The Anvil
Hard-hitting news you need to hear
May 2010
Ms Bourden’s Editorial
Inside this issue
News:
It is with great pleasure that I welcome this special edition of
‘Mount Anville News’ which has been produced by an
exceptional 5th year team who, guided and inspired by Ms.
Archer, have risen to the challenge of re-imagining and
refreshing a long-established format.
We are immensely proud of all our students at Mount Anville
and this publication reflects their talent, energy commitment
to school life and enjoyment of the diverse experiences
available in school.
1st & 2nd Year: 2
3rd & 4th Year: 3
5th & 6th Year: 4
Points of interest
Chaplain’s Chat: 5
The President’s Visit: 6
Congratulations to the Committee comprising of Holly
Carton, Eibhlin Crowley, Isobel D’Arcy, Mairead Doyle,
Sarah Dunne, Ciara Fleming,
Shona Mc Garry, Ailis Powderly and Ciara Sobolewski on
this mighty achievement!
Library News: 8
Breaking News: 10
Fun Page: 11
Editorial
Mount Anville is an institution proud of its capacity for change and transformation. But it’s not just an
institution, it is our school, and as students we are always encouraged to progress as individuals, while
learning to work together, and to contribute to all aspects of school life. With this ingrained in us, we felt it
was time to leave our own mark on the school. What better way than the traditional Newsletter? In Mount
Anville the Newsletter, documents the gradual transition Mount Anville is making. As a team, the
Newsletter Committee came together to revamp the bulletin…
First up, the name. Although ‘Mount Anville Newsletter’ does the job, we thought it could do with an
iconic makeover. Eventually we decided on ‘The Anvil’. Despite being an obvious play on the latter word
of our school name (and definitely not to be misconstrued as a spelling error!), an anvil is defined as both a
‘heavy iron block’ and a ‘bone in the inner ear that transmits vibrations’. Feeling positive with this change
in the name, we went on to create an inventive slogan: ‘Hard hitting news you need to hear.’
This newsletter is an outlet in which we are able to highlight our developments and achievements as a
school community. With the society altering around us in a time of economic instability, we provide an
edge of consistency with academic, social and physical accomplishments circulating throughout all six
year groups.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats, no talking down the back, and get ready for THE ANVIL.
First and fifth year
mentoring program
Upcoming Events:
This year everyone in First year was
lucky enough to get a Mentor
from Fifth year. We got together every
two months and played games and took
part in quizzes. We talked about
Secondary school and how we were getting
on with everything. We got to know
our mentors really well and they were
all really nice especially as it helped
us get to know an older, wiser year!
It was also nice to know there was
someone in the halls that we could
talk to. I thought mentoring was a
really fun experience.
May 13th
2nd year retreat in Glendalough
June 4th
End of term- enjoy your
summer!
Beth Gallagher
Speed-Friending
On the 25th of March 2nd years were introduced to the idea of Speed-Friending . This is based on
Speed Dating except with your friends. All 109 girls went to the hall and sat in two large circles with
one inside the other. Every girl sat opposite another student. The class tutors and Ms O’Neill called out
a topic or subject that you had to discuss with the girl opposite you. After one minute the girls sitting in
the inside circle moved five places to their left. The aim of Speed-Friending is to get to know your
classmates better and find out other people’s interests and hobbies that you might not already have
known. It was a great success and we hope to have the chance to do it again soon.
Philippa Cotter
First year “A” Basketball Match
On the 24th of March this year, the first year 'A'
basketball team got into the finals in the Leixslip
Stadium. The whole year came and everyone painted
their faces in green, white and blue. When we got to
the stadium we were pretty nervous because most of
the other team were bigger than us! When we started
the match, the score was pretty close. Sadly as the
game progressed they were in the lead. Even though
our supporters were much better, we unfortunately
lost the match. We were all extremely disappointed
yet we couldn't help but be proud to have gotten to the
final in the first place!
