St Benildus celebrate Advent as a school community
The St Benildus College school community came together on Wednesday 4th of December for a beautiful Advent service organised for our first and second-year students. Held in the school hall, the service marked the beginning of the Advent season, a time of reflection, hope, and preparation for Christmas. Students participated through readings, prayers, and carols, creating a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
The lighting of the first candle on the Advent wreath was a special moment, reminding us of the hope and anticipation for the coming of Christ. Many thanks to our students and choir for making this a meaningful celebration. It was a beautiful way to start the season of Advent in our school.
Lasallian Visit
On Monday, we had a visit from the La Salle District of Ireland, Great Britain and Malta, to share how we are living the Lasallian values here in St Benildus. It was a great opportunity to discuss how we can best live our lives through our Lasallian values. We really enjoyed hosting and spending time with Br Thomas Walsh and Mr Pat Walsh, Director of Formation. They were presented with a Wet Felt Landscape by Tiernan Walsh (3rd year).
Benildus Got Talent
On the 5th of December, the annual Benildus Got Talent took place in the Hall for all first years. There was a variety of talents and a great mix of year groups taking part. First we had a rendition of 'Basket Case' by Green Day by Cillian Keane, followed by some lovely piano demonstrations from Hugo Corr, Diurmuid Boylan and Théo Roy. Rap duo Tom Malocca and Robert McGuinness had first years getting involved.
Next, a ballad from Noah Parris Narley, some rock n' roll from Cathal Moore and another band consisting of Ryan Lawlor, Luke Joyce and Michael Brady. Following a relaxing oboe solo from Brendan McDonnell, Aaron Wall treated us to some Oasis.
Finally, we had a solo performance from Ben Lynch, before he joined his heavy metal crew Scott Waldock, Josh Cunningham and Jack Clifford. The Talent Show finished with a comedy rap from Glen Doyle, accompanied by the audience.
While the judges deliberated, the 1st Years had their opportunity to show their own talents - with Andrew Kinsella winning a homework pass. The judges, Mr. Flynn, Ms. Kinahan and Mr. Hunt, came to their verdict: 3rd Place went to Brendan McDonnell, 2nd Place to Théo Roy and 1st Place to Ryan Lawlor, Luke Joyce and Michael Brady. Noah Parris Narley took home the 'Best Newcomer' prize. Congratulations to all who got involved.
TY Christmas Song Competition
To earn points for a class trip to Mondello Park, our Transition Year students have been hard at work practising, producing and recording class videos of Christmas Songs. These videos have taken Instagram by storm, with 4.5’s video being viewed over 225,000 times. This activity has been such a fun bonding experience for the students, and also has provided plenty of laughter throughout the school community. Well done to all the classes who have created a video and Ms Mulligan for organising.
1st and 2nd Year Cinema Trips
To celebrate a term of hard work ahead of the Christmas Exams, 1st and 2nd Year students were treated to an afternoon out at Movies at Dundrum. With buckets of popcorn, 1st years got to watch the Christmas Classic Elf, while 2nd years watched new release Red One. A big thank you to the year heads Mr Howlin and Mr Haughey for organising.
News from Zambia
Last June, our Transition years accompanied by Ms Mulligan, Mr Holland, Mr Brennan and Mr Farnan, travelled to build three classrooms in Nsobe Primary School in Zambia. This December, they shared great news:
"Yesterday we held our preschool enrolments for the children of our community hoping to start school in January 2025. Over 100 children applied for 50 places. We are most grateful to St Benildus TY’s and teachers who have enabled the building of another three classrooms which will enable us to double stream three grades next year and offer education and hope to more of our community’s children".
All building plans and supervision were completed pro bono by EirEng consulting Engineers Ltd. This summer, our current Transition Year students will travel again to continue the development of the schools. Thank you to Ms Mulligan for organising.
Team Sporting Success
Well done to the 2nd year Hurling team in their challenge matches in Wexford last week. At this stage, the focus of the panel is to get as much experience as possible, but it was great to see the win! The 1st year Hurling team played an invitational blitz in Terenure College also this month, playing three great games before the matches were unfortunately called due to the weather. Great to see this team grow also.
Well done to the U17 Soccer team who beat St Michael’s College 5-1 in a league match. This is a fantastic score from a team with lots of talent.
Well done to the U16B team who won their league match 5-1 and commiserations to the U14B team who were defeated 4-2 after a series of tight matches. Great to see Badminton growing in the school.
Individual Student Success
Well done to Ryan Lynch (6th Year) who was selected as part of the Irish 6-a-side soccer team who competed in an international tournament in Oman this month. We are very proud of you and know you have many years of football success ahead of you.
Congratulations to second year students Conor Pimlott & Conn Mc Cluskey who won gold in the U15 Boys race at the 123.ie National Cross-Country Championships held at Tramore racecourse in the All-Ireland Club Category with their club DSD. Everyone here in the College would like to congratulate the boys and their club DSD.
We are looking forward to:
· Digital Literacy Week
· History Week
· Catholic Schools Week
· TY Work Experience
