Elphin Community College

Hope, fear, anger, rebellion, challenge.  How do the young people of today live in a world where things are constantly changing?  Witness an explosion of physical energy as 45 students from Ardscoil Phadraig, Elphin Community College and Templemichael College explore how the elements around us affect our lives.  This is not a show for the faint-hearted as they literally hang from the rafters and drive each other up the walls. Working with internationally acclaimed Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre Company, the students have trained together for 15 days, learning how to dance, climb, tumble, fall and fly.

In its third year, the Schools’ Aerial Project has grown to involve three schools from Counties Longford and Roscommon.  We would like to thank the VECs of both counties; the Parents’ Councils of all three schools and the Creative Engagement Fund from the NAPD.

Shows take place on Monday 4^th March at 8pm; Tuesday 5^th March at 12 noon and 8pm.  Tickets are available directly from the Backstage Theatre box office at 043-3347888.  Tickets cost €5 for children, €10 for adults.

Transition Year – Induction Trip

Our Transition year opened with an induction trip to Lough Key, Forest Park in Boyle, Co. Roscommon with our transition year coordinators Ms McGovern & Ms Prendergast. The outing began with a walk around the grounds followed by lunch, alfresco. Teams were then chosen for the unique challenge of solving the 47 rooms in the Boda Borg. It contained fun- filled activities, imaginative puzzles and enjoyable tasks but no instructions, so our mission was to solve all the rooms. The team that solved the most rooms won the competition. It was a very enjoyable day full of curiosity, laughter and excitement.

Transition Year – Mini-Company Talk

The Transition Years from Elphin C.C. got a visitor from the Student Enterprise Awards, John Reilly, who talked about different aspects of our mini-company. Firstly, John showed us a video, showing mini-companies from last year’s awards. He then talked to us about how to work in groups and how to get the best out of everyone in the group, and he also showed us different techniques on how to come up with an idea for the mini-company and how to produce that idea. The information John gave us was very helpful and some of us have started working on ideas already.

Transition Year – Junior Cert Results Trip

We  went to the Bowling Alley in Carrick-on-Shannon to celebrate getting our Junior Certificate results. It was a long wait but we finally  got  them, three years of hard work on one piece of paper and everyone in our year did brilliantly.  We had three great games of bowling and then to finish a great day we went on to feed our hungry appetites at Supermacs.

By Drew Bell

Transition Year – Mini-Company

As part of our T.Y. Project we held a Tea and Bun Morning in our school on Wednesday 3^rd October to raise money for our T.Y bus fund .
The sale was extremely successful as the whole school participated to help us raise funds.
My class has really enjoyed T.Y. so far as we have already done so many activities and we go on work experience every Friday. We are really looking forward to the rest of the year ! T.Y has helped us bond together as most of our activities involve working as a team.

By Shane O’Brien, Rosy Donnelly, Dominik Gnisz

Transition Year - Debating

The Transition years from Elphin Community College got Eddie Flanagan in to them to talk about public-speaking and debating. Firstly Eddie asked us our names, where we are from and what we want to do in the future. He then discussed to us about public speaking and debating. He explained to us on how to approach the audience, get their attention and to use good tone.

Our first task that he has got us to do is too write a four minute speech on Mental Health so he can see how good we are on peaking and debating and he could make changes. He will be with us for the next few months to work with us, and in November we will be competing with other schools to win. Hope we beat them.

Transition Year – Anti Litter Film Talk

TRANSITION YEAR GRADUATION

After a very successful and jam packed year the transition Year Students of Elphin Community College finally had their Graduation evening on Thursday 26^th May.   A  display of the work, including their TY folder and personalized poster along with a photographic display greeted the parents and other guests when they gathered for the event.   After a viewing of the stands, Gary Brennan gave the group a tour of the garden area where the TY students had set up a vegetable plot.

The award ceremony began with an opening address by Marie Lee, Principal,  where she congratulated the group on all of their achievements through the year and acknowledged the positive message they gave to the outside community.

Brian Higgins and Paul Noone, TY co-ordinators  then outlined the activities over the year.

Eddie Flanagan, Clr Valerie Byrne expressed gratitude to the TY students for their work with them and also outlined aspects of their involvement in projects.

A pack containing a range of Certificates was presented to the students along with individual awards (list below)

To conclude, a photo and video slideshow prepared by the TY co-ordinators along with TY students was shown ending a very enjoyable evening

LIST OF AWARDS

LEAVING CERT Mass

The leaving Cert mass will take place on Tuesday 24th May.

CLASS OF 2010-11

JUNIOR FOOTBALL

Good luck to our junior footballers who play Drumkeerin Vocational School in the Connaught final next Wednesday 25th in Carrick.on.Shannon at 12.00;pm.

TRANSITION YEAR WORK EXPERIENCE

Our transition year students returned this week from their work experierence  module.   We would like to thank all the employers who allowed our students the chance to experience this valuable aspect of Transition Year.

TRANSITION YEAR GRADUATION

The tranisition year graduation takes place on Thursday 26th May at 7.30pm. The students are busy at present preparing for the evening where they will display their work and achievements from a very successful year.

Taking Flight, taking off!

Transition Year students from Elphin Community College are now in their fifth week of preparations for putting on a show in the Roscommon Arts Centre on Wednesday, 13^th April.  Entitled “Taking Flight”, it explores the stereotypes around teenagers and how these are transcended by the work, energy and spirit of young adults today.

