AlexPress January 2025
Principal's Update
Welcome to our January edition of AlexPress, which is packed full of interesting pieces about college life, alumna stories, and generally all things good about Alex.
We are really looking forward to the lengthening evenings and the brighter mornings that lie ahead, and, indeed are beginning to manifest in recent days, and moving away from the darkness of winter. January has been a particularly challenging month weatherwise and I know I, for one, cannot wait to say goodbye to the two-faced Janus.
Enjoy the reading ahead and a big ‘thank you’ to Sarah Flaherty, our Marketing Director, for the herculean work she puts into AlexPress and all our communications.
Parenting the Tech-Savvy Child Webinar Series
A new session of the Parenting the Tech-Savvy Child Webinar series will begin next week on Wednesday 5 February at 7pm.
This webinar series by Dr. Richard Hogan of the Parenting and Technology Institute helps parents learn progressive approaches to modern parenting. Upskill and gain confidence to guide and support your child in a positive way to address risks with modern devices and technology and thrive as a family.
Course Duration
4 consecutive weeks, 1 hour on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm from Wednesday 5 February until Wednesday 25 February 2025
Each week, we will send the Zoom details to parents and they will be available on our website. To learn more about the programme, please visit the link below.
Parenting the Tech-Savvy Child Webinar Series
Mock Exam Timetables
The 3rd Year and 6th Year Mock Exam timetables are available on the College website below.
Sports Fixtures
Next week's sports fixtures are now available on our website below:
Community News
Alumna Spotlight - Fiona Gallagher
Each month, the Alumna Spotlight highlights the journeys of Alex Alumnae, showcasing their achievements and the impact their experiences at Alex have had on their careers and lives. This month we are delighted to feature Fiona Gallagher, Alex Class of 1993 and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank International, International Head of Commercial Banking.
Call for Kolkata 2025
As you all may already know, the Kolkata girls have started collecting various toys, clothes, supplies and essentials for our upcoming trip to Kolkata on 12 March in order to bring various items with us, which are generously donated by staff, students, and parents and the Alex community in general each year. All donations are always greatly appreciated by the children, teenagers and adults who receive them! We have attached the list of everything that we are looking for,
All donations are greatly appreciated, and any donations should be dropped into Ms McCoy's room before 28 February.
Specific Requirements:
- Toothbrush,
- Body soap,
- Hair Oil,
- Body oil / Body lotion, Shampoo
- Small Towels, Bed sheets
- Small Toys
- Colouring crayons/ paints / markers
General requirements:
- Vitamin C lollipops (many pharmacies will donate these- letters can be obtained from Ms. McCoy if needed)
- Balloons
- Bubbles
- Lightweight clothes for children and adults of all ages (male and female)
- Bibs (0-6yrs)
- Baby blankets
- Toothbrushes, facecloths, bars of soap, disposable razors, hairbrushes, combs, hair bobbins
- Anything suitable for arts and crafts in creches/Montessori schools- colouring books, picture books, pencils, crayons, copybooks, colourful posters, craft scissors, coloured paper, glue sticks, foam shapes, lollipop sticks etc.
- Small activity sets for children in hospital- paint by numbers, foil art, cross stitch sets etc.
- Cards/ dominoes/chess sets/ balls of wool and knitting needles/ cross stitch kits- given to the adult patients in the hospital the majority of whom are illiterate
- Single bed duvet sets in white for the hospital (bed sheets flat and fitted, pillowcases etc.)
- Pants and socks for all ages both male and female
- Wide elastic for playing French skipping!
- The teenage girls love receiving individual gifts, perhaps a washbag filled with things such as hairbrush, lip balm, bath bombs, hair bobbins etc. (ages 9-17yrs)
For Children with Additional Educational Needs (SICW):
- Games and puzzles with large pieces as many of the children have difficulty with fine motor skills
- Ring throw games
- Duplo bricks / building blocks (plastic as wooden blocks are too heavy to transport)
- Plasticine/playdough/slime
- Fidget spinners
- Interactive toys/books and toys that light up/make sounds
- Art sets with large brushes and large areas for the children to paint
- Small musical instruments e.g. tambourines, tin whistle, recorder etc.
- Toys that light up/fibre optic lights
NO LARGE SOFT TOYS PLEASE OR SOILED CLOTHING
MAD Festival 2025
We are looking forward to the upcoming first annual MAD Festival!
