The school would like to welcome back Ms. Daly after her break. Also we are sad to see Mr. Hanley leaving us but wish him the very best of luck with his teaching career.

Third Green Flag Raised

Last Friday Mr. Luke Ming Flanagan T.D raised the School’s third green flag.   This flag is awarded for the category of water conservation and the school would like to thank the Green Schools Committee, Ms. Pendergast and Ms. Bríd Fallon for all their help and support.

Seachtain na Gaeilge

takes place this week with a number of interesting activities taking place.   This is co-ordinated by Ms. Connolly and Ms. Gallagher.   We will have a further report next week.

Roscommon Macra Quiz

Elphin Community College came third in this years, Roscommon County Macra Quiz.  All the schools in the county were represented and it was a great achievement for Finbarr McDermott, Gerard McDermottroe, James Dwyer and Donal Brady,  Well done lads.

Junior Boys Volleyball

Our two Junior Boys Volleyball teams played their first series of matches last Thursday week in Drumshanbo.    There were six teams involved, meaning a total of 15 matches had to be played on the day.   In an enjoyable and exciting day of volleyball, our team A finished top of the group with team B finishing in fourth place.    Both teams go forward to the next round of the competition.   We would like to thank Mr. Noone for all his work in preparing the different teams for competition.

Guest Speakers at Elphin C.C.

This week was Mental Health Awareness Week in Elphin Community College, which saw the school working and participating in activities and workshops which did and will contribute to well-being of everyone. Elphin Community College would like to whole-heartedly thank everybody who made this week such a tremendous success.

The week began with Dr. Geraldine Colleran delivering an excellent presentation detailing Mental Health Awareness and promoting positive Mental Well-Being. Dr.Colleran gave a talk to all Junior classes and then all Senior classes.

On Tuesday, the Home Economics department, with the help of students gave every student in the school pancakes, SOS donated the ingredients and toppings for the pancakes. The students had their choice of toppings and filled up on the delicious treats. Following this, Liam Moroney from Youth Work Ireland (Roscommon Branch) guiding the students through Progressive Relaxations sessions. The students were split into groups so they could experience the full effects of relaxing and Liam equipped the students with useful knowledge to help them cope with stress and life’s pressures.

On Wednesday, the Senior classes attended a workshop from the charity organisation Aware. Colm from the Galway branch delivered a talk entitled ‘Beat the Blues.’ The students were able to talk and listen freely to the content of the presentation. The workshop helped in removing the stigma that exists around mental health.

On Thursday, Finola Colgan from Mental Health Ireland gave an excellent presentation to the students on Mental Health and promoting positive Mental Well – Being. The presentations were delivered to Junior classes and then Senior classes. The talk confronted myths and gave top tips for promoting Positive Mental Health in everyone.

Additionally, Nicola Moran from Youth Work Ireland (Roscommon Branch) set up a stand which detailed all the wonderful facilities that are available in the school. Nicola manned the stall for the day and was on hand to talk to the students about all the leaflets she had. The students could attend the area at any time. Most of these leaflets will be available in the school.

The final day of the Mental Health Awareness week encapsulated the teachings of the week. SOS contributed to a very success, very competitive Mental Health Awareness Quiz.

SOS sponsored the prizes. All the students gathered in the lobby and balcony area of the school. The students had decorated with decorative figures, with a picture of themselves on top. Students were split into teams consisting of members from every year group.

Following this, students were allowed to enjoy games for the last two classes. Students had the choice of games. Games included soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, Nintendo Wii and Xbox, as well as watching comedy movies.

The atmosphere around the school this week has been electric and there was a real sense of unity and togetherness. Our aim was to remove the stigma that surrounds Mental Health and we feel that our students are part of a new generation of thinkers. This theme will be a continued message in our teachings and we are now in a position where we can help ourselves and help others. We all have a basic knowledge and we urge you to ask your child about their experience of the week. We enclose a basic checklist that you can keep to assist you, your child and your family to maintain positive Mental Health.

On behalf of the Guidance and SPHE department, we would like to thank Mrs. Lee, Miss McPhillips and all the teaching staff, the excellent speakers and organisations who helped so generously and of course, the students. This week was a success because of their willing participation, thirst for knowledge and their desire to help or be helped. As we learned this week, Mental Health is the relationship you have with yourself, with others and your ability to cope with life’s demands.

Anti-litter video

A large number of students from 1^st Year, 2nd Year and T.Y took part recently in an anti-litter DVD project. Sponsored by Roscommon County Council the theme chosen was based on the LMFAO Party Rock Anthem song.

The shuffling song involved it was felt, would appeal to a wide variety of students in both primary and secondary schools. In fact Google has stated that the word ‘shuffle’ is the most frequently searched word on the internet. It was a lot of hard work but we had great fun along the way.

