St. Columba’s College has an active Parents’ Association that organizes a wide range of events throughout the academic year.

The Parents’ Association helps to ensure that all parents feel part of the College community through the organization of formal and informal events throughout the school year. Parents are automatically members of the Parents’ Association and are encouraged to become actively involved in the Committee, which represents the interests of students.

*** Please note that we have had to cancel all our planned events including coffee mornings for the foreseeable future until Government restrictions on social gatherings are eased and it is safe to hold them again. ***

The Association is involved in many areas of school life and key roles include :

• Social events which include a New Parents Welcome Cocktail party and
  Parent Coffee mornings.
• Donations to school initiatives to enhance students experiences
• Running and stocking the Second Hand Uniform Shop
• Inviting Guest speakers to address parents on topical interests of relevance to general health and well being of students

Parents Association Committee

Parents’ Association Committee Members are elected each year at the AGM which is held in October. The members then elect officers for Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer at the first official meeting together. Should new parents wish to know more about the Parents’ Association they are invited to contact a committee member or the Chair, Brian Pollock at brian@bpwebdesigns.com.

The Current Parent’s Association Committee

Brian Pollock (Chair), Gilly Goodbody (Secretary), Katharine Bulbulia  (Treasurer),

Committee Members: Sarah Gleeson,  Aine Carroll-O’Keeffe, Ciara Hassett, Jenny Pringle, Katharine Bulbulia, Colette Cully, Gilly Goodbody, Lynn Turkington.

Overseas Representative – Irmela Hopkins
Compass Representative – Rev Bruce Hayes

Each Form has a “WhatsApp” group. A particularly useful communication tool, especially for overseas parents. If you would like to be added to your child’s Form WhatsApp group you can email details directly to the Chairperson, Brian Pollock.

WhatsApp Group Representatives

• Form 1 Ciara Hassett
• Form 2 Jenny Pringle
• Form 3 Colette Cully
• Form 4 Aine Carroll
• Form 5 Sarah Gleeson
• Form 6 Ciara Hassett
• Overseas Irmela Hopkins

Coffee Mornings – Until current Government restrictions on social gatherings are revised we are unable to hold any coffee mornings

Second Hand Uniform Shop

Gilly Goodbody is your contact for the Second Hand Uniform shop. At present our stock is very limited but if you need any uniform please contact Gilly on 086 6077455 and she will be happy totry and help you.

COMPASS INTERACTIVE MEETING

The Parents’ Association and the National Association of COMPASS would like to extend an invitation to all parents to attend their interactive meetings. For further details, please contact our Compass Representative
Bruce Hayes, Rector of St Patrick’s Church Dalkey. Contact details:

Contact: Bruce Hayes
Telephone: 01 2803369 or 086 2327349
Email: brucejohnhayes@gmail.com

Newsletter October 2020 and some thoughts on Covid 19 by Columban Parent, Marc Kaptein, Medical Director, Pfizer the Netherlands

SCC PA October Newsletter

Welcome to our first newsletter of the new academic year 2020/2021.

On behalf of all the parents, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the Warden, the Matron and all her team, and all members of staff, including ground staff, for the way in which they have quickly adapted and are adapting to the new educational environment at SCC. The past few months, have been , without doubt, difficult and trying for both management, parents, and student alike and we appreciate how the staff have worked tirelessly over the summer under the restricted guidelines to ensure that SCC opened its doors in September despite all the challenging covid protocols that had to be put in place.

On behalf of the P.A. Committee, can we ask parents to try to ensure that we and our children respect the HSE and school guidelines, especially during Exodus and mid-term breaks, so that students, staff and all their families remain safe for the foreseeable future.

This is the HSE Website Corona Virus Advice link www.hse.ie

It is important too, to thank those parents who are housing children during exodus and half term for those children who are unable to return home, and to thank those that have contributed and continue to contribute their time, advice and expertise in answering questions for parents living here and abroad.

If you have any questions going forward , please do post them on what’s app or message one of our P.A representatives  personally. If you are still not on the WhatsApp group and would like to be please email sarah.gleeson@icloud.com

PA reps for the coming year:

1st Year – Ciara Hassett

2nd Year – Jenny Pringle

3rd Year – Colette Cully

TY – Aine Carroll

5th Year – Sarah Gleeson

6th Year – Ciara Hassett

Overseas – Irmela Hopkins

Unfortunately all coffee mornings are suspended at present but as soon as restrictions are eased to allow greater numbers at gatherings we’ll get going again and welcoming you for a catch up.

