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Sculpture Competition

County Roscommon is home to Strokestown house, a very unique tourist attraction. It has the Irish National Famine Museum, which was established in 1994 at Strokestown Park, using the original documents which were recovered during the restoration of the house.

Strokestown Park is hosting the schools sculpture competition in the woodlands walk in memory of the Irish famine. Hundreds of secondary school students spend months making pieces of outdoor art and then have their pieces unveiled in Strokestown Park.

Last year a group of the transition year students from St. Nathy's College made a sculpture called 'An Práta Bocht', which was a blighted lumber potato with shrivelled leaves and a loy from the time of the famine in Ireland. They put a lot of work into it and the sculptures made can still be viewed in Strokestown Park.

You can still vote for your favourite piece, first prize in the competition is four thousand euro. Visitors in the park can also read about each piece and have the opportunity to vote for the sculpture that they think is best, right up until October.

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Hospice Fundraiser

On Friday September 19^th, we cycled the 42km Great Western Greenway. We did this cycle as a fundraiser for Mayo Roscommon hospice and our TY fund. 70% of the money we raised went to the hospice and we received 30% of our collection. All TY students received sponsorship cards that we designed ourselves.

€210 went to the Mayo Roscommon hospice and we hope that it will help in some way.

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REMEMBERING CIARAN

On Saturday the 20^th September a walk “Remembering Ciaran” was held in Tibohine. Ciaran O’Donohue was a past pupil of St Nathy’s College who passed away earlier this year. The walk was held in the memory of Ciaran to raise money and awareness for Ataxia Ireland. Ataxia is a condition of the central nervous system and Ciaran suffered from this condition.

Registration for the walk began at 11.30am attracting a good crowd. Every participant was greeted warmly by Ciaran’s parents at Tibohine Community Centre. Ciaran’s family and members of the community had the centre prepared from the night before. Many people came and denoted money. Around 100 people registered for the walk, which was hosted by MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan. The walk/run started at around 1.15pm with the sun shining brightly over Tibohine. The circuit was 5km long. Every participant had finished the walk/run in or around 50 minutes.

After the walk/run a raffle was held in the community centre. There was also music and light refreshments for all. Prizes were also given to the people who finished first. Dylan Kelly, a pupil of St Nathy’s College, finished first overall in a time of 20 minutes and 55 seconds. Ciaran’s family and members of Ataxia Ireland thanked everyone for their contribution for this worthy cause, they were delighted for the support and donations. The day reflected Ciaran’s character, full of joy and it was a great way to remember a great person. Students of St Nathy’s College raised €403.50 in memory of their friend.

Ar dheis de go raibh a anam.

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Greenway Cycle

The weather greeting us as we began in Westport was a dangerous balance. The clouds hung thick and grey like a soft blanket, but the promise of rain meant this tranquil quilt could turn into a rain storm. While a sunny day would be ideals, in the climate of Ireland such a luxury is rare, to say the least. The bus up to Westport was uneventful, but the day really got started as we acquired our bikes, as you might expect. We naturally ran a test run of our new wheels. The owner of the bikes we had rented was not amused when one of our number attempted to pull a wheelie without knowing how to, But once the bikes were set, helmets worn and gear ready, we trundled down the road to the path we would be taking.

As we set off, I lay back in my seat in perfect comfort as the beautiful scenery just sped by. I watched as I left my fellow students way behind and they waving with good nature at me. Only two others were with me, keeping pace. I reached the first stop in ten minutes, despite our teacher saying it would take forty minutes. The bus driver then got off and told us to wait for the others. As I lay back into my seat, I waited for my two wheeled friends to arrive. As they did, a tale they told me showed the trip was not plain sailing, as one fellow had the misfortune to go through space currently occupied by another fellow, resulting in an unfortunate collision. Also, some cyclists noticed a budding young backpacker walking the path too. It was noted that this man arrived well before the last of our group did, proving that two wheels are only good if you know how to use them. To cap it off one poor student became incredibly ill. One of his friends stayed with him on the bus. It later turned out to be a problem with his appendix. He survived the day and is now in hospital where his condition is stable.

Despite the eventful start the next stage went smoothly. However after arriving at the second stop, a problem arose: two of the cyclists were not there. to complicate matters they had no phones, so we immediately assumed they were dead and cancelled all searches. however spirits were lifted as we progressed to stop three, as they had simply forgotten to stop at stop two. Our mourning was cut short. We were glad, as at point two we had stopped at the beach and we noticed a small dead crab. We had given it a short funeral service in honour, and many tears were shed. Happily we did not need one for our lost comrades. However disaster's blade still swiped by: a group of cyclists were surprised by a car suddenly appearing behind them. They swerved into the ditch to avoid a vehicular collision. It resulted however in a bicycluar collision, as they collided with each other. Thankfully, stop 3 was the last, as we sat on a bench, biting into a sausage roll (Three for a euro! What a deal!) We reflected on life, the universe and indeed everything. We felt somehow wiser from it, learning of how fickle life is. The boy's who appendix burst, the two who lost, the near car collision and the poor crab who went to the great sea in the sky. It was a day to remember, lest thou lose sight of what is important.

