St Joseph’s CBS, Nenagh

Fun Run 2023: A successful annual 5km and 10km Fun Run took place on Sunday, January 22, starting and finishing on the school campus, with the circuits around the town. The prizewinners in the Fun Run 2023 were: Juvenile Male 5km - Cian Hodgins, Juvenile Female 5km - Tara Hanrahan and Jenny Talbot (crossed the finish line together), Adult Male 5km - Ladislav Stefka, Adult Female 5km - Patricia Quigley, Juvenile Male 10km - Diarmuid Moloney, Adult Male 10km - Tom Lupton, Adult Female 10km - Yvonne Kennedy.

Well done to all participants and thanks for supporting the Fun Run. Thanks to our students and Parents Association members who helped out as stewards on the course and for providing refreshments in the school hall afterwards.

North Tipp Hospice Fundraiser: We were delighted to welcome Albert Purcell and Ned Kelly to the school before Christmas to speak to our TYs about fundraising and the impact it can make on people's lives. Both these men do incredible work for many different charities, both local and abroad, and the boys were amazed by their passion and drive to make the world a better place for those less fortunate or struck down by illness. Albert is the driving force behind Christmas Tractors with Lights, the Ballycommon Ride and the wonderful concerts in St Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, to name but a few. Ned established In Tune for Life and organises and plays alongside his orchestra in many fantastic charity events throughout the year including the concert in St Mary's with Albert. Charities to benefit from these wonderful events have been Embrace Farm, The A-Team, Billy Goulding Recovery Fund, WorthFighting4 Allanah Sheehan) and of course a charity close to everyone's heart, the North Tipp Hospice. Our TY class, St Adrian's, held a big fundraiser in the school and raised a fantastic €850, which they were delighted to present to Albert and Ned after their talk. The men have hopefully inspired and motivated our students to continue to partake in, or organise fundraisers in the future, long after they leave the grounds of St Joseph's CBS behind. A massive thank you to Albert and Ned for sharing their valuable time with us, we really appreciate it.

Third Level Visits: We were delighted to welcome Ann McBride to the school recently to speak with our Sixth Year students about all the courses available at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Limerick and TUS Thurles. TUS is a very popular destination for third level study for our students every year and Ann outlined all the reasons why. Plenty to think about for our Sixth Years!

We were delighted to welcome Professor James Gleeson from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the University of Limerick to the school last week. Professor Gleeson gave a very interesting presentation to senior students about the Mathematics degrees available in the university.

They learned about the Bachelor of Science in Financial Mathematics, and also the Mathematics Common Entry route. A great opportunity to meet an expert in the field! Great to see a past pupil back in his alma mater passing on his knowledge and experience, inspiring our current cohort of students!

Geography Week: As part of our Geography Week at St Joseph's CBS Nenagh, we went ‘green’ on Friday, January 27. All staff and students wore something green on Friday in support of being more sustainable. Students brought in €2, for the non-uniform day, and the money raised will go towards additional planting for our Remembrance Garden in the school. There were Geography riddles every day announced over the intercom and some sustainable facts were given on a daily basis, such as recycling a single 330ml can saves enough energy to power a TV for over three hours.

Catholic Schools Week: The theme for Catholic Schools Week this year is Catholic Schools - Walking Together in Faith and Love. We celebrated with a reflection over the school intercom every day. Our Catholic school is a place where we learn to have faith in ourselves, in each other and in God. May we learn to have hearts of compassion, trust and love in everything we do, as we journey together in faith. We pray that God helps us to live like he has taught us to.

U14 Rugby Blitz: Well done to the U14 rugby team, who won all their games in the emerging schools rugby blitz, which took place in Bruff RFC. Thanks to Fifth Years Fionn O’Meara and Cillian Ryan for helping with Mr Gary Beresford-Miller with the coaching. Thanks to the Munster Strength and Conditioning Coaches for doing the warm up, at the blitz, and giving the players insights into improving their fundamental movement.

Team Maths Competition: Well done to our Sixth Year Higher Level Maths students who took part in the regional final of the Irish Maths Teachers Association (IMTA) Team Maths competition, on Friday night in Limerick. The team of four consisted of Emmet Kennedy, Fred Sheppard, Luke Purcell and Stephen Cunningham.

The boys competed against the best maths teams from Tipperary, Limerick and Clare. There are eight rounds of questions. The first six rounds have two questions and the last two rounds have four questions each. There is a time allocation of six minutes per round. All questions are based on the two year Leaving Certificate Higher Level course. From 18 teams competing, the Nenagh CBS team finished in joint Third Place after the eight rounds and had to take part in a tie-breaker, which didn’t go their way. A good night was had by all. Well done, boys and their teacher, Mr David O’Neill.