Official Opening of the new school facilities

The Official Opening of our new school facilities took place on the 2nd of October, 2015. It was a momentous occasion in the157 year history of the school. Formally a Christian Brothers School we are now a member school of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, ERST. Mr Gerry Bennett, CEO of ERST, performed the Official Opening and the building has been named after one of our most esteemed past pupils, Dr. T.K. Whitaker. The existing school building and grounds have undergone major refurbishment over the past 18 months together with the construction of the single storey and two storey extension. The school continued to operate during the 18 months construction stage and credit is due to both the entire staff of St. Joseph’s and the main building contractor JJ Rhatigan for ensuring that the construction work had a minimum impact of the education of our students.

The refurbishment work included the demolition of the school offices, corrections room, demonstration room, the stage / classroom 6 and the dressing rooms in the PE hall. This allowed for the construction of modern and spacious offices, a larger student canteen, additional art room, PE hall and staff room.

The new building accommodates four practical workshops, two computer rooms, three science labs, library, additional classrooms and pastoral care offices. The additional sporting facilities now include a mini gym, new dressing rooms, basketball courts and an all-weather pitch.

Current enrolment is 680 students in the 2015 – 2016 year and the increased accommodation increases capacity to 900 students. The new accommodation now allows us to now offer Construction Studies and Technology at Leaving Certificate level.

Have a look for yourself! Download the official opening brochure.

St Joseph’s winsU16 B Boys All Ireland Basketball Schools Cup Final 2014

St Joseph’s Drogheda 47 (17) – (R O’ Sullivan 18, L Cormican 11, I Connor 5)St Andrew’s, Dublin 33 (23) – (J Brown 10, A Lee 9, A Wilson Flynn 6) MVP – Robert O’Sullivan An outstanding third quarter performance saw St Joseph’s of Drogheda mount a miraculous comeback against their opponents which was more enough as they easily defeated St Andrew’s of Dublin by 47-33 to be crowned the U16 B Boys All Ireland Schools Cup Champions for 2014. A top quality attacking display from St Joseph’s forward Robert Sullivan, which saw him score an impressive 18 points and 6 rebounds, was more than enough for him to be named the games MVP. Excellent first quarter defensive displays from St Andrew’s Alex Wilson Flynn and James Brown prevented St Joseph’s from scoring heavily early on and forced the Drogheda side to focus their attack from the 3 point line. However, a standout performance from Sullivan made sure that the teams remained evenly matched at 13-13 at the end of the period. Sullivan easily dribbled past the St Andrew’s defence to convert 7 points in quick succession for his side, just after his captain Bobby Cudden had opened the scoring in the game. The second quarter saw St Andrew’s quickly break away from their opponents thanks mainly to some beautiful passing play between Brown and Mark O’ Meara that exposed the weaknesses in the St Joseph’s ranks. In a complete reversal of the first quarter, this time it was St. Joseph’s who were forced to find the basket from 3 point distance while their opponents moved freely in and around the basket, converting a high percentage of their opportunities that saw the Dublin side take a 6 point lead heading into halftime. Words were obviously said at the interval by St Joseph’s Coach Ciaran McGroggan to his players as his side looked like a brand new team after the beginning of the third quarter. Faster passing combined with much better retention of possession saw the Drogheda side force their opponents into committing a high number of fouls, resulting in a total of (10) free throws for St Joseph’s. Unfortunately they were unable to convert all but (4) of these opportunities but a fine attacking display from O’ Sullivan and Cudden more than made up for this as the pair were able to combine to score 4 unanswered baskets before Demi Awosikia was able to reply for St Andrew’s with a darting run that ended with him converting an inside lay up from under the basket. Unfortunately for him and St Andrew’s it wasn’t enough to stop St Joseph’s from turning the tide of play and finishing the quarter in the lead for the first time in the game by 5 points. Defence was the last thing on either teams mind in the final quarter as both sides went all out attack in a final attempt to break away from each other. Unfortunately for St Andrew’s it wasn’t to be their day as St Joseph’s managed to rack up a further 13 points which was more than enough to see them walk away with the victory and as champions.

