October 2012, No 33

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It all started off as our CSPE action project. Our CSPE teacher Ms French had been talking to us about the referendum and was surprised to find that none of us knew about it. She quickly came up with the idea to have two people come in from Unicef to talk to us about the Children’s Rights referendum.

We learned that a referendum happens if people want to change the constitution. We were really shocked about some of the things that Unicef were telling us, like the way that you are not considered a proper family unless your parents are married and that over 800 children are homeless in Ireland.

Unicef had made workshops and games about the referendum and we played one of the games. The games use facts about children and make it a more fun and interesting way to learn.

Newpark was the first school of many to be visited by Unicef in their hope to spread the

word about giving children a voice. A few days later Ms French got a phone call from Unicef inviting us to the launch of their Children’s Rights animation in The Base in Ballyfermot. Our class was thrilled with the news and on Friday 5th October we left the school at 9:15 and headed on our journey to Ballyfermot.

We arrived very early. We had arranged for two students from our class, Lucienne Palmer and Kirsty Nolan (pictured above), to do a skit from the point of view of children of all ages in Ireland about why people over 18 should vote yes in the referendum. Lucienne and Kirsty went into a different room to do a sound check, so the rest of us sat down, talked, were filmed and had our photos taken until we went in to watch the animation video. When we got inside, there were t-shirts lined up on the seats for us to put on.

Continued on page 3

By Kirsty Nolan & Ellie Tyndall, Third Year

The Children’s Referendum: It’s About You!

Mr Derek Lowry Firstly a big welcome to all the new students and staff who have joined the school this year, in particular Ciaran Byrne as replacement Art teacher for Willie Sweeney who has retired and Dermot Marley as replacement Technical Graphics teacher for Jim Kirby. In total there are 164 new students including 25 who have arrived into Second to Sixth Year. I hope that they will enjoy their time in Newpark and achieve all of their personal goals.

These new students entered the school as the Leaving Certificate class of 2012 left. Overall the year group performed very well. Behind each result is a separate story of achievement, sometimes against the background of very difficult circumstances. Student feedback indicates that a large number are doing the courses they were aiming for. We had an increased number of students who scored more than 500 points—even before the new bonus points for Higher Maths was factored in—which is a very encouraging trend. The Leaving Certificate Applied class also did extremely well with a large number of distinctions and merits. They were an exceptional group who were particularly positive and hardworking over the two years and we wish them the every success in the future. On Tuesday 25th September the 2012 year group returned to the school for the Debs reception. Thank you to the PTA who hosted this very successful and well attended event. The students then enjoyed a great evening in the Dunboyne Castle Hotel.

Transition Year students received their Junior Certificate results on the 12th September and again performed very well. It was very heartening to see the increased number of students taking the higher level in both Maths and Irish. This is a trend on which we intend to build over the next number of years. It is a great help that more of our students are now going to the Gaeltacht and I want to thank the Irish Department and the PTA for their organisation and sponsorship of scholarships which have allowed a number of keen students to do this.

During the summer the school received confirmation that the school building project would go ahead in 2013. This was great news after the keen disappointment of the project setback in March. I thank all those parents, staff, students, past students and political representatives who supported and actively campaigned for the new building. The Board has appointed a Technical sub-committee which will liaise with the architect and Department of Education and Skills to ensure that the project is kept on track for the earliest possible completion.

This year is also the 40th Anniversary of Newpark and as you will read in other parts of this newsletter a number of events are being organised to celebrate this milestone. We invite the whole school community to help us celebrate as positively as possible

by supporting the events over the coming year.

Last year you may have read about the Comenius project involving the Fifth (now Sixth) Year Engineering class who have linked up with students from other European countries. This has been an exceptional opportunity for the students to be part of a very practicable project. There are very considerable benefits on many levels. Groups of the Newpark engineers have visited Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland so far and the final trips are to Austria and France in 2013. Many thanks to John O’Neill for all the work he has done in organising the project and especially for arranging the series of trips abroad.

In 2011 the Department of Education and Skills launched a Literacy and Numeracy strategy in an effort to raise overall levels of performance. This year Newpark will be focusing in particular on Literacy. Subject departments have been examining ways in which they can bring new ideas into the classroom to improve literacy levels. As part of the initiative we have started a Book in the Bag scheme for First Year students to increase the number of students reading for pleasure. Both Second Year and First Year have been surveyed about their reading habits and their favourite books. Based on these results, the library has now been stocked with a large number of student recommended books. Every First Year is now expected to have a book in their schoolbag to read for pleasure. Students will be encouraged to read their book if they have finished the assigned work in class or a teacher is absent. We ask parents to encourage First Year students to take time each evening to read for pleasure and make sure they have their book each day.

We are at present increasing the number of books in the library recommended generally for teenagers. We have redesigned part of the library as a comfortable reading area for students at lunchtime and during the day. We encourage students in all years to make use of the library and discover the great pleasure of reading a good book. Many thanks to our librarians Laura Martin and Mary White for their help.

Congratulations are due to some individual students on exceptional sporting achievement. Sixth Year Emily Cahill is playing on the Irish Under 19 soccer team in Serbia this week. In September Second Year Tola Adebisi was kickboxing for Ireland in Bratislava. Transition Year skier Cormac Comerford is currently race-training in Austria for his new season. Third Years Satchel Madden and Leo Kurevlev continue to perform at the highest levels in badminton and swimming and First Years Taylor Cole and Vladyslav Muiznieks are competing at national and provincial level in gymnastics and judo respectively. Sixth Year Jamie Salinger and Fifth Years Niall James and Aindriú Conroy Lennon were selected for the Leinster A rugby team. Well done to all!

With the school year now well under way I wish everyone a very successful and enjoyable year.

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Boxing Babies!

Our class was off on an English trip to the National Museum and Trinity College last week, but this time we had two extra classmates with us, our new babies. We weren’t sure whether they would appreciate the cultural significance of the experience, but hey, that’s kids for you!!

