Debating

The second round of the Senior House Debating Competition took place on Saturday night, 12th November.  The motion for debate was ‘this house believes that the refugee crisis is eroding Europe’s humanitarian values’. There were some very strong performances on the evening; speeches which were well researched and confidently delivered, but in the end there had to be some winners and runners up.

Glen’s Julius Reblin, Ryan Gumsheimer and Jack Stokes lost out to Hollypark’s Ciara Murray, Sophie Matthews and Catherine Butt. Stackalllan’s Henry zu Rantzau, Casper von Schulenburg and Sebastian Fitzgibbon were defeated by Beresford & Tibradden ‘s Daniel Koethe, Helena von Brauchitsch  and Eleonore Mueller. Gwynn’s Ross Magill, Toby Green and Joel Taylor were able to oust Iona’s Anna Laurenceau, Nicole Dickerson and Helen Crampton. This means that Hollypark and Gwynn, each with two wins under their belts, go forward to the final.

Awards for best speakers went to Ross Magill, Ciara Murray and Daniel Koethe. Well done to all those who participated. We look forward to the final in January.

A special word of thanks from Ms Duggan to Dr Bannister and Mr Brett for joining her to judge the debates.

Not to be outdone by their elders, the Juniors also got together on Saturday evening to debate the motion ‘this House would restrict advertising aimed at children’.

Matt Keavney, Ailbhe Matthews and Raphaela Ihuoma proposed and

Eile Ni Chainain, Emma Hinde, Ellen Homan opposed.  The best speaker spot was shared by Eile Ni Chanain and Ailbhe Matthews but there was much potential on display on Saturday.

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St. Columba’s SCT & JCT Rugby Teams Lose Tight Cup Matches

Both the JCT and SCT Rugby teams played their first round cup matches this week. On Monday, the JCT took on St. Conleth’s at Wanders RFC in the first round of the Duff Cup. St. Conleth’s had lost out to SCC after a replay last year – two fantastic games – and revenge was on the cards and, as they say, it’s best served cold.

St. Conleth’s started the game with intent and soon were on the scoreboard. Their outside centre was a pacey and elusive runner and he bamboozled the SCC defence. He sailed past some despairing Columba’s tackling, outrunning them on the outside, and then converted his own try – there was barely a minute on the clock. To their credit St. Columba’s regrouped and resorted to keeping the game tight – their pack on the ascendancy. The pressure told and St. Columba’s were soon on the scoreboard through Jose Fominaya. Captain Thady McKeever couldn’t convert the try but it mattered little (or so we thought) as Jose dotted down again shortly afterwards for SCC’s second score. This time Thady added the extras and they were leading 12-7 at half time.

St. Conleths changed their tack in the second half, also keeping it tight, and soon their forwards were rewarded with a try of their own. It wasn’t converted and the game was on a knife edge at 12-12. But St. Columba’s regrouped again and soon started the dominate up front again. Sam Lawrence finished off some good forward work smashing over the line to score. Unfortunately, Thady couldn’t add the vital extras and the game was still up for grabs. After the try St. Columba’s remained dominant and were camped firmly in Conleth’s half as the end of the match approached. All they needed to do was hold on to possession and the game was theirs. Sadly, Conleth’s turned the ball over with a minute on the clock and it made it’s way to their outside centre who simply had too much gas. He was not going to be stopped. With the game at 17-17 and the clock up, St. Conleth’s had an easy conversion to win the game. They scored it and celebrated. St. Columba’s were left dejected. The JCT will now enter the plate competition with a chance of silverware still on the cards.

The SCT Squad after their cup match, with their coaches Corey McCarthy and Andrew Mitchell.

The SCT Squad travelled to Gorey RFC on Wednesday to take on Coláiste Bríd from Carnew  – a team SCC had never faced before in a competitive fixture. With confidence high after a relatively good start to the season (and despite a recent drubbing by Wilson’s Hospital) the squad left SCC in a determined mood. It has been a number of years since St. Columba’s have managed to win a McMullen Cup fixture and this group of players, led by Max Hillary, were eager to end that losing run.

