The Wesley Update Issue 79 June 2019

The annual Arts and Sports Awards took place in the Myles Hall on Wednesday May 8th to celebrate the wealth of talent within our school community and

to recognise those who have made a distinguised contribution to extra-curricular activities. There to present the awards was past-pupil Dr. Lara Dungan, class of 2002. Lara completed a B.Sc in UCD in 2006, before completing a PhD in TCD in 2012. She has since returned to college to study medicine, graduating with First Class Honours in 2017. Her research papers on auto-immune diseases have earned her recognition in the field of immunology as well as numerous international awards.

During her time is Wesley College, Lara was involved in a wide range of activities. She was a member of the Senior Cup hockey team as well as a cast-member in My Fair Lady. She represented the school at the Biology Olympiad in Riga, Latvia where she won a gold medal. Considering her own contribution to school life and her remarkable successes since, she is a fantastic role model for our students.

There were a number of musical and dramatic interludes throughout the evening. Poetry Aloud Winner, Toto Daly, recited ‘At Grass’ while Matthew Teo, who won the Spirit of Music Award, performed the iconic ‘Hungarian Dance No.5’. Finally, the Wind Ensemble performed ‘Morning’ by Edvard Grieg, while Junior Music Prize winner Abigail Roquette gave a beautiful rendition of ‘The Coolin.’

An array of coveted prizes were awarded on the night, among them three Wesley Awards for Outstanding Achievement, presented to pupils who excelled in their particular fields. The recipients were Josh Greaney and Ben O’Grady (Hockey) and Sam Illo (Rugby) The evening came to a close with some refreshments in the Dining Hall. Congrats to all involved.

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2019

Arts and Sports Awards 2018/2019

Team Captains: Fernando Moreno Iglesias, Ben O’Grady, Jamie Kavanagh, Euan Mackay, Daniel Dooley, Soyoka Boyce, Sadhbh Breslin, Eve McPhillimy, Matthew Teo.

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Wesley Artist of the YearThis year, the annual Wesley Artist of the Year

competition was fiercely contested. As always, the standard of entries was impressively high. After judging all entries, the title of Senior Wesley Artist of the year was awarded to Bethan Lawson, 4th year for her mosaic titled “Remembering Frieda Kahl”.The next coveted award was Junior Wesley Artist of the year, won by Cara Sexton, Preps, for her mixed media drawing entitled “Remembering, Holidays in Boston.” (left) Congrats to our winners and well done to all artists who entered the competition.

This year’s Shaw Award Final took place on Wednesday, 3rd April in the GB Shaw. From

a group of over thirty hopefuls, only nine students qualified to compete for the two coveted trophies- the Shaw Award and the Best Junior Speaker Prize. We were fortunate enough to have been joined by two excellent judges on the night- our own Mr O’Hanrahan and Ms Hilary Fanin. Ms Fanin is an acclaimed author, playwright and weekly columnist for The Irish Times. The nine finalists were tasked with delivering two speeches. The first was entitled ‘The Self and the Selfie-the youth of today and their preoccupation with appearance’. The second speech was entitled ‘My Misunderstood Generation’. Both judges spoke highly of all the participants and commented on how impressed they were by the deep insights offered during the course of the evening. In a Shaw Award first, the ‘Best Junior Speaker’ prize was split between Luke Barnard and Micah Switzer. The Shaw Award went to Favour Ochonma who spoke passionately about self-love and body image.

Silver Gaisce Award

The Shaw Award

The Silver Award is the second level of the Gaisce Award. The areas of Community Involvement,

Physical Recreation and Personal Skill each require minimum participation of one hour a week for 26 weeks. The enjoyable yet strenuous Adventure Journey takes place over a minimum of 3 days and 2 nights.This year, 11 students have achieved this Award. The medals they receive represent the dedication and commitment they have shown in reaching their goal. Congrats to: Ceri Arnott, Nicola Bond, Emily Cazzini, Jill Connor, Lee Griffin, James Humphrys, Thomas Humphrys, Jody Maiden, Zoe Mulligan, Lauren Taylor and Riain Verdon on their excellent achievement.

Accelerated Reader was introduced two years ago through the English Department. 2018/19 has

seen further progress in its success. There has been a marked increase in the readership of students in the Junior years, particularly Preps and 1st Year. The AR quizzes have sparked healthy competition with Ms Rowan and Ms Hamilton remarking on queues for the library at 8.30 am, breaktime and lunchtime.There has been the steady increase of multi-word millionaires and word millionaires in 2018-2019. These students have raised the bar and have been awarded certificates for their achievements. There are currently ten multi-millionaires and eighteen millionaires. Six of the multi-millionaires are Preps with Liam Mulvey leading the way with a staggering 5,142,479 and counting. Congratulations Liam!A special mention must go to Ms Rowan and Ms Hamilton in the library. Their encouragement of young readers in the school and their enthusiasm for the AR programme has made it a crucial and worthwhile addition to English and Literacy in Wesley College.

