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

Green Schools Group

The Green Schools Group was set up in September. It consists of members taken from teaching staff, administration, non teaching staff, parents and Transition Year students.

The first objective was to get some action and this took the form of paper collection from each room, whereby each room was given a box to store waste paper and this would be collected at least once a month and brought down to the green bin. There are currently three of these bins with another three on the way.

The second action was to look at can recycling, and this was done in the form of designing and producing bins with a unique look so as they would be distinctive. The design work was done by Second year students, production by First, Fourth and Fifth Years and the paintwork by a Fourth Year Art class. These bins will be launched shortly. The hope is that by including different groups, that they will be more inclined to use them each day.

Other groups have been engaged in assessing the ongoing situation and how it has improved, as part of C.S.P.E. projects. There is a new facility to recycle glass bottles within the school grounds, along with spent printer cartridges, batteries and mobile phones.

It is proposed to look at the issue of kitchen waste. Within the kitchen there are two main issues, cardboard from delivery boxes, and organic waste. It is proposed to use the new green bins for the cardboard and to look at setting up a wormery to look after the vegetable waste. These are very effective and would key into the basic plan which is to involve everybody in the school at all levels and to provide cross-curricular motivation to make it all more interesting. The other aspect is sustainability. Recycling is not the job of a few dedicated Transition Year students, it is the job of the whole school. The next aspect which will be looked at is the issue of plastic bottles, which are a major problem, because of sheer volume. It should be remembered that the school caters for about 850 people each day.

The last objective will be to seek a green flag status for the school. This is very difficult and requires a huge effort from all involved. This idea has been endorsed by the School Council. To obtain the flag, it will be necessary to try to re-use, reduce and re-cycle, while also looking at buying policies for materials which are used in class and in the administrative sector.

New ideas and new members are always very welcome.

Tsunami disaster appeal - well done!!

On Friday last, the Student Council organised a non-uniform day in aid of the Tsunami disaster.

We raised over €4,600! We had hoped to raise €3,000 and were delighted to have reached well over our target. The money will be used to build a fishing boat on behalf of The High School, which will be given to one of the affected areas.

Any money left over will be given to the famine stricken areas in Africa.

On behalf of the Student Council, I would like to thank Mrs Pearce for all her help, and everyone for donating so generously.

1st XI defeat Newbridge to reach quarter finals

The second round of the Senior Girls Hockey Cup against Newbridge took place on Wednesday 26th January. We knew this was going to be a tough match, because we aren’t used to playing on a grit surface and it did prove to be a challenge. At half time the score was 0-0. Despite being in their half almost all the time, we just couldn’t manage to score until the second half. Two goals soon followed however, scored by Leah Moore, and with the help of Valerie Sexton, I scored the final goal. A huge thank you to Mr Fitzpatrick and Ms Mellon and particularly Mr Swan, for saving us in our time of need!

Sport this week

Top: JCT rugby

Above: night walk in the Wicklow Mountains

SCT (C) Blackrock Tues 1 Donnybrook 3.00

2nd XV (L) St Mary’s Sat 5 Home 11.00

U13 A,B St Paul’s Wed 2 Raheny 2.30

Senior Cup Our Lady’s Terenure Tues 1 Home 2.30

1st Yr B1, B2 Wesley Wed 2 Wesley 2.00

1st Yr A,Min C Wesley Wed 2 Wesley 3.00

2nd XI Wesley Wed 2 Home 2.00

Jun C Wesley Wed 2 Home 2.00

Jun B Wesley Wed 2 Home 3.00

Min C (L) Mt Anville Sat 5 Home 9.00

Junior A Quarter Final vs Muckross Sat 5 Home 10.00

Sen II (L) Loreto Dalkey Sat 5 Home 11.00

Play offs for other teams may be on Saturday

Sen XI (L) Dundalk Wed 2 Away 2.00

U 13A (L) St Andrews Fri 4 Away 3.00

Basketball - Boys

Boys U16 All-Ireland Final vs Templeogue Tues 1 Arena 11.00

U16 All-Ireland League Semi-Finals vs TBC Sat 5 Limerick TBC

Minors St Laurence’s Thurs 3 Bray 3.00

Juniors St Laurence’s Thurs 3 Bray 4.00

Cadettes St Columba’s Fri 4 St Columba’s 1.30

Minors St Andrew’s Mon 7 Home 3.30 TBC

Juniors St Andrew’s Mon 7 Home 4.30 TBC

In boys hockey the U14 beat St Gerards 3-0 in the league. Juniors beat Sandford in the 1st round of the Cup 3-1 on penalty flicks, having drawn 1-1 after extra time.

In girls’ hockey - 1st XI won 2-0 in Cup Match v Newbridge, 3rd XI drew with Tullamore, Minor C won League match v Rosemount 5-0 and are through to the next stage of the competition. Junior B won 8-0 against Wicklow and are through to the next stage. 1st Year A won their League Matches against Our Lady’s Terenure and Notre Dame and are through to next stage. 1st Year B’s drew their League Match v Mt Temple A’s. Minor B’s won their League Match v Wesley and are through to next stage.

In Rugby U14A beat Templeogue 48-0, U14B beat Templeogue 27-7

In Girls Basketball Cadettes beat Loreto Bray 31-9, Seniors beat Loreto Bray 34-31, Juniors beat St Dominic’s College 21-6