Leaving Cert Graduation images 2005
Leaving Cert Graduation Night
Ballinode College Leaving Cert Presentation and Graduation night was held at a ceremony in the school on Thursday 26th May 2005. Parents, guardians and close friends came to honour the class of 2005 as they prepared to bid adieu to second level education. Fr. Leonard Taylor, School Chaplain, Mr. Seamus Dolan, chairman of the Board of Management and Ms. Louise Feehily from Bank of Ireland also attended. The evening started with a prayer service, organised by Mrs. Mary Reynolds, in which each student took an active part. Ms. Charlotte Cullen represented the parents with a thought provoking reflection directed towards the young people themselves.
Mr. Justin Mc Carthy, Principal of the school, complimented the students and their parents on this important milestone in their lives, reminding them that education is a lifelong process and recalling people and events from their five years in the school. John Morrison replied eloquently on behalf of the students, remembering how they were in 2000, at the start of the new Millenium, when they moved to Ballinode College. He thanked the many people who have influenced and encouraged them on route to this day. Shane Wimsey was a popular and well deserving recipient of the Student of the Year award which is sponsored by the Bank of Ireland, Sligo. Mr. Maurice Meade,
Leaving Cert Year Head, paid a glowing tribute to Shane, outlining the reasons why the teachers chose him for such a prestigious honour. Sean Mulligan was selected as Sports Star of the Year and Mr. Brendan Wynne outlined his contribution to the sporting life and achievements of Ballinode College. Sean was presented with his award by Mr. Seamus Dolan. A special award was made to Liam Richie by Mr. Mc Carthy. Mr. Tom Rodgers told us of Liam’s dedication and focus on school life, together with his pleasant and agreeable personality. The evening was much enhanced by the contribution of the school choir under the musical direction of Ms. Mary Foody. Afterwards some light refreshments were provided as an end to a very pleasant evening.
Junior Student of the Year
On Monday 30th May, at an assembly of Junior Students, Alan O’Rourke was presented with the Junior Student of the Year award by Mrs. Tuohy, Year Head of the third year class. On presenting the award, Mrs. Tuohy spoke of his many admirable qualities and his positive contribution to the life of the school. First year students Jonathan Reynolds and Ryan Kane were this year’s recipients of the scholarship to the Gaeltacht awarded each year by Co. Sligo V.E.C. They will spend three weeks in Coláiste Chiaráin, An Cheathrú Rua, Co. na Gaillimhe.
PLC Graduations in Ballinode College 2005
The end of the PLC 2005 year was crowned by the Graduation Night 2005 on Thursday 11th May. An outstanding exhibition of project work was displayed by the students of Furniture Design and Interior Design to accompany the ceremony. The Students of Programming and Information Technology, Business Administration, Business and Legal Studies, Applied Social Studies and Community Care with Nursing Studies were relieved to complete their exams, submit their projects and relax for the evening.
A large group of students some from Germany, Kenya, Zimbabwe and all over Ireland attended the graduation evening with family and friends. The evening started off with an inspired musical performance by the classical guitarist Keith O’Donnell, a former pupil of the school. The principal Mr Justin McCarthy welcomed the huge numbers of students and guests. Mrs Mary Bohan of FETAC congratulated all the students on all the skills they had acquired during the year and wished them good luck in their future careers and further studies. Mr Tony Murphy of NCAD and currently a teacher in the college spoke on the value of Further Education courses in the personal development and growth of the student. The one year courses allow students to focus and have an intense engagement with their chosen area of study, leading to a greater level of maturity of students progressing to third level. He spoke very highly of the standard of projects in the practical and visual area. All the students who completed the year were presented with certificates from the college.
Awards were presented in each class to students for diligence, dedication achieving high standards during the course of the year.
Prizewinners 2004-2005
Business Administration Syveen Maguire
Programming and Information Technology Angeline Marren
Applied Social Studies 2 Lorna Maxwell
Ina Hinz
Applied Social Studies 1 Dumezweni Nkala
Furniture Design Dervilla Mullen
Interior Design Yvonne Anders
PLC Courses can offer you 400 points.
Further Education (PLC) courses offer students of all ages an alternative avenue to third Level courses. New changes this year allow students to attain 400 points in one year of study. A distinction in each module is the equivalent of 50 points and a total of 8 modules can be taken in one session. Details of these new developments can be found on the FETAC or CAO website.
Ballinode College, Sligo is the largest Further Education College in the North West offering courses in Furniture Design, Interior Design, Programming and Information Technology, Business Administration, Business with Legal Studies, Applied Social Studies and Community Care with Nursing Studies. These courses allow students to focus and engage intensively with their chosen area of study. A broad range of transferable skills are acquired such as wood and metal craft, design, presentation, communications, computer aided design and many others. Students present projects and assignments on a continuous basis throughout the year.
Students like Cathy Glynn, who has deferred a place in National School Teaching, has taken the opportunity to explore and develop her creative talents in Interior Design. These skills will be invaluable in her future career. Tina Glynn, a science graduate, has taken this course in Interior Design as a first step towards changing her career path. Dervilla Mullen and Finian Gunning have set their sights on courses in Furniture Design in Letterfrack and to this end have prepared portfolios and a substantial body of work.
Angeline, student of the year in Programming and Information Technology, is a former student of Sligo IT who wished to change direction and used the course in Programming to confirm that this was her preferred area of study. She hopes to progress to a degree in Computing specialising in Networking next autumn.
