Newsletter of the FCJ Secondary School Bunclody
FCJ:
The Inside Story
Christmas 2013 As the first half of the school year draws to a close
it’s hard to believe that it is nearly 2014!. All students
have been busy doing tests and its safe to say that
there is never a dull moment in our school and after
all our hard work we can now enjoy a well deserved
break. We hope that you will enjoy reading about all
that has been happening in FCJ and that you will
have a very relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break.
We look forward to seeing you all for the second part
of our year.
Contact details:
053 9377308 E-mail: [email protected]
The Newsletter team: Grace McDonnell
(B4), Michaela Maloney (P4) and
Aaron Howlin (P5).
Thanks to Mr. Brendan Daly
and Ms. Nicola Carr.
Cover design
by Emma Melay
(B4)
Academic Awards
Student Awards for
2013 Leaving Cert
Results
J.P Mc Manus Award ( €25,000 over 4 years) John Toomey, Ferns
Lisa McDonnell, Camolin
NUI Maynooth Entrance Scholarship (€1,000) Jen Quinn, Bunclody
Mairéad Whelan, Ballycarney
Trinity Entrance Exhibition (€150) Conor Murphy, Kiltegan Sinead Davies, Kildavin
UCD Entrance Scholars Awards
Michael Kirwan, Kildavin Lisa McDonnell, Camolin
Danny Dreelan, Castledockrell
3rd Years Alana Gill
Darren Doyle
Lauren English Adams
Jack Moynihan
Orlaith Hickey
Josh Byrne
Alice O’Dowd
Rikki Morris
Nicola Kinsella
Patrick Sinnott
Eileen Gahan
Kerri O’Leary
Stephen Kinsella
Tara Whitebread
Kevin O’Brien
Marie Celine Lawlor
Ryan Dobbs
Chantel Roberts
Conor Lawton
John Dunne
Mark Kehoe
Áine Murphy
Sean Redmond
Sophie Kidd
Bronwyn Castles
Nicola Kinsella
Jamie Cloke
Martin O’Connor
Tom Dillane
Paul Mc Donald
Patrick Dunbar
Shane Ryan
Gaby Stammers
Aoife McGuill
Christmas Tests
1st Certificates
Joseph Tobin
Aimee Cuddihy
Lucy Power
James Sheridan
Ryan Hollick
Meghan Maher
Rebecca Bayley
Fiona Weafer
Louisa Swayne
Jack Brennan
Aerin Londra Conor Cum-
mins
Adam Rigley
Conor Nolan
James Kearney
Alison Coleman
Joseph Payne
John Cummins
Tom Murphy Landers
Rachel Ryan
Robert Carton
Robbie Kavanagh
Áine O’Neill
Cora Finn
Mark Kehoe
Michaela McDonald
Sophie Kidd
Aoife Murphy
6th Years Daniel Murphy
Catherine Murray
Alison Sinnott
Lauren Byrne
Lorna Reid
Laura Dempsey
Megan McTernan
Hannah Byrne
Miriam Lambert
Conor O’Leary
Joseph Mulhall
Terry Bolt
Thomas Dunne
Gavin Rafter
William Deacon
Garry Ennett
Mark Lambert
Conor Travers
Cathal Fitzpatrick
Lauren Swayne
Brian Watchorn
Chris Bodels
Sean Foley
Rebecca Nash
Iga Bialek
Catherine Kelly
Chloe Nolan
Fiona Murphy
Kellie Ann Davitt
Michael Kenny
Gillian Kavanagh
Fionn Fortune
Peter Kelly
Kayleigh Jeffers
Gillian Stafford
Amy Brown
Most Improved
6th Years
James Murphy
Alma Morris
Katie Wise
Elizabeth O’Connor
Christina Cullen
Sean Brooks
Niall Heffernan
Shauna Redmond
Chloe Nolan
Emily Whelan
Abagail Rynhart
Glen Grogan
Shauna Brennan
Clodagh Fitzhenry
Keira Just
Bríd Moynihan
Billy Kelly
Conor Kinahan
Billy Conroy
Kayleigh Jeffers
Rebecca Nash
Miriam Lambert
Gary Ennett
Kellie Daviitt
Megan McTernan
3rd Years
Chloe Hogan
Sinead Nolan
Ava Slye
Emily Scully
John O’Mahoney
Matthew Crawte
Helen Doran
Rosemary Smyth
Kevin O Brien
Richard Nolan
Aoife McGuill
Shane Ryan
Toni Murphy
Landers
Joseph Payne
Erik Johansson
Nolan
Anna Flood
Adam Thatcher
Liam Pender
Sasha Dunne
Áine O’Neill
Niall Hudson
Fiona Weafer
Jack Dunphy
Adam Rigley
Conor Nolan
Helen Doran
Katie Roberts
Zack Rynhart
Adam Daly
Paddy Dunbar
Val Brooks
Conor Coleman
Mairéad O’Rourke
Niamh Atkinson
Tara Whitebread
Cathal Doyle
Adam Sadler
Orlagh Hickey
Cora Finn
Michael Rossiter
Luke Nolan
Young Economist of the Year Congratulations to Matthieu Osborne, Clonegal, in Padraig 2 who, last
Friday, took part in the Young Economist of the Year competition in
Kilkenny. Matthieu had entered a project into the competition and was
selected as a finalist. His project came in at second place in the junior
competition. It was displayed to all those in attendance. The judges, one
of whom was David McWilliams, were very impressed with the huge
effort that he made, given the fact that Matthieu won’t be studying
Economics until he is in 5th year!
