Vol 27 No 22     16 Mar 2022

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Tá Seachtain na Gaeilge ar ais san Ardscoil! Bhain na daltaí an-sult as na himeachtaí ar fad a bhí ar siúl. I measc na rudaí ar fad, bhí na bliantaí éagsúla ag damhsa, ag imirt peile agus ag imirt iománaíochta. Bhí babhta Biongó ar siúl sa Demo agus chuir na daltaí an-iarracht isteach sa Tráth na gCeist.

Sheinn an Roinn Ceoil roinnt amhráin ag Am Lóin chomh maith agus bhí sé go hiontach.  Rinne daltaí na Sraithe Sóiséaraí staidéar ar an úrscéal Tóraíocht Taisce agus mar sin chuireamar tús le Tóraíocht na hArdscoile. Táimid an-bhuíoch go bhfuil Seachtain na Gaeilge ar ais mar a bhí tar éis na paindéime!

Inniu tá na daltaí ag bailiú airgid ar son na hUcráine. Tá siad gléasta i ndathanna brat na hÉireann agus an Ucráin. Tabharfar aon airgead a bhaileofar do charthanacht ar son na hUcráine. Táimid an-bhuíoch as an gcuidiú ar fad ó na múinteoirí éagsúla agus táimid an-bhródúil as an iarracht a chur na daltaí isteach sna himeachtaí go léir. Beir bua agus bíodh Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

Interschools Music Festival

Om 5 March The High School Orchestra gathered in nervous anticipation.  We were incredibly excited to compete for the first time in over two years at the inaugural annual Interschools Music Festival.  We had soloists, our chamber group, and our orchestra competing in different competitions against many other schools in the country.  The chamber group, who rehearse every Thursday morning before school, played an enticing rendition of Por Una Cabeza.   Although we only had seven members in our group, compared to the twenty odd players in other schools' groups, it was a rousing, convincing performance and we thoroughly enjoyed making music together on stage.  Unfotunately, the competition did not quite go our way, but we were determined and ready to perform with the orchestra.  At 4.00 pm, the competition kicked off again.  The orchestra performed the beautiful Merry-Go-Round of Life from Howl's Moving Castle conducted by Ms Little.   We were placed second against tough competition just narrowly missing first place by one mark!  All in all it was fantastic to finally perform live again as an orchestra making music together without masks and watching others perform. We look forward to competiting at the Feis Ceoil National Festival later on this month!  We would also like to congratulate and give a special mention to Michael Binchy, who won first prize in his solo competition on the double-bass, as well as taking on an integral piano part for the orchestra at alte notice with great style and prowess.
Daimee Ng

International Women's Day

Last Tuesday 8 March was International Women’s Day.  This is an annual event to highlight the inequalities faced by women globally and to celebrate achievements made by women.  This year's theme was #BreaktheBias - encouraging people to challenge gender stereotypes and discrimination.  Following the tragic and shocking murder of Ashling Murphy two months ago we were anxious to highlight the outrageous presence of gender-based violence in society, the need to combat it, and to stand in solidarity with victims of it.  A group of teachers and pupils organised a night walk to mark the day and highlight the issue, the idea being that many girls wouldn’t feel safe doing such a walk alone but could do so in the safety of a large group.  We also asked for voluntary donations to a collection for Women’s Aid.  We gathered at the school at 7.00 pm, walked for an hour, and returned for refreshments with a renewed sense of empowerment, and hope for a fairer future for women everywhere and always.
Tirzah Hutchinson Edgar

Student Council

On 8 March we attended the inaugural of the International Women's Day conference of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU).  It was a great opportunity to meet likeminded women and to discuss women's achievements and issues.  There was a workshop on periods by Dr Caroline West from Active Consent and we discussed removing the stigma around the topic of hygiene products.  There was also a women in politics panel chaired by a regional officer
from the ISSU which discussed what barriers are faced by women in politics.  There followed a workshop on empowering young women to run for election and enter politics.  Lastly there was another panel for women in sport.  Overall we really enjoyed the day and felt empowered to be around so many amazing women.  We were encouraged to follow leadership roles ourselves.  We hope that The High School will organize similar workshops such as the Active Consent workshops as we feel they are excellent and important for all young people to hear.  Women's sport at The High School is valued and we hope that its recognition is sustained in order to validate the full range of activity on offer.  Going to this conference brought female leadership and its importance to the forefront of our minds.  We acknowledge The High School's success in this area and we hope to see it continue in the future.
Ena Ní Foghlú and Alexandra Lenihan

Senior Applied Mathematics Quiz

Congratulations to The High School Senior IAMTA quiz teams - consisting of Hugh Geraghty, Shane Reid, and Tirzah Hutchinson-Edgar as well as Kayla Kennedy, Katy Donnelly, and Arthur Feeney - who were placed second and fourth, respectively, in the Dublin branch competition.
Ms Thorp

Irish Schools' Golf Competition

The High School Senior Boys golf team played in The Irish Schools Golf Competition at Woodenbridge Golf Club last week.  We played for about four hours.  Our scores were reasonable considering the weather which was challenging.  There was heavy rain for about an hour and it was very cold for the rest of the round but it was a good experience and great fun.
David Lawley

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