Erasmus Project Fri 9th

In the morning we started off working in our groups to put the finishing touches to our ideas. After this was completed each group had to present their idea to everybody present. There were a lot of new and good ideas during this presentation.After this we went to the computer room to fill out an evaluation form on the activities and events during the week. Then it was time to tidy up the room and put it back the way it was. All the posters were removed from the walls, the extra chairs and tables put back and all the students and teachers from the visiting countries carefully packed away all the materials they had brought. After lunch we had sports activities where Mr. Kent and Mr. O’ Suilleabhain brought all the students involved in the Erasmus project out onto the pitches and basketball court for sport. This was an enjoyable time as after a long week of work it was good to relax. That night we had a farewell dinner in the school for the teachers and students involved the project. There was dinner and desert and each student and teacher was presented with a certificate of participation. Mr. Madden, Ms. Clinton and Mr. McDonagh presented the certificates. After that everybody went home as all the visiting students had to be back at the school at 9am to be brought to the airport. The week passed very quickly and everybody was very busy. I really enjoyed it and I hope to travel to Germany in March next year.

Cillian Hickey TY 2

Smarter Surfaces - Student Report

The day started off with a presentation by Mr. McDonagh on behalf of a company called Smarter Surfaces. They are an Irish company based in Dublin and employ 22 people. They were only set up in 2012. In the presentation we learned what products the company sell and how to use them. The company gave lots of materials to the school for us to use. We started off by going outside and painting small timber boards with smart primer paint. These boards will be covered with smart paint in a week’s time and we will be able to use them in class as small whiteboards, and write on them using ordinary whiteboard markers. After this there was a logo contest, where each country had to design a new logo for the company. This was done using their smart whiteboard sheets which stick to surfaces and act as a whiteboard. After a vote the Italian design won and they received a full paint kit from smarter surfaces for their school. After lunch we were put into working groups. These groups were working on new ideas from what had been learned during the week or expanding on their original ideas that they brought to Ireland. On Thursday evening we had a free evening where no events were planned and we could rest. Joshua Reilly

Smarter Surfaces

Smarter Surfaces are an Irish company based in Dublin. Founded in 2012 they now employ 22 staff. They are a company that provide a range of smart products, from smart wall paint to smart whiteboard sheets. Mr McDonagh gave a presentation on behalf of the company to all the students and teachers involved in the Erasmus + science project. The company provided some samples of their products for the students to work with. The students first started to coat some small timber boards with smart wall primer paint. These boards were then left to dry and will be coated with smart wall paint in the coming days. Once this paint has dried, these timber boards will act as mini whiteboards, which can be written and drawn on using ordinary whiteboard markers. These will prove a useful learning tool for our students in St. Josephs.

A competition was then held and students were asked to design a new logo for smarter surfaces, using only the smart whiteboard sheets and whiteboard markers. Smart whiteboard sheets are sheets that stick by static electricity to surfaces and can be written and drawn on using whiteboard markers. A number of excellent logos were produced.

The winners of the competition were a group of Italian students. They were presented with a full Smarter Surfaces paint kit by the Irish project coordinator Mr. McDonagh. The kit included primer, paint, a roller and brushes. These students will bring this to their school (IIS Cavazzi in Italy) and can turn the walls of their science lab into smart walls. Thanks to Smarter Surfaces for kindly providing all these material for the students.

Erasmus Field Trip - Crann Insititute & National Science Gallery

We travelled to Dublin to the Crann Institute and the National Science Gallery. In the Crann Institute we first got a talk about Nano Science and the research that is being carried out there. Nano Science is the science of very small things (one billionth of something). A lot of research is carried out on graphite (which is found in things like pencils) and graphene. Graphene is a very thin layer of carbon and is one million times thinner than paper. We learned how to separate out graphene into individual layers using washing up liquid and a blender. We were then taken around the labs and got to see some of the facilities there. After this we went to the National Science Gallery and looked at the exhibition there. We then got lunch and got some time to go shopping before we got back on the bus for Drogheda.That evening we went to St. Fechins GAA club where Mr. Ryan and Mr. Stephenson had organised an evening of sport. Our visiting students got to try hurling and trained with the U16s hurlers. After this we had food in the club house. It was a good day and we are bonding well as a group.

by Alan Connor TY2

Erasmus Field Trip - Report by Anthony Kent

The morning started off by finishing preparing the stands for the school open night later that evening. Then all the students visited Monasterboice Round Tower and the High Crosses. We learned about “Búite” a Monk from the 5th century and how he set up the Monastic Settlement. The trip was enjoyed by all.Next we went to Oldbridge House, the site of the Battle of the Boyne. We had lunch and after lunch we did the tour of Oldbridge house. We learned that in the year 1690 the largest land fought battle in Ireland’s history took place in Oldbridge and the surrounding area. There was a laser show, showing the events of the battle and to finish the experience off we took the OldBridge tree-trail. It was a great experience enjoyed by everyone. That evening it was back to the school for the school open night. All the projects had been set up earlier that day with only some minor adjustments needed before people started to arrive at 6 o clock. There was a huge crowd present and lots of people asked us about the project, the posters and the demonstrations we had on show on the night.