The film crew turned up last Monday to record the three minute productions. It will be ready to launch in February of next year. On behalf of the students we would like to thank everyone involved especially, Charlene Mulligan our choreographer.

TY Mini Company School Finals

The TY Mini Company School Finals took place last Friday. At the time of going to print a winner had not been chosen. Well done to the following teams – “Games 4 You”, “S & L Designs” and “Pickur Frames”. Final results and pictures in next weeks paper.

Leaving Certificate L.C.V.P. News

On Wednesday, 7^th December, students from the Leaving Certificate Link Modules class invited committee members Eileen Sweeney and John Ames to give a talk on the service the Youth Café provides to the community.  The students gathered a lot of information, and they took the opportunity to present the committee with a cheque for €137.  This money was raised through a costume day in the school and was organised by Kieran McGrath, Daniel Harding, Richard O’Grady, Jack O’Donnell, Emma Farrell and Ieuan Weston.

On the 15^th December, Valerie Byrne came in to visit the Leaving Certificate Link Modules class to speak to them about the work of Support to Overcome Suicide (SOS).  The visit was a great success with the students learning much about the invaluable services and supports this organisation provides.  Students also presented Valerie with €236, which was raised through a Film Morning in the school.  This fundraising event was organised by Clare Cregg, Fiona McCann, Ciara Hennessy, Michael Sullivan, Damien Byrne and Ronan Beirne.

Cadette Boys Volleyball

The Cadette Boys ended their involvement in this years compettion when they lost in two straight sets to St Louis Secondary School, Kiltimagh on Tuesday last 17^th January.  While both sets were close, losing 25 – 22, 25 – 23 the boys were disappointed with their performance.  Team as follows Ryan Larkin (captain) James Dwyer, Austin Kielty, Sean Duarke, Christopher O’Connor, Joshua Roxby,   Substitutes: Jonathan Beirne, Padraig Neary, Richard Harding, Dominic Gnisz, Drew Bell, Ciaran Beirne and Francis Lee.

OPEN NIGHT

An Open Night will take place this Thursday the 26^th Janaury at 7.00p.pm   This will give parents of perspective 1^st years students the chance to come along to an information session in the school and to view the new facilities that we have to offer.

OPEN DAY

Following on from the Open Night the 6^th class students from the local National Schools will visit the school on Friday 27^th January, to look at our facilities and also to see a number of the subjects in action.   It promises to be an enjoyable and informative exercise for the students of the area.

LCVP WORK EXPERIENCE

The pre-leaving Cert students are busy preparing themselves for LCVP work experience which begins on Monday 30^th January.   We would like to thank all of those companies who have provided our students with valuable experience for their working life.

MOCK EXAMS

The pre Examination Mocks begin on Wednesday 1^st February.   Students from both the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate are studying hard (or should be!!!) as they approach.   Best of luck to both groups.

STUDENT TEACHER

We would like to welcome Mr. Benson to the school.   He is on work experience from GMIT / Letterfrack and is teaching Woodwork and Technical Graphics to 1^st and 2^nd year students.

SENIOR BOYS FOOTBALL

The senior boys had a narrow 1 point victory over Coola V.S. in Riverstown last Wednesday.

ECC TAKES ON THE WORLD OF WORK

Students from Elphin Community College are out on work placement this.  However, they’re in good stead having taken part in a Mock Placement last week.  Students ‘worked’ in 5 different settings: primary school, journalism, toy stories, product review, and market research.

As the journalism group, we had to interview and photograph the other four different groups and write this article.  The first organisation was Primary School Teaching.  By the end of the session they had to produce an art class for second class students. Their main aim was to find out if they would work well with young students in the school environment.

Another group was involved in market research. The job involved taking number plates, car colours and car types from 30 cars. From this they had to draw various pie and bar charts. The findings of the charts showed what types of cars people were most interested in, the most popular car, and car colour. When asked about the experience, they said that although it was ‘cold’ they enjoyed getting the most of the fresh air. The whole group seemed interested in the career but they said they would not pursue it in life.

Another group, the product testers, were testing a product called the “Moisturising Lab”. I interviewed Michael Macken. The all-boys group felt gutted and disappointed. Sources told me that Michael Higgins and Stephen Ryan were interested in wearing the moisturiser product. Stephen claimed the product is easy to use if you follow the step by step instructions. Stephen said his skin felt soft after it. Overall it seemed embarrassing but an enjoyable activity for the boys at Elphin Community College.