On arriving in town, Daragh attempted to leave his baby on the school minibus but modern childcare practice doesn’t allow for this approach to child minding so we made him take it with him. I was carrying my baby and Jake was carrying Daragh’s baby (no surprise) down the side of the Green when we started to attract some attention.

“What’s the story with the babies?” a voice shouted from behind us. Nervously we all turned to see who was talking to us. Imagine our shock when we realised that it was Peter Taylor, our boxing hero Katie Taylor’s dad.

“They’re not real,” Jake quickly explained to him, “but they do all the same things as a real baby would do.”

Peter called Katie over and she had a look. She’s just as good looking in real life as she is on the telly. She asked us all about the babies and why we were carrying them around. We explained to her that it was part of our Leaving Cert Course. Everyone in the class has to look after a baby for 48 hours, and treat it as if it was real. This includes feeding, changing, burping and paying attention to it. A computer chip inside the baby will say if you have not treated the baby correctly or have neglected it in some way. We got a good few stares from some of the visitors to the museum when the babies started to cry and when Daragh left his baby in McDonalds, but we all made it home in one piece.

Both Katie and Peter Taylor thought looking after the babies was a great idea and they wished us luck. They were really nice and friendly to us and it was a great honour to meet two of our sporting heroes.

Toni Childs 5LCA

Unfortunately the Minister for Children

and the Tánaiste couldn’t make it because of protesters outside The Base who egged them as they were trying to get out of their

cars! They never actually hit the Minister or Tánaiste but their cars were egged and a 28 year old man was arrested. The CEO of Unicef was there along with other political people.

Back inside, Glenn and Dylan, two boys from The Base got u p a n d performed a rap in front of everyone. Kirsty and

Lucienne did their skit, some children from Griffeen Valley Educate Together told us about what they thought of the referendum and then we watched the Unicef animation video.

At the end of the day most of the class headed back to school but Kevin Waddell, Lucienne and Kirsty went into town to meet the Tánaiste and the Minister for Children in Iveagh House. There they were introduced to the Tánaiste and Minister and had a lot of photos taken with them. Peter Powers, the Executive Director of Unicef Ireland, spoke and then Glenn and Dylan did their rap again. After this Lucienne and Kirsty did their skit with Kevin alongside. The Minister and Tánaiste spoke about the Referendum to finish up. The students presented the Minister with an It’s About You t-shirt.

Our class is hoping to spread the word about the Children’s Referendum, especially in school by doing a Facebook campaign, putting up posters around the school and going into some of the CSPE classes to show them the animation and tell them about the Referendum. We were on the six o’clock and nine o’clock news, some newspapers and on news2day! It was a great experience: we now know that if the

The Children’s Referendum

Continued from page 1 referendum is passed it will change the way society views Children’s rights and give us a chance to speak our minds and (most importantly) be heard.

Kirsty Nolan 3SH and Ellie Tyndall 3HH

Watch a two minute video of our day on http://www.unicef.ie/Its-About-YOU-Video-182.aspx HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!! Facebook UNICEF.Ireland Twitter: @unicefireland#itsaboutyou w w w . u n i c e f . i e / i t s a b o u t y o u

And look out for our posters around school!

Rugby for Leinster

Over the last four months, Jamie Salinger, Niall James and myself (Aindriú Conroy Lennon) have been training with the Leinster A Schools squad. We all put in a lot of hard work, commitment and training over the summer and in the build-up to the Interpros.

Our first interprovincial match was away against Munster in Cork’s Musgrave Park. This is a tough and intimidating fixture for any Leinster side. I was unable to play due to a training injury, but travelled to Cork with the team. In Musgrave Park Leinster meant business and made an extremely good start. Munster pushed hard to come back but we held strong and Newpark’s Niall James capped off the win with a try in the corner to end the game at 22-13.

The return match was in Donnybrook and the team was ready to defend the home ground. After a very even start, we went in at half-time leading 6-3 with a last-minute drop-goal. The second half was action packed. Leinster seemed to have it in the bag till a few sloppy mistakes saw Munster leading 20-18 in over-time. Leinster fought to the end but Munster kept us from stealing the win.

Leinster was presented with the Joe Weaver Cup which is determined by the aggregate scores. For the Newpark players, our experience with the Leinster As was a great opportunity to improve our rugby and make a lot of new friends.

Aindriú Conroy Lennon 5PH/CE

Basketball

Training for the 2012/13 basketball season started in September. This year we have six teams in various leagues.

Matches can take place any day between Monday and Friday. Players will be informed in advance. All players are reminded that they must wear the correct footwear at training and at matches. If players are unable to attend a training session or match they must inform the coach in advance. As always, new players are welcome to join the basketball teams in Newpark. It’s simple: just go to the training session and talk to the relevant coach.

Last year the senior boys were very successful in the Basketball Ireland league. With plenty of training, commitment and dedication let’s hope this year will be just as successful or even more so! Support at matches is very important, so please come and support the teams.

Thanks in advance for lifts to matches, support for the teams and general help with Newpark basketball this year. Best of luck to all the players and

coaches involved in the 2012/13 season.

Siobhan Costello, Basketball Co-ordinator

Sixth year Emily Cahill is on the Republic of Ireland U19 Women’s Squad in Serbia at the beginning of a journey they hope will lead them to the UEFA European Championship finals in Wales next August. The Irish team got off to a cracking start on Saturday defeating Cyprus 3-0 in their first match in Group 1 of the ten group first round stage. Ireland will also play Latvia and Serbia this week.

The two top teams in each group will automatically qualify for the second round where they will join top seeds Germany, France and England as well as the third placed team with the best record. Those 24 will then play-off in six four team groups with the group winners and the best runners-up with joining hosts Wales in the finals tournament.

The squad is based in Stara Pazova, a town 40km North West of the Serbian capital Belgrade. They played Cyprus on Saturday the 20th October, Latvia on Monday the 22nd October and finish up against hosts, Serbia, on Thursday the 25th October.

