November 2013
Lumen Christi Tops the Academic League Tables in Northern Ireland!
The great news for our students, past and present, last week was the report in The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide to Good Schools that Lumen Christi once again topped the academic League Tables in Northern Ireland for both A-Level and GCSE performance. While this is in itself a marvellous testimony to the work of students and teachers alike and to the support we receive from you as parents and partners in your child's education, what makes it all the more remarkable still is the fact that it now marks a full decade in which the college has attained first place in academic performance since its very first entry to A-Levels back in June 2004. I can still recall the surprise, the excitement and the pride that the report then generated in the college at the time and to have sustained our academic performance among the highest schools and colleges in the United Kingdom over the past ten years is amazing. I would like to thank all of our teachers - those still with us and those who are not - for their professionalism, their pastoral care and their commitment to developing the potential of all the pupils whom they have taught; our parents for supporting them in their child's learning journey and commitment to the college ethos; and to the students themselves who always appreciate the dedication and commitment needed to succeed and the caring spirit needed to encourage others to do so.
Congratulations to all of you.
Year 8 Inter - Class Cross Country race 2013
The Inter - class cross country race for Year 8 pupils took place on Wednesday 23rd October. This event took place around the school grounds, with each pupil completing 2,000M in total. Each class was represented by 10 pupils, 5 boys and 5 girls, with 2 reserves. The participants are listed below:
Class | Boys x 5 | Girls x 5 | Reserves x 1 |
8A | Conor Boyle Liam Doherty Max Gallagher Luke Kearney Paul Nichol |
Caoimhe Lynch Kimberley Ann Newman Charlotte Thompson Aoibheann Canning Molly Brown |
Orlaith Kelly Conor McIvor |
8B | Ronan Chambers Kevin Collins Luke Deery Patrick McCarry William Morrison |
Dhohalika Bade Lucy Acton Anna McElhinney Izieduwa Akhionbare Ciara Sheedy |
Aoife Devine Fionn Devine |
8C | Tom Doherty Oisin O`Donghaile Ross O`Donnell Ben Ryan Aidan Timmons |
Eabha Devine Mollie Lynch Kate Rogers Blaithin Donnelly Emily Sweeney |
Ellen McLaughlin Ruairi McNally |
8D | Conor Clifford Hugo Deane Leo Doherty Stephen McCloskey Matthew Sweidan |
Ciara Gillespie Kaia Melrose Suzanne Mooney Ellie Doherty Nuala Coyle |
Aishling Gallagher Philip McCauley |
8E | Ruairi Burke Tom McLaughlin Conaire Molloy Orán O`Doherty Naoise O'Mianain |
Tara Mia Devine Emer Henry Erin Kerrigan Aiesha Ann McKeever Aoife McKinney |
Jennifer Devlin Oran Simpson |
The race was won by Class 8E.
Top Ten Boys
1. Tom McLaughlin 8E
2. Oran O'Doherty 8E
3. Naoise O'Mianain 8E
4. Max Gallagher 8A
5. Ben Ryan 8C
6. Ronan Chamber 8C
7. Conor Clifford 8D
8. Conaire Molloy 8E
9. Ross O'Donnell 8C
10. Oisin O'Donghaile 8C
Top Ten Girls
1. Caoimhe Lynch 8A
2. Emer Henry 8E
3. Erin Kerrigan 8E
4. Aiesha McKeever 8E
5. Charlotte Thompson 8A
6. Orlath Kelly 8A
7. Ciara Sheedy 8B
8. Anna McElhinney 8B
9. Kimberley Newman 8A
10. Emily Sweeney 8C
Institute of Physics Medal Awarded to Daniel O'Reilly
Congratulations to Daniel O'Reilly from last year's Year 14 class who has been awarded an Institute of Physics medal for the highest level of achievement in Northern Ireland in A Level Physics in 2013.
Daniel will be presented with his award at the annual Christmas Reception of the Institute of Physics in Dublin. Well done!
Basketball Match
Father Columba joins the students for a basketball match and by all accounts teaches them a thing or two. Come on Mr Smyth, time to step up!!
StepNZone
Wear a woolly campaign for Children In Crossfire
Student Council Elections
The elections for the new senior student council took place on Thursday 24th October Pupils were asked to return three pupils from years 11, 12 and 13. Twenty four pupils from across the three year groups stood for election and produced some great election manifestos and posters which were displayed around the school.
The year 14 reps counted and verified all the voting slips.
The following pupils were voted to represent their year group on the council:
Year 13: Callum Canavan, Blaise Smyth and Mark O Brien
Year 12: Ciara Haughey, Conall Mc Ginley and Niall Grace
Year 11: Tom White, Leena Elawad and Eoin Clarke
Congratulations to the new representatives and thanks to all who took part in the election.