Laura Rowley
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Fourth Year Hockey Tournament
A group of fourth year students helped organise a hockey tournament for the Junior School.
There were 150 players from seven different schools around the country. We took on
the role of umpiring, coaching and managing the tournament. It was a great success,
and a wonderful experience. The fourth years had just as much fun as the players.
3B CSPE Action Project
As part of our CSPE action project, my class, 3B, decided to support the Irish Guide
Dogs Association for the Blind. As part of our project, we invited in two guest
speakers, puppy walkers whose job it is to train and house two guide dogs in training
for the first year of their life. We questioned them about their roles and they provided
us with all we needed to know and also gave us badges and calendars, which we
decided to sell as part of the project. After selling these, we felt as a final action, we
should hold a fundraising event to collect even more money for this good cause. So,
on Friday April 16th, my class sold bags of sweets and raised €382 for the association.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff and students involved, especially
our CSPE teacher, Ms. McWilliams who has worked as hard as we have to help the
organisation.
Anna Dunne
Transition Year Report
Upcoming Events:
TY have had a very busy second half of the
year. Post Christmas, we worked feverishly
to stage ‘Beauty and the Beast’
with many hours of rehearsals. This show ran for three nights in
March and was a marvellous success- well done to all.
TY students also completed a Driving Theory course
in January and early February.
Two new after school clubs ‘Threads’ and ‘The
Baking Factory’ were also offered to
TY, running on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
Two TY students, Eimear Redmond and Aimee
Carton, also organised an in-house debate on the 18th of March, a
most enjoyable afternoon for all their peers!
All of TY went on outdoor pursuits from Wednesday 22nd to
26th of March.
Two groups of students produced magazines for the Irish
Times magazine, submitted in late February.
On April 14th, all of TY went on a cultural tour of Dublin with
the class tutors.
Well done TY students for a great year!
Ms. McWilliams
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May 12th & 13th
TY SUCH Show
May 20th
TY Presentation Evening
May 24th
TY work experience begins
May 31st to June 3rd
TY First Aid Course
June 9th
Junior Cert exams begin
Good luck 3rd years!
The Spring Concert
Ladies who Lunch
The Spring Concert Committee
would like to thank everyone who auditioned,
took part in, sold tickets and attended the show.
It was a huge success and
we raised €2785.34 in aid of the
trip to Lourdes. We hope everyone enjoyed
the show!
Once a week, Ms. Carse takes a group of five 5th
years for tea, biscuits and sweets. It’s a great
bonding experience to be with people we may not sit
with at lunch and it’s the perfect time get to know
our fantastic Year Head. We would like to thank
Ms. Carse for all the effort she has put into her
lunches throughout the year. We all greatly
appreciate it.
Sophie Ryan
Faith Friends
The journey towards becoming a Faith Friend began at the start
of January, when Mr Mallon invited all those interested to sit a
test about Confirmation and religion during one of our RE
classes. There was so much interest that there weren’t initially
enough chairs to seat everyone for the test! Once the test was
completed, Mr Mallon read them and chose sixteen girls as Faith
Friends, two of them being subs. We were paired off and each
pair was told that they would be guiding eight sixth class girls
from the Junior School. Sessions with the girls were held on a
Wednesday morning. On Tuesdays, we prepared our worksheets
and discussion topics and on Thursdays we discussed what the
girls had said and what we’d learnt from our meetings with them.
Faith Friends is an incredibly rewarding experience and every
one of us was quite emotional when the fifth and final session
was completed. Thank you so much to Mr Mallon for organising
it. It’s definitely one of the greatest opportunities you get in 5th
year.
Holly Carton and Sarah Dunne
Upcoming Events:
Biology Olympiad
May 25th
6th year graduation mass
On March 27th 2010, 6th Year Gillian Crowe won a gold
medal at the Irish Biology Olympiad in DCU! The competition
is held in both in the Republic and Northern Ireland with the
top students being chosen for the International Team. Having
secured one of the top spots, Gillian will now be representing
Ireland at the International Biology Olympiad in Changwon,
Korea this summer. Congratulations and good luck in July!