Follow the team’s progress on the FAI website www.fai.ie

Sixth Year Soccer Star Congratulations!

Congratulations to Second Year Tola Adebisi who competed for Ireland in the World Association of Kickboxing (WAKO) Junior/Cadets World Kickboxing Championships. Tola competed at regional and national level to earn her place on the national team. Tola is currently the Junior National Champion in her weight class. The World Championships took place in Bratislava, Slovakia this September. Tola represented Ireland proudly in fights against Hungarian and Croatian competitors. We wish Tola all the best for her new season. Meanwhile Newpark skier Cormac Comerford (Transition Year) is preparing for his new season with international race-training in Interlux, Austria. Also involved at top level competition are Third Years swimmer Leo Kurevlev and badminton player Satchel Madden. During the summer Satchel attended a high performance training camp in Malaysia. We have new sporting talents to watch too: First Years Taylor Cole and Vladyslav Muiznieks are competing at top levels in gymnastics and Judo. Best of luck to all!

Team Coach Training day Senior Boys Matt Kingsley Monday & Thursday Senior Girls Rachel Steele Thursday Under 16 Boys Matt Kingsley Monday & Thursday Under 16 Girls Siobhan Costello Wednesday First Year Boys Geraldine Cloney Tuesday First Year Girls Geraldine Cloney Tuesday

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The remaining Newpark team faced Sandford in the final. For the first ten minutes neither side could score a winner and—with no drop goals or conversions allowed—the game could only play on. The next team that scored a try would win the cup. Nerves began to grow whenever Sandford approached the Newpark try-line and in an unlucky piece of play Sandford believed they had scored a try. Their bench of players were going mad on the sidelines as a Sandford player burst through the Newpark defence. The referee disallowed the try for knock-on. Only minutes later Ben McCarthy powered through to score a wonderful try which won the game and the Aviva Cup for Newpark. Captain Ewan Ramsay later lifted the cup for the delighted First Year rugby team.

Matthew Rankin 1SO

First Year rugby in Newpark participated in a tournament called the Aviva Stadium Cup.

Newpark competed against Marion College, St Conleth’s and Sandford Park. Each school put forward two evenly matched teams to try and win the cup. Before the games began, each team was photographed with the Heineken Cup. The matches took place on the astroturf pitch beside the Aviva Stadium.

Going into the games we were both excited and nervous because last year Newpark First Years got to the final and lost by one try. Both Newpark teams began well, beating St. Conleth’s and Sandford Park in the first round and later going on to draw or win each match to qualify for the semi-finals. Unluckily the Newpark teams were drawn to play each other in the semi-final so one of our teams had to get the better of the other.

First Years win Aviva Cup

Last year Transition Year students from the European Section (LT) and the Art class (CB) participated in a competition called 2000 Leagues under the Sea organised by the French association Les Atômes Crochus. Following this contest, the students showcased their work at an exhibition in Dun Laoghaire’s East Pier lighthouse) as part of Dublin City of Science 2012.

This exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of the Scientific Service of the French Embassy, Emmanuel Reynaud (Marine Biologist, UCD) and Dun Laoghaire Harbour. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to promote their work but also for the European Section, the Arts and the school itself.

The exhibition took place from 10th to 16th July 2012 and hosted hundreds of visitors: Families, Newpark alumni, tourists and foreign students were all curious to see the exhibition—and the inside of the lighthouse as it is rarely opened to the public. We even had a visit from a former lighthouse keeper, Mr Tom Murphy. He shared memories with us and explained how each room in the lighthouse had been used.

The exhibition received wide publicity and has b e e n m e n t i o n e d o n m a n y w e b s i t e s : w w w . d u b l i n s c i e n c e 2 0 1 2 . i e , w w w . u c d . i e , www.ambafrance-ie (the French Embassy), www.brand-project.eu, www.dunlaoghaire.ie, afloat.ie, oceans.taraexpeditions.org and in the local paper Dun Laoghaire Gazette.

We were guests at the welcome party for the Tara research vessel crew at the Maritime Museum, where the Lord Mayor of Dun Laoghaire expressed his pride in Newpark for participating in Dublin City of

Sc i ence 2012 events. He was impressed with our international collaboration in a cross-curricular p r o j e c t w i t h France through the Tara Oceans project. We congratulate

all the students who participated in the project and thank all the volunteers who gave their support (Octavian Recean, the French Alliance, and the Transition Years) as well as the partners who made

this exhibition possible. Laetitia Tessier & Ciaran Byrne

Notes from the visitors’ book:

“Lovely to visit my old home and

see it being used so creatively”

Tom Murphy, ex lighthouse keeper

“Nice location for an interesting exhibition” Christian Marx

“Bravo! Merveilleux projet!” Rose Marie Dardelet

“Another dimension” Sean O’Neill

“Interesting and fun” David Lykins

2000 Metres Sous Les Mers

TCD French Department has launched a series of public lectures and film screenings. The themes explored will include love, trauma, war, childhood, fortune, the role of the Resistance, colonialism and memory. Each

screening will be preceded by a short lecture. All films have English subtitles. All screenings take place at the Swift Theatre in the Arts Building at 7.00pm. All are

welcome and entry is free of charge.

French Cinema at Trinity

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Upcoming screenings & lectures 1 November 2012 Le Roman d’un Tricheur (Sacha Guitry, 1938), Ms Donna Canada-Smith 15 November 2012 Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005), Dr James Hanrahan 29 November 2012 L’Armée des Ombres (Jean Pierre Melville, 1969), Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey 13 December 2012 Pierrot Le Fou (Jean Luc Gadard, 1965), Ms Donna Canada-Smith

Ms Tessier & Mr Byrne at the Maritime Museum with the crew of the Tara Oceans vessel

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The Gallery

The Gallery/Exhibition wall in the C corridor was built by Richie Heffernan in July this year. It is designed to improve the environment of the school, and to provide a safe and attractive space for the work of our students to be exhibited. Many thanks are due to the Newpark PTA for their funding of this initiative.

