March 2018

Congratulations to Liam Sheedy 10B who competed in the recent Easter Qualifying Gala held in Bangor.  Liam won the 100m freestyle in a time of 58.60 seconds.  Winning this competition allows Liam to compete in the Irish Division 1 Championships to be held in Dublin in the summer.

Students who successfully completed the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award 2017 with Lawrence McBride (Far&Wild) and Mrs Harkin (DOE Co-ordinator).

The All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) challenges secondary school students to test their minds against the world’s toughest problems in logic, language and linguistics. Students have to develop their own problem-solving strategies and use their ingenuity to solve complex problems in unfamiliar languages such as deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, decoding numerical spy codes and interpreting directions in Albanian! AILO introduces students to linguistics (i.e. the study of human language) and to the application of logic to problems of language understanding and translation. The goal is to develop students’ problem-solving and lateral thinking skills and to inspire them to consider the fascinating range of careers at the intersection of computing, linguistics and language.

Round 1 of the AILO took place in school on 31st January when 18 students from Key Stage 3 and 4 sat an individual two-hour paper under exam conditions. This year AILO had 4500 students participating in Round 1 and we were delighted to have 3 students qualify among the top 100 problem-solvers in Ireland and thus invited to attend the national final in Dublin. Leo Doherty, Orlaith Kelly and Anitta Sibin travelled to Dublin Institute of Technology on Tuesday 13th March and sat a very challenging two-hour individual paper and then participated in a group round in the afternoon. We are so pleased to announce that Leo Doherty achieved 2nd place overall and has therefore been invited to join the team to represent Ireland at the International finals in Prague! Leo will attend team training in Dublin and then travel to Prague from Wednesday 25th July - Tuesday 31st July 2018, where he will compete among the top problem solvers in the world. Orlaith achieved a remarkable 3rd place and Anitta came 8th place in the Junior category, a fantastic achievement in such a rigorous competition. We wish Leo well as he begins his preparations for representing Ireland in July and look forward to participating in next year’s competition.

On Saturday 10th March Ms Fleming and six students travelled to the All-Ireland Cross-Country Championships in Waterford.

Oisin Duffy, 9D was crowned minor boys All-Ireland Champion and the year 8/9 boys team - Oisin Duffy, Michael Houston, Paul Downey and Flionn McLaughlin claimed a Team bronze medal. The first time since year 2000 that boys from Derry have won medals at these championships.

Oisin Duffy also made history as this is the first Minor Boy’s Champion that Derry has ever had.
Aela Stewart Year 11 also came a superb 16th in her race.

Well done to all!

Lumen Christi College students runners-up in the Royal Society of Chemistry Schools Analyst Competition.

Representing Pennyburn Credit Union

• Evan O’Neill 8B
• Ava McClune 8A
• Conor Williamson 8E
• Joshua Doherty 8B

Representing Derry Credit Union

• Sarah Casey 8B
• Cormac O’Donnell 8E
• Aidan Scott 8E
• Ronan Tester 8B

Both teams competed in the North West Regional final held in Letterkenny on Sunday, with the Derry Credit Union team finishing first and the Pennyburn Credit Union team finishing in second place. Both teams now qualify for the All Ireland final held in Dublin in April.

Year 11 students participating in an Arduino workshop facilitated by Joanne Sweeney, Sentinus Project Associate.