DramFest 2025
Entry Form Deadlines
Senior School: Wednesday 5 February
Junior School: Wednesday 12 February
The Drama Department is busy getting ready for our highlight of the year, the 21st Alexandra College Festival of Poetry and Drama. DramFest has been a brilliant tradition since 2004, and this year, we’re celebrating 21 years of incredible performances, creativity, and talent!
What started as a way for students to shine in front of an audience has grown into a brilliant showcase where families and friends can come together to celebrate all the hard work the girls have put in. This year, DramFest will be a part of the brand-new MAD Festival, a two-week celebration that’s all about highlighting the best of Music, Art, and Drama at Alexandra College. And we are so excited.
Get ready for the big competition weekend on March 1st and 2nd! We have a jam-packed line up featuring solo drama, improv, poetry, Shakespeare, public speaking, duologues, and even a special competition for 3rd–6th Years with self-directed scripts! Students from the Junior School and Senior School will be performing and there is going to be lots of talent on show. We can’t wait for you to be there to cheer on these amazing performers!
This year’s panel of adjudicators are experts who have adjudicated many competitions at home and all over the world, including the fantastic Maeve O'Donoghue returning as head adjudicator. You’ll also see Anna Walker, Evelyn O'Sullivan, and Frances Harney on the panel.
All students who take classes in Drama and Public Speaking will be taking part in these competitions. Entry forms and competition details are available below:
Band Night at Alex
Wednesday 5 March 2025 in the Senior School Concourse
We are happy to announce the brand new Band Night at Alex that's taking place as a part of the MAD Festival this year! We will be welcoming bands from all over Dublin to perform, including our own school band. Tickets are available at the link below:
All of the proceeds will go towards Transition Year students fundraising for Cliona’s. Cliona’s is an incredible Irish charity that helps the families of seriously ill children, and it’s a great cause to support.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Junior DramSoc presents Happily Never After
Wednesday 26 February at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Preparations are well under way for the Junior DramSoc production of ‘Happily Never After’ by Christine Hope with adaptations and additions by Grace Marr and the cast! ‘Happily Never After’ is set in fairytale times where everyone is living quite peacefully. Peaceful until the evil villains band together to put a stop to all the happiness and cheer across Pantoland. After that, things go downhill fast for all the goodies. When all hope is lost, everyone swarms to find the Fairy Godmother to help them with her magic but discover that her wand is missing. After realising their heavy reliance on the magic of the Fairy Godmother, they decide to stand on their own two feet and find happiness without the help of her magical powers. The villains, however, despise this and decide to stop them. A battle between Good and Evil ensues, but who will win?
Come along and support this performance which is set to kick off the MAD Festival on Wednesday 26 February at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm in the Concourse. Tickets will be available after the midterm break on Monday 24th, Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th February and we look forward to welcoming you to our show.
Pressing Pieces - Monoprint Workshop for Parents and Alumnae
Make your own Monoprints with print artist Clare Henderson. Using dried leaves and flowers provided by the artist you can spend time playing with composition and colour, leaving the workshop with your very own hand made set of prints. You can also bring your own items to print from, anything dry and thin can be tried.
When - Thursday 27 February, 7 pm - 9 pm
Where - Alexandra College Senior School Art room
Who - Parents, guardians, alumnae and friends
'Pressing Pieces' is a short print workshop that ensures every participant leaves the workshop with one or two handmade prints of leaf, flower or shape silhouettes. The prints are made by rolling coloured ink onto plastic sheets and incorporating different colours with different elements. Dried leaves, flowers and paper shapes and pieces are all provided, along with all other tools and materials. You get your own artwork at the end but there is an element of collaboration involved.
It's a very accessible workshop, yielding results you could happily put on your wall. This workshop does not use single use plastics and there is no drawing involved.
We have a max of 14 participants, so book your place on EasyPayments ASAP!
Staff Spotlight - Alanagh Clegg
Each month, we feature a member of our staff in our Staff Spotlight! This month, we spoke to Alanagh Clegg, art teacher in the Senior School, about her time in Alex.
Junior School News
This month's Junior School News features our weather girls in KG Lower, Chinese New Year celebrations, and more!
IAMTA Junior Problem-Solving Competition
On Thursday the 23rd of January, two teams of Alex students participated in the regional IAMTA (Irish Applied Mathematics Teachers' Association) Junior Problem-Solving Competition. The competition took place in Oatlands College in Stillorgan and twenty four teams from schools all around the region took part, with students from 3rd Year and TY. The girls were tasked with solving challenging problems related to the Junior Cycle maths curriculum under strict timed conditions. It was fantastic to see the girls work as a team and push themselves as the rounds progressed. Alexandra College were very proud to boost the number of girls' teams at the competition as girls tend to be underrepresented at competitions such as these. In the end, Alex came out with a fantastic result: 2nd place for Alex Team B, meaning they will progress to the national final in Athlone on March 22nd. We hope to continue representing the college in competitions such as these going forward, to celebrate and challenge our mathematically-minded students.