Richie Heffernan and art teacher Dee Mulrooney are piloting Project Wallflower, an initiative to improve the physical spaces where young people spend their time.

The current display is of felt pictures and vessels created as part of The S e a , a C r e a t i v e Engagement project i n v o l v i n g D e e Mulrooney, a second year art class and visiting artist Joanna Kidney. This work was exhibited last year in the Grainstore, and was on exhib it ion in the

National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks over the weekend of the 13th and 14th October. It is good to see it exhibited in the school now.

The previous display was of expressive monograms designed by the fifth year art class. Each student researched and developed their own lettering styles that reflected an aspect of their personality, and then designed a logo based on their initials that incorporated this lettering.

Ciaran Byrne, Newpark Art

Top Films in Newpark

What films do people in Newpark like? We surveyed the whole school—students and staff—to try to find out. Each person surveyed was asked to write down three of their favourite films and the genre and we counted and analysed the results. 670 people filled in our surveys so with more than 2000 film choices there was a whole lot of data to handle! We worked in groups of four and each group surveyed and analysed one year group or the staff. It was quite confusing at times as we worked on ranking the most popular film and genre choices for each group. We noticed that the choices were more varied as students got older. Amongst almost all groups comedy films were most popular followed by action films. The Fifth Years chose more action films than comedy and the staff bucked the trend completely with drama as the most popular genre of the films chosen. Film series got a slight advantage because often people didn’t specify which one they were choosing so we had to group them as one film.

Overall rankings: 1. The Hunger Games 2. The Batman trilogy 3. Ted 4. Harry Potter 5. Lord of the Rings 6. 21 Jump Street 7. The Hangover/The Shawshank Redemption 8. Taken 9. The Notebook 10. Mean Girls

Top choice for each group: First Years: The Hunger Games Second Years: The Hunger Games Third Years: Taken Transition Year: The Batman trilogy Fifth Year: Ted Sixth year: The Hangover Staff: The Shawshank Redemption

Why not send in your pitch to the newsletter explaining why you think one of your favourite films is

the best film ever?

Jordan Williams 4CR, Luis Pettit 4TC, Kevin Doherty 4SCO

& Transition Year English AJ

Flash Fiction Prize

Congratulations to Olivia Coughlan of Fifth Year who won a prize in the Flash Fiction competition organised by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Library service. Olivia was awarded her prize by DLR

writer-in-residence Chris Binchy and Cathaoirleach Counsillor John Bailey. You can read the prizewinning stories online on the DLR Library website.

Powers of the Brain

The BT Young Scientist Competition have opened their doors to new entries once again. A very popular category seems to be the social and behavioural science, in which I have a particular interest myself.

It’s amazing how the wiring in the brain can shape our behaviours and thoughts, but even more interesting is how our behaviours and thoughts can shape our brains in return and even trigger physical changes!

We all have a lot of special powers without realizing it and we use them in either positive or negative ways. We can teach our brains to restore physical functions, like speech and walking after a stroke, but we can also change some parts of our brain to help us become less anxious, happier and more positive, etc. If you simply change a behaviour for a while, you can rewire a whole pattern of behaviours imprinted in your brain.

Sometimes we might not be able to do that by ourselves and need some help from someone who teaches us how to best do it. It comes in handy though if you want to become more confident, lose your fear of public speaking or other common fears. All it takes is some discipline and practice, so why let negative t h o u g h t s c r e e p i n t o y o u r b r a i n ? Give it a try, you can check out these fun worksheets at: http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/freedownloads.htm

Elke MacEntee

What can Lichen Reveal?

My project is on measuring the air pollution in the Dublin area using lichens and comparing with results from twenty years ago. I have tested forty trees so far, twenty in Marley Park and twenty in the

River Dodder area. So far it seems the pollution has increased in both areas, mainly (I would think) because of new roads being built! All of us who entered projects are anxiously waiting to hear who got through: we will find out soon after mid-term break.

Anna Porter 2SFH

Deaf for Science

For the Young Scientist competition, I have entered a project involving the senses. I will be performing tests on myself and four other volunteers (Danú Connolly Fanning, Ingrid Millett-O’Beirne, Emma Gordon and Yulia

Baturova). We will all be made temporarily deaf for a day, by getting Specsavers to painlessly inject a substance used for creating moulds for hearing aids into our ears. Then tests will be done on peripheral vision, touch sensitivity, and reflexes. The same tests will also be done before and after the deafness, and the results will be compared. I expect that the test results during the hearing impairment will be slightly better than the ones performed before and afterwards.

Alice Hamman, 4CD

All that Gas!

My project is about calcium supplements and how they react in stomach conditions. I am testing five or six different calcium supplements in replica stomach conditions to see whether they produce gas, whether they change the pH of the stomach and whether they fully dissolve. I will be collecting and measuring

the volume of gas and testing the pH with universal indicator paper. I chose to do this project because I have seen the awful things that happen when you put certain calcium tablets into acid (you can hear them bubbling!) and I wanted to test different ones to see if they all behaved like that and to see just how much gas they produced—with interesting results!

Jemima Turner 2JH 8

Fine Young Scientists

Building on the experience and success of the last few years, Newpark is delighted to have no less than five projects entered for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2013. Best of luck to Cillian Vickers Hayes Anna Porter, Alice Hamman and Jemima Turner.

Below are details of some of the Young Scientist projects taking place around the school.

Coming to Newpark after mid-term

break

Register your interest

at newparkdojo@gmail.com

Need more info?

See http://coderdojo.com/

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Drama news

It’s been all go since the start of the term with All My Sons, Cahoots Macbeth

and ECA Drama for junior students so far. All My Sons is directed by past-pupil Carl

Coyle (2010). The cast consists of four past pupils, one parent, four Sixth Years, one Third Year and one First Year. They have been rehearsing since the summer. Many past pupils and parents have been working hard on set construction and other elements of the production. This play was chosen because it is on the Leaving Certificate English course for 2013 and 2014. It is a fantastic opportunity to for Fifth and Sixth Years to see their studied text come alive on stage—we expect all these students to attend. Please support this impressive and moving production.