Many former Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert Applied Students who want to progress to further education and career changes can use the PLC/FETAC course to satisfy entry requirements. Charlene, Vincent, Lorraine are some of the students who have chosen a PLC course in Applied Social Studies as a route to furthering their education in Third Level.
This year the module Introduction to Nursing Studies was introduced as it fulfils requirements for entry to nursing courses. Lorna, Linda, Samantha are among those wishing to pursue a career in nursing.
Many non-national students were welcome participants in our PLC courses. In fact this year their contribution has been outstanding. Yvonne Anders attained Best Student in Interior Design as well as completing a course in Sligo It in Environmental Science. Ina Hinz also completed Applied Social Studies and will continue her studies in dietetics in Third level.
Going directly to work is a very viable option for PLC students and many such as Angela, Geraldine, Syveen, Erin, Dolores will become employees in the business community as a result of acquiring many skills during the year. There continues to be a strong demand for graduates as a result of our reputation.
Further information can be had from the secretary in Ballinode College, Ballinode, Sligo at 071 91 45480
U10 Gaelic Blitz
The U-16 Gaelic Football Blitz took place in Ballymote recently. Our team of nine players performed admirably considering our lack of Gaelic football experience. We lost narrowly by a point to Gurteen, were well beaten by a physically stronger Easkey team and then in the last game we went down narrowly to Ballymote despite a spirited performance. Unfortunately, we lost our goalkeeper Jonathan Reynolds due to injury in the first match and this upset our balance. We wish Jonathan a speedy recovery.
Best on the day for Ballinode were David Cox, Eythan Mooney, James Gethins, Alan Keogh, Darren Sweeney, Kyle Jennings, Gerry Ward, Ryan Kane and Ryan Lait.
Thanks to Mr. Wynne and Mr. Johnson for organising the day.
Table Tennis
On Friday 13th May, Lee Cullen, Kenneth Young and Christian Ellert represented the school in an inter-schools table tennis tournament in the Loftus Hall, Ballymote. Having played Gurteen and Ballymote, we got through to the finals against Easkey and were hoping to repeat last year’s success. However, despite our best efforts in skill and concentration we ended as runners up. Thanks to Mr. Johnson for organising a very enjoyable and sociable outing and to Mrs. Tuohy for bringing us there.
Engineering Exams
On Thursday 5th May Leaving Cert Engineering students did their six hour practical test and on Friday 6th May Junior Certs did a similar three hour test. Already pre-examination requirements had been completed in preparation for the exams. On the day, students had to construct a detailed mechanism from a drawing. Wide ranging skills are applied and precision is of the essence so that the finished project will function properly.
Construction Studies
On May 11th, Leaving Cert students had a four hour examination in which they had to construct a prescribed piece of traditional joinery. This year they were asked to make a CD rack which consisted of a separate unit for holding CDs, mounted on a stand. Students thought the project was challenging in relation to the amount of time they had, but overall they were pleased with their performances.
Drama
Following our production of “No Comet Seen” last year, John Morrison, Shane Wimsey, Adrian O’Neill and Liam Richie were invited to take part, along with students from other schools, in a ten week drama workshop, facilitated by Mr. Peter Milne. Throughout the course we took part in various exercises to help us use our imaginations and develop our acting techniques. The final night was an open workshop attended by members of the Drama Circle and invited guests. It was the culmination of all we had been doing for the previous nine weeks and consisted mainly of improvisations exploring themes and issues. We explored themes such as “who controls who” enacted by a “puppeteer and a puppet, “ and the “outwardly happy public face v the inner person.” Since these situations were not scripted, not only did we act out the scenarios but we had to deliver relevant lines. We would like to thank Mr. Peter Milne and Sligo Drama Circle for giving us the opportunity to take part in this innovative course and to Ms. Frances Ryan for her involvement and encouragement. We hope we can continue our link with Sligo Drama Circle in the future.
National Gallery Visit
Last week the Leaving Cert one and two Art classes took a welcome break from school routine to visit the National Gallery of Ireland. Mr. Meade, our Art teacher had organised a guided tour for us and we viewed and were given a commentary on works by Jack B. Yeats, Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Carravaggio and many more. The whole experience has brought to life and added a new dimension to our study of Art History. From there, we went to the Natural History Museum where we were fascinated by the diverse species of animals, insects and fish that existed in ancient Ireland. After lunch, there was time for some shopping and everyone enjoyed the day which was enhanced by the glorious weather. We would like to thank Mr. Meade for organising and accompanying us on a very varied and interesting trip.
Soccer
A team from our first and second year students played a return friendly match against Grange on our home ground on May 18th. Both teams were evenly matched and it proved to be a very competitive and closely contested game. Although Ballinode took an early lead, it was soon cancelled out with a low shot which was too hard for the goalkeeper to hold on to, and it rolled into the net. Grange scored again with a shot from outside the eighteen yard box that went in off the post. Ballinode came back with two goals in quick succession and this set up a great finale. The teams exchanged goals and eventually it finished a 4:4 draw. Scorers for Ballinode were Lee Maguire, Gerry Ward, Paul Loftus and Brendan Glynn. We would like to thank Grange for a sporting and entertaining game of football and to Mr. Wynne and Mr. Fahy for organising it.