With the wind at their backs St. Columba’s began intent on keeping the ball in hand and backing their skills. However, they tried to play too much rugby in their own half, never really playing the possession game well throughout, and basic errors allowed Carnew easy and continuous possession in opposition territory. A penalty from Carnew pushed them to a slim 3-0 lead before Captain Max Hillery suffered a knee injury just before the half time whistle. It was a big blow and  forced the game to be moved to another pitch. The second half continued along similar lines as the first with St. Columba’s still pitched in their own half. They really struggled to string phases together and adapt to the referee. Eventually Carnew’s pressure told and they scored an opportunistic try from a basic defensive error at a line out. They failed to convert. The score was 8-0. SCC lost Freddie Johnson to a shoulder injury and all seemed lost. But finally, with 10 minutes left on the clock, St. Columba’s began to play territory, kicking the ball behind the Carnew defence and putting themselves in field positions to attack. Sustained possession and pressure told and St. Columba’s were awarded a kickable penalty – Hector Wright slotting it over to bring it to 8-3. With 5 minutes to go the momentum had swung in SCC’s favour and they were camped in Carnew’s 22 for this period. However, a lack of composure and some basic errors let them down and they never got over the line. Carnew won a relieving penalty close to their try line (for “squeeze ball” – an offence punished a number of times for both teams throughout the game – we should have adapted) and held out to win.

St. Columba’s returned home licking their wounds and wondering what happened. They too enter a plate competition next term but will need to learn to show composure in big knock out games if they are to progress.

Two narrow losses but lots of potential. Cup rugby never fails to deliver drama.

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World schools debating competition

Three pupils from St Columba’s, Catherine Butt, Jiwoo Park and Harry Oke-Osanyintolu participated in the Leinster trials for the Irish World Schools Debating Team in University College Dublin last weekend. While they didn’t get through to the next stage of the competition, they performed extremely well and enjoyed some excellent coaching in argumentation, analysis, critical thinking, research, oratory, and rhetoric.  Well done Catherine, Jiwoo and Harry!

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US election 2016

Before the shock election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States St Columba’ s College held its own mock election on Tuesday the 8th of November. In stark contrast to the actual presidential election the school voted in favour of Hillary Clinton to take residence in the White House. She got 67% of the vote. The controversial businessman, Donald Trump, received 29% of the vote.

Given that the school’s population is much smaller than that of the United States, we opted for a ‘one man, one vote’ or first past the post electoral system, rather than the Electoral College system used in the United States. This obviously had a major impact on the outcome. Another key factor in people’s decisions were the two candidates speeches in school assembly. Fifth formers Joseph Gernon and Tiernan Mullane explained Clinton’s and Trump’s policies to the whole school.

I enjoyed taking part in this mock election because the whole school community has taken a keen interest in this Presidential Election and it was an interesting insight into what people in the school thought of each candidate. There have been many animated political discussions since! Many thanks for Ms Duggan for organising.

Hector Wright

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Latest Rugby News – Seniors on Tour, Ducks in Form

Last week the Senior Rugby Squad travelled north to take on Methody College in two friendly fixtures. The First XV took on Methody 3rds and they were well matched, although St. Columba’s probably felt that it was a game they should have won. Tries from Aifo Ebeleghe and Hector Wright (one conversion from Callum Pery Knox Gore) weren’t enough as the home sided edged out the game. The Second XV took on Methody 4ths and sadly lost heavily. The full squad then went onto to Ravelhill to see Ulster edge out a narrow victory against Exeter Chiefs in the European Rugby Champions Cup – our boys kicking off ‘The Fields’ in a fitting tribute to Anthony Foley.

On the same day the JCT took on Clongowes J3’s in a friendly game at home. Despite their best efforts, a couple of individual tries from the visitors’ star player saw victory to the boys in purple and white. SCC scored a couple of good tries through Thady Mckeever and Andrew Pollock (Thady converting one) but the game ended 27-12 to Clongowes Wood. Many thanks to the Warden, Mr. Mark Boobbyer for refereeing the game.

The Leps welcomed Belevdere College’s U14 C’s to Kilmashogue Lane but they couldn’t prevent the day’s unfortunate trend and they too lost 29-7, with Daniel Swift scoring a good try, which was converted by Patrick Hare. But the Ducks saved the day when also taking on Belvedere’s U13 E’s. In a game of four quarters, where Belvo fielded two teams, SCC won handsomely scoring a plethora of tries in the process. The game ended 40-8 with two tries from Jurre Khumalo, Jack Hayes, Tom Larke and Denis Cully. Henry Johnson added three conversions and Cully adding another two.