Cahoots Macbeth by Tom Stoppard will be part of Shakespeare Week (19-23 November 2012) and is directed by past-pupil David Magee (2011). The cast consists of Sixth Years. It is an unusual take on the Scottish play and has been a fascinating experience for all involved.

Extra Drama for First to Third Years runs every week on a different day. Please check the Drama noticeboard for further dates and times. Just before the Christmas holidays, auditions for the Junior plays will be held. All First and Second Years are welcome to participate. As usual the Junior Plays will be directed by Fifth Year students and already many keen young directors are working on devising or choosing scripts, forming collaborative partnerships and preparing their pitch to make a bid for the directing slots. Best of luck

to all involved. Cathy Devis, Newpark Drama

all who participated, and congratulations to all of the winners!

For all budding mathematicians there will still be many opportunities to test your brain power. Look out for the Maths Puzzler in this newsletter. Also, the first Newpark Maths Competition of the year will take place after the midterm break with a First Year, Junior and Senior question. All students are encouraged to have a go!

Maths Puzzler See if you can work out the solution to the following problem. The answer is on the back page of this newsletter, but make sure you give it a good try before looking! A worked solution will also be posted on the maths notice board in the C corridor.

One hundred bushels of corn were distributed among one hundred people in such a way that each man received three bushels, each woman two bushels, and each child half a bushel. Given that there are five times as many women as men, how many children are

there? Ellen Lawless, Newpark Maths

Maths Week in Ireland 2012 took place recently from 13-21 October. This is the seventh year for this event, which is designed to promote awareness, appreciation and understanding of maths. At Newpark, a great variety of activities and events took place to mark this important occasion.

Each day throughout the week the announcements featured a maths question. Students submitted answers by the end of the day and a winner was drawn from all the correct entries. There was a poster competition, at both junior and senior level, with the theme Maths in Daily Life. Junior cycle students played BIMDAS Bingo at lunchtime on Tuesday, and Senior Cycle students had a maths table quiz on Thursday. Additionally, many maths teachers made time for special puzzles, games and other activities in their classes. Thank you and well done to

Newpark Celebrates Maths Week

Work Experience

In Transition Year every student goes on three work experience placements for a week each time. It was quite difficult to find a placement—especially if you didn’t know anybody working in the area you wanted. Some people phoned or emailed five or six different work places with no luck. You have to keep on trying: sometimes it works better if you call in person to the workplace. Many students used contacts through parents, family, friends or acquaintances. Most people have found something they are looking forward to and some already have all three placements lined up. In our class people found placements in an architectural firm, music shops, a hotel in Kerry, a cosmetic surgery, a ballet school, a dressmaker, restaurants and cafés, a pharmaceutical company, painting and decorating, IBM, Bluepool gym, a day-care centre for people with disabilities, Microsoft, a film company, a riding stable, a primary school, a television production company, Fighting Words, with a make-up artist, a sailing school, an interior design company, a garage and an advertising company. As you can see the range of placements is very wide! Good luck to everyone on Work Experience.

Toli Mooney 4CD, Luke Smyth 4CBR & Anna Johnston

Carrickmines Equestrian Centre: I chose this because I love horse-riding and horses. I will be grooming and exercising the horses and cleaning out the stables. I will work hard up there because I’m good with horses. Alexis Fitzgerald 4SCO

Vet surgery: I will be working in an operating theatre preparing animals for surgery, assisting the surgeons and monitoring recovery afterwards. Emma Rooney 4CB

Waltons, a music shop in Dublin city: They sell musical instruments and merchandise. I want experience in music and basic sales and hope to be given a hands-on routine. I got the placement by simply going to the shop in person and giving my dates and details. Toli Mooney 4CD

The Vikings—on the film set in Ashford: This is a new series being filmed with Gabriel Byrne. A relative is the set design manager and agreed to take me on for the week. Luke Smyth 4CBR

The Irish National Sailing School: I am really looking forward to working with kids and boats. I will enjoy going out on the water with instructors and helping them with their courses. I have two or three

years sailing experience. Adam O’Shaughnessy 4SCO

Deansgrange Motors. I will be fixing, washing and hoovering cars. I wanted a job like this because I have some experience fixing cars. I knew someone working

there too—he is the boss. John O’Connor 4SCO

Surfdock

Surfdock is a watersports company at Grand Canal Dock with easy access to the water. This year it was available as an option for module one of Leisure and Recreation in Transition year. There we had the choice of Stand Up Paddle-boarding (SUP-ing), windsurfing and kayaking each week during the eight week module. We were on the water from about 12.30-2.45 on Wednesdays so it was good value for money.

Surfdock was great fun. I loved the way that the instructors were laid back (yet safe) with their teachings. They let us jump off the dock into the water towards the end of each session. We played water games and much of the paddle-boarding time was spent catching and pushing each other into the water. It was a great experience—I would definitely recommend it to

others. Ingrid O’Beirne 4CB

An Idirbhliain Is maith linn an Idirbhliain. Tá sé taitneamh, suimiúil agus éasca go leor. Beidh a lán turas scoile ar siúl i rith na bliana—táimid ag tnúth leo. Is é an rud is fear ná an tseachtain i nDún na nGall san ionad eachtraíochta Gartan. Baineann gach duine taitneamh as na h-eachtraí go léir—snámh, dreapadóireacht, siulóid, bádóireacht, marcaíocht tonnta agus curachóireacht. Ar aghaidh linn!

Beimid ag deanamh taithí oibre ar feadh trí seachtaine—táimid go léir ag tnuth leis. Beidh Max ag dul go Berlin. Tá ábhair nua suimiúla á dheanamh again. Bionn léacht again ar an Máirt. Tá súil ag a lán daoine go nglacfaidh siad pairt sa cheoldrama Phantom of the Opera. Tá Alice ag cur isteach sa chomortas Eolaí Óg chomh maith.

