ST. COLMCILLE’S COMMUNITY SCHOOL NEWS

Extra Curricular Sport:
Badminton:
The Badminton Club in the school is growing in popularity and they are now becoming a force to be reckoned with on the Badminton circuit.
Our under 16 boys won the Dublin Division 1 Final and then went on to win the Leinster Division 1 Final by the closest of margins after a tightly fought match. The boys represented the school and Leinster in this year’s All Ireland Final on Saturday 25th March in Gormanstown College. After a tough match against Royal and Prior of Ulster, the boys drew with the Munster team and were unfortunate to narrowly miss out on second place. Finishing third in Ireland was however an excellent result for their first time in Division One All Ireland Final.
A huge ‘Thank You’ is extended to the boys’ parents who were always so willing to help with lifts to matches and went out of their way to be supportive and encouraging. ‘Thanks’ is also extended to Mary Jo Glynn who liased with Arnotts to have the boys properly kitted out for the big day. The Parents Association, as always, were also extremely generous in their support of the team, this is very much appreciated. The boys represented the school to the highest standards and we are all extremely proud of their achievements. The team is made up of: Alan Fanning, Stephen Neary, Eoin Leonard, Karl Fitzharris and Gavin White.
The Girls Under 14 team also brought some silverware to the school. They won the Dublin Finals Division 3 and were narrowly beaten in the Leinster Final. The team is made up of: Mairead Fanning, Sarah Murray, Kate Fitzharris, Leonie Dunne and Sarah Fitzharris.
Our under 14 boys team also represented the school in this year’s competition although they didn’t win any medals they played very well and made great progress from the start of the year. The team consisted of: Donal McNamee, Mark Fitzpatrick, Benjamin Walsh, Simon Connolly and Conor Roche.

Girls Gaelic Football
The Under 14 girls gaelic team is made up of a mixture of first and second year girls who have been training since mid September even though their league didn’t start until January. With the majority of Leinster competing in the same division, there were 16 different groups. The girls only had one match in their section, and put in a magnificent performance and had a very convincing win over St. Dominicans 6-23 to 1-0. The girls now wait to see who their opponents are in the quarter finals.

Gaisce 2005/06
This year there are sixty Transition Year pupils participating in the Gaisce Award. The pupils will soon complete a 25 kilometre hike along the Wicklow Way, staying overnight in Knockree Hostel. Awards will be received on Graduation night in May and we wish all involved the very best of luck.
Focus Ireland School Sleepover
This year in term one, four students from 3B, Lorna Marshall, Sarah Burke, Amanda Breegan and Brian Coughlan decided as their CSPE Action Plan to do a fundraiser for Focus Ireland to highlight the plight of the homeless in Ireland. They opted to take part in the Schoolmates Sleepover but being ambitious decided that rather than having home sleepovers for their friends, they would do a large-scale sleepover in the school. The night took a lot of planning and there were a few moments when abandoning it seemed like the best plan but it did eventually go ahead and was a big success and a lot of money was collected. An unexpected surprise for the students and for the school was the announcement a couple of weeks later that the students, having collected the biggest amount of money per person in the sleepovers, had won four computers and printers for the school, sponsored for Focus by Bank of Ireland.