The Ducks and Leps combined (The Lucks) on Monday last as we welcomed a touring side from Taverham Hall School, Norwich. It was a cracking game and St. Columba’s scored four great tries through Jack Hayes, Ollie Townsend, Julio Perez and Tom Larke, all converted by Henry Johnson, but eventually lost on a scoreline of 42-28 to the visitors.

Then on Wednesday last our Senior Development side travelled to Kings Hospital to take on their Transition Year team. Sadly it was another loss of St. Columba’s, in a difficult week over for all our sides, with KH winning 31-14. St. Columba’s tries came through Henry Carroll and Callum Pery Knox Gore with Callum’s boot adding another 4 points.

So, as we head into our half term break for a well earned rest we can reflect on a busy fixture period for all sides. Despite the recent losses all teams have shown great promise and can be encouraged going into the business end of the season, particularly with cup campaigns around the corner.

Many thanks for the coaches, teachers and referees for all their work on the pitch so far this term.

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Team Hope

Mr Paul Cron leads the appeal for Team Hope and he writes:

“Every year we support the Christmas Shoebox Appeal run by Team Hope. Last year we sent 231 gift filled shoeboxes to needy children in Africa and parts of Eastern Europe. Over the half term we would greatly appreciate if you could please make up a few boxes or collect some fillers for the boxes and bring them back to school after the break. All completed boxes or fillers can be brought to the collection point in Gwynn.

5 simple steps to follow:

1. Get a shoebox, wrap the box and lid separately with Christmas paper (we have already wrapped 150 boxes, so if if this is too much hassle fill one of our boxes)

2. Decide to whom you want to give your gift (boy or girl) and what age: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14.

3. Fill the box- Use our 4 W’s as a guide (Wash, Write, Wear, Wow – more details below)

4. Close the box with an elastic band – please don’t seal with tape as the contents of each box have to be checked to comply with regulations.
Please include the €4 for transport in your leaflet envelope either on top of the gifts or taped to the inside of the lid.

The 4 W’s
What can I put in my box?
Please put in a selection of small gifts from the options below: (but out of respect for the children we ask that all items be new, or as good as new)

TO WRITE – Items for school – like a pen, pencil, copy book, paper, colouring book, felt pens, sharpener, eraser, solar calculator.

TO WASH – Some hygiene items – toothbrush and toothpaste, soap (wrapped please), facecloth, hairbrush, comb.

TO WEAR – Small clothing items – a hat, scarf, gloves, socks or underwear

WOW ! – A treat – sunglasses, game, small Irish gift, a photo of yourself, sweets (must be in date for 6 months on), make up, a small musical instrument, toys like a doll, a car, cuddly toy, skipping rope, yo-yo, a finger puppet.

Please don’t put in …
Food (apart from sweets), chocolate, medicines of any kind,  war related items, large clothing items, anything breakable, any liquids that could spill or freeze, sharp items, scary things or books with words.

A child will receive the appropriate shoebox.

Thank you for your continued support.”

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Christmas cards for sale

This year we are making our St Columba’s College Christmas cards available for purchase.

There are three different images to choose from and each pack contains five cards of the same image. To view the cards click here.  The cost is €7.50 per pack or €20 for three packs.  Postage, if required, will be extra.

Cards will be on sale at various functions and events at the College from now until the end of term and will be available to purchase at the Parents’ Association AGM which will take place in Blackburn classroom on Friday, 28th October, at 10am, prior to the Parent/Teacher meeting at 11am.

Alternatively, if you wish to place an order, please contact Alice Luce directly by phone on +353 86 367 0374 or by email to luceah1@gmail.com stating your name, postal address, which image you would like, and the number of packs required.

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Senior & Junior Rugby Teams Building Momentum

The rugby pitches in St. Columba’s have been seening a lot of action lately, with boys from every Form in competitive action. The extended Senior Rugby squads have been very busy over the past week with the Seconds playing three games in a week, against a CUS Transition Year team, Wesley TY’s and a Terenure Social team. The Firsts were also in action against Mount Temple, who have been struggling in the league above SCC.