Last but not least, the fourth group were on work experience in a toy store. In this job, skill, craftsmanship and team work were the big factors of being able to complete the task.  We interviewed a person in the group and were told that they expected this job to pay well; that they would get to develop their communication skills through dealing with customers and to get better at team-work. They had to build and adverstise a large roller-coaster structure, using ‘K-nex’.

Great fun was had by all for the afternoon and we expect that we’re well-prepared for the various tasks in front of us this week.

Leaving Cert Ecology Field Trip

On Thursday November 10^th, the Leaving Certificate class travelled to St. John’s Wood, Lecarrow with their teachers Ms. Fallon and Mr. Hanley. The trip provided students with the opportunity to complete their ecology experiments in a woodland habitat, where they saw the natural flora and fauna of this old Irish woodland. This excellent service was provided by Rebecca and Dawn of the North Midlands Wildlife Education Centre (National Parks and Wildlife Service)

Leaving Certs Travel to Sligo IT Open Day

Our Leaving Certificate students attended Sligo Open Day on Thursday 24^th November. The students were given full access to the college and spoke to the Students Union regarding the possible reintroduction of college tuition. The students attended lectures about the range of courses on offer and got first hand information from staff and current students.

Students Travel To AIT

Transition Year on Retreat
Student on a recent retreat to Adventure Retreats Ireland in Tanagh, Cootehill,

Co. Cavan.

Volleyball News Girls Volleyball
Our Senior girls are in action on Monday 21st November in the National Quarter

Finals against St. Brigid's Clondalkin. This is after beating St. Mary' Secondary

School 25-21 and 25 - 11 in round 2 last week. They also defeated Balla Secondary

School 25 - 12, 25 - 14 to top their group. Well done and good luck girls.

Boys Volleyball Senior B Boys
Elphin Community College vs. Drumbshambo C and B on Thursday 17th November the

Elphin senior B team travelled to Drumshambovto play two of their teams. Elphin's

first opponents on the day were Drumshambo's B team. Elphin got off to a bright

start in the first set. It was a close set, with both teams winning point for point.

Ieuan Weston and Keiran Mc Grath were very effective as main hitters. A run of bad

luck and unforced errors seen Elphin lose the first set, a close 27-25.The second
set followed the same fashions the first. Jack O Donnel and Dillion Beirne were

impressive as they set for Ieuan and Keiran. Unfortunately for Elphin unforced errors

dictated the run of play finding themselves 20-9 down. Despite heroic dives and great

service from James Dwyer and the experience of Michael O'Sullivan Elphin still lost

this set and match 25-13. The second of the matches to be seen was versus Drumshambo

C team. The team started well leading 5-0 and the confidence was up, but bad

decisions and errors meant that elphin lost the lead. Despite this elphin still put

in a good fight and went tit for tat and unfortunately lost the match 26-24. An

unlucky loss for the lads with every player playing well in the set! What was to be

Elphin's final set of the day was another tight set but unfortunately for Elphin

the set didn't go their way and bowed out of this years competition.

Senior A Boys
The senior A boys are in action on Wednesday 24th November in Streete where they

will be in action against St. Raphael's, Loughrea in the National Semi-finals of

this years competition.

It has been a busy couple of weeks for volleyball in the school with the Senior Girls and the Senior A and B boys in action.

The Senior A Boys suffered a first round defeat to their near rivals Drumshanbo in the first round of this years competition. They lost 2 -0 on a scoreline of 25 – 23; 25 – 21. While the sets were close the team know the several unforced errors will need to be eradicated in the next round if they are to progress further.

The Senior B Boys topped their group when they took on two teams from St. Mary’s Sec. School, Drogheda in Street Community Centre. They achieved this in a strange manner after losing their first match narrowly to St. Mary’s B team  2 – 1. They then beat St. Mary’s A comfortably 2 – 0. The earlier result between the two Drogheda teams means Elphin top their group going into round 2.

The Senior girls qualified in third place in their 1^st round group beating St. Brigid’s Sec. School, Clondalkin  2 – 0 sets. They drew 1 – 1 with Portmarnock Community School, but lost to Mercy Sec. School, Tuam; 2 – 0. They take on St. Mary’s Sec. School, Naas and Balla Sec. School in Ballinagare on the 8^th Nov. TBC  in round 2.

Transition Year and Pre-leaving classes go Surfing and learn Irish:

By K. Rattigan -TY

 Transition Year and Pre-leaving travelled to the Donegal Adventure Centre in Bundoran on the 18^th October to improve on the students’ Irish Oral Skills and for some students to undertake a new activity – surfing!

The students departed from Elphin Community College at 8 o’clock on a cold Tuesday morning.  17 students along with two Irish teachers, Ms Connolly and Ms Gallagher went on the trip.  We arrived in  Bundoran at 10 o’clock and were introduced to the Irish teacher Rhia.  We had three hours of Irish classes from 10 o’clock to 1 o’clock.  During that period of time we improved on our oral Irish skills,  We didn’t just sit on our seats and learn Irish all day, we also played Irish games.