Written by Anthony Kent TY1

Matters of Matter: Future materials in Science Education

St. Josephs Secondary school is proud to be part of an Erasmus + KA2 project called Matters of Matter – Future Materials in Science Education. Mr. McDonagh and Ms. Clinton are the co-ordinator’s of the project, which will run for 3 years (September 2014 to September 2017) and is open to students who are in Transition Year. Our school will work with schools from three other European countries – Italy (IIS – Cavazzi Sorbelli) Germany (Gymnasium Papenburg) and Portugal (Escola Secundaria/3 de Barcelinhos). The project involves researching and working with new and innovative materials called smart materials

In March 2015, 10 Transition Year students from our school (Adam Connolly, Euan Reid, Eoin Reid, Dylan Floyd, Aaron Foley, John Holdcroft, Alan McGrane, Evan McGrane, Shane McQuillan and Liam Ryan) travelled to Portugal along with 10 students from Germany and Italy. It was a busy week packed with scientific work and cultural trips. Further information and photographs of our student’s time in Portugal can be found on the project website: www.mattersofmatter.eu From the 3rd to the 10th of October 2015 students from our partner schools in Portugal, Germany and Italy will travel to Ireland. An educational and cultural week is planned for their stay (details will be posted on the website shortly).

Both Transition Year science classes are working with these smart materials. Mr. McDonagh’s class are working on photoluminescent and thermochromic materials, while Ms. Clinton’s class are working on solar cells and smart houses.

Students have been busy over the past number of weeks researching ideas and transforming these into working prototypes. Students have also created small and large posters of their ideas. The small posters form part of the display on the project notice board, while the large posters will be on display in rooms 29 and 30 for our schools open night (Tuesday 6th October 2015 from 6- 8pm).

These photographs show some of the students in Mr. McDonaghs science class working on their ideas and developing prototypes. Photoluminescent powder and photochromic inks change their colour in response to light. Thermochromic inks change their colour when exposed to heat.

Peader McCann Awards 2015

Students who have achieved success in the academic, sporting, extra curricular and community arenas were all honoured at the Peadar Mc Cann Awards Evening. The awards date back to 1958, when they were first established by the school’s Past Pupils’ Union in honour of their beloved Irish, History and French teacher Peadar Mc Cann. You can find a list of the 2105 winners by clicking the link here: PEADAR MC CANN AWARD reciepients

St Joseph’s History Quiz Joy

This year's Old Drogheda Sciety/ Drogheda Museum Millmount's Transition Year Local History quiz proved to be a very closely fought affair with St Joseph's CBS and Sacred Heart both scoring full marks, with the boys from the Termonfeckin Road winning on a tie break. In third place was Our Ladys, Greenhills who missed out on just one question out of forty, with St Oliver’s just one point behind them. St Marys Diocesan School and Colaiste na hInse of Laytown also took part. This was the 11th year of the quiz which is sponsored by Coca Cola International. This was the fifth time in six years that a team from St Joseph's Secondary School emerged as overall winners in the quiz, which this year hada Margaret Clinton as quizmaster assisted by Joanne Walsh, Dan Mullan and Grainne McKeown. Six secondary schools competed in the Moira and Terry Corcoran History Cup. They were St. Joseph's, Our Lady's College Greenhills, Sacred Heart, St Mary's, St Oliver’s and Coláiste na hInse. The standard this year was higher than usual with two stand-out teams: St Joseph’s and Sacred Heart. There were four rounds of ten questions each, with both St Joseph’s and Sacred Heart achieving a perfect score of 40 points. Greenhills and St Oliver’s were unlucky to miss out on the tie-break round, scoring 39 and 38 points respectively. The fiercely contested battle concluded with five tie-break questions. However, St Joseph’s came out on top, achieving a perfect round once again, with Sacred Heart missing out by just one question. There was a great atmosphere on the day with many Transition Year students cheering on their respective schools.

St Joseph’s captain John Holdcroft was presented with the trophy shortly after the scores were announced. Special thanks are due to St Joseph’s teacher Mr Sharkey for his support and guidance in the lead up to the quiz. After missing out on last year’s title, St Joseph’s will be glad to see the trophy come home once again.