June 9th
Leaving Cert exams begin.
Good luck to all the 6th years!
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Chaplin’s Chat
Emmanuel
Although we are now well into the Easter Season
(Yes! It is still the Easter Season!), I would like to say a
special thank you to all the students and staff
who contributed to making our Lenten daily masses
so special. From the Ministers of the Eucharist to the
Ministers of the Word and the Altar Serversnot to mention the dedication and commitment of the Jesuit
Fathers from Clonskeagh- our masses would not
be possible without the hard work of so
many within our community. Well done!
The following 5th years have been selected to travel with the
Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes from 7-12 September
2010: Holly Carton; Ciara Fleming; Stephanie Hastings;
Ailbhe Jordan; Naomi Keenan; Niamh McCarthy; Rebecca
McLaughlin; Catriona Moloney; Anna O’Connell and Clare
Whelan. They will have their orientation evening on Monday
10th May from 6.30pm-9.00pm in Belvedere College. We
wish them well in the work they will carry out representing
Mt. Anville in what is a very long and committed tradition in
our school.
Our final first Friday mass of the year will take place in the
school chapel on 7th May at 12.30pm.
This mass is for the 1st years and any of their family
members who wish to join us in our school chapel. I wish to
take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Ms Mahon
who has done a wonderful job with the music and singing at
all of our First Friday Masses throughout the year.
RE NEWS
The final two retreats of the school year are as follows:
Thursday 6th May at the Dominican Retreat Centre in
Tallaght for 5th years. On Thursday 13th May the 2nd years
will have their pilgrimage retreat in Glendalough. If parents
have any questions about these retreats please contact Mr
Mallon on ext.225.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL
The annual ‘Fun Day’ with the kids from Killinarden,
normally held on the school grounds in May,
will now take place at the end of September or the start of
October each school year. More details will be given when a
date has been decided. Thank you to everyone in our school
community who has supported the work of St Vincent De
Paul throughout the school year. Your dedication and
commitment to the society enables us to help those less
fortunate and in need.
Mr Mallon
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The Mount Anville Folk Group attended
Emmanuel on the 24th of March 2010 in The
Helix. There was a lot of preparation during
lunchtimes for the event. On the morning of
the show we got to do some workshops and
then we had a rehearsal in the Church. We
soon got a bus to the Helix where we had
another full rehearsal with all of the other
schools. Then we went for dinner. Finally that
evening all the schools came together to
perform. It went really well. It was a lot of fun
and a great experience.
Athletics
Training for Track and Field began
before Easter. The East Leinster
Competitions were held on May 5th and 6th in
Irishtown. Each year group has a training
session after school one day and Saturday
morning. We hope to have eighty girls
representing Mount Anville. Our Sports day
will be held in May and every girl from first
to fourth year will take part. Fifth years will
help to guide the events and organise novelty
races.
Aoife- Eileen Solan
The Groundlings
On the 22nd of April the Groundlings Theatre Society
attended their fourth and final play of the 2009-2010
season. As per the tradition established last year, our
last play was Shakespearean. The Abbey’s production
of the tragedy ‘Macbeth’ has received poor reviews in
the press, yet we were still enthusiastic, hoping that
the language and plot wouldn’t be too complicated.
Unfortunately as one Groundling put it “I found this
play confusing” but did continue to add that she did
“like it”. The acting was criticised, being referred to as
“particularly poor”, particularly that of the two central
characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The witches
however, appeared to steal the show with many
Groundlings commenting that “the witches were good
actresses”. The half-hearted change of setting (from
Scotland to Ireland) was poorly received as most
Groundlings felt it was “inconsistent with the script”,
which was unabridged causing a slight degree of
confusion when Scottish place names were
referenced! Overall, the play received mixed reviews
from the members who attended the post-theatre
discussion and we look forward to attending more
plays next year for the 2010-2011 season.