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Intermediate Final

On Saturday the 20th of September Eire Og Ladies met Western Gaels in the Intermediate Ladies County Final in Kilglass. Western Gaels got the first score of the game. All throughout the first half the score was close but at half time Eire Og left the field as the leading team. As the second half got underway there was a huge build up of tension as both teams showed real determination.

There were substitutions made on both teams, for Eire Og it was due to an injury. As the game progressed into injury time there was only minutes to go and Eire Og led by a point. In the final minute they got a penalty which was scored which meant they had won the County Final. The final score was 2-17 to 1-16. A big congratulations to Kylie Roddy who got player of the match, and also to the Eire Og team who will now play in the Connachts.

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National Ploughing Championships

At 5 am on Tuesday the 23rd of September the transition year class left Ballaghaderreen and headed for the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska Co. Laois. After three hours on the bus we arrived at the Ploughing site. We split up into groups so that nobody would be left on their own.

During the day we met up at the funfair. We went on the spinner, the American trip and the bumping cars. We all really enjoyed the carnival atmosphere. After the funfair we visited the O' Neill's shop. We all bought something as everything was a bargain.

Over the course of the day we met many celebrities such as Alan Hughes, George Lee, Kevin Dundon, Sile Seoige and President Michael D. Higgins.

The class really enjoyed the day and would like to thank Mr. Lennon and Ms. Owens for bringing us.

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Leaving Cert. Results 2014

120 students of St. Nathy’s College sat the Leaving Certificate examinations last June.  Students were generally pleased with their results, despite having found some of the individual exam papers quite testing in June.  The results, however, reflected the overall effort put in by students throughout their time with us.

In most years some single subject or paper proves problematical for students. Apart from some concerns last June over the manner in which a number of questions were phrased in some papers, students found most examination papers to be generally favourable. The final grades gained by students showed that the papers in all subject areas were marked very fairly and favourably. Any initial anxieties held were soon dispelled as the results became available.

St. Nathy’s had some exceptionally fine individual results this year with one student attaining 7 A’s. A significant number of students came very close to attaining maximum CAO points. Students who actively sought such high grades were, by and large, successful in achieving the desired results and corresponding high points. Accordingly, most students should gain their top CAO preferences.

Results in Science subjects and Mathematics were, again, particularly good in St. Nathy’s.  The school promotes the importance of these subjects and, while it is good to see A grades in higher level papers in these subject areas, it is even more pleasing to see students do well at ordinary level. There was a rise in the number of students sitting the Honours Maths Paper this year and the vast majority achieved high grades.

Subjects which fared particularly well this year (by way of ‘A’ grades obtained) includedAccounting, Agricultural Science, Applied Maths, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Construction Studies, Design and Communication Graphics, English, French, Gaeilge, Geography, History, Home Economics, Maths, Music, Physics, Physics and Chemistry.

The College is especially pleased with the exceptionally low failure rates in all subject areas. In fact, most subjects had a zero percent failure rate.These subjects included English, Gaeilge, Honours Maths, Construction Studies, Geography, History, Home Economics and Music.

The grades awarded to the Leaving Cert Vocational Programme (LCVP) Link Modules were very encouraging.  The additional points obtained from this programme for entry into Third Level Colleges will be a very welcome addition for the majority of Leaving Cert Students who availed of the programme. Most students who sat the exam gained either a Distinction or a Merit. For points purposes, a Distinction in L.C.V.P. Link Modules is worth the equivalent of a C1 on an honours paper. L.C.V.P. continues to be popular with all eligible students who follow the programme each year.

The College is particularly pleased that candidates taking subjects at Ordinary Level did especially well.  We sometimes forget that the real test of a fair educational system is how well it prepares students for life and how well it caters for those who may not wish to go directly on to third level education – preferring, instead, to go directly into the work place or pursue an apprenticeship.  Results for students who sat subjects mainly at ordinary level were most satisfactory and, if anything, were up on the high standards of recent years.

I would like to take this opportunity to compliment and thank the parents, teachers and ancillary staff who worked so hard to ensure that everything possible was done to facilitate students performing to the best of their abilities and planning wisely for their future lives and careers.

St Nathy’s College would also like to thank all of its Leaving Cert. students for their co-operation over the years. We pray God’s blessing upon them, that in the strength of Nathy (robur Nathaei) they will face the future with confidence and hope as they make their own unique contribution to our society and our world.

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Mental Health Day

On Thursday 8th of May the Transition Years organised a Mental Health Day in St. Nathy’s College. This event has become an annual event in our school. There was a number or organisations present who spoke and had useful information which added to the day.

Also on that day we had three speakers, Niall Dunne- Mayo/Roscommon Mental Health Officer, Louis Shaw who is a past pupil and a representative of the organisation Jigsaw. On the same day, we launched our mental health app that we have been working on over the past number of months.

It is called ‘Let’s Get Mental’; Patrick Feeney launched the app for us. Then Niall and Louis spoke to Leaving Certs and Fourth Years about being positive in their Mental Health. The students really benefited from the talks from what we were hearing afterwards. We would like to thank all the organisations from coming to the event and also to our speakers Niall Dunne and Louis Shaw.