Alex Team A: Kate M (4T), Sophie M (3H), Sadhbh Y (3S), Sophie K (4O)
Alex Team B: Alvina A (3R), Lucy G (4O), Jasmine Z (3B), Belinda W (4T)
Hermione Headlines
This month's edition of the Hermione Headlines features the our Chinese New Year celebrations, a trip to Funderland, and more!
TY Competition Day 2025
On Wednesday the 16th of January, all TYs had competition day for our mini companies. First thing in the morning we set up our stalls just like market day in the HWC. Each company was assigned a table. The judges were Mr Keane, Ms Biondi and an external special judge. Throughout the day, each of them came and talked to us about our business and asked us questions like what was our biggest challenge when running our mini company, what new skills did we learn and were we planning on continuing to run our business. Overall, it was a great day and it was nice to have a proper look at all the other companies as market day was so hectic. It also felt like a really good opportunity to gain interview experience as we had to answer questions from the judges on the spot as a team. The standard of competition was so high and all of the other mini companies were amazing. When we got to the stage when the judges started announcing the prizes, we didn’t have much expectations as our competitors were so good so we were absolutely delighted to hear that our company Fur and Flair won first prize! Blissful Bundles came in second place and Touch of Warmth came in third. There were a few other prizes awarded too for things like originality, best teamwork and best presentation and display. It was so nice that all of our hard work and time that we put into making our dog bandanas paid off. It was such an exciting day and definitely one of our biggest highlights from TY so far, certainly a day to remember!
All winners:
1st Prize: Fur and Flair
2nd Prize: Bliss Bundles
3rd Prize: Touch of Warmth
Originality: Yondr charms & Portyasosi
Quality and Production: Stitch!
Best Business Report: Twinkle Tree
Presentation display: Cookie Jar
Teamwork: Pretty Pouches
Attractive to investors: Silly Slime
Societal Relevance: AssiStudy
BELVOMUN at Belvedere College
On the 17th and 18th of January the Alex Model UN team attended Belvedere College's first MUN conference. As soon as we stepped through the doors we knew that it was going to be an amazing event. Each committee was so organised but still relaxed and fun. There were a lot of very interesting topics for debate such as the situation of the Korean border and drug use in adolescence. A special mention to our 5 new members who attended their first conference and did wonderfully! Unfortunately we didn’t win any awards but everyone had a great time and definitely made some lasting memories.
Sports Report January 2025
Minor Soccer
Well done to our minors, who won their cup match yesterday against Coláiste Pobail 3-0, and now move on to the Quarter Finals!
Senior Hockey
Senior 1 vs Loreto Beaufort 1-1 (Friendly)
Senior 1 vs Teresians 0-0 (League)
Senior 1 vs Newbridge 4-2 (League)
Senior 1 vs Mt Sackville 5-0 (Plate)
Senior 2 vs Holy Child Killiney 1-1 (League)
Senior Development vs Salerno 3-1 (Friendly)
Senior 3 vs Mt Sackville 1-0 (League)
Senior 4 vs Loreto Dalkey 3-0 (League)
Junior Hockey
Junior 1 vs Muckross 1-1 (League)
Junior Cup vs Wilsons Hospital 12-0 (Cup)
Junior 1 vs Templecarrig 3-1 (League)
Junior 3 vs Newbridge 1-0 (League)
Minor Hockey
Minor 1 vs Loreto Stephens Green 2-0 (League)
Minor 1 vs St Killians 6-0 (Cup)
Minor 3 vs St Andrews 2-0 (League)
1st Year Hockey
First Year 3 vs Teresians 2-0 (League)
First Year 4 vs St Killians 0-1 (League)
First Year 3 vs St Conleths 2-3 (League)
TY Social Outreach Virtues Questionnaire
In October 2024, Ms. Quinn's Transition Year Social Outreach classes took upon the project of exploring Aristotle's Ten Virtues. The students created ten student questionnaires exploring each of the ten virtues and sent them to our school community. Below you will find the results of these questionnaires.
Thanks to all those who completed our questionnaires. We greatly appreciate it!