebrate and to end an enjoyable and memorable year.  
Jake O’Loughlin 

Metro Rugby Win

On Thursday last week the Form 1 rugby team went to Donnybrook to play the Metro finals.  We had two teams playing three matches each.  The overall outcome was great: we won the tournament!  Everyone played amazingly well and had lots of fun.  We are really looking forward to playing rugby again next year.
Zara Deacon

Form 4 Media Studies

Congratulations to the Form 4 pupils studying Media Studies who completed their Digital Marketing projects this term.  Pupils learned about graphic design, logo development and synchronised branding across various social media platforms.  They completed A/B testing market research on their products before designing a marketing campaign.  This involved creating a landing page, QR code subscription form, and digital marketing email.  Pupils used the project management system Agile to help them be accountable for their work and to meet their deadlines.  Well done, everyone!
Ms Burrowes

Form 6 Design and Communication Graphics

These images show some of the work completed by Form 6 Design and Communication Graphics class. This forms part of their assignment where they use CAD software to digitally model existing products and later alter the design or create a new concept of their own. The project is worth 40% of their overall grade which must be completed between September and January. This year the assignment was based on reusable travel mugs which is a popular consumer product.
Mr Kingston

Class of 1987 Reunion

High School pupils from the class of 1987 are organising a 35 year reunion on 11 June at Old Wesley RFC at 8.00 pm.  Tickets are €15.  For further information please contact the organisers here. 

All Ireland Linguistic Olympiad

Linguistic Olympiad success! Congratulations to this pupil on receiving a Bronze Certificate for placing 25th in the All Ireland Linguistic Olympiad.

LIFT Leadership Programme

To create a nation of leaders, we need to show pupils from an early stage what it takes to be a leader.  LIFT Ireland’s leadership learning process is based on eight key leadership values. While partaking in LIFT’s programme, participants are introduced to eight values which include: listening, positive attitude, respect, resilience, dedication and determination, empathy and understanding, innovation and adaptability, and honesty and integrity.  LIFT’s leadership learning process provides pupils with the foundation to become leaders in their own lives.  Pupils who have taken part in LIFT have improved their listening skills, increased confidence and become more emphatic, understanding, and positive.  
This year we trained a group of Form 4 pupils to become LIFT facilitators to run the LIFT programme with their peers and with Form 2 pupils.  
Ms. Connolly 

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P.S.  If you have some information or news that you think we could feature in our school newsletter, please let us know.  Click here to get in touch.
Ms Burrowes 
Communications Coordinator