Summer Redsokz 2016

The Summer edition of Redsokz is now online. Access it here. Enjoy!

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Leaving and Junior Certificate Timetables 2016

Leaving Certificate Timetable 2016

Junior Certificate Timetable 2016

Best of luck to all students

Summer Garden Fête, 15th May

Villiers Garden Fête
Sunday 15th May

Only a few days to go until the first ever Villiers School Summer Garden Fête. The event is building on the success of our Dinner Dance and once again this is being organised by the Parent Teacher Association Fundraising Committee. 

This group have been really busy and have organised a fun-filled day for all ages. Bouncy castle, cake stall, plant stall, book stall, fabulous barbecue, bric-a-brac, there promises to be something here for all the family on Sunday afternoon. With a little sunshine and good cheer we are looking forward to an wonderful afternoon filled with Villiers spirit!

All proceeds will be donated to the Derravoher Restoration Fund.

Sci Fest Success on the Double for Villiers Students

Building on Daniel's terrific win in the Junior Competition, we are hugely proud of Sam Davern, Alannah Fox and Gabriel Seth who won won the LIT Technology category prize for their project ‘HEAD - Humanitarian Emergency Aid Device’ – a highly durable and portable medicines refrigeration unit using an ammunition box and integrated solar panel.

The event was hosted by LIT’s Department of Applied Science. SciFest is an all-inclusive, all-island science initiative which fosters active, collaborative and inquiry-based learning among second-level students. It involves second-level students showcasing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) projects at a series of one day science fairs held locally in schools and regionally in the 14 Institutes of Technology, DCU and St. Mary’s College, Derry. SciFest is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland, Intel and Boston Scientific. The winners from each regional science fair go on to compete at a national final in November 2016.

Well done to all our students for all their research and endeavours for this event. It is truly inspiring to see such interest in the STEM subjects in Villiers.

Ski Trip 2016

Fantastic Ski Video and Photos!

Ski 2016 Video

As we approached the ski trip of 2016, it was really unusual to be looking at snow reports of zero snowfall for large parts of the Alps and Dolomites. Some areas had better conditions than others but stories of New Year holidays in snow free zones where skiing was difficult if not impossible seemed to loom larger on us as Feb 13^th approached. As it happened, San Martino di Castrozza had its first snowfall in a long time the week before we travelled and there was more to come!

Probably the longest transfer from Airport to destination we have encountered was not helped by a late arrival in our hotel and the hours for sleep were few before ski fit on Sunday morning at 7.30!

Tired but excited, we transferred to the main lift area to take the gondola up to meet our instructors. The day was snowy and visibility was quite poor so conditions were tough all day, particularly for the less experienced when cloud and snow all around you can be a little unsettling. However, all got moving and the ski area was impressive. A really good nursery slope gave our beginners a good challenge and some took to the sport like ducks to water. Parallel stops after one day is quite impressive!

The following days brought an incredible contrast in conditions. We saw two fabulous days of sunshine with excellent snow conditions and another few days of low cloud and poor light. Our visit to the local skating rink was for skating on a thin layer of snow on the outdoor rink. When the sun shone, the scenery and skylines were breathtaking with chair lifts and slopes bringing us through dramatic mountain scenes.

The group were absolutely brilliant with smiles and enthusiasm meeting the sun and good humour and a bit of grit getting everybody through the tougher days. Unfortunately, we saw a fairly high level of sickness during the week but all tried to keep the time away from the mountains as short as possible.

There was a night time flood-lit slope in the town but given the conditions during the previous few months it was open only occasionally. On the night it was open during our week there, the temperatures had dropped and the preparation work on the slope being minimal, the word was that it was somewhat dangerous. We had a scout out to see what the truth of this was and the word back was that it wasn’t safe so the plan was, unfortunately, scrapped.

The ski area separate from the main mileage in San Martino is in the nearby Passo Rolle which we took a bus to on our last day, accompanied by our instructors. A bright morning gave way to a more overcast afternoon but saw an ever more confident group tackle the slopes in a spectacular setting.

The fatigue of the first day forgotten, the week went in a blur of activity, fun and friendship. Once again, as staff, we found ourselves in the company of a great group of students who have a great deal to offer the world in their lives ahead. We wish them all the best and hope that this week might encourage them to return at some future time to enjoy the fantastic sport of skiing.

         

TY Drama - The Beggar's Opera

Villiers School presents ‘The Beggar’s Opera’

Rehearsals are well underway for this year's TY Drama Production ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ which will see over 50 students take to the Belltable stage in a classic play by John Gay which has been adapted by Darren Maher and former Villiers student Maeve Stone.

Macheath, outlaw and regular of Newgate Penitentiary is in trouble with the law yet again! However this time, he’s not inside for thieving, robbing or riding his Harley too fast- this time it’s the women in his life that put him back on death row.

Miss Polly, a pageant queen and daughter of the town’s crooked lawyer Peachum, has her eyes set on Macheath, but she’s not the only one! Lucy Lockitt, daughter of the drunken prison warden has also enjoyed a roll in the hay with Macheath. With backstabbing, thievery and jealousy rife in the town, Macheath has made plenty of enemies. Is there any way that he can escape the chair? Will there be a reprieve?

This seminal work written in 1726 has been re-written and transposed to the Deep South by Maher and Stone and features pageant queens, Hell’s Angles, prisoners, ladies of the night and hillbillies among many more typical Deep South references and features the music of Adele, The Beatles, Roy Orbison, Disney, Dolly Parton and many more!

Directed by Ann Blake and Niamh Bowen, The Beggar’s Opera will be brought to the stage by Villiers Transition Year students performing and working on all aspects of production. Director, Ann Blake  stated, “This is a unique and wonderful opportunity for Transition Year students, who experience all aspects of production through mentorship and apprenticeship. I’m particularly excited about this year’s show. Maeve and Darren have done a wonderful job re-writing the original text and modernising it! I would have loved an opportunity like this when I was in Transition Year.” Co-director Niamh Bowen is equally enthused, “They are a great group to work with, this year’s show is going to offer audiences something different to previous shows, and it is an opera, so there’s a lot more songs!’

The play runs for two nights on Thursday May 19th and Friday May 20th at 8pm in Belltable, 69 O’Connell Street, Limerick.

Tickets available from School Reception 061 451 447 – Adult €15, Concession €10 and from www.limetree.ie

SciFest Winner - Daniel Farushev

Congratulations to Daniel Farushev (Form 1) winner of the Intel Prize for Best Practical Application in Technology at SciFest in Limerick Institute of Technology. Congratulations also to all students who took part in the event and to their teacher Mr. O' Hanlon.

SciFest is a series of one-day science fairs for second-level students hosted locally in schools and at regional level in third level colleges.

The SciFest project consists of four distinct strands – local, regional, national and international. The aim of the project is to encourage a love of science, technology and maths through active, collaborative, inquiry-based learning and to provide a forum for students at local, regional and national level to present and display their scientific investigations.