Portumna Senior Hurlers Visit School
On Thursday afternoon the school was delighted to welcome members of the Portumna Senior Hurling Team, Management and Club Officers to the school. The County and Connacht cups were on display and the entire party was given a rousing welcome in the school gym. A special word of congratulations to Damian Hayes on being named on the All-star team, along with Ollie Canning, who receives his third award. Both will receive their awards at the special All-Star banquet tonight (25th).
Choirs For Christmas Now in its seventh year, the established RTE Lyric FM Choirs for Christmas Competition have invited choirs from all around the country to share their music making with Lyric listeners throughout the Christmas Season. The Abbey Stained Glass Studios, Dublin, are sponsoring the competition. The best overall entry will receive a prize of €2,000 and there are also runner up prizes. All choirs must send a recording of 1-2 seasonal pieces along with a biography of the choir before 9th December. Good Luck to Ms. Kelleher’s 1st, 2nd, TY, 5th and 6th year music students who are busy rehearsing so they can take part in this competition.They will be performing a modern arrangement of Away in a Manger by Alan Woods and a traditional arrangement of Silent Night accompanied by Ms. O’Sullivan (harp), Claire Kelly (piano) and Louise Larkin (flute).
The School Credit Union is now up and running and is open at lunchtime every Thursday. Our Photo shows Ms. Rosaleen Clasby of Portumna and District Credit Union with TY students Chloe O’ Hara and Roisin Gordon and customers Alanna Coniry and Katie O’ Hara.
CRC Santa Bear Appeal TY students have CRC (Clontarf Rehabilitation Centre) Santa Bear key rings still available for anyone who wishes to support this cause. Each bear is only €2. Youth Clubs There are great plans for Portumna Youth Club for 2006 – taking part in interclub activities (we reached the All-Ireland Finals in table tennis this year and our Quiz team did us proud) and purchasing more equipment including a full size pool table. To end the year we are off Skating, Laser and Bowling in Galway on 16th December. Bus will leave the Square at 6.15 p.m. and total cost is €20 – name and money, if possible, to be in this Friday (25th). The first 30 names secure a place. We are unable to have Youth Club on 2nd Dec. as the Play (Drama at Inish) is on that weekend. See you all on Friday @ 8 p.m. Portumna Youth Club Committee. Killimor Youth Club is starting tonight (25th) at 8 pm until 10 pm. Membership forms and €10 insurance is required. All welcome. €2 Admission.Sale On Thursday next (Dec. 1st) the LCA classes are organising a sale of Playstation games (mainly PS2), DVD’s and more, as part of an enterprise project. We are trying to collect as many of these items as possible, so here’s the deal: If you bring in a PS2 game that you no longer want, we will give you a €5 credit note towards the price of another game. All PS2 games will be on sale for €10. If you do not have any games to bring in you can still buy a new game for €10. We would also like to collect any DVD’s which you no longer require, some credit will be given for these also. (Terms and conditions apply!) The cake sale yesterday was a great success and we would like to thank everyone who helped out. LCA Class.Good Luck Good luck to Portumna Camogie Club’s U-18s in the County Final on Sunday in Ballindereen. Candles Wanted
Do you have any unwanted candles or candle ends at home? Please bring them in and drop them into the box that will be left in the Social Area. This is for a Transition Year project – Please support. TY Students. Shakespeare’s King Lear John Nevin reviews the Leaving Certs trip to Athlone last Monday to hear a talk on Shakespeare’s King Lear by Professor Hubert McDermott. 
The stage was set, people met, a sudden silence crept across the audience and along with it came the sense of anticipation. Suddenly this frightened, fragile-looking man started to talk. It was King Lear as you never heard it before. The sound of ink leaving the pen was to be heard around the hall. Heads were bobbin’ up and down only to take notes off the artificial light – the overhead projector. This man stripped Lear and showed him in layers, explaining each as he went along. He showed us how Lear was treated, and the reason Lear treated others the same way, badly. A diagram illustrated his point very effectively. When it was over, a sound rippled over the audience – the clattering of hands off each other – and with that it was all over. Points were illustrated effectively during the lecture and the speaker was creative – he was able to remove the words off the overhead and place them in our heads. It brought to surface the knowledge that was hidden in the darkest regions of our minds.
Rating: I would recommend this lecture to any students who are keenly interested in learning about King Lear, his nadir and his rehabilitation. John Nevin. CanTeen Ireland CanTeen Ireland is a nation-wide support group for young people, who have or have had cancer. The CanTeen Christmas Cards sold out fast here in the school last year so if you missed the opportunity to get a pack or two you’ll be happy to know they are now available once again. This year you can buy 8 small or 6 large cards for only €5 – On sale in the Social Area!Please support this worthy cause. Dates for your Diary: (26th Nov. – 2nd Dec.) Tues. 29th – Third year Parent-Teacher Meeting. 4.15 pm – 6.45pm. Tues. 29th – Leaving Certs to Galway at 10 a.m. to see ‘Babylon’. Thurs. 1st – Senior Camogie Vs St. Raphaels in Marian Park @ 11 a.m.
News Nov. 05 Well Done Portumna!