The President’s Visit
President Mary McAleese visited Mount
Anville on the 29th of March. Students from 1st and
2nd year sang in a choir lead by Ms Mahon. When
President McAleese arrived everyone in the school
concert hall stood up and applauded to welcome her.
The choir was introduced and sang ‘She Moves
Through the Fair’. Riona Moulds from 2B began with a
beautiful solo and the choir then accompanied her with
various harmonies. We then listened to the President’s
speech about how we can all work together as a
community and be inspired by St. Madeleine Sophie. It
was very interesting to hear from such an influential
woman. When the President was finished she went to
the Convent for refreshments. It was great to see our
photo in the newspaper a few days later! We hope Mary
McAleese enjoyed the visit to Mount Anville and we
were very honoured to have her speak to us.
Sarah Dunne
Sarah Murphy
Sacred Heart Goal of Social Awareness
President Mary McAleese visited Mount Anville on March 29th and presented the inaugural Barat lecture to
mark the latest edition of Heritage and Horizon. This was a memorable occasion and highly rewarding for all
those present.
Congratulations to Rebecca McGuire (2B), Aimee Carton, Aisling Curtis, Laura Keogh,
to Rebecca McPeake (4B). These students art entries have made it through to the next
round of The Sacred Heart Schools Network Art Competition on the theme of ‘Social Awareness’.
Ms. Fitzgerald would like to thank Katie Ryan-Ethos Prefect and the members of The Student
Sacred Heart Committee who worked to promote the goal of ‘Social Awareness’ in aspects of school life this ye
ar. The Sacred Heart Goal for the coming academic year 2010/2011 is ‘Intellect’.
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Model United Nations 2010
Young Social Innovators
Lobbying for resolutions began on Monday
afternoon at Dun Laoghaire’s Royal Marine
Hotel. The atmosphere was electric and the two
Mount Anville delegations, motivated thanks to
the memorable words of Mary McAleese that
very morning, soon became involved. Delegates
lobbied issues ranging from the question of
Somalia to stem cell research. The conference
was underway and committees soon split up to
debate their specific topics. Although the jargon
and formalities were daunting at first it didn’t take
long for the Mount Anville delegates, looking
smart in pencil skirts and heels, to make an
impression. The debates were often witty and
heated as people spoke passionately about their
topics momentarily forgetting they were in fact
not the UN representative of Columbia. The
General Assembly soon gathered together to
debate on all the resolutions passed. Soon the
closing ceremony was upon the delegates as was
the infamous end of week disco that was
interesting to say the least. M.U.N was a fantastic
learning experience as our eyes were opened to
many important issues and realities in our world
today. Students from as far as Dubai and the
States came together under a common goal. Three
hours in a General Assembly meeting may seem
boring. However, with fascinating debates, free
lunches and eloquent, dapper gentlemen with
English accents, what more could you want!
This year for our Young Social Innovators we have been
doing a project on uniting world races and cultures to
eliminate racism. The name of our project is ‘Tie your
laces, unite the races’. We are a group of six transition year
students with the guidance of Ms. Archer. As part of our
campaign to raise awareness of racism we held a ‘Crazy
Sock and Shoe Day’ in January. During this day, students
along with some staff wore crazy socks and shoes with a
message of eliminating racism by stamping it out with our
shoes. Photos were taken on the day, which were later
turned into postcards. At the moment these postcards are
being sent around the world with an anti-racism message
printed on each.
We also went to a speak-out in March set up by the
organizers of YSI. At this speak out we heard from other
YSI groups and how their projects were coming along. We
spoke about our project and performed a dance on the day
as our presentation. We are continuing our project to raise
more awareness and to stamp out racism!