Dr. T.K. Whitaker Turns Sod on New Extension

St. Joseph’s CBS most distinguished past pupil, the man credited with rescuing the Irish economy in the 1950s, TK Whitaker, returned to his former school on Jan 28th 2014 to officially turn the sod on a new extension. Now aged 97, Dr. Whitaker was once voted the greatest living Irish man and despite a stellar career as an illustrious economist respected throughout the world, he never forgot his roots. he was educated by the Christian Brothers and took first place in the country in the Civil Service entrance exams. With these and many other achievements Dr. Whitaker has certainly set the bar high for all the CBS students following in his wake. As John McEnaney, the Chair of the board of management said, he is a true example for all students, something for them to aspire to. Mr. Whitaker was very relaxed and chatted and joked with staff and pupils at the school and when the time came to turn the sod he proved to be a dab hand with the spade. Principal David Madden said that everyone at the school was honoured that Mr. Whitaker had agreed to perform the official ceremony.Work on the new school extension will start at the end of the month and is scheduled to finish in March 2015. The new building will comprise two technology workshops, two construction studies workshops, three science labs, music room, maths room, multimedia learning lab, guidance suite, resource suite, library, religion room with meditation room and two lecture rooms. The school currently accommodates over 650 students and when the extension is completed by March 2015 it will be in a position to accommodate up to 900 students Dr. T. Whitaker was educated by the Christian Brothers in Drogheda in the late 1920s and praised many of the Brothers and lay teachers there, especially Peadar McCann, for their contribution to his education. He later obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Latin and Celtic Studies and was awarded an M.Sc. Economics degree by private study from the University of London. An Irish economist and former public servant,he is credited with a pivotal role in the economic development of Ireland. At 97 years of age, he is still regularly consulted for his views on Irish economic issues. As Secretary of the Department of Finance, he and his team of officials published the First Programme for Economic Expansion (1958) which brought the stimulus of foreign investment into the Irish economy. In 1969 he became Governor of the Central Bank. A policy adviser to Jack Lynch on Northern Ireland, he also served as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland for twenty years.

Peader McCann Student Awards

Our photo shows : Professor Peter Gillen (left) and School Principal David Madden (right) with some of the Leaving Cert Students who achieved over 500 points in the Leaving Cert 2013. They include (back row) Emmet Murphy, Seán Mc Connell, James Carolan, Daniel Nelis (overall winner), and (front row) Ross Murphy , Mark Hoey, Sean Doherty and David Coffey. Students who have achieved success in the academic, sporting, extra curricular and community arenas were all honoured at the Peadar Mc Cann Awards Evening which was held in the school on Monday 19 May last. The awards date back to 1958, when they were first established by the school’s Past Pupils’ Union in honour of their beloved Irish, History and French teacher Peadar Mc Cann. Past Pupil Professor Peter Gillen of the RCSI and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (who received the Peadar Mc Cann Award himself in 1973) along with well-known sports player and past pupil David Bracken were guests of honour on the evening. Eighty awards in all were presented in various categories. Among the award winners were: Daniel Nelis, best Leaving Cert Student 2013 and Jordie Myers, best Junior Cert Student 2013. Gold Medals for academic excellence in the State Examinations were also presented to: James Carolan, David Coffey, Sean Doherty, Mark Hoey, Sean Mc Connell, PJ McGrane, Emmet Murphy, Ross Murphy, Michael Ryan and Tommy Dennis. The Jim Mooney Memorial Medal for English was presented to Cathal Thornton by Jim’s wife Bernie. Stephen Paclibar from 6th Year was the proud winner of the Peadar Mc Cann Award for Creative Arts, while Niall Connor received the PPU President’s Award. The Jim Hanlon Civic Award for Service to the Community was presented by Jim Hanlon’s sister Vera to Luke Callaghan from Fifth Year. The Paddy Hallinan trophy for the most promising young Gaelic player was awarded to First Year student, Daire Nally, while Fifth Year student Robert Sullivan, who plays for the Ireland under 18 basketball team, won the coveted Br Hunt Sports Star of the Year award. Other awards were presented to students for academic excellence and determination to succeed, while awards were also given to the best junior and senior player in each sport. The last year has been a great year for St Joseph’s in sport with the Under 14s winning the O’ Moore Cup in Gaelic, the Under 16s winning the Louth, Leinster and North Leinster Gaelic Championships and the Under 16 Basketball team winning the All-Ireland title.