Category: School News

English Debating this year has been a lot of fun. We have gone to places like Cork and Dublin, doing various debates, like the UCC or Concern Debates, and attending different events, for example, going to the Youth Submit held in Dublin, and attending a debating workshop. Our teams have been very successful this year, making it to the semi-finals of the UCC Debates, and we were very proud to represent our school at this competition. We all worked together so well, and helped each other throughout the whole process, with research and improving our skills.

Not only has debating immensely improved my English writing, but also it has been a lot of fun and such a great experience! I would recommend everyone to at least give it a try because it’s something that you will never regret! I have learned so much from my time on the team, and I really look forward to next year. We would like to thank Ms O’Grady and Mr Stapleton for all the help we received throughout the year. Thank you.

By Laura O’Keeffe A5

On the 29th of February, 40 students made up of 4th years and 5th years went to Lough Gur for engineer’s week. We left school at half 9 and got there at 10 o clock. We were split up into two groups, first we went to a talk about what engineering is, the jobs involved in it and pictures of the stone circles in lough Gur. We then went to lough Gur heritage centre where we had another talk about space and how rockets are designed, and then we did an egg drop test to see if we could create a way to protect the egg when we dropped it from a height of 2 meters. Our egg broke on the first go! We got the bus back to the honey Fitz theatre where the two groups were joined together, we had a talk from Con McCarthy and a skype call from an engineer in the Netherlands. Then after taking a few group photos we hopped on the bus and went to see the stone circles, we took some photos and she talked about the story behind the stone circles.

By Breeda Lynch L4

On the 21st of April, 50 TY students went to Fanore, to take part in an Adventure Activity as part of the Presidents Award. Our plan was to walk 30 kilometres from Fanore to Doolin, staying overnight in Doolin, and then onto Lahinch the next day. We were dropped off in Fanore, and began walking in the direction of Doolin. We were mainly walking through fields and grass roads! On the first day alone we covered around 17 kilometres. When we finally reached Doolin, we were split between our two hostels, The Rainbow Hostel, and Flanagan’s. We then made our own dinners, which was part of the activity, and took a break from all the walking!

The next morning, we set off early around 9 o’clock, and began our walk towards Lahinch. After a few hours of walking, we finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. After conquering a very steep incline we stopped for a break, took some photos, and then we walked towards the bus. We drove to Lahinch and stopped for lunch and ice cream! Finally we drove back to Limerick. We were exhausted, but we were delighted to have completed the journey. It was such a great experience and we had a brilliant time.

Ar an seachtú lá is fiche d’Aibreán, bhí an deis ag seisear againn, ó Choiste an Chnoic, taisteal go Baile Átha Cliath in éineacht leis an Uasal Ó Ceallaigh, do Bhronnadh na nGaelbratach. Bhíomar an-bhródúil asainn an Ghaelbratach a bheith bainte amach again arís.

Roinneamar bus leis an gColáiste agus shriocheamar Coláiste Phádraig thart ar a haon déag ar maidin. Bhí an t-ádh déarg linn toisc go raibh an ghrian ag scoilteadh na gcloch agus bhí an deis againn cúpla féiníní (selfies) a thógáil freisin.

Ansin, bhuaileamar le Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, craoltóir de chuid RTÉ. Bhí píosa craic againn léi toisc go raibh suim aici in ár sciorta fada. Chomh maith leis sin, thógamar grúp phic i dteanna a chéile. Bhí anchuid scoileanna eile i láthair, idir bhunscoileanna agus mheánscoileanna. Bhí atmaisféar leictreach ann toisc go raibh gach mac máthair agus iníon athair ag caint is ag comhrá. Bhí banna ceoil ann freisin agus thosaigh gach duine ag damhsa agus ag canadh.

Le linn a óráide, mhol Eoghan Mac Diarmada an obair chrua a chur na scoileanna go léir isteach leis an mbratach a bhaint amach agus d’impigh sé orainn leanúint ar aghaidh ag spreagadh na Gaeilge i measc ár scoileanna. Ansin, bhronn sé Gaelbhratach ar bheirt dalta ó gach scoil. Chuaigh Aisling agus Megan suas ón gcoiste chun an Ghaelbhratach a fháil. Dúradh linn go mbeadh aoi speisialta ag an mbronnadh, ach ar an drochuair ní Ed Sheeran a bhí ann…! Ach cinnte, ba amhránaí den scoth í Sibéal Ní Chasaide. Ansin, chanamar amhrán bhFiann le chéile ag an deireadh.

Tar éis an tsearmanais áille, chuaigh an coiste ag spaisteoireacht timpeall Bhaile Bhlainséir agus ansin rinnemar cinneadh bia a fháil. Shriocheamar Luimneach thart ar a sé a chlog, ar mhuin na muice ach tuirseach traochta, caite amach.

Le Zoë Ní Mhuirris, Aoife Ní Mheadhra,Megan Nic an Tuile.

Congratulations to Rachel Warde who received the Entrance Scholarship Award from The University of Limerick for getting the highest points in her course. This is a brilliant achievement and everyone in Laurel Hill is very proud of her! We would like to wish her all the best in the future.

Rachel is pictured above with her parents at the award ceremony.

Laurel Hill Vocal & Instrumental Ensemble – ‘Sunshiny Days’, Laurel Hill Secondary School, Limerick

Second Prize, Post-Primary Schools, 2014 Waltons Music for Schools Competition.

Sadly, it has to be admitted that we all own an ‘S-Club 7’ CD and know every step to the ‘Macarena’. Indeed, time has changed us- and not for the better! Gone are the days of getting the ‘change in jellies please’ and a ‘99’ actually being 99p. When getting £1 going to the shop meant you were rich and spending Saturday mornings watching ‘Arthur’, trying your hardest to decide what animal he was. Before ‘Guess Who’ was electronic and owning your first pair of light-up flashing runners was a golden moment.

So tell me, has technology changed our lives for the better- or has it taken over our lives, turning teens into zombies?

“boring monotonous creatures” as our parents call us? As we would say (and seriously, we would) “Talk to the hand!’’Admittedly, us 90s kids can’t take the credit for Star Wars, Coronation Street or the ‘beehive’ but before our lives were consumed with social networking, the daily timetable being school-home-eat-Facebook-sleep, let me remind you of a time where bananas in stripy pyjamas chasing innocent teddy bears was part of our daily entertainment, along with a programme about the adventures of a dog being conjoined to a cat. Way better than today’s relatively normal children’s TV shows. Yes, before the days of spending your nights catching up on 90210 online or stalking e-bay for cheap Juicy Couture bags, believe it or not- we managed to entertain ourselves! Instead of worrying about being ‘tagged’ by your friends in the most HIDEOUS Facebook pictures or worse again, being snapped in the same outfit on three different nights, our biggest worry was that ‘Art Attack’ would mention a concoction that we couldn’t find in our art box just as our ‘fabulous’ creation was taking shape. Wherever would us kids have found the time for the internet? – Or the money for that matter with the amount spent on Pokémon cards, traded slyly in the corner of the playground.

Admittedly, social networking has lost its huge attraction lately. The same excitement felt when seeing ‘3 new friend requests’ is nothing compared to the excitement felt ‘back in our day’ on opening a new box of cereal to see what toy was lurking inside. Unlike the undying love we share for BN biscuits or the ‘furbie’ (no matter how many times he told you he was hungry), us fickle teens are slowly becoming bored of the internet (RIP Bebo). Of course, the internet has destroyed the music industry- not that any of us download songs for free, RIGHT girls

Kathryn McKeon