Unfortunately the Seconds lost both games against CUS (59-14 to the visitors with two good tries form Joel Taylor and George Guinness, converted well by Henry Carroll) and Wesley (26-12 to Wesley – tries from Rupert Murphy and George Guinness, again converted by Henry Carroll who had a good game overall). While the results were disappointing the performances were very encouraging and they were quitely confident going into their game yesterday against a Terenure social team. They performed well and were thoroughly deserving of their 31-8 win. Henry Carroll continued his good form with two tries and three conversions while Gabriel Ejase Tobrise, Adam Murphy and Marc – Philipp Eichorn also passed the try line. Many of the Seconds squad have just taken up rugby so the signs are very good.

The Senior First XV were also in action yesterday against Mount Temple, a team in the league above them, but who have struggled. It was a good chance for SCC to assess their own standard as the cup approaches and it proved a good exercise. Some individuals excelled, particularly Max Hopkins and Callum Pery Knox Gore. Callum scored all of SCC’s points (two tries and their conversions) as his team won 14-7. Saying that, there were a lot of unforced handling errors and missed opportunities which the coaching team will be eager to address. The Senior Squad travels to Northern Ireland this Saturday to play a game against Methody College and will also take in Ulster’s Champions Cup game against the Exeter Chiefs in Ravenhill.

In the Junior Forms, our Form I boys (The Ducks) were also in action in the past week, playing in a 10 aside round robin competition at our near neighbours De la Salle Churchtown. SCC were represented by two teams and each won one game and lost one game. Tom Larke, Henry Johnson, Jack Hayes, Marcus O’Connor and Pavlo Shvalov were among the try scorers in a very useful exercise. Their game yesterday, against East Glendalough School, was unfortunately cancelled but they can look forward to an epic fixture against arch (Duck) rivals Headfort on Thursday next! Our youngest players are showing great promise.

The Leps (Form II boys) were also kept busy lately two, with three games in recent weeks. First up were Blackrock U14 E’s last Saturday but arguable Ireland’s best rugby school were too strong for us. Mikhail Sukachev scored a good try, which was converted by Patrick Hare, but that was SCC’s only score with the game finishing 33-7 to the visitors.

On Wednesday last the Leps visited Castleknock College U14 D’s. It was a very high scoring game with SCC scoring four tries through Sergio Hampshire, William Torkington, Titien Lauron and Julio Perez Cervera. Unfortunately they lost 43-26 (despite being 26-12 ahead at half time) but they were always going to struggle with some of their better 2nd years playing with the J’s against EGS at the same time. They played their second game in 24 hours yesterday against St. Mary’s C’s, with some of the JCT subs participating. It was a super game and St. Columba’s were deserved winners 19-12, with tries coming from Daniel Swift (also two conversions), Javier Ledo San Nicolas and (try machine) Mikhail Sukachev.

The Junior Squad have been going extremely well in their league so far, winning one and drawing the other. On Wednesday last they faced East Glendalough School in the league but unfortunately lost on a scoreline of 40-24 to the visitors. St. Columba’s came out of the blocks at the start of the game putting real pressure on the visitors when in possession. They scored first, through Killian Morrell in his first start of the season, off a well worked move from the back of a scrum. Sam Lawrence, at number 8, picked the ball at the back of a scrum, fed Killian who stepped the last defender for a dream start for SCC.

EGS came back but St. Columba’s scored again in the corner from Mikhail Sukhachev in his JCT debut (his Leps form being rewarded). But EGS came back and levelled the game at 12-12 after 20 minutes. Then SCC lost their shape and began to throw the ball around in our own half too much and gave away some silly penalties. They also started falling off tackles and dropping the ball in mid field and EGS built momentum and reaped the rewards scoring four unanswered tries in a significanr purple patch. But SCC came back well towards the end of the game and scored two more tries to get a bonus point through Jose Fominaya and Sam Lawrence (conversions by Thady McKeever and Marcus Russell). Sakhile Khumalo again put in a great performance with some big aggressive carriers and tackles.

Finally, a big thank you to all the referees in the recent games, especially Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Cron, Mr. Swift, Pat Tipper and Mike Elliot Murray.