Gilly Goodbody is your contact for the Second Hand uniform shop. There is not an awful lot of stock left, but if any one is need of anything. Please contact her. 086 6077455

In COVID-19 times can we still look at the bright side of life?
Dear fellow parents of SCC students, the last couple of months have been a rollercoaster for all of us; children had to leave school in March, parents had to adapt quickly to that reality, children were attending classes remotely, SCC staff had to adjust to online teaching and prepare for the return of students in September. Now that our children have returned to school we need to accept that, despite all measures, staff or students may be infected with COVID-19(if even the president of the USA gets it…) and quarantines are warranted by the Irish authorities. My daughter Julia who, after a “close contact”, tested negative to our relief, is quarantined until October 8th. Despite this quarantine situation I want to quote the lovely German couple that accommodated her; “without this situation we would have never met!” So, always look at the bright side of life!

That’s great, but how and when can we return to pre-COVID normality, you may ask. Basically, there are three scenario’s possible. Firstly, the virus can no longer be contained, a large majority of world citizens will get contaminated, many will get seriously ill and millions die. The end result will be that group immunity is achieved and the virus slowly fades out. This scenario, while I’m writing it down, is not only scary but also unacceptable to me.

The second scenario hinges on significant scientific progress of the treatment of COVID-19 patients above and beyond the current options; virus inhibitors, immune system modulating medication and blood thinners. This would allow for the virus to go around the world population without the devastating effect and reach the much desired group immunity. Unfortunately new drugs, that would make this scenario a realistic option, won’t be available before the end of 2021 (if ever) and health care systems may collapse under the massive patient demand.

The third and most likely scenario in my opinion, is a safe and effective vaccine or, even better, vaccines. This, I guess, is also a good moment for my disclaimer; I am working for Pfizer, so my knowledge is specific to the vaccine we’re developing. Please understand that my view is coloured by the information I have access to. Working in the pharmaceutical sector I am convinced the first corona vaccine may be approved just before or after new year. However, may I remind you, I always look at the bright side of life!

A question I often get is; how did you guys get your vaccine developed so quickly and can we be sure that it is rigorously tested and safe? I will try to answer those question by pointing out a few key factors that have helped in achieving the almost impossible.

Firstly, the vaccine Pfizer/BioNTech has developed is a so-called mRNA vaccine. The key difference with other vaccine technologies is that the “vector” which is the vehicle that gets the “pay load” (Corona spike protein or genetic mRNA code for that spike protein) into the cell is a fully synthetic, non-pathogenic nano particle, not an inactivated virus. Because we don’t need to produce these “vehicle” viruses in mammalian cell cultures in large bio reactors (which is a tricky and time consuming process) in massive quantities we’ve been able to produce candidate vaccines for testing months quicker. Secondly, we’ve chosen to do multiple steps in parallel. For instance, we’ve combined phase II and III clinical trials and we’ve started manufacturing of the vaccine before we’ve been granted approval. This saves years in development and manufacturing time. Although these decisions increase the financial risks (in case of failure) it does not affect patients safety or rigorousness of our clinical trial program. Thirdly, governments worked alongside with us to accelerate approval processes. Both EMA and FDA have decided on so-called “rolling reviews” which means that they will review data when available rather than waiting for us to submit a full dossier. This saves up to 9 months compared to regular approval processes without affecting the objectivity or rigor of the process.

My personal experience over the last couple of months has been that impossible things were done in days and little miracles in weeks. Unlikely partnerships were forged and friendships started. This also holds true for SCC; we can only overcome this extremely challenging period together. With my own eyes I’ve seen the extraordinary amount of work that Mark Boobbyer and the COVID team have put in to prepare and find solutions for each and every unique students problem or situation. Without COVID-19 I would’ve never been in close contact with the COVID team at school. So I stand with my motto; always look at the bright side of life! I hope you do too!

Marc Kaptein,
Medical Director
Pfizer the Netherlands