I see that the huge statue of the Confederate general Robert Lee, in Richmond Virginia, has been removed from its plinth. That is a significant move. Let me explain. Robert Lee was the leader of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, an icon to those who supported the southern American states. He was […]
This term has seen the opening of two new day houses, Kilmashogue for boys and Clonard for girls. Kilmashogue is the name of the mountain overlooking the College while Clonard is named after the monastery where St. Columba studied as a young man. The new spaces, situated in the middle of the College in space […]
When I started at St. Columba’s College five years ago, little did I imagine I would find myself in the position of Senior Prefect. The time I have spent at St. Columba’s has taught me the values of friendship and community, which I hope all newcomers will have the opportunity to experience. Our student body […]
The annual Sports Day is for many the highlight of the year. There is always an abundance of energy, colour, noise and excitement amongst the pupils and the staff. This year, to reduce the scale of the events, we held two afternoons of sporting activities with the usual range of track and field events, alongside some […]
Transition Year is like no other year in the Irish education system and even a global pandemic couldn’t stop it from delivering. How Ms Kilfeather and her team of minions managed to provide the vast array of meaningful activities for this Transition Year (TY) group, in these extraordinary circumstances, we are not quite sure. Impressively […]
Congratulations to the fifteen Form V pupils who have been appointed as Prefects for the coming school year, to be installed in September: Akin Babajide, Iona Chavasse, Mia Deutsch, Rory Flanagan, Jack Hayes, TJ Hopkins, Avi Johnston, Edna Johnston, Nathan Kutner, Lioba Preysing (not pictured), Evie Pringle, Matteo Tafi, Peter Taylor, Thea Walsh, Jasmine Williams. Congratulations […]
Gaisce (meaning “great achievement”), The President’s Award, is a self-development programme for young people aged 15 to 25. There are three categories: Gold (for people aged above 17 years), Silver (16 years) and Bronze (15 years). To achieve a President’s Award, you set a demanding challenge for yourself in four different areas of activity: Community […]
Effective schools value, encourage and listen to the voice of their pupils. School leadership no longer resides simply in the Headmaster’s office and the role pupils play in creating a values-based culture is equally important to the actions of management and staff. We are extremely lucky at St. Columba’s to have a pupil body who […]
Pupils of the College had some excellent results in the national finals of the Bebras Computing Challenge. Notably Alison Coogan, who received a merit award based on her score, featured in the top 10, narrowly missing out on one of the top three places. Elliot Warnock (picture) did one better, placing third in his age […]
We wish the best of luck to our F1 in Schools Team (Marco Trolese, Caleb Owen, Monty Walsh, Carl Krenski, and Florian Zitzmann) who take part in the Virtual National Finals this weekend. The competition is broadcasting on the F1 in school YouTube channel from 7PM on Thursday the 20th of May, Friday 21st of May, and […]
On Thursday 22nd April, pupils and staff shared photographs of what they were doing to celebrate Earth Day. Sharing photographs is a nice way to connect and check in with one another, especially during periods of distance learning. We celebrate Earth Day to continue promoting environmental awareness and to remind us that we can protect […]
If you were not too distracted by the hysteria surrounding the announcement of the European Super League – thank goodness that plan is off the table – you may have been following the verdict following the trial of the police officer who killed George Floyd. I am sure that the whole world breathed a sigh […]
Bebras is an international initiative aiming to promote informatics and computational thinking among school students at all ages. It is run in over 50 countries and takes place every November. The aim is to get students all over the world to get excited about computing. The challenge introduces computational thinking to students where they are […]
“Seachtain na Gaeilge” (“Irish Week”, in English) was actually celebrated over a two week period – that sounds mad but the country celebrates it for 17 days! Obviously, activities had to be carried out remotely and it was great to see so many pupils taking part in the various activities. We played “biongó foclóra” (vocabulary […]
I remember Thursday 12th March 2020 very well. The Covid crisis was escalating and there was talk of schools being closed before the end of term. One or two pupils were even wearing masks, but we told them not to be so silly and to take them off at once. Assuming that any announcement of […]
Many thanks to all those who entered into the Book Week 2021 “Bookface” competition. Below is an album of the best entries. We are delighted to announce the winners are Fee Ratibor & Coco Xu with Charlie Bevan as the runner up. Well done to all!
Táimid ag ceiliúradh Seachtain na Gaeilge ar aon leis an tír go léir. Ar ndóigh, caithfear na gníomhaíochtaí go léir a bheith déanta go fíorúil. Tá súil againn go nglacfaidh gach duine páirt – ní gá Gaeilge a bheith agat! We are celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge (“Irish week”, it actually lasts for two weeks!) along with the […]
The Chaplain is still recording short daily services in Chapel every morning, despite lockdown, giving short but much needed blessings for the extended school community. During Mental Health Awareness Week, Rev Owen will provided moments to consider from the Lord’s teachings which some may find helps build resilience, reduce stress improve mental wellbeing.