Technical Graphics
Conor Fitzpatrick, Clonegal, has received an award for
The Best Junior Certificate Ordinary Level Technical
Graphics Result on behalf of the Engineering
Technology Teachers Association (ETTA). He received
the award on the 16th of November in the Garage
Theatre, Monaghan Education Campus. Well done!
School News
Doodle 4 Google Congratulations to Shauna Ryan,
Clonegal (A.I), Ciara O’Sullivan,
Camolin (C.I), Leela Walsh,
Courtown (C.I), Maeve Dillane,
Ballindaggin (A.I), Ellen Hutt,
Clonegal (A.I) and Kayleigh Murphy,
Bunclody (A.I), who were the winners
of the recent in-school Doodle 4
Google competition.
Jamie Fennell Congratulations to Jamie Fennell, Clonegal (B.V)
who competed in the National Home Cook Hero
Competition on November 9th in The Shelbourne
Hotel, Dublin. He came 2nd overall after a tough
competition. We also got to see him on TV3 being
interviewed about his excellent achievement. Jamie
was in the top 3 out of 400 entries in qualifying for
the competition. He cooked his “Farmer Burger” in
front of judges including Catherine Fulvio and Kevin
Dundon. Well done Jamie!
School News Credit Union Art Awards
Well done to Juliette Perry, Tinahely, (C1), Kayleigh Murphy, Bunclody,
(A1), Kimberley O’Connor, Marshalstown, (B.II) and Patrick O’Toole,
Tombrack (A1) who were winners in the Bunclody Credit Union Art
competition. A big congratulations to Kimberley O’Connor who has gone
on to the National finals.
Irish Speaking Day
This was set up by Seachtain na Gaeilge. Three students in
Mr .Ruane’s Padraig IV class had to speak Irish from 9am-2pm
in November. Well done to Liz Kavanagh, Tullow, and Aoife
Doyle, Coolnahorna, and, especially, Tomek Bialko, Bunclody,
who has just learned Irish for the first time this year!
Anti-Bullying The school’s anti-bullying campaign continued on Wednesday
11th December when all classes were stopped at 10 a.m. and
students were shown a PowerPoint presentation on
Cyber-Bullying. This was followed
by a DVD production on the same
topic. We encourage all students to
Recognise, Reject and Report
Bullying Behaviour and ask that
they do not suffer in silence, but
come forward and tell us. We ask
parents of students who have con-
cerns on the matter to please contact
the school.
Congratulations to
past pupil, Barry
Sheehan, Bunclody,
who won the All-
Ireland Award for
the Best Leaving
Certificate
Technology Project
at Higher level in
2013. Barry is
currently studying
Project Design in
N.U.I. Maynooth. We wish Barry all the best with his studies.
Juvenes Translatores F.C.J. was one of only twelve schools in
the Republic of Ireland selected to enter
the Juvenes Translatore competition. It
involved the translation of a piece of
writing from Irish to English i.e. from
one EU language to another. The
competition involved the students sitting a two hour exam in which they
completed the translation. The five students who took part from F.C.J.
were Claire O’Rourke, Kilrush, William Deacon, Rathnure, Orla
Condon, Tullow, Daniel Murphy, Kildavin, and Max O’Neill, Kilmyshall
- all 6th Years. The results will be out in February next. The winner and
a parent will receive a free trip to Brussels in order to attend the
prize-giving ceremony. We hope it will be someone from F.C.J.