Congratulations to Portumna senior hurlers on winning their second county senior title in three years with a well deserved victory over Loughrea. A particular word of congrats to Joe Canning (Leaving Cert) on a superb display scoring a total of 1-10 including a stunning point from sideline from over 60 yds. Well done also to our caretaker Tom Quinn who was a member of the management team
Man of the match Damian Hayes in action for Portumna Commiserations to Kiltormer minors on such a narrow defeat in their final Eolas Fri. Nov. 11th Greetings As I start my first week in Portumna I wish, through Eolas, to greet all those associated with the school. I am very aware of the excellent achievements of our students across a wide range of activities and examinations and want to express my thanks to all who make this possible through their dedication, support and hard work. I look forward to meeting you over the coming days and weeks and working with you to further promote our outstanding community school. Derry Long, Principal Bishop’s Visit 
Bishop John Kirby visited our school today and met all the Leaving Certs in two groups from 9.35 – 11.20 am and 11.35 – 1.25 pm. The break he spent with the staff sharing a cup of coffee and some nice biscuits. His presentation to the students was twofold, one, to speak about the call of Jesus and the challenges of that call, and two, a presentation on the work of Trocaire and his responsibility as chairperson. At the end of both presentations there was an open forum where Leaving Certs had the freedom to ask questions either about the presentations or indeed any other issues that were relevant to them. Fr. Abe. November Remembering November is a special time of year for remembering our loved ones who have passed away. Many of you have written those names into the Notebook in the Social Area. As well as doing that you are invited to Suaimhneas to spend some quality time praying for your loved ones. To help you there will be Mass in Suaimhneas at 9 a.m. each morning next week where we will also be remembering past students and teachers. Looking forward to seeing you there. Glasgow Trip 
Just four weeks to go!Please note that the €150 balance must accompany the signed permission slip attached to the letter your parents received recently. Thursday, 17th Nov. is the closing date. Further update in next week’s Eolas. New Computer System
After a false start our new computer system is now installed and up and running. We now have network points in every room in the school as well as a complete new set of computers for Room ‘J’. The computers in Room ‘F’ have been upgraded and there are now twelve machines in Room ‘K’ for use mainly by the P.L.C. class. All of this work has caused some disruption over the past few weeks but the benefits for all will be clear from now on. Many thanks to everyone for their co-operation during this work and a particular thanks to the many students who actually helped out with the moving of machines before the mid term break. Good Luck Good luck to Portumna Senior Hurlers in the County Senior Hurling Final on Sunday. Especially to our students, Joe Canning and Joe Keane. Good luck also to the Kiltormer Minor Hurlers in the County Minor Final, especially Gearoid Finnerty, Jason Kilkenny, James Lynch and Kevin McKeigue. Both matches are in Pearse Stadium, Galway. Bits ‘n Pieces To Note:Youth Club Portumna Youth Club is reopening tonight (11th) in the town hall. The club runs from 8 – 10 pm on Fridays nights and the weekly subscription of €2 covers expenses and insurance. Members must sign in on entering the club and sign out if leaving before 10 pm.It would be much appreciated if parents of members would put their name on a rota to give a few hours of their time to the club during the year. We are looking forward to the New Youth Committee joining us in decision-making on upcoming events and the purchasing of new equipment. All new members welcome.
Portumna Youth Club Committee. Credit Union in P.C.S.
The Tellers have received their training during the week in the Credit Union office in Portumna. Students will have an opportunity to use the facility of saving or opening an account with the Credit Union. Many thanks to the staff of the Portumna & District Credit Union for interviewing students and providing this educational opportunity for the present cohort of Transition Year Students. It is important that students in the school use the facility and get into the habit of saving regularly. J. Coughlan.
Halo’s Success
A very big Thank You to all of you who voted for Halo last week. They won the Battle of the Bands for Rock groups aged 15 years & under. Deservedly they received 54% of the votes. Halo now go on to record a video of their transformed song with R.T.E. for use on ‘Sattitude’ and other young peoples programmes. Their future looks bright. Thanks again. C. Cunningham. To read about the band ...click here
Careers Open Days for November Sat. 12th – Maths & Physics, T.C.D. Wed. 16th – Senior College, Dun Laoghaire. Fri. 18th – Dundalk I.T. Sat. 19th – D.C.U.; Marino Institute of Education; All Hallows College; Froebel College of Education; Mater Dei Institute of Ed.; St. Pat’s, Druncondra. Mon. 21st – I.T., Tralee. Tues. 22nd – I.T., Tallaght. Wed. 23rd – Letterkenny I.T. Thur. 24th – St. Angela’s College, Sligo; I.T., Sligo. Fri. 25th – G.M.I.T.; Letterfraic; Dun Laoghaire I.A.D.T. Failte Ireland (training body for Hotel & Catering courses and qualifications) will be holding a careers exhibition in Days Hotel (Galway Ryan) on Tues. 15th November Seminars will be at 10.00 am, 11.30 am, 1.00 pm and 2.30 pm. Also G.M.I.T. are giving demonstrations on Hotel & Catering at GMIT on Tues. 15th Nov. with seminars running at 11.00 am and 12.30 pm.
D. Lyons. Speakers Thanks to Ms. Marian Connolly from Cura and Ms. Mary McGrath from Aware who spoke to Leaving Certs this week.
Depression isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s something to be aware of. This Day in History 1918 The armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany in Compiègne, France,effectively ending World War I.
1921 The British Legion held its first Poppy Day to raise money for wounded W.W.I veterans.
1952 The first video recorder was demonstrated in Beverly Hills, California, by its inventors John Mullin and Wayne Johnson.
1987 Van Gogh's "Irises" sells for record $53.6 M at auction.
1988 Oldest known insect fossils (390 million yrs) reported in Science Dates for your Diary: (12th – 18th Nov.) Mon. 14th – Junior Hurling Vs Athenry at 11 a.m. in Marian Park. Mon. 14th – T.Y. Concern Debate in Athlone. Tues. 15th – Junior Camogie Vs Athenry Voc. School @ 12.30 p.m. Wed. 16th – Senior Girls soccer Vs Mercy, Galway. Thurs. 17th – Senior Hurling Vs Athenry in Marian Park @ 12.30 p.m. Thurs. 17th – Senior Camogie Vs. Pres., Athenry in Athenry @ 12 noon. Fri. 18th – Junior Girls Soccer in Galway. |
