STAND UP WEEK
Last week, November 15-19th, we celebrated Stand Up Week in CCM. A host of activities and events took place, including a daily musical trivia quiz, lunchtime film screenings, PowerPoint presentations during Morning Tutorial and the Stand Up Art Competition on the theme of 'Use words that heal, not hurt.' On Monday, the Transgender Flag, Ally Flag and Progress Flag were raised at the front of the school and members of the SASS committee presented a mini-history lesson over the school intercom about the meaning of Pride and how the first Pride parade was established in Ireland. During the week, SASS committee members continued to present interesting lessons over the intercom and all students were invited to leave chalk messages or images of love and support/flags in the courtyard. On Wednesday, a highly successful Bake Sale took place, raising funds for TENI and BeLonGTo and on Thursday, Sixth Year students attended a talk from guest speaker, Philip Purcell from the Emerald Warriors, an LGBT inclusive rugby club in Dublin.
To promote Rainbow Day on Friday, classes were shown the drone video of the CCM Rainbow Day 2019 - a strong visual from our first Stand Up Week in CCM - and an event which we were delighted to mark again in 2021. In addition, classes were photographed in their rainbow colours in front of the Stand Up Tiger, a beautiful piece of artwork presented to the school by former student, Robin McConnell.
REPTILE ZOO VISIT
On Monday and Tuesday, 15th and 16th November, the National Reptile Zoo from Kilkenny visited CCM. First year students attended an hour-long session with their tutor groups over the two days. It was an exciting and fun opportunity for the First Years to learn about a variety of different reptiles, including snakes, lizards, turtles, and even a few tarantulas.
TY MOUNTAIN BIKING
On Tuesday, 16th November, TY students had a great outing in Ballinastoe Woods Mountain Bike Trail with Biking.ie. We had a mixed ability group from beginners to experienced bikers. Some brought their own bikes & kit to get the most out of the experience (not to mention Go Pro). We had some great training from biking.ie on breaking and bike positions before heading off to attack the tracks. After a long climb, the fun began by hitting the first run, where the adrenaline ramped up a notch for sure. All the students navigated the tracks expertly. Big smiles were the order of the day as we descended the Home Run. We finished with a nice relaxing lunch in the woods and all the students requesting to come back for a second session!
TURAS PICTIÚRLAINNE
On Monday, 15th November, the Transition Year students travelled to the IMC Cinema in Dún Laoghaire for a special screening of the critically acclaimed Irish language film “Arracht”. Arracht which means monster is set during the Irish Famine (An Ghorta Mór). The film explores the hardship experienced by the poverty-stricken Irish tenants in the West of Ireland during the Famine. The film, which was selected as the Irish entry for the best-international-film Oscar, gave the students an insight into the harsh reality of life during this period. The students represented the school extremely well and the manager of the IMC commended them on their excellent behaviour and conduct.
FIRST YEAR RUGBY
CCM 17 EGS 14
The First Year Rugby team continued their good start with a win over EGS on Tuesday, 16th November. A tight first half saw defences on top with the score 0 - 0 at half time. Thankfully, the second half was more open and saw five tries scored with CCM winning 17-14.
U15 SOCCER
The Under 15 team drew to Woodbrook, 3-3, on Tuesday, 16th November. The team started well going 2-0 up with goals from Alfie Doyle and Arthur Curran. However, Woodbrook fought back into the game and were leading with 10 minutes to go. Conor Williams scored a late goal to level the scores. It was a good game, and the team plays again this week.
JUNIOR GIRLS’ GAA
CCM: 7-8 - Ramsgrange: 1-3
The Junior Girls GAA team played Ramsgrange on Wednesday, 17th November, in their second game in the Leinster league. The girls had an excellent game with standout performances from Millie Phelan, Aoife Hunter, Annabell Killeen and Layla Whelan. They won 7-8 to 1-3. They play Selskar College (Wex VOC) this week in Wexford.
U16 GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
CCM: 22 - CCA: 17
The U16 CCM Girls' Basketball team had their first match of the season on Thursday, 18th November, against Cólaiste Chraobh Abhann. CCA started off strong taking the lead 10-4 but by the end of the first quarter, our girls had clawed it back to 10-all through their sheer determination to get every rebound. Their hot defence saw them pull ahead and stay firmly in charge of the match for the rest of the game. Despite CCA playing their strongest five players for the last five minutes, they just couldn't make up the difference, seeing CCM finishing out with a win. Final score was 22-17.
Team: Yolanda Beryl Mpofu, Brooke Griffin, Samara Dempsey, Caitlin Power, Ailbhe Kelly, Robyn Parkinson, Alex Dickenson, Laura Fitzgerald, Alison Kenny, Katie Russell, Izzy Richardson, Hollie O'Connor, Ellie Jameson and Hannah Finnigan.
SENIOR RUGBY
St Benildus: 32 - CCM: 21
Last Thursday, 17th November, saw our Senior Rugby team meet St. Benildus in DLSP, Kilternan. A late comeback from the Seniors proved too little too late - dangerous on the attack, we didn't see enough of the ball as our defence struggled to cope with strong carries from the hosts. Conor Hunter impressed at out-half with Evan Dwyer and Jimmy O'Donnell the pick of the forwards.
JUNIOR HURLERS
Junior Hurlers had a good win over Coláiste Chraobh Abhann Kilcoole on Thursday, 17th November, on the CCM pitch with a score of 7 - 11 to 2 -9. It was a good battle and CCA were well in the game up to the last few minutes. Lorcan Byrne and Michael Óg O'Neill put CCM on top early with some well-taken scores. Adam O'Brien was outstanding in goals for CCM and Jim Stafford made vital clearances at full-back. Andrew Lynch was excellent at centre back, helped by cornerbacks, Senan O' Donovan and Matthew Dowling, half-backs, Joe Culleton and Ciarán Matthews, and super-sub Liam Delaney. CCA was managed by a past pupil of CCM, Danny Staunton. Well done to all the players.