Tá a lán rudaí éagsula agus difriúla a dhéanamh again agus ta orainn an deis a thapú – is fiú

triail a bhaint as gach rud. Alice Hamman 4CD, Shauna

Moran 4CD, Alex Corcoran 4CBR, Danú C. Fanning 4TC,

Aoife Jungmann 4TC

In Transition

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11

German Cooking

As part of our Transition Year German class we decided to make different types of German food. I was in a group of four: me (Shauna), Isabel, Anna and Sadhbh. Isabel’s Swiss mother gave us a recipe for

marble cake. It took a while to make but it was delicious!

Emma’s group made Currywurst which is a popular type of street-food in Berlin. Apparently there is even a Currywurst museum in Berlin! Currywurrst consists of German sausages with a tomato curry sauce. We served it with wedges. It was a fun time and I thought it was good to taste currywurst for the first time. It tasted very good and we shared it with the rest of the class.

Shauna Moran 4CD & Emma Rooney 4CB

Mini Company

One part of Transition Year gives students a chance to learn about certain work areas of interest. I chose to do Mini Company as I am

interested in business. We have been doing many fun and interesting things such as learning about the different positions within the workplace. We have been working in groups to set up our own mini companies. My group has been working on developing an art website which will be a way to view, buy and sell art by students online.

Max Goldman 4CBR

At Image Design

I went to a photo shoot to help the photographer and the designer. My jobs ranged from getting their lunch to setting up the next shot! It was really good to see what a really photo shoot was like. I was surprised to find out how few people were involved in a photo shoot—there was only the photographer, the designer and me. One of my favourite parts was when I got to set up the next shot. I was allowed choose which designer to do next and had to find all of the ornaments that I needed from a VERY large stash. I really enjoyed setting the shot up by myself.

Kate Whelan 4TC

Communications

In Communications with Ms Devis we learnt about communicating in different ways through body language and speaking. This is useful for

the future in job interviews when you need to speak in a mature way to show that you are ready and able for the job. Ms Devis teaches drama so when she’s teaching communications she’s always very dramatic—but it’s in a good way! I really like Communications—

it’s great fun! Jasmine Rowden 4CB

Music/Bands

For me the highlight of module one so far is most definitely Work Area. I am doing Music/Bands for this option. We’ve done so much and everybody has improved so much

already and it’s only week 8! So far I’ve been put into two bands and really enjoyed both. Our teacher Ms Glancy changes the bands every few weeks so that you get a chance to play with everyone. We’ve played songs like Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, Use Somebody by Kings of Leon and It’s Complicated by Avril Lavigne. I’ve loved playing all the songs and listening to everyone else playing as well.

Anna Richardson 4CBR I find this triple class on Friday is the highlight of my week. I sing in the band with a drummer, bassist, guitarist and pianist. We work really well together and I enjoy performing. For the first two classes we practise and for the last one each band performs

individually. Shauna Moran 4CD

Backstage at the Abbey

On Wednesday the 17th of October, twenty Transition Year students went on a backstage tour of the Abbey Theatre with Ms Devis and Mr Byrne. We were first introduced to the

outside of the building and given a brief history of the Abbey as the National Theatre of Ireland including how it burnt down and had to be re-built.

Then we were brought inside and shown where they make and store the costumes and found out that they keep every costume ever used including shoes and any “period underwear”! We learned that making wigs out of human hair is incredibly expensive so they use yak hair! They attach the hair to the wig, hair by painstaking hair, and they only have one man to do this. The costume and make-up area was really interesting to see.

We then got led onto the stage which in itself was amazing. When you stand on the stage with the stage lights in your eyes…. There is no better feeling. Later on that stage we saw Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray and we saw how different it is when you know what is going on backstage.

It was a very interesting tour and everybody thoroughly enjoyed it!

Eleanor Kellett 4CR, Rob Hennessy 4CB & Kate Whelan 4TC

Film Making

This Work Area is really enjoyable and interesting. We have a lot of freedom as we get to think of a storyline and write the script in class. Then we get a camera and tripod and

have a specific amount of filming time. We go all around the school to film scenes. After filming, we edit using Windows Movie Maker. Our films so far include Life in the Hood, Overdose and unusual advertisements like Veinpoppers!

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

On Wednesday 17th October students from the TY Drama and Stagecraft classes went to see The Portrait of Dorian Gray at The Abbey theatre. We had great seats in the third row. The curtain opens on a stage

filled with old-style furniture and lots of people dressed in outfits from the early1900s and 1940s. These people gradually leave the stage till only the portrait painter and his friend Lord Henry are left. Dorian Gray’s entrance is more dramatic because he hasn’t yet been seen on stage. The play was very dramatic with a few funny parts, but for the most part it was dark and thought-provoking. The lighting was very effective with spotlights and different colours adding intensity and giving a better sense of the setting. I didn’t really like the set because it looked a bit messy and a few things didn’t go well with the rest. I enjoyed the play itself as the storyline was intriguing and the acting was very good. There wasn’t a boring part in the play—it was a

fun and interesting trip. Sinead Gallagher 4SCO

Train for Europe RELOADED

The fourth trip on the Train for Europe took us to Kuopio, Finland from 15th to 22nd September. We arrived in Helsinki on the Saturday with one day to spare because Aer Lingus fly on Saturdays and

Thursdays only. This gave us 24 hours in Helsinki and an overnight in a hostel. Our train to Kuopio was leaving at 2.20 pm on Sunday so we had time to walk the three kilometres from the hostel in glorious sunshine. The four and a half hour train ride took us through some beautiful countryside with forests and lakes on both sides.

Kuopio is about the size of Bray and built on a hillside. The school stretches for half a kilometre and has approx. 3000 students. We stayed in a spa hotel 10 km from the town with indoor and outdoor swimming pools as well as saunas and a very popular karaoke session every night. Breakfast was included as was lunch in the school. Dinner was a movable feast.