On Thursday April 11th, The Myles Hall was awash with talent as this year’s celebration of Wesley’s

Got Talent got underway. All in aid of the June 2019 trip to Zambia with Habitat for Humanity, we were treated to an extravaganza of music, song, dance, comedy and magic. A very tough decision fell to our judges, Mr. Clark, Ms. McKeon and Ms. Shaw. The coveted prize was awarded to ‘Nat 2’- Natasha Stanley and Natalie Foulds, who wowed the audience with their rendition of ‘Jealous’ by Labrinth. Congrats!

Wesley’s Got Talent 2019

Accelerated Reader

MUN SuccessThis year has been a successful one for Wesley College

MUN. After our own WCDMUN conference, we had ROCKMUN in Blackrock College and SAIMUN in St. Andrews to look forward to. With many of our senior students focussing on exams, the younger students in Preps, 1st and 2nd Years stepped up and represented the school proudly. Massive congrats to Walter McCabe and Adam Nunan (2nd Year) on their Distinguished Delegate Awards- a fitting end to a successful year.

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Junior Drama Productions

Huge congratulations to the Senior Choir on their superb performances in this year’s Feis Ceoil.

The choir were magnificent - 1st place for the third year running in the Cór Iarbhunscoile Competition as well as earning 2nd place in the Turner Huggard Cup with a remarkably high score of 92%. Winning the cup qualified this marvellous group of choristers for the Feis Ceoil School Choir of the Year Final. They gave a beautiful performance in front of a packed RDS Concert Hall, demonstrating their magical ability to bring the music to life which earned them high praise from the adjudicators.

This year, Preps, 1st and 2nd Year students embodied the personalities of Eastend Londoners in their

production of ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Emerald of Alcazar’. This was performed at the annual Drama Festival Showcase in East Glendalough. Rehearsals took place weekly. These impressive young actors knew when to exaggerate a scene for dramatic effect and when to imply with a gesture. The cast welcomed and accepted all advice and direction, and this resulted in an energised and memorable performance. ‘Terrible Auditions by Terrible Actors’ was the script sourced, directed and performed by the 3rd Year students. Their close bond as a cast was apparent when they took to the stage. The audience could identify with the frustration felt by the casting director (played by Mia Jackson) when faced with an array of interesting auditions. It was a brilliantly edited piece and it was very well received by the audience. The members of Junior Drama want to wish the 3rd Year students success as they graduate to Senior Drama next year. We look forward to seeing them continue to develop their talent and use Junior Drama as a springboard to their future success.

The theme of this year’s Health Week was ‘Wesley’s Winning Ways to Wellbeing’. It encouraged us

to to think about the small steps that we can take to ensure that we remain both mentally and physically healthy in such a busy and fast-paced world.Throughout the week there were a variety of interesting assemblies from Lara Gillespie and Grace Dervan (6th Year) who both spoke about the love and importance of sport in their lives. Mr. Barry got us thinking about the small changes that we can make to our daily routine to improve our overall health and wellbeing. On Wednesday and Thursday Carla Roberts got us up and moving with a fun and physical ‘Pound’ dance class which was enjoyed by many students and staff alike. However, the highlight of the week took place on Friday in the school canteen where Ehlana Marchant, Laura Burrell and Holly Grier’s winning dishes were served to the school. They had won a competition where students had been asked to come up with some healthy, nutritious and delicious meals. Well done to everyone who took part in the week and I hope that each and everyone of you were motivated to make small changes in order to make a big difference.

Health WeekMembers of the Senior Choir rounded off their

year on a real high note! 34 members of the choir travelled to the 65th Cork International Choral Festival to sing in City Hall, a fabulous venue. They were delighted to come out on top against some very tough opposition to win the Post-Primary School Mixed Voice Competition. More good news came at the conclusion of the schools’ competitions when the Senior Choir was announced as this year’s recipients of the Sing Ireland Trophy, a special adjudicators’ award for their very moving and sophisticated performance. Well done to the choir members on representing the College to such a high standard once again!

Senior Choir Success

Two teams from Wesley College represented South Dublin in the National final of the Student

enterprise competition in Croke Park on 3rd May. ‘The Irish Game Makers’, Jake Chapman and Conor Delaney, and ‘Nestbox Ireland’, Shane Pedlow and Milo McCaughey displayed their products in front of judges and the general public throughout the day. While they did not win they were an great credit to the school for their initiative and hard work. Well done.

