News 15 Jan 2008

The High School Zion Road Rathgar Dublin 6 Tel: 01-4922611 Fax: 01-4924427 office@highschooldublin.com

Young Scientist prizewinners Well done to Colm and Thomas (Form 2) who won 2nd prize in the junior group category, Maths Physics and Chemistry and to Sadhbh (Form 4) who won highly commended in the intermediate individual social and behavioural sciences. Sadhbh's project was entitled "Motivating pupil performance" and her aim was to discover whether teachers giving higher or lower marks was the best motivator. She divided her test subjects into three groups and one group was given higher marks than they actually achieved in a test, one group was given the actual mark and one group was given lower. Those given the higher marks achieved best in a second test and boys showed the most negative reaction to being given the lower marks. The project by Colm and Thomas was to investigate whether they could design a portable robust wind turbine which could be taken by a person when camping or involved in other outdoor pursuits to generate power to charge batteries, for example for a lamp. They succeeded in building and testing two devices, one of which proved to be able to supply a satisfactory charge of 4.3 volts and to have acceptable purchase and maintenance costs.
Leinster swimming championships Well done to Laura (4th yr) John (2nd year)Niamh (2nd year) and Dayna (1st year) who represented The High School in the Leinster senior schools swimming championships on 12 January in the National Aquatic Centre. John swam a new personal best and achieved a 4th place finish in the final of the Junior 100 Butterfly and 5th place in the final of the Junior 100 Freestyle. Laura put in a solid performance in the heat of the Intermediate age group 100 Freestyle. Niamh swam to a silver medal in the Intermediate age group 100 Breaststroke with two very strong swims. Dayna delivered a superb swim in the 200 Individual Medley to become Leinster Schools Champion 2008 in the Junior age group and finished in Silver medal position in the Junior age group 100 backcrawl. Well done to them all and best of luck to John, Niamh and Dayna as they now go on to represent The High School in the Irish Schools Championships in Galway in February.
Library art competition Congratulations to the winners of the library Christmas art competition pictured right with their art teachers Ms Graydon and Ms Killane. Habitat for Humanity trip All students going on the Armenia trip this Easter must attend a training session this Wednesday at 3.00 p.m. in B2. Ms D. Thorp
Sport this week Girls hockey Sen I (C) Cluny Tues 15 Home 3.30 Min A (1/4 league) St Andrew's Wed 16 Home 2.00 Min B (L) John Scottus Wed 16 Home 3.00 Sen II Wesley Wed 16 Home 2.00 Sen III Wesley Wed 16 Home 3.00 1st Yr A, Jun A Wesley Wed 16 Wesley 2.00 1st Yr B, Jun C Wesley Wed 16 Wesley 3.00 Jun B (L) Cabra Thurs 17 Home 3.00 Min A (C) HC Killiney Fri 18 Killiney 3.00 Jun A (C) Mt Sackville Sat 19 Home 11.00 Sen III (L) Dalkey Sat 19 Home 9.00 Sen IV (1/4 final) tba Sat 19 Home 10.00 Rugby JCT (C) St Gerard's Wed 16 Donnybrook 2.30 U 13, A, B Castleknock Wed 16 Home 2.30 3rd XV (L) Firhouse Fri 18 Home 2.30 2nd XV (L) St Mary's Sat 19 Home 11.00 U 14 A, B Blackrock Sat 19 Home 11.00 Results - well done! In girls hockey the Sen III beat St Andrew's in the league and the 1st Yr A beat St Andrew's in a friendly. The Junior B beat St Killian's in the league and the Minor A, 1st Years and Seniors beat Notre Dame. Good luck to all teams playing cup matches and league playoffs this week.