Monday and Tuesday were hard working days. The bus collected us at the hotel at 8.30 am and returned at 7pm. Wednesday was cultural day for which we were bussed about 100 km into the wilderness and spent the day p l a y i n g o u t d o o r games. One game was a boat race after which there was an impromptu swimming session by the “crazy Irish boys”.

Thursday and Friday were decision days when lots of the design ideas for the train had to be nailed down. On Friday night we had a farewell dinner in a lakeside rustic restaurant and afterwards it was off to bed, or not. Our taxi back to the train station was again at 5am and there was time to catch up on some well-needed sleep on the journey back to Helsinki.

If you want to see the full extent of the work going on in this project you should take the time to check out the website http://t4eu-r.cnc-network.eu/

The next trip is to Austria during the mock exams and the final trip will be to the European Parliament in Strasburg in April to present the completed Train for Europe. At this time our own President, Michael D Higgins will hold the EU

Presidency. Another Irish coup!

John O’Neill, Engineering Department 12

Paris, nous voila!

On Saturday 24th of November, members of the Fifth and Sixth year European Section and History classes will embark an educational trip to Paris until Tuesday 27th November. The four-day trip promises to be fun-filled and action-packed. The idea is to practise French language skills as well as appreciate Parisian culture.

We will fly out from Dublin on an early flight to Paris. Upon arriving, we will get straight into it and visit Notre Dame, La tour Eiffel and Le Trocadéro. After lunch we hope to visit museums such as Le Louvre, le musée D’Orsay.

We will also visit the beautiful Château de Versailles, le musée des Arts décoratifs and we will have the opportunity to do a bit of shopping! In the evenings, we will visit La tour Montparnasse, go to the cinema… This looks to be a voyage fantastique and I hope we will all take something from it. Many thanks to Ms Berteloot and Ms Kennedy for organising the trip.

Conor Ryan 5MK

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Chocolate Warehouse

On the 12th of October, TY Business and Mini Company classes along with Sixth Year LCVP went to Caffrey’s Chocolate Warehouse on an Enterprise visit. While there we were given a talk on the company, on how to make chocolate and its history. We watched a factory worker make and fill little chocolates and afterwards we decorated our own chocolates (and we could take them home—yum!). This was followed by a table quiz. We were all given a certificate then had the chance to buy more chocolate—if we had remembered to bring money which, alas, I had not...

It was a very enjoyable visit and I would like to thank Ms Cloney, Ms Ryan and Ms Steele for

arranging it for us. Danú Connolly Fanning 4CD

Echange Newpark-Bellevue

Comme chaque année, la Section Européenne organise un échange scolaire en 2e année avec l’école Bellevue. Cette année, Melle Tessier et Melle McCarthy auront le plaisir d’emmener 25 élèves – dont 8 en Mainstream – à Lyon. Les élèves

de la Section Européenne ont tous remplis leurs formulaires et vont très prochainement avoir le nom de leur correspondant français. Ils sont tous impatients de les rencontrer et de leur faire découvrir ce beau pays qu’est l’Irlande. Nous les accueillerons du lundi 19 novembre (arrivée à Dublin à 17.15h) au lundi 26 novembre 2012 (départ de Dublin à 12.15h). Plusieurs visites sont prévues: le Musée de Cire, Dublinia, la Ferme Causey et bien d’autres! Les informations relatives à l’échange sont publiées régulièrement sur le site internet de l’école alors n’hésitez pas à le consultez…

Laetitia Tessier & Aideen McCarthy, European Section

Nous sommes vraiment impatients de voir les étudiants français en Irlande. Ils vont arriver le 19 novembre et vont rester jusqu'au 26. Ici, ils vont faire du tourisme à Dublin et nous allons tous aller à la ferme Causey à Meath. Nos classes ont été très occupées à préparer leur arrivée, à faire des brochures et écrire des lettres. Chacun d’entre nous dans la section européenne sont en train de compter les jours jusqu'à leur arrivée et nous espérons qu’ils sont tout aussi impatients.

Karen Mc Guirk, European Section 2JH

Je suis vraiment impatient de voir les élèves français. Tout le monde est très excité et nous sommes impatients de les rencontrer. Nous allons faire beaucoup de choses amusantes lorsqu’ils vont venir ici. J’ai hâte d’aller à la Causey Farm. J’espère que les élèves français vont bien profiter du voyage!

Finn Howley, European Section 2RS

Shakespeare week

19 to 23rd November 2012

Parents, students, teachers, lend me your ears;

We come to praise Shakespeare, not to bury him!

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival, Newpark is

having its very own Shakespeare week including:

Sword fighting

Shakespearean costuming

Music

Cahoots Macbeth

Shakespeare improvisation

Insults and Praise wall

Meet Shakespeare

Q and A with well known directors And many other exciting Shakespearean

activities…

Most events will be free of charge but will be ticketed. For further details check the Drama noticeboard after

the midterm break.

Any students, staff and parents who would like to get involved should contact Ms Devis asap.

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Newpark 40 Events

24-27 October 2012 All My Sons by Newpark Theatre Company at the Hunter Theatre-7.30pm

3 November 2012 40th Anniversary Party organised by the PTA, Blackrock rugby club-8pm

9-10 November 2012 The Ghosts of Newpark organised by the Newpark Arts Committee at locations all over the school. Begins on Friday at 7.30pm.

11 November 2012 Thanksgiving service at St Brigid’s Church, Stillorgan, 3pm

5-8 December 2012 Newpark Students present…The Phantom of the Opera, The Sports Hall

More events to follow, keep an eye on the school website for further details.

To celebrate Newpark 40th Anniversary Newpark students present

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous Phantom of the Opera

Based on the classic novel ‘Le Fantôme de l”Opéra’ by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. He falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, and devotes himself to creating a new star by nurturing her extraordinary talents and by employing all of the devious methods at his command.