Elizabeth Young
Isobel D’Arcy
Delegates from Mount Anville:
Elizabeth Gill
Niamh McCarthy
Nicola Cavey
Maggie Gethings
Ruth Hunter
Isobel D’Arcy
Katie Garry
Stephanie Hastings
Aimee Carton
Fiona McCarthy
Annelie Meehan Caoimhe Lagan
Eimear Redmond Avril Dooley-O’Caroll
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Library News
Travel Writing Competition
Well done to all those who entered the Travel writing
competition. As usual, the standard of the entries was very
high. The winners for the Postcard Category are Junior
Cycle: Ciara McDonough, 3D, Rebecca Donnelly 3D and
Eleonore Slattery 3B and Senior Cycle: Aoife
McDonough 4D, Ciara Sobolewski 5D and Sophie Moore
5B.
The winners for the Travel Article Category are Junior
Cycle: Anna Dunne 3B, Amy O’Keeffe 3D and Mercy
Fleming 3B and, Senior Cycle: Sarah Dunne 5A, Eibhlin
Crowley 5D and Ciara Fleming 5D.
Please look at the winning entries on
http://www.mountanville.ie/library.
Book Sale!
The library will be having a book sale of unwanted
books, which started on the 26th April. Books will
be available for review and purchase during this
week and until the end of term. Please come and
visit. All proceeds go towards the purchase of new
stock.
Many thanks to the Library writing committee for all their
work during the year including Ms. Aoife Archer, Ms. Jill
Clancy, Ms. Maureen Delany, Ms. Joan Foley, Ms.
Louisa Murphy and Ms. Dearbhail Shannon.
Online Encyclopaedias
Did you know that online versions of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica and The World Book are available from the
library PCs courtesy of Scoilnet and the NCTE? These are
up-to-date sources of quality information and are essential
resources for both staff and student research. They can be
accessed from the library web site.
Book Clubs
Library Volunteers
Junior Cycle – Book Bats
Thank you to all our library volunteers. They have done
wonderful work in the library this year. Many thanks to:
During April, members of the Book Bats book club
are reading the thrilling story of mystery, betrayal
and love ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte. We will
be meeting later this month to discuss this everpopular book.
Danielle Ronan 2C, Catherine Boyd 3C, Anna Dunne 3B,
Miriam Fox 3D, Jessica Gildea 3D, Ciara McDonough
3D, Emma Mulligan 3C, Amy O’Keeffe, Rosie O’Shea
and Caroline Tsang 3B
Senior Cycle
And Finally…
Are the ghosts real or is the governess psychotic?
This and many other questions were debated when
the Senior book club met this month to discuss ‘The
Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James. Almost all
members enjoyed it and would recommend it to
other readers. At the end of May, we will be meeting
to discuss the romantic, humorous novel ‘One Day’
by David Nicholls
A special word of thanks to Sr. Joan Hutchinson for all
her hard work during the year. She is an essential member
of the library staff and thankfully will be with us next
year.
Don’t forget to keep up all the good reading during the
summer!
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Careers News
First Year
Second & Third Year
As part of the transition to secondary school,
all the first years have met with the guidance
department in their class groups for the
second time and will continue to meet
individually with the Guidance Department
throughout the coming months. We would
like to congratulate the girls on the super
transition and encourage them to continue on
the good start they have made.
The first meeting between parent reps and the Guidance
Department took place on 11th of November with 3rd
year parents’ reps and 10th December with 2nd year
parent reps. The student reps on the Students’ Council
were asked for the student perspectives on guidance
needs for their year.
Fourth Year
All 4th years are incredibly busy preparing
for the much anticipated SUCH show,
Oscars go Wild, which can be seen on the
12th &13th of May. Your daughter’s
involvement in this show is imperative in
building up their skill base, experience and
indeed employability in future.
Based on feedback from parents and teachers we
developed a pilot program focusing on friendship
development, which is run by the Guidance Department
and class tutors. All 2nd years will have part two and 3rd
years will have part three of the four-part program in the
coming weeks.
SUCH’s - Students Unite for Children’s
Health - chosen charity this year is
Barnardos. All proceeds from the evening go
directly to the charity and a cheque will be
presented to Fergus Finlay on the 20th May
during the TY presentation evening.
