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: office@fcjbunclody.ie

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!