Bunclody !
After School Meetings
Two important meetings recently took place in our school. These
were the CAO meeting for parents of 6th year students and the 5th
year Subject Choice meeting, for parents of 3rd and 4th years. We
hope that in both cases, students will make good decisions and
choose the options that benefit them most!
Student Council Hamper Draw
Congratulations to Reece Martin, Ballindaggin, (V.I)
who won 1st Prize in the Student Council Christmas Hamper Draw.
2nd Prize went to William Deacon, Rathnure (V.VI).
The Student Council would like to thank
everybody who participated in the Hamper Draw.
They made €200, which will be donated to the
local St. Vincent de Paul group.
Christmas Recycling
Decoration Competition Congratulations to Andrew Doyle, Camolin (P.IV) & Cathal Lee,
Ballygarrett (P.IV) and Erika Crawte, Camolin (C.V) on winning prizes
in the Wexford County Council Christmas Recycling Decoration
Competition. Well done to Cathal & Andrew who won the 3rd prize in
the Secondary Group and to Erika Crawte who won 1st prize. They will
be receiving their prizes at an awards ceremony in Wexford on December
19th.
Junior Certificate Mathematics Congratulations to Alan Bolger, Ferns, Ciaran Doran, Camolin, and Cath-
al Lee, Ballkygarrett, who performed very well in their Junior Certificate
Mathematics examinations and have been invited to attend Mathematics
Enrichment classes that are being offered at universities around the
country. These Enrichment classes lead into Olympiad training classes.
These students could possibly be trained and selected to represent Ireland
in the next International Mathematical Olympiad in July.
Enrolment for September 2014
On Wednesday, 20th November, enrolment for incoming Students took
place. We welcome all new students to our school & look forward to
seeing them for assessments on Saturday, 1st February,
& Saturday, 1st March.
Well done Alan ! Congratulations to Alan Bolger, Ferns (B.IV), who was placed 4th in the
regional qualifiers in the Engineering & Technology Teacher Association
competition for Junior Certificate Higher Level Technology Projects in
2013.
All Shook Up The first proper musical ever held in FCJ Bunclody was The Mikado
in 1968. Now almost forty five years later the tradition still lives on
with our latest musical, ‘All Shook Up’. It tackles the topic of racism
and social classes, all set to the classic songs of Elvis Presley. The
musical takes place in a small dreary, mid-western town, sometime in
the 1950’s. A young female mechanic named Natalie –played by Lizzie
Breen, P4 - and her nerdy best friend Dennis - played by Fiach Byrne,
P5- who is hopelessly in love with her, dream of leaving the town
behind them. We also meet Jim Haller; Natalie’s father – played by
John Donohue, P5 – the sassy, no nonsense owner of Silvia’s Honky
Tonk, Silvia – played by Rian English Adams, Colm 4 – and her
bubbly daughter Lorraine – played by Chloe Moulds, P4.
The town is kept in check by our villain Mayor Matilda – played
be Alison Sinnott, C6 - , her sidekick Sheriff Earl – played by William
Deacon, V6 – and her charming son Dean – played by Dylan Gladney,
A5. But this all changes when the handsome ‘roving roustabout’
named Chad – Played by Cormac Byrne, B5- rides into town and
shakes everything up! Natalie falls madly in love with him but is heart-
broken to see he is completely smitten by the beautiful Miss Sandra –
played by Jessica Jacob, P6. Several events unfold after this,
including Natalie becoming a man! , Jim becoming a roustabout, Dean
and Lorraine running away and Dennis finding his courage. In the end
love triumphs!
This musical could not have happened without the talents of our
producer, Mr. Earls, our music director, Mr. Hennessy and our
choreographer, Mr. Breen. They made all the hard work that our
wonderful cast put in, easy and fun. Mr. Breen always made the tough
dancing light and fun and Mr. Hennessy’s approach to helping us learn
our songs made it so enjoyable that I will never forget them. I would
especially like to thank Mr. Earls. It could not have been easy to take
over the legacy that Mr. Connaughton left behind, considering that he
had never directed anything before, but he went above and beyond,
always understanding and helpful, he really played a huge part in
bringing the Broadway magic to our small stage, Ms. Kehoe, Ms.
O’Dwyer, Ms. C. Doyle, Ms. Wade, Ms. Behan, Ms. O’Neill, Ms.
