Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and to help CCBS students express themselves to their secret valentines, Transition Year students are taking orders for lovingly-developed packs of Rolos and Love-Hearts which will be delivered anonymously to students in the school on Friday 10th of February. On sale every day in the Assembly Area at break and lunch.

Medbh Mc Closkey and Maeve Liston were busy rehearsing last week for their roles in the short film ‘Tigerish Waters’ which will be shot in Rossnowlagh in the first week of March. The director Lucy Campbell and other members of the production crew travelled from England last week to spend two days with the girls, discussing the characters in school before rehearsing on location in Rossnowlagh.

The TY2 Drama production, ‘All Apologies’, has made it to the final of the National Transition Year Drama Final which will take place on Saturday March 3rd in Macroom, Co. Cork. The students recently travelled to Mullingar for the first heat of the competition, and now proceed to the final where they will put on their play once again, in competition with 15 other productions.

A number of CCBS senior French students are currently making plans to spend part of their summer working in homes in France as au pairs. The girls will spend the time living with a family looking after young children, becoming a part of the family unit. It is a great opportunity for the students to improve their French as they become immersed in the culture.

Congratulations to the Girls Senior Basketball team who are through to the All-Ireland Semi-Final after great success in the play-offs on Saturday. The girls faced stiff competition from Kiltimagh, Castleblaney and Portlaoise but have successfully progressed to the next stage, to be played in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.

The CCBS Debate Team defeated Largy College in Enniskillen on Thursday last, allowing them to proceed into the knockout stages of the competition. Well done to all involved: 5th Years Aine Kavanagh and Rachel Mc Nulty, TYs Margaret Ward, Brid Roberts and Thomas Beaumont, and their teacher Miss Garvey.

Tuesday 31st will be Open Day & Night here at Colaiste Cholmcille. All primary schools in the area have been visited by students and staff from the school. A DVD of school activities gave the students a flavour of what life is like at CCBS (an earlier school promo video is on ccbstv , and the new one will be up soon, along with clips from Hairspray). We look forward to welcoming sixth class pupils, their teachers and parents on Tuesday!

First and Second Year Girls Basketball went to Carrick on Wednesday to play in their first league. Both teams were successful in their respective matches. Their next match is against AVS Donegal next week. Best of luck to all involved!

The Under-15 Hurling Team put up a brave fight in the Ulster Colleges Hurling C Final in Cookstown on Monday. However they were defeated by Abbey CBS from Newry.

Students from both TY1 and TY2 travel to Mullingar on Wednesday Jan. 25th to take part in the first heat of the National TY Theatre competition.

A challenge match between CCBS and Glenties took place at home on Friday 20th January.

Best of luck to the CCBS Concern Debate Team (TY students Brid Roberts, Thomas Beaumont and Margaret Ward, along with 5th Year Aine Kavanagh) in the Concern Debate on Thursday January 26th. The competition is nearing the final phase. The team will debate against Largy College, Clones.

CCBS is submitting two presentations to this year’s Young Scientist exhibition in the RDS, Dublin, this week. Both exhibits are in the Social and Behavioural Sciences category. TY students Brid Roberts, Annie Gallagher and Claire Grennan question the safety of child-resistant products in their exhibit, ‘Child Resistant: What does it really mean?’. Aine Kavanagh’s (5th Year) exhibit is entitled ‘How to Make a Million-Dollar Movie – Finding a Formula for Film Success’. The winners of the competition will be announced 8pm on Friday 13th January (the countdown is on the BT Young Scientist website). Let’s hope Friday 13th is lucky for some!