Student Enterprise Awards

PTA NoticeboardAttention Parents: The 2nd Hand Sale takes place

on Friday 31st May in the Muster/Assembly Area of the new Sports Complex. This is a great opportunity to pick up / sell some good quality uniform items at a great price. Clothes, priced and tagged accepted Thursday afternoon 330-430.Thank you to all who attended our recent PTA BBQ in Old Wesley on the 10th of May. Over 150 parents and friends enjoyed a delicious BBQ on a balmy summer’s evening! We look forward to our next event. Contact us at pta@wesleycollege.ie.

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For further information and news please check out the college website at www.wesleycollege.ie and follow us on Facebook and Twitter @wesleycollege

Sport MattersGirls Tennis

Cycling

Summer Soccer League

Well done to the over ninety boys involved in the Summer Soccer League. 6th years Scott Doyle,

Jamie Vard, Tadhg Maguire, Euan Van Den Berg, Henry O’Hagan, Zach McMullen, Peter Armitage and Sean Purser picked their teams from the students in 4th, 5th and 6th years who signed up. Zach McMullen’s team won the cup with the help of top scorer Ross Chandler beating Jamie Vard’s team in the final on penalties. Henry O’Hagan’s side beat Euan Van Den Berg’s side in the plate final. The competition gives 4th, 5th and 6th years an opportunity to get to know each other better while enjoying football in the summer sun.

Girls CricketThe 1st Year A girls team capped a hugely successful

season with a win over Mount Temple in the Leinster 1st Year A final. This very talented team began the season with a friendly win over High school and thereafter league wins over St Columbas, St Andrews and Kings Hospital saw them progress to the final. In the final, Mount Temple opened the batting. Some great bowling from the Wesley girls including Kate Woods, Lauren Mackey and Sarah Ruttle reduced Mount Temple to a total of 39. Annabel Squires and Kate Woods got off to a great start in the chase, along with Sophie Stewart and Laura Heaney. Wesley reached the total and were victorious. Congrats to captain Ally Boucher for leading the team so capably and Kate Woods who was voted player of the match.Well done to the Junior B cricket team on having a great season. 3 wins over Alexandra college, St Columbas & Mount Anville saw them through to the Leinster final where they faced Loreto on the Green. A strong Loreto team bowled excellently and reduced our normally very solid batsmen to a modest total. Loreto batted well to reach the total and win. Congrats to the girls on making the final. They had fun and enjoyed themselves throughout.

In late March 32 Junior Hockey players departed for an end-of-season trip to Cork. They enjoyed two

competitive games against Mount Mercy with lots of good hockey played by both sides. They stayed in the Rochestown Park Hotel where the girls enjoyed a fun night of entertainment. The next morning they headed to Fota Wildlife Park, where the girls were given a ‘behind the scenes’ guided tour of the park. The perfect way to end the season!

Junior Girls Hockey

U14 Boys HockeyThe Under 14 hockey season led most ably by

Conor Walsh won the cup final by beating High School in a high standard match. Goals by Conor and Gordon Vernon saw the team overturn their league final defeat against the same opponents. Later in the month the team finished runner up in a 6 team day festival in Friends school, Lisburn. It is a festival played annually between 2 teams from each of the provinces.

There was a hat trick of national titles for Lara Gillespie at the Junior National Track

Championships in Sundrive Velodrome. Lara struck gold in the Pursuit, the Sprint and the Scratch Races. In doing so, she set a new national record in the Pursuit. This is yet another stunning string of achievements the 6th Year student. We wish Lara all the best with her future endeavours on the track.

The 2019 1st Year team were of a very high standard and had convincing wins against St Conleth’s

College, Teresians and Loreto Dalkey. They qualified for the final, played in St Andrews on Tuesday 22nd May against St Gerard’s Bray. After a very close match and despite some fantastic play from this talented group of girls, the overall score was 2-1 to St Gerard’s. The 2019 Minor A girls, captained by Mikayla Power, were a very talented and enthusiastic tennis team. This team was unbeaten in all their league fixtures, and had a convincing win in the semi final against St Teresians. The final was played in Lansdowne Tennis Club against Mt Anville. All 3 pairings played some excellent tennis, with with some close rallies throughout, all six girls played to the very best fo their ability. Unfortunately, Mt Anville had the edge and managed to win the game. Congratulations to all the girls on this fantastic achievement. Well done to both teams for reaching their respective finals this year.

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