Connolly, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Barry, our secretary, Ms. Nicola Carr,
and so many more.
There were so many people behind the scenes that without them the
musical simply couldn’t happen. Our amazing teachers gave up their
free time to make it possible. Thank you; Mr. Daly, Ms. O’Connor,
Ms. Lennon, Mr. Cloney, Ms. Threadgold, Ms. McIvor, Ms.
Connolly, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Barry, and so many more.
We are also grateful to the students behind the scenes; the back-
stage crew, props and set design crew, makeup, lighting, sound, box
office, ticket sellers and car parking. They were incredibly important to
the smooth running of this production and they did a marvellous job.
Lastly, I would like to thank the rest of the cast. They were all
magnificent. The chorus were some of the best I have ever seen in a
musical. On and off stage they were brilliant. The five years of
students merged together and made friendships that without the
musical would never have happened! There was never a dull moment
and everyone was so kind and friendly. It was the experience of our
school lives. By Lizzie Breen
Sports U14 Football
Our U14 footballers were defeated by Portarlington Community School in the South
Leinster semi-final by 6 points. En route to the semi-final, they drew with
Enniscorthy CBS and beat Gorey Community School, Coláiste Bríd, Carnew and
Tullow Community School. The team was captained by Peadar Cowman and had
star performances by Eddie Black and Cillian Redmond at centre field along with
Michael Kinsella and Brian Lambert at centre back and full forward respectively.
Sebastian Pim had an excellent year also.
U16 Football
Our U16 footballers had a disappointing campaign overall suffering defeats to
Enniscorthy CBS and Gorey Community School, before redeeming
themselves with a heartening performance in drawing their last game with Coláiste
Bríd, Carnew
Senior Football Our senior footballers will play against the winners of Portarlington Community
School and Coláiste Bríd, Carnew on January 24th. We would like to wish the boys
the Best of Luck.
Leinster School
Swimming
Good luck to Adam (V.II) & Shauna
Ryan (A.I), Clonegal, Aoife Milne
(A.I), Ferns, Kate Markey (V.II),
Myshall, & Matilda Dunne Cronin
(V.II), Ferns, when they compete in
the Leinster School Swimming
Competitions in January.
Myshall
All Ireland
Camogie Congratulations to the Myshall
Camogie Team on their All Ireland
win against Scariff of Clare on the
24th of November. Excellent
achievement girls & congratula-
tions to Laura James, B.IV.
Senior Ladies Football Congratulations to the Senior Ladies Football team who have qualified as runners up
for the Leinster Quarter final. They played against Haywood, Laois. Eight different
players scored goals and they have now qualified for the Leinster semi-final. They
will play an away match against Presentation Wexford in the new year - they beat us
by two points earlier in the season. Best of luck!
U16 Ladies Football A confident win over Gorey who were trained by Wexford Gaelic footballer
Anthony Masterson sees the u16 team into the Leinster Quarter finals against Holy
Family Newbridge. This match will be played away in the new year.
Sophie Lenehan Congratulations are over due to Sophie Lenehan (C.II), Ballycarney, on winning a
Leinster/All-Ireland ladies football medal earlier this year with Wexford.
Hurling Due to an extraordinary number of injuries, the senior hurling team gave a gallant
performance in their three matches against Gorey Community School, Abbey Com-
munity School Waterford and Enniscorthy CBS, but, unfortunately, they qualify for
the knockout stages of the competition. The team played very well and the following
players were outstanding: Conor Creane, Paddy Hobbs, Billy Kelly and Eoin Kelly.
Many thanks to Mr. Wade and Mr. Mullins.
Hockey The 1st year Hockey team have played one match this year. They played against
Presentation Wexford and won 3-0. The 2nd year Hockey team have had draws with
Kilkenny College and St. Leo’s College Carlow. They also beat Presentation
Wexford 2-0. Congratulations to Jessica Flood (C.V), Enniscorthy, who has
qualified for the U18 South-East Hockey team and to her sister, Anna Flood (V.III),
who has qualified for the U16 South-East Hockey team.
For the 3rd consecutive year, the FCJ Girls Basketball team travelled to Waterford
for the South-East Basketball Finals on Tuesday 10th December 2013. The
opponents this time around were a very strong and physical Our Lady of Lourdes,
Rosbercon team, reinforced with the luxury of some club basketball players.