Wed 5th, Thurs 6th, Fri 7th, Sat 8th Dec at 7:30pm Tickets available from school library

Adult €15 Student €10 Group Discounts available

Thanksgiving Service

As part of the celebrations for 40 years of Newpark we are having a special Thanksgiving Service in St Brigid's Church in Stillorgan on Sunday 11th November at 3pm. Any past or present pupils who would like to be involved in the service please contact Ms Harris at the school. Hope to see you all there to celebrate 40 years of a Christian Community at Newpark.

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So much depends With thanks to William Carlos Williams

So much depends upon a single green thread hanging off my sleeve that could reveal everything.

Yosef Phelan

So much depends upon

a tattered old book lying on a desk

waiting to be read.

Laura Kendrick

So much depends upon

an old calligraphy pen with a feather top and an ink bottle.

Yazmin de Barra

So much depends upon a brown teddy bear with a scratched eye sitting on the shelf.

Harriet Jakub

So much depends upon a small purple clock

whose numbers are rocks beside the stripy sock.

Jake Bolger

So much depends On A great warrior Power Immense as the sun And he is Rewarded.

Pierce James Pierce (aka Pierce Lewis)

Poems by Form 1HG

In January 2012 three TY students (Sheena McGuirk, Erin Jennings and Chloe McGovern) became involved in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Writers’ Festival Mountains to the Sea. The co-ordinator of events for young people and families, Sarah Webb, asked us to run an event for teens as ‘Teen Curators’. We sent emails and letters to many authors and eventually got acceptance replies from Phillip Reeves and Michelle Harisson. We read their books over the summer and thought up interesting questions we could ask them during the Q and A event we had planned.

When the day came we were a bit nervous but we had a great time. The event took place at the County Hall. Chloe chaired the public session and we all took turns at interviewing the writers. Phillip and Michelle were so friendly and we had a great audience. We would recommend taking part in the Teen Curators’ Event to anyone who enjoys reading.

Sheena McGuirk, Erin Jennings & Chloe McGovern, 5th Year

Many thanks to Sheena, Erin and Chloe for their outstanding work on this event which was the first of its kind at any Irish Literary Festival.

We are delighted that Newpark has been asked to participate again this year and wish the best of luck to the new Teen Curators Aaron Williams,

Sinead Gallagher and Olivia Coughlan of Transition Year.

Teen Curators

October Newsletter edited by Anna Johnston Thanks to Ferdia Marnell and all our contributors this month.

Please email contributions for the next issue to newsletter@newparkschool.ie

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Parent Social evenings

Come to a social evening and meet the other

parents of your son/daughter’s yeargroup.

Share information, compare notes. Wine and

snacks provided by the PTA, no entry charge, no

fundraising. All are welcome! All social evenings

take place at 8pm in the library.

Parents of First Years: Weds 21st November

Parents of Second Years: Weds 28th

November. (After the great success of last

year’s get together we hope to see as many

parents as possible at the evening.)

Parents of Third Years: Weds 5th December

Praying Parents of Newpark

A non-denominational group of parents meet twice a month to pray for the school, staff and students. All are welcome. Morning meetings are from 8.45am to 10am sharp on Friday 26th October, 16th November and 14th December at 15 Carysfort Park, Blackrock. Evening meetings are from 8-9pm on Tuesday 6th November and 4th December in room A1 at Newpark. Contact Chaplain Suzanne Harris or Tracey at 086 3892098.

Answer to maths puzzler: 70 children

Mobile Phone Appeal

Calling all students, staff and parents

Please help us obtain a Defibrillator for Newpark. We do not have one except in the

Sports Centre.

We need your old mobile phones! With just 460 old phones

we can get a Defib, training and storage all for FREE!!!

If every student brought in just one phone we could get two defibrillators- one for the

school and a portable one for the rugby pitches.

Lets get a defib on the wall by Christmas. Please, please help the campaign!

Bring any old phones to your Form Teacher, Year-leader or to the Nurses’ Office.

Prize money will be awarded to the student in each year who brings in the most phones (thanks to the PTA for sponsoring this).

For further information contact Nola at the nurses’ office.

Newpark PTA

Hello and welcome back after the summer. The PTA in Newpark is very active—we meet monthly on Wednesdays in the School Library from 8-9pm. If you are interested in coming along, all are welcome. Our next meeting is Weds 14th November. We are looking for more parents to get involved, particularly parents who are new to the school or with children in the junior years. Would you think of joining the PTA and getting involved?

The PTA is involved in areas such as fund raising, organizing talks/evenings for parents, buying equipment for teachers and students, managing the Lost Property Office and sponsoring the school nurses. We held a very successful PTA AGM on the 26th September with a large parent turnout.

In September, the PTA ran the now traditional reception before the Debs. This is always a lovely occasion with parents, teachers, Year Head and Principal there to admire the Sixth Years in all their finery. It is a chance to reminisce over six happy years spent in Newpark before they go off for their big night out.

Our Christmas Raffle will take place again this year. The raffle is held at the Annual Carol Service. Donations of prizes would be most welcome. Please email details to pta@ newparkschool.ie. All prizes considered!! Popular prizes include phones/DVDs/wine/restaurant vouchers/weekends away etc.

The Lost Property Office is a key service in the school, helping to reunite students and their property. There is an unbelievable amount of lost property—from clothes to books and often lots and lots of lost keys! We implore you to check that your children’s items have their name on them—so that there is at least some chance of getting lost items back. Much of the Lost Property is nameless. It is well worth calling into the Lost Property Office, even for five minutes. It is open Tuesdays after school, Thursday lunchtimes and Friday mornings 8.30 to 8.45. Also remind students to check the notice board and to listen to announcements if they have lost something.

As always, if you have any queries or su g g e s t i o n s , p l e a s e e m a i l u s a t pta@newparkschool.ie or drop a note into the PTA letterbox in the front reception area.

Mary Walsh