Over 40 girls took part in interviews in order
to select roles for the show. The girls
preformed brilliantly making it very difficult
for the recruiters to decide on the best ‘hires’
for the job. We are confident we made
brilliant decisions. Every student has a part
to play in the production and it is certain to
be a great night!
Sixth Year
Fifth Year
Since 3rd May the online change of mind facility for the
CAO has become available. This facility will be open
until 1st July at 5.15pm. Any student considering a
change of application should talk to Ms Mulhall.
20 fifth years attended mock interviews in Bank of
Ireland, Cabinteely on 21st April. The girls
performed very well and each learned from the
experience.
A large number of girls sat the HPAT examination in
February. Most found that the mock HPAT run earlier
in the year was incredibly helpful. Results will be
available after the Leaving Cert.
The girls are undertaking an exciting careers
pathways project. They have been split into career
groups and have presented their findings to the
year group using a PowerPoint presentation.
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Breaking News- Did you hear?
Ms Bourden announced at a recent meeting of 3rd year parents that a design team is currently working on
an exciting project to further enhance school facilities. This involves the building of an extension which
will provide a new entrance, Student Office area and Science and Home Economics labs.
We’re really excited about the prospect of three new common rooms for students. It’s especially good
news to hear that this will be opened at the beginning of the 2011 school year. In the meantime the sixth
year CLASS of 2011 can look forward to a brand new common room above the existing sixth year social
space.
This work has been planned and will be funded by the Board of Management with a view to creating
enhanced recreational and communal areas for students.
MOUNT ANVILLE STORYTIME
This is the section where we bring back some of the great stories and anecdotes surrounding the school
building from the days of William Dargan. Check this section every edition for the story of the historic
convent building from start to finish.
In the early 1800’s a young William Dargan set off for England. He was the first in his family to
receive a formal education. Before leaving for school, his father gave him some sage advice,
which is still echoed in the ethos of our school today: “Work hard son, you’ve got the brains, but
brains aren’t worth anything without hard work. You’re getting a chance none of us ever got, put
your mind to work.”
When he returned to Ireland, Dargan began to build roads as a private contractor from which he
moved onto railways. In 1839 the first train in Ireland chugged along on a railway line owned by
Dargan. He then moved to Ulster where he met and married a young girl by the name of Jane
Welch.
Dargan spent the next years of his life improving the Ireland that he so loved by contributing to
industrialisation. By the time he was 52, Dargan was beginning to think about moving out of the
city. It was then that he made the decision to buy the property he had seen advertised in south
Dublin- ‘Rowbuck’.
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Fun Page
What is an anvil?
Did you know…?
an-vil
–noun
1. A heavy iron block with a
smooth face, frequently of
steel, on which metals,
usually heated until soft, are
hammered into desired
shapes.
When William Dargan
was in the early days
of his transport
business he went into
his blacksmith's forge
and saw him using an
anvil with a block of
wood steading it. This
gave him an idea for
the railway sleeper,
which was to be the
thing that made his
fortune.
It is said that it is in
tribute to this incident,
which so helped his
business that Dargan
chose to call his new
residence Mount
Anville!!!
2. A musical percussion
instrument having steel bars
that are struck with a
wooden or metal beater.
3. The middle one of a
chain of three small bones
in the middle ear of humans
and other mammals.
Amazing Acronyms!
(See if you can figure out what these stand for!)
SW and the 7 Ds
50 S in the UsoA
4 S = S, S, A, & W
4 Q in a W
220 = N of S in a P
Look for the answers on
www.mountanville.ie
Riddles
At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost
without being stolen. What are they?
What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes but not in
decades, years or days?
What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
Monty Moments
Ruth Hunter
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Should you have any queries or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us,
our email address is [email protected]
We welcome your feedback and look forward to receiving any articles
that you would like included in future issues of the publication.
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