After the Irish class we got a quick lesson on how to surf at the Donegal Adventure Centre as it was too cold at the beach.  After the surf lesson we got changed into our wet suits and headed to Rossnowlagh which is a 15 minutes bus journey from the Adventure Centre in Bundoran.  When we got there our instructors gave us our surfboards and we went into the water.  We were surprised that  we were warm in the water as the day was so cold, it actually snowed in Donegal the previous day.

After surfing for 2 hours we got on the bus and went back to Donegal Adventure Centre in Bundoran.  We had a nice hot shower and put on our warm clothes.  We departed for Elphin at 4 o’clock.

Overall the day was enjoyable, we didn’t mind the Irish classes as we played games but the surfing was the best.

Maths Week:

By
Emma McDermottroe and Emma Muldowney.  

 Maths Week took place from the 15th October to the 22nd October. The years that took part in Maths Week were 2nd Years, Pre Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert.
It is a national event. It took place during maths classes throughout the whole week and students did the challenges at home. The challenges were set up by the maths teacher for each year group on www.mangahigh.com.

The majority of the students enjoyed the challenges and received gold, silver or bronze medals when the challenges were completed. The winning year group was 2nd years, winning 28 bronze, 4 silver and 5 gold medals overall.

www.mangahigh.com is a facility which is available online all year long. It is based on the Irish Maths curriculum and is a fun and a helpful revision aid.

Students Travel to Aviva Stadium

28 students from the school travelled to the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday the 11th October last to support the Irish soccer team, take on Armenia. The group celebrated a 2 – 1 win for the national side and hope to support them again in the play-offs on the 15th November when the Republic of Ireland take on Estonia to qualify for next years European Finals to be held in Poland.

Sposored Walk:

The school held its annual sponsored walk on Friday  14^th October. This fundraiser is organized to help with the large costs for the various sports teams in the school. €4088 was raised and we would like to thank all those who contributed to the event.

]]> http://www.elphincollege.ie/elphin-c-c-news-october-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.elphincollege.ie/elphin-news-september-2012/ http://www.elphincollege.ie/elphin-news-september-2012/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:32:31 +0000 admin http://www.elphincollege.ie/?p=982

1st year and Transition Year Induction Evening
The school held an information evening for parents of our 1st year & T.Y. students. We would like to thank all thank all who attended.

Settling In Programme
The 1st Year students have recently completed a four week programme called ‘SETTLING IN’ organised by Youthwork Ireland. We would like to thank Ann
Marie Hourigan for all her help in delivering this worthwhile course.

 Clock Project

Following a very successful year in 2010/2011 the annual awards ceremony took place on Wednesday afternoon 1^st June 2011.  Students and staff packed the lobby in the new building.  An atmosphere of excitement and anticipation prevailed.

Students received Gold, Silver and Bronze Merit Awards for outstanding achievement during the school year. Awards were presented for the highest attendance in each year group.

Student of the year was awarded to the following:-

1^st year   -    Adele Hegoburu and Francis Lee

2^nd year   -   Robyn Bradley and Dominik Gnisz

Junior Cert – Siobhan Lee and Kevin Rattigan

T.Y. R – Laura Crotti and Shane Killoran

T.Y. L – Pooky Mitchell and Michael Macken

Pre Leaving Certificate  – Fiona Mc Cann and Ieuan Weston

Leaving Certificate -  Marie O’Reilly and Robert Kelleher

Sports Awards:

Junior Sports Awards were presented to Christopher O’Connor and Siobhan Hook

Senior Sports Awards were presented to Cherie Hook and Shane Killoran

Overall Sports Star of the year went to Gerry Cregg

Art Awards

Craft Award: Deven French

3 D Award: Kinga Pawlak

Painting Award:  Aoife Rattigan

Portrait Award:   Geeta Mitchell

 Technology Awards:

Junior Award was presented to  Joshua Roxby

Senior Award was presented to Robert Kelleher

The John Morkan Memorial Prize for the best Junior Certificate results 2010 went to Finbar Mc Dermott

The Liam Staunton Memorial Prize for the highest result in Junior Certificate Science 2010 went to Finbar Mc Dermott.

BANK OF IRELAND AWARDS

Mr. Padraig Molloy And Mr. Eamonn Kenny from Bank of Ireland, Elphin, presented awards to four of our exam students last Wednesday. The Junior Cert winner was Siobhan Lee with runner up Kevin Rattigan. The Leaving Cert winner was Laura McDermott with runner up Paul Morris. Well done all four recipients.