Having lost in last year’s final, the FCJ girls started the game nervously, and picked
up 9 fouls in the opening 6 minutes. This meant they went into the break at the 1st
quarter with only a narrow lead of 8 points to 6.
With the support of a deafening contingent of classmates, teachers, 6th year students,
and past students of FCJ (who took time from lectures in WIT to come out and cheer
on the school), the FCJ team began to settle their nerves in the 2nd quarter, and
displayed some of their best basketball of the season so far. The tempo of the game
suited the superior fitness of the FCJ side, and they were able to turn blocks in a
tough defensive effort into points at the other end. With the objective of ensuring the
trophy came back to Bunclody, they didn’t let up until the final buzzer announced
them as U-16 South-East ‘C’ Champions 2013, running out with a scoreline of
31-11.
Led in points by team captain Katie Byrne, the scorers on the day were Orlagh
Hickey, Alison Frayne, Rachel Kelly and Anna Flood. That said, every member of
the squad should be congratulated for the part they played not only in the final, but
also in the group stages earlier in the year. This FCJ team now go forward after the
Christmas break to play in the All-Ireland Basketball Playoffs on January 18th.
Squad: Alice O’Dowd, Alison Coleman, Alison Frayne, Anna Flood, Anne Byrne,
Ava Slye, Chantel Roberts, Denise Bolger, Katie Byrne, Mairéad O’Rourke,
Michaela Gethings-Farrell, Michaela McDonald, Niamh Atkinson, Orlagh Hick-
ey, Rachel Kelly, Roisín Kelly. Thank you to Mr. Earls and Ms. Dunne for training
the team and all their effort!
Basketball
Transition Year Matrix Workshop
On the 9th of December Malcolm Rowe visited our school to host
the Matrix workshop. It was called ‘Imagination Day’. And, as
Malcolm said, it was all about us. The day was filled with
puzzles, group work, questions about life and meditation. It was
a fun and educational workshop that won’t be forgotten!
Observations from a
hedge
On Tuesday 3rd of December transition year students went to New Ross to see Ger Carey’s hilarious new stand-up show about teenagers in their natural habitat. His acting and facial expressions had us all in fits of laughter! From the angry teacher to the sarcastic student, he transported us back to school to the days that the events he vividly details happened to us. We would just like to thank Ms. Osborne for organising both trips for us!
Qualifax Speaker On Tuesday 26th of November, Mr. Tom Farrell talked to us
about the importance of being prepared before choosing a college
course, and why we should start considering our options now
before it's too late. He informed us about what resources are
available to us and showed us how to set up a Qualifax account
and use the points calculator. We found this workshop education-
al and very useful.
NCBI Fundraising A big thank you to all Transition Year students who took part in
fundraising for the National Council For The Blind Of Ireland
charity by raising the money around Bunclody Town. They
successfully raised over €700. A huge thank you also to all donors
who supported the cause!
Law Ed Workshop On the 12th, 13th and 19th of November, us Transition Year
students were visited by a former defence lawyer for the annual
Law Education Workshop. We
all learned a lot about the law
and never knew that it was so
detailed. We were shocked about
her stories from former cases.
We even got to act out a court
room scene which was very
enjoyable. We may even have a
future lawyer!
On Monday the 25th of November
two workers from Spinal Injury
Ireland came in to speak to us about
spinal injuries and how it effects peoples lives. Many of us were
unaware of the everyday struggles of people who are effected. It
was a very worthwhile experience.
RDS National Crafts and Design Fair
The National Crafts and Design Fair is Ireland’s biggest
and best fair for the crafts and design industry. This years
National Crafts and Design Fair took place from the 4th to
the 8th of December. Our Transition years headed up on
Thursday the 5th.
We began our journey at 9 o’clock in the morning with our
Mini-company teachers Ms. Kennedy, Ms. Friend and Mr.
Flynn. Arriving at the RDS, we were surprised at the large
number of stalls in the Main Hall Complex. Businesses
from all over Ireland were selling their unique products
from ceramics to toys.
After exploring and purchasing, we got back on board our
buses and headed back home with smiles on our faces and
hopefully a few ideas for our mini-companies! It was an
enjoyable day for all.
Christmas Jokes
What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas Quacker!
Why was Santa’s helper help so down? Because he had low elf-esteem
What's white and goes up? A confused snowflake
What's furry and minty? A polo bear
Who is Santa's favourite singer? Elf-is Presley!
Where do elves go to dance? Christmas Balls!
Merry Christmas!