Factory

Congratulations to the band Factory who won The Mark Cabena Battle of the Bands competition in Ranelagh Gardens last Saturday. The event is part of the anual arts festival and is a tribute to a pupil of The High School, Mark Cabena, who was a victim of a cardiac virus in 2007. The band, comprised of 6th form students, was described as “the band with the best connection with the audience and best music” by the judging panel. Factory has only been in existence for 6 months, so there may be a bright future ahead for them. Well done! (Thanks to Simon Smith for the information.)

Leinster captain

Congratulations to Shane (right) who has been named captain of the Leinster U18 hockey squad. The Boys U18 & U16 Interprovincial series is taking place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in UCD.

Vote on the Lisbon Treaty

If you have a vote, please use it on Friday. Exercise your democratic franchise.

Parents Association AGM

The annual general meeting of the Parents' Association will be held on Monday 5 October in the Reynolds Hall at 8.00 p.m. All parents are cordially invited to attend. The association is represented on all board committees in the school and will report on activities at this meeting.

Education cutbacks - your help is needed, your voice matters

Information about the severity of the education cutbacks, prepared by the national management bodies, is being circulated with this newsletter. These cuts were made worse for schools under Protestant management because grants which we have had since 1968 were taken away without notice last January and our schools were re-classified to ensure that such grants would not return.
All staff, parents and students over 18 (i.e. with a vote) are asked to e-mail your local government TDs (Fianna Fail and Green Party) with strongly worded protests and requests that no further cuts be made in the education budget, particularly in view of the recent Farmleigh economic forum where all of the participants, which included some of the best economic brains in Ireland, said that rather than cutting education at present, there should be an increase in investment in education to plan for recovery and to ensure that a well educated workforce is ready to take advantage of international recovery.

Conference on the future of Protestant education

Because of the cutbacks referred to in the article above, the national authorities responsible for coordinating the management of schools linked with Protestant churches are holding a conference on Saturday next 3 October from 11.00 to 3.00 at the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght. To reserve a place e-mail the following address: protestant.secondary.education@gmail.com
Participating speakers will include - Archdeacon Gordon Linney "The Case for Protestant Secondary Schools", Ian Coombes (Principal, Bandon Grammar School) "The Practical Effects of Budget Cuts and the McCarthy Report", Archbishop John Neill, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Rev Donald Ker, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Trevor Gribben, Education Sec. Presbyterian Church in Ireland "The Position of Protestant Schools in Ireland", Richard Brickenden "A Parent's Perspective" and Gerard Hogan, Senior Counsel, on the constitutional position.
We face unprecedented challenges - if the McCarthy report were to be implemented fully, some small Protestant schools would be forced to close. So, make your presence felt now - e-mail your government TDs today.

Visit of William Dowdall

On Monday last 21 October, the music department was delighted to welcome William Dowdall, the renowned flautist formerly of the National Symphony Orchestra and currently flute teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Mr Dowdall gave us a talk and a demonstration of the flute, with musical examples from the early baroque period to the present day. He brought along four flutes to show us and played a piece on each. One was made of platinum and is one of only seventeen in the world! We really enjoyed the workshop and Mr Dowdall has agreed to make a return visit in the near future.
Eve Roseingrave

Fixtures and training this week

Girls hockey
Jun B Mt Anville Wed 30 Home 3.00
Min A St Andrew's Wed 30 Home 3.00
Jun A, Min B St Andrew's Wed 30 Home 2.00
1st Yr A St Andrew's Wed 30 Away 2.00
Senior 1 St Andrew's Wed 30 Away 3.00
Sen 3 Perth Academy Thurs 1 Home 4.00
Sen 4 (L) Loreto Foxrock Sat 3 Home 9.00
Sen 1 (L) Loreto Foxrock Sat 3 Home 10.15
Jun C (L) Holy Faith Clontarf Sat 3 Home 11.15
Jun A Our Lady's Terenure Sat 3 Home 9.00
Min A Our Lady's Terenure Sat 3 Home 10.00
Boys hockey
Senior Touring side Thurs 1 Home 4.45
Rugby
SCT De La Salle Wed 30 Home 2.00
U 16 Castleknock Wed 30 Home 3.00
JCT A, B Pres Bray Wed 30 Home 2.30
U 14 Newpark Wed 30 Away 2.30
2nd XV Newpark Sat 3 Home 11.00
U 16 Clongowes Sat 3 Away 2.30
U 14 Newpark Sat 3 Home 11.00
U 13 Terenure Sat 3 Home 11.30

Results - well done
In girls hockey, against St Columba's, Senior 3 won 2-0, Senior 4 won 3-0, 1st Years won 5-0 and 4-0 in 7 a sides, Junior, Minor A and Minor B all drew 1-1. The Junior A beat Mt Sackville 2-1, the Junior B drew against Alexandra 1-1 in the league and the Senior 2 drew 1-1 against Mt Sackville. In rugby the JCT A beat Terenure 39-30, the JCT B beat Gonzaga 19-12. In boys hockey, the Minors beat St Andrew's B 3-1 and the Seniors beat St Andrew's B 7-6.