Vol 29 No 08     20 Oct 2023

Form 5 Activity Day

We left school early so as not to rub our imminent joy in the faces of the pupils left behind.  We piled into the buses and up the mountains they climbed.  When we arrived, excited pupils gaggled together in their groups admiring the views above.  A steep hill lined with trees: tall ancient things supporting the structure for the rest of our afternoon.   A forest filled with greens and deep browns, white, orange, yellow, blue, and red.  Some leaped up to get harnessed, impatient to begin their climb.  Others shook with the cold and fear. Once we had sorted small gloves from large ones, we started and finished our safety training, and donned our harnesses.  Eventually we began to assess our confidence by choosing our course.  I looked around, people zipping around me from all angles, jumping from obstacle to obstacle, trying harder not to fall or look down than to get to the end.  One pupil demonstrated his chivalry in the trees, rushing to the aid of a struggling peer.  There were people above us as we scaled higher and higher,  walking on nothing but a thin tightrope, some trying to cycle in the sky, others jumping from heights, and there were those who simply went on a relaxing hike.  A camera stuck out from the gaps in the trees, capturing our joy and non-camera ready smiles.  People got stuck, people yelled, and others laughed, but we all left the venue feeling a little less scared.  Some pupils found peace up in the heights, whizzing from tree to tree so fast that the whole world blurred.  Eventually though, the day came to an end and we all piled back into the buses, collapsing as we did so, some happier than others to have their feet back on solid ground.  We all slept on the way back, waking up to the sight of our school, content with our wonderful Monday treat. 
Faye O'Hare

Karate Success

The Irish International Open 2023 was held last weekend.  There were competitors from Scotland, England, Spain, Wales, Denmark, Germany amongst others.  Several pupils from The High School competed and did really well.  Asha Reen and Ellen Oldrey won gold in Kumite.  Christopher Wong-Lye won silver in Kumite, silver in Team Kata, and gold in Team Kumite.  We are immensely proud of our pupils and we wish them every success in future competitions.

 Hockey Representative Success

Hockey Ireland is pleased to announce the initial training panels for its National Performance Pathway for the upcoming season.  The panel selections follow Hockey Ireland’s reclassifying of its pathway teams with the underlying ethos being to place players in the best environments to suit their personal development.  These national panels will be supported by regional training panels and these groups will train regularly and include players both from the national panel and regionally identified players.  The following High School pupils (current and previous) have been playing in the Leinster Under 16 and 18 squads and have been selected for the national panels.  These national panels will be supported by regional training panels and these groups will train regularly and include players both from the national panel and regionally identified players.

Current pupils

• Hollaí Quinn McNamara (U16)
• Robert O'Brien (U16)
• Oscar Pasley (U18)
• Samuel Maxwell (U21)

Past pupils

• Ben Pasley (HSD, 2017-23; U21)
• Ella Pasley (HSD, 2016-22; U21)
• Ben Whelan (HSD, 2015-21; U21)

Ms Gray

Form 1 Rugby Blitz

The Form 1 rugby team played a blitz against St Andrew's College's and Wesley College at home.  We played four matches each and we had a lot of fun on the nice sunny day.  All three teams placed in the top four!  We really look forward to playing our next match after half term.
Charlotte Flegg

Form 3 and Form 5 Rugby Blitz

High School pupils participated in the Leinster Junior and Senior 7s Blitz at Old Belvedere Rugby Football Club last Wednesday.  Both teams won their sections and scored many  tries.  Laoise Tay scored 8 tries and new player Kayla Chipare scored a try on her first day out with the rugby team.  Well done, everyone!

Form 4 Hike

Blue sky stretches above us as the path curves up ahead.  Step by step we follow, one after the other, not saying much: saying everything.  Stomachs growl, we swallow great big gulps of air.  So many shades of green, of yellow; autumn in its golden glory, a surprise at every turn.  Hope it stays for longer this year.  We walk on.  Someone tells a joke, unfunny, but we laugh anyway.  Maybe it’s the air or perhaps the light, but we are cheerful as we ramble on.  Right, left.  And then the summit is before us.  Smiles break as the sun emerges from behind a cloud.  Three hundred and sixty degrees we turn, dizzy.  We pause for a photograph.  Moment captured, we sit in the silence that soundlessly descends.  A bird passes by, we catch his imagination, as he ponders our motives.  But we fasten on a passing breeze and move on.  Home in the twilight, the darkness lapping at our heels all the way. 
Ms Burrowes

Form 4 Motivational Speaker

This week we listened to a motivational and inspirational speaker called Mark Pollock.  He talked about how he struggled with blindness and paralysis.  He tore his retina in 1998 which led to sudden and total blindness and then became paralysed from the waist down when he fell out of a second-story window.  He talked about how we can either be supporters or competitors, optimists or realists, and collaborators or non-team players.  He left us with a much better understanding of what it means to try, succeed, fail, think realistically, be hopeful, be a team player, and compete for the things we want in life.  We were left feeling inspired by his speech, the accounts of the many challenges he faced as a blind man before his paralysis, and the work he is doing in the paralysis research field.  We hope he will come back soon to teach us more. 
Ivan Milosevic

All Ireland School Boys Championship

The All Ireland School Boys' Championship takes place on 25 to 27 October and The High School Senior Boys are looking forward to representing HSD once again.  It is a great opportunity to play tournament hockey at a national level with sixteen schools taking part. We have had a successful pre-season tournament in Wesley College and a good start to our league campaign: unbeaten so far (draw v Kilkenny, win v Sutton Park, win v Wesley Bs).  We have many new faces on the team and they are looking forward to the experience.  Thanks to the whole school body for their support and in particular HSD Parents' Association and finally to the families for driving the team to pre-season, strength and conditioning morning sessions, and training.  We wish the players every success as they move through the competition.
Ms Gray, Mr Fitzpatrick, and Mr Howard

Winter Uniform

Winter uniform must be worn from Monday 23 October.  Uniform is worn at The High School to encourage a sense of community, pride, and identity.  It also has the advantage of removing undesirable competition in dress standards.  We look forward to your full co-operation in preserving and enhancing the public image of The High School by ensuring that the way pupils dress and behave as they travel between school and home is of the highest possible standard.  Full uniform (consisting only of items from the approved list) must be worn in accordance with the Uniform Code on the way to and from school as well as while in school. It is not acceptable for pupils to wear items that are not on the approved list or to leave their uniform in school and change when they arrive.  Please see the recent email containing details of the HSD Uniform List and Uniform Code for information.

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