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Bullying Awareness Week

Lots of activities are taking place this week to raise awareness about issues surrounding bullying. A report will appear here in due course. Meanwhile, check out photos in our album here (being updated as the week progresses)

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Pupils’ Council 2016-17

The following have been elected to the Pupils’ Council for the coming year, after this morning’s elections:

VI: Ralph Sweetman-Sutton, Courtney McKee

V: Sean Cooper, Kitty Morris

IV: Toby Green, Isabelle Townsend

III: Daniel Ayoade, Calina Sacolax

II: Harry Petch, Charlotte Moffitt

I/P: Charlee Maher-Jones, Nikolai Foster

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House Debating

The first round of the House Debating competition took place last Saturday.
Senior House Debating Competition
Motion: This House believes in the death penalty
Glen’s Ji Woo Park, Harry Oke-Osanyintolu and Alexander Russell narrowly defeated Iona’s Mona Lamotte O’Carroll, Claire Schuijt and Elena Sirazetdinova.
Hollypark’s Courtney McKee, Anna Janssen and Aisha Burke came out on top over Stackallan’s Rupert Murphy, Henry Armstrong and Callum Pery Knox-Gore.
Gwynn’s Richard Gao, Henry Carroll and Ivan Moffitt  were successul against the combined forces of Tibradden’s & Beresford’s Adaeze Mbanefo, Rafael Mendes and Niklas Wehner.
Junior Debating 
In Junior Debating Charlotte Moffitt (Form II), Eile Ni Chainain (Form II), Emma Hinde (Form I ), Avi Johnston (Form I) Maybelle Rainey (From II) Maria Dergal Issa (Form II), Alannah Hassett (Form II) performed exceptionally well in front of a full house of their peers in Forms I, II and III.  Congratulations to all of those involved, there were some very passionate speakers and some very crisply delivered arguments.
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Weekend Activities

Great activity this past weekend! On Saturday we had our Open Day which was very well attended despite the inclement weather in the morning. That evening we had the first round of the house debating competition and last night there were the TY House Speeches, won by Anna Laureanceau. Early on Sunday morning a group of hikers, led by Mr O’Shaughnessy and Mr Coldrick, walked the small Sugar Loaf before chapel. On Sunday afternoon Mr Redmond and Mr Patterson took a select group clay-pigeon shooting in north Co.Dublin. Many thanks to all who organised and participated in these various events and helped to make them so successful.

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Installation of the Warden

At a full Matins service this morning, Mr Mark Boobbyer was formally installed as the 14th Warden of the College in a ceremony led by the Chairman of the Fellows, Mr Christopher Shiell. The Warden read out the formal statement agreeing to his appointment (though he has, of course, been properly in the job for some weeks now).

We were honoured by the presence of the Most Reverend Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who is also Visitor of the College, who gave the sermon. This position of Visitor, which originated in the very early years of our history, is the most senior in the school, and is held by the incumbent Archbishop of Armagh.

After the service, the many Fellows and guests joined members of staff in Whitehall for tea and coffee.

Pictured, from left: the Chaplain, Reverend Daniel Owen; the Chairman of the Fellows; the Visitor; the Warden.

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Open Day

Welcome to all visitors to our Open Day this morning.

Here is the presentation showing in the Lower Argyle, should you wish to catch up on it later.

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Junior Cultural Trip to London

We are delighted to annouce details of this year’s Junior Cultural Trip to London.  The trip will take place over the January Exodus (Friday Jan 27th to Monday 30th Jan) and is open to pupils in Forms II, III and IV, but is strictly limited to 45 places. Places will be allocated on a “first come, first served” basis and the closing date for applications is Tuesday October 11th 2016. The estimated cost of the trip is an all-inclusive €450, which includes:

  • Return flights from Dublin to London.
  • All bus, rail and underground transfers.
  • Three nights luxury hostel accommodation in Baden Powell House, South Kensington (adjacent to the Natural History Museum), with breakfast, packed lunch and evening meals.
  • Tickets to the Lion King on the West-End.
  • Ticket for Leicester Square cinema.
  • All entry fees & tours for museums and attractions including: The Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museum, National Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, British Museum, Tower of London, London Aquarium, Cabinet War Rooms & Churchill Museum.

There is a jam-packed itinerary for the pupils, catering for a wide array of interests, and is a great way to experience London and see all its major attractions and museums.