Italy Trip 2013
A Ve-Nice trip!
The Lumen Christi College 2013 exchange trip to "Collegio Astori" a Salesian College in the picturesque town of Mogliano near Venice started much like any family holiday - we left Derry criminally early to catch a criminally crowded plane selling criminally expensive food after being scanned, poked, prodded and cross-checked to ensure we weren't criminals.
Indeed, perhaps the first excitement of the trip was my own experience of the hospitality Dublin Terminal 2 Security, who decided the pair of scissors I'd (accidentally) packed would have to be cut loose. So ended the story of the pair of scissors, which had served me from my entry to the school in 2008. They have been missed and promptly replaced.
The rest of the trip proceeded more or less without incident. The day after we arrived, we saw Venice for the first time. Absolutely stunning! The streets, the rivers, the markets! Our spirits were almost as high as the prices. Expensive as it may have been however, the sights we saw were of course priceless. The Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) was much more expansive and pretty than I had anticipated and the Doge's palace was equally if not more rewarding a view. Particularly impressive was the 53 meter long, 25 meter wide Great Council Chamber (one of the largest rooms in Europe) which had been totally covered in masterful art dating back to around 1580.
Another thing I would like to stress is how pretty everything was. Everything. Everywhere. The multicoloured blinds on the windows to the red tarmac on the pavements to the cracks in the bricks. It all seemed to fit in. We also went to Verona, where we saw three men stacked on top of each other, which made for an interesting conversation piece. Then we saw Juliette's Balcony, a Roman Arena, an ancient church dedicate to San Zeno and we proceeded to do a lot of shopping. So they told me anyway; for some of us this was more idle browsing.
On the second-to last day we visited the islands of the Venetian Lagoon: On Murano, we sat in on a demonstration of ancient glassmaking techniques, and proceeded to browse a gift shop with a permanent 50% off sale, which was nice. The boat then took us to Burano, which was sort of like a mini-Venice. Again it made for nice sightseeing and we experienced our first rain since Dublin at this point - there was a thunderstorm! That said it only lasted about 20 minutes. To be honest I thought it was refreshing, really.
In brief, that was the trip. We also ate at some wonderful restaurants and had some nice shopping opportunities in Treviso; a large city near to our town of Mogliano where we stayed. Sorry to leave Venice, we boarded the plane in 20 degree heat on a dry, clear day. 3 hours later, we landed in Dublin in 11 degree rain and wind. We knew then we were home. So, we were short-term immersed into the Italian way of life. I loved the food, the aesthetics and the buildings. I'd definitely go again if I had the opportunity. We enjoyed the lovely hospitality provided by our Italian hosts who will be coming to visit Lumen Christi in February.
Sean Herron Year 13
Iceland Trip 2013
The Geography Department's four day trip to Iceland was a great success. The group consisted of thirty-six GCSE & A' Level Geography students , accompanied by Mrs Mc Menamin, Mrs Mc Cauley, Miss Diffley, Mr Doherty and Mr Ryan.
Based in Reykjavik, the group had the opportunity to follow a packed ‘Fire and Ice' itinerary which was designed to maximise the time available to us. On arrival at Keflavik airport, we were met by our guide Irsa, who was with us for the duration of our visit. She is a native Icelander whose local and geographical knowledge are first class. She accompanied us on two tours in particular, one called the ‘Golden Circle Tour' and the other, the ‘South Shore Tour'.
The tours afforded us the opportunity to bathe in two outdoor geothermal pools including the famous ‘Blue Lagoon'; we visited the stunning Gulfoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls and walked behind the smaller Skógarfoss waterfall; we watched one of the most active geysers in the area, Strokkur, spout up to 30m in the sky and learnt how geothermal energy is harnessed during our tour of one of their Geothermal Power Plants; we walked in the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and with great excitement, we walked across Reykjanes bridge which separates the continents and crosses over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We saw the extent of the ash fall from the 2010 volcanic eruption and were surprised to see how one of the glacier snouts had been blackened due to the ash from the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano. We walked along the shore of the black beach at Reynir, sat on the basaltic columns there which resemble some of the rock formations on the Giant's Causeway and marvelled at the nearby Arch and Stack formations which have been eroded from the headland. We had great fun ice-skating, souvenir hunting in Reykjavik's ‘Flea Market' and went to see ‘Thor' in the cinema. Every night we gazed at the sky in the hope of seeing the Northern Lights and finally on the last night, we were delighted to witness this amazing phenomenon as the Northern Lights danced across the sky.
This was certainly a trip of a lifetime and one which will be remembered for years to come.