The piece uses a combination of aerial and gymnastic skills, involving trapeze, ropes and mini-trampolines.  Students will move, dance, lift, jump, climb and finally fly.  This will be accompanied by multi-media, using music and video-imagery to help get their message across.

Students are now working with Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre, who are the Irish leaders in aerial performance.  Fidget Feet will double-bill with their acclaimed performance of Hang On.

The Elphin Debate team reached the last eight schools in this years Concern Debating Competition. In a terrific victory the Elphin team of Finbar McDermott, Mark Brennan, Gerard McDermottroe and Hazel Conroy defeated Scoil Mhuire from Longford on a majority decision.  The motion for the debate was “CHINA IS GOOD FOR AFRICA”. Both teams must be commended for their efforts.

The Concern Debates is Concern Worldwide’s flagship schools activity. It gives students the opportunity to research and debate issues that affect those living in the developing world.

By taking part, students learn the valuable skills of research and debating. The Concern Debates have been running since 1984. Throughout the competition’s history, over 45,000 students have engaged in the debates. Around 130 schools participate annually.

The team now await the draw for the next round and the debate motion.

Deputy Feighan Visits School

Our Junior cert class had a talk from Mr. Frank Feighan TD on Monday 28^th February as part of their CSPE project.

Students found it very interesting and had a lot of questions for the Fine Gael TD. We would like to congratulate Frank on his re-election and wish him the best of luck in the new Dail term.

Transition Year Environmental Awareness Projects

Eco Fashion Show

Congratulations to all T.Y. students who recently participated in two environmental awareness projects organised by Roscommon County Council. Work started last November and culminated in a one day event in the Roscommon Arts Centre on February 15^th last, where Elphin C.C won second prize in the Eco Fashion Show. Given the quality and very high standards of participating schools – we were delighted with this achievement and in particular would like to acknowledge the creative talents of the design team, made up of Laura Crotti, Roisin Giblin, Emma Canning and Leanne Murray, who was also chief make-up artist on the day. Others involved were Hazel Conroy, Deborah Byrne and Paul Anderson who put together a thought provoking power point presentation with music to accompany the costume on stage.

The design was based on the Japanese Kimono and was comprised of three layers, each of which represented the impact of human activity on the earth – past, present and future. Roisin Giblin, Pooky Mitchell and Bronagh Weston presented. It was made entirely from recycled materials ranging from old curtains, newspapers, tin foil and straws to black refuse sacks, crisp/ sweet packets , bun cases and much more! Quirky accessories included a fan made from CD’s and chopsticks, headpieces made using old maps, baling twine and wire, also plaited black plastic in a wire frame, old sandals and an umbrella covered in torn magazines and decorated with ‘origami’ or folded paper butterflies completed the look. This colourful creation was the result of many hours of hard work and effort which we hope you will agree was well worth it! A final reference must be made to our model Breifne O’ Rourke, as she did a wonderful job interpreting the role which was as much about presentation as costume design. Well done everyone!

 Anti- litter Film

The second project focused on making a short film with an anti- litter / environmental theme, again sponsored by Roscommon County Council. Our main aim from the start was to include as many students as possible both on/ off screen to avail of this unique opportunity. Much credit must be given to the skillful and creative talents of the script writing team who came up with a clever adaptation of the TV3 programme ‘Take Me Out’. These students were Finbarr Mc Dermott, Hazel Conroy, Donal Brady and Ryan Larkin.

A professional media crew shot the film in the school on 21^st January last alongside Mr. Noone who provided additional support throughout. It was an exciting, enjoyable and worthwhile experience for all involved. The film was premiered on February 15^th also and was very well received by all in attendance. Congratulations to everyone concerned and special thanks to Ms. Suzanne Dempsey, Environmental Education Officer with Roscommon County Council for her valuable assistance over many months.

Green Schools

Green Schools is an international environmental education programme in which our school has been involved for a number of years. Having previously attained two flags attached to the scheme we embarked on the journey of working towards our third, which has ‘Water’ as its primary theme. The idea here is to promote awareness around water conservation and protection at home and at school. If we can work to reduce water consumption then huge savings can be made in energy costs and environmental impact which in turn can help reduce the rate of climate change largely associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

After forming our Green Schools Committee, we carried out an environmental review of our school and set about developing an action plan with priority targets to reduce our water usage and create awareness among students of the important issues regarding water.

This week Ms Lisa Mc Daniels from An Taisce, was a guest speaker in our school as part of an ‘Action Day’ for whole school participation. She spoke to every student on issues relating to water conservation, water quality and how we can raise awareness through poster/ slogan competitions. She brought in samples of water taken from a local river for students to examine and survey. The samples included many insects which were measured against a rated scale showing the level of pollution involved in the sample. As a result of this visit, students have become much more aware of their personal usage and how they can save water in the future both at school and at home. The visit has also increased awareness of the effects of pollution on water quality and how it is everyone’s responsibility to act in a manner which safeguards this most precious resource for future generations.

Cadette Girls Volleyball

Good luck to our Cadette Girls Volleyball team who are in the cadette A quarter finals against St. Brigid’s  Voc. School, Loughrea in Athlone next Friday. It is the first time the school has got this far at Cadette Girls A level.

Well done to our TY  Trash for Fash Designers who captured 2nd place in this years competition. Under the guidance of Ms. Prendergast, the students designed a remarkable imaginative creation.