To secure a place for your son or daughter please complete the permission slip (on the right of the page) and return it (either in person or by emailing it to hjones@staff.stcolumbas.ie), with a copy of his or her passport, and a deposit of €250 (cheques made out to St. Columba’s College). Alternatively, the deposit can be lodged directly into the College bank account (details in the permission slip document attached). Please reference LONDON TOUR on any transfers.

If you require more information please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Jones or Mr. Finn. Again, please note the closing date for applications is Tuesday October 11th 2016 (immediately after the October Exodus weekend).

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European Day of Languages

Every year around this time in September the European Day of Languages is celebrated. It is an ideal occasion to raise the awareness of modern languages and the department has organised many different activities for all age groups. There are treasure hunts and quizzes, bake-offs and songs, menus and videos all highlighting the wide cultural variety contained in languages. Douglas Boyd Crotty won the sixth form quiz, Ms Smith’s TY group won the fourth form prize and Edna Johnston won the first form treasure hunt.

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Rugby in St. Columba’s – Start of Season Report

The school rugby season is under way with training taking place on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and alternate Wednesdays. The first games of the season have also taken place, with some of our pupils experiencing their first taste of competitive rugby.

This year the Senior XV are being coached by Corry McCarthy and Andrew Mitchell, with the guidance of Graham Dean as the strength and conditioning coach. So far they have had two matches – a home friendly against St. Michael’s Senior 3rds and their first league game away to Sandford Park. St. Michael’s were a well-drilled and technically gifted side and they really attacked SCC out wide. However, St. Columba’s put in a spirited performance and perhaps the final score flattered the visitors slightly – 27-3 to St. Michael’s. The Seniors played their first league match on Wednesday last – away to Sandford Park – and it couldn’t have gone better. They defeated Sandford Park with the impressive score of 53-5 away from home.

St. Columba’s first try came from the first lineout of the match, with Max Hopkins touching down to make it 5-0. Callum Pery Knox Gore couldn’t convert on this occasion. Henry Carroll scored the second try in the left corner before Callum Pery Knox Gore trusted his own ability and dotted down under the posts for a fine individual try, which he converted to make it 17-0. There was still time for two further tries in the first half, with Douglas Boyd Crotty securing the four try bonus point with an excellent run and step to put SCC up 22-0. Esosa Eronmwon scored the fifth try with a strong angular run to score under the posts. Callum slotted the conversion and the half ended with SCC in a commanding 29-0.

The second half started in a similar manner to the first with Douglas Boyd Crotty scoring another excellent try in the corner. At this juncture, the coaches emptied the bench and allowed some of the newcomers to rugby to get their first taste of the sport. However, SCC never lost their shape and maintained their dominance in the match. Hopkins scored his second of the day to put St. Columba’s up 39-0 before Aifo Ebeleghe got in on the try scoring. Hopkins wrapped up his hat trick when he dived on a loose ball, with Ivan Moffitt slotting the conversion. Sandyford grabbed a late consolation try at the end but St. Columba’s ended with a 53-5 bonus point win. A good day at the office.

The JCT’s first match of the season was a tricky league match against Sandford, but at home. Things didn’t go well initially and some slopping defending allowed Sandford take a commanding 26-0 lead after 20 minutes. However, St. Columba’s showed great heart and clawed their way back into the game, dominating the second half. Thady McKeever got the first try, which he also converted, before Sam Lawrence grabbed a brace of tries. Sandyford lost their composure and discipline and the referee issued a number of yellow cards. SCC capitalised on their numerical advantage. Matthew Russell scored St. Columba’s fourth try, which McKeever converted, securing a bonus point 26-26 draw. A superb performance considering the poor start.

The other rugby teams have yet to play their first competitive matches but are being put through their paces in training by their coaches. The Ducks, our Form I boys, are showing some good potential while there is some good players in Transition Year who will use this year to improve their overall skills. In conclusion, we look forward to an exciting, fun, safe and competitive rugby season ahead and wish all our players and coaches the best of luck.

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Recently the Warden, Mr Boobbyer, received a start of term message from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and anti-apartheid campaigner. It reads:

‘I want to wish you and all your school the very best for the future, to know that you and your staff are being given the opportunity to mould the lives of your charges. We hope that the pupils will look back on their time at St Columba’s as having contributed to who they have become, eager to serve their fellow human beings to the best of their ability.’

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