Issue: 4
Date: 29/11/2012
PRINCIPAL’S NOTE
Our recent Parent-Teacher Meetings (coupled with Science
Week) made us all reflect on what the boys (and teachers) are
doing in school, how well we are doing ‘it’ and indeed, why, we
are so immersed in this continual process of learning. T.S.
Eliot’s quote comes to mind:
THE WEEK AHEAD
6th form Parental
Confirmation Meeting
Thurs 29th
Toy Appeal Final Day
Fri 30th
‘We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.’
Hopefully our academic and spiritual endeavours in Willow are
leading us to that ‘end’.
Jim Casey, Principal
Toy Appeal Reminder
Don’t forget, if you would like to donate a NEW toy
as a Christmas present for a child in real need of
some Christmas magic, please add it to the
collection at reception. All toys will be sent to our
chosen school in Dublin 8 on Monday 3rd of
December. Thank you.
Duel in the Pool, Victory for Willow
Father Gavin's 5th form Cake Sale
Willow Park swim team successfully retained the annual Willow
Park Duel in the Pool trophy last Wednesday. We had the biggest
ever entry of 186 children from 5 schools: Willow Park, St. Michaels,
Loreto Dalkey, Belgrove Boys and Kildare Place.
A staggering €4,200 was raised for St. Vincent
De Paul during Friday’s Cake Sale. Every boy in
the school came to the cafeteria with a donation for
this wonderful charity. The boys received their
prized large bag of sweets and then chose from a
huge array of delicious cakes and biscuits made by
3rd, 4th and 5th form families. Fr Gavin awarded the
lucky Raffle winners their prizes - each boy hoping
his ticket had been pulled.
Plenty of PBs for the boys and gold in all four relays. The team is
well placed for both the Leinster School's Competition in January
and the Irish School's gala in March. The boys’ success reflects their
strong commitment, hard work and early morning starts.
Special thanks to coach James Lawless. Thanks to all parents who
helped out (timekeepers, lineups, score keepers and caterers).
Thanks too to the ground staff who had the school looking so well on
the day. Continued success to our fantastic swim team. Go Willow!
A sincere thank you to so many who gave their
precious time, their kindness and hard work is
appreciated by everyone; especially the very needy
who will benefit from the proceeds this Christmas.
Thought for the week
Reflecting the missionary outlook of the Congregation, Spiritan education works for the empowerment
of peoples and their liberation from injustice and poverty.
A SPORTING MONTH IN WILLOW
RUGBY
Saturday, 1st December
Well done to the group of 6th Formers who travelled to
Limerick on Saturday last. It was an early start on a
cold morning but was well worth it. Matches in Willow
and CUS also went very well.
There will be no matches this Saturday, training for all,
weather permitting.
See www.willowparkjuniorschool.ie for more rugby
news.
Basketball has proven to be quite popular
among the 4th formers of a Wednesday
afternoon. It is available to all 4th formers from
3-4pm every Wednesday. We had a friendly
match against Castle Park School recently. The
5th and 6th form basketball team were very
impressive also against Castle Park and played a
great game. Basketball for 5th form is on every
Friday after school and every Wednesday for 6th
form, everyone is welcome to join. Ciara Bonner
THE ARTS AT WILLOW
Groups of Animals
by Robert Kelly, Davide Mei and Ben Horkan (during lesson
in K6 on Collective Nouns)
A pride of lions with big manes,
Hunted a set of cranes,
A herd of oxen pulled heavy loads,
Being watched by a knot of toads.
A swarm of bees,
Annoyed old donkeys.
A murder of crows,
Met a host of sparrows.
A herd of cattle,
Rode humans into battle.
A shoal of fish
Ate the humans as a dish.
Our Library
A quick interview with Willow's own librarian Helen Hughes revealed some interesting facts...
• There are 9,628 books on the shelves of the library & 643 users of the library (pupils, teachers
and even some parents)
• The top borrower has borrowed 27 times from the library since September 1st; the 2nd has
borrowed 23 times and the 3rd has borrowed 19 times
• There have been 5,604 borrowings from the library since 1st September
• Believe it or not of the Top 10 books borrowed - A Diary of a Wimpy Kid book features
5 times holding 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th positions. Others featured in the Top 10 include
The Recruit by Robert Muchmore; Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy;
The Guinness Book of World Records 2011; Maximum Security again by Robert Muchmore and Storm Breaker
by Anthony Horowitz
THIS MONTH AT A GLANCE
Tom and the Bully – David McCarthy K5
6th form Parental Confirmation
Evening
Thurs. 29th
Willow Wheelers’ Cake Sale
Sat. 1st
4th form Christmas Family Mass Sat. 8th
3rd form Christmas Family Mass Sun. 9th
1st
12th
Infants’ & form Christmas
Performances
Jnr Infants @9.30am
Snr Infants @10.30am
1st form @11.30am
Wed.
Carol Service, School Hall
Thurs. 13th
Christmas Concert
Wed. 19th
School Closure @12noon Fri. 21st
Tom was a small boy with short brown hair and wore denim jeans and a green
top. He was being bullied in school for following his dreams. Leo always
wanted to be a professional tennis player, but he was rubbish at it. The school
bully was Leo. He always wore a t-shirt saying “Rock and Roll”, a leather
jacket and blood red trousers. He walked round the school with a nasty smile.
He picked on the small kids. Sadly the last small kid moved to England.
Leo always called Tom “Mr.Small”. Tom hated this. Suddenly the school bell
rang for break. He walked outside looking left and right. Tom always walked
near the teachers that were on duty. All of a sudden, Tom heard, “Hey, Mr.
Small”, and there, right in front of him stood Leo. The teacher was on the
other side of the yard. Immediately he felt a smack across his face. He turned
and ran as fast as his legs would take him. The next day in the yard, although
James O’Connell shouldn’t have been eating, he was. James was the messiest
eater ever and he was dropping food everywhere. Leo caught Tom hiding
away and cornered him. Leo ran with his fist in the air and slipped on a
banana skin. Everybody stopped for a second and suddenly there was a
thundering noise of ”TOM! TOM! TOM! TOM!”. They cheered and cheered
for hours until school was over. Tom felt overjoyed with excitement, and Leo
never bullied him again.
Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Ph: + 353 1 2881651. www.willowparkjuniorschool.ie