Posted by tbrown353 on Apr 9, 2009 in Whole School
St. Louis Students Visit Old Trafford and Anfield
The students of St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel recently embarked on their annual trip to England to watch a Premiership soccer match. In conjunction with Ulsterbus Educational Tours, the students would travel by Irish Ferries from Dublin to Holyhead and experience two nights in a hotel to facilitate their attendance at a top flight match. The most popular choice of venue in the planning stage again proved to be the ‘Theatre of Dreams’- Old Trafford, home of the current European and World Club Champions, Manchester United.
A party of 44 students, accompanied by 5 teachers, led by Mr. McVeigh and Mrs. Lynch, set out for the Manchester United game against Premiership rivals Aston Villa. The St. Louis party could not have chosen a more thrilling game as the ‘Reds’ eventually ran out 3-2 winners. They even got two Ronaldo goals to savour.
However, the game was but one event in a fantastic weekend adventure. The group also spent time shopping at the Cheshire Oaks Retail Park and the Trafford Centre and watched the recent blockbuster animation ‘Monsters v Aliens (3-D)’ at the cinema. The St. Louis party also spent a morning at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, which proved to be a big hit with the students who thoroughly enjoyed the hands on, interactive nature of the Museum.
An unexpected addition to the itinerary was the visit to Anfield for a ground and Museum tour. Due to the Champions League game v Porto, Old Trafford could not be accessed for a ground a museum tour. However, Ulsterbus Educational Tours quickly rearranged a tour of rivals Liverpool F.C.
The trip proved to be a resounding success, with the students gaining a vast array of new experiences, many of which will provide lifelong memories.
On Thursday 2nd April 2009 our school St. Louis Grammar School had a Spring Concert to raise money for the four year 14 pupils who are going to Zambia.
The show was packed with 2 hours of wonderful talent. There was a fashion show, orchestras, singing, rock bands, music from the 50s to the present day, Irish dancing and much more!
Rehearsals
The rehearsals were fun as you got to see other performers. When it was my turn to go on the stage (I was in the Junior Choir) I didn’t feel as nervous as there were not many people there. I never realised how many organization is required in getting ready. There were sound checks, dress rehearsals, the tuning of instruments, it was CHAOS!!
Waiting for my turn
When the night came I started to feel more nervous, you could hear it in my voice when I practised before going on stage but then I realised I needed to relax and enjoy myself. We all waited in the Home Economies room for the concert to start, you could hear the noise from the hall, it sounded like there could be a full house… and there was! The concert was completely sold out. Now everyone knew that we had to give an amazing performance. As time went by we could all see how nervous everyone was. One of the staff members came up to us and told us to go to the back of the stage. We waited behind the stage quietly for a few minutes and then it was our turn. We got partnered off and as I slowly came through the curtains I glanced at all the adults and children, it was packed with people. I took a deep breath, slowly the words streamed out of my mouth…
I had to sing with everyone at the end of the concert. It didn’t take long before I knew it was time, we rushed to the stage. We stood waiting for our queue to go on then everyone gathered around the stage singing the wonderful song “Hero”. It was so beautiful having everyone doing it. The performance was amazing! I wanted to do it again, but I couldn’t
This year’s concert was truly a great experience!
By Robyn O’ Hare 9C
Here are the latest pictures from the Spring Concert, staged on Thursday 2nd April.
On Friday the 26th of September our school held the annual European day of Languages.
Everyone lined up outside the entrance of the assembly hall. Excitement was buzzing all around as we were told earlier that week that all the Y10`s would be competing against each other (in groups of four) in a language quiz. The bell then rang as everyone ploughed through the doors to get a table. Everyone settled down as our teacher Miss Carr told us about what events would take place later that day and went through the instructions for the quiz. We were told there were six rounds, with every round based on a different topic, e.g. politics, history etc..
The first round then began (General Knowledge), the second round was history which consisted of questions like, who won the battle of waterloo? The third round was on politics with questions for instance like, who is the president of France? And who is the president of Ireland? By half time the points from the first three rounds had been counted, by that time some tables had 19 points while other tables had scores of around 4 and 7!
The next round focused mainly sport and we got the occasional easy question like, what is the tour de France? And who won the senior all-Ireland football match? Mrs Dunne then handed out the sheets for round 5 which was a picture round. We had about 5 minutes to write the names of about 12 different flags, e.g. Scotland and Lithuania. Then finally we started round six which was the language round. We had to spell word correctly either in Spanish, Irish or French, e.g. what is the French for `happy birthday`?
At the end the scores were as follows,
1st place – table 14
2nd place – table 1(my table)
3rd place – table 8
All the winners won a prize and got pictures taken. Then our new Spanish assistant preformed a dance for us. We were then told there was going to be a céilí. We all had to learn Tonnaí Thorraí where the boys were at one side and the girls were at the other side. Overall it was really good craic and a brilliant way to end the week!
The rain was pouring down on the 5th September but that did not dampen the spirits of year 14. After weeks of preparation and excitement, and many gallons of fake tan and buckets of hair gel, the time had come for the St Louis formal.
Much fun was had by all and one of the highlights of the night was a nostalgic look back at what we once were, with the baby photos that were shown, and who we are now, with statements read out which were ‘kindly’ written by our friends who definitely did not put us in our best light.
The evening proceeded with the presentation of awards which was amazingly well organised and only went wrong throughout the whole thing (thanks to Mr Brown for messing it up)! Some of the coveted categories were ‘Best Catchphrase’, rather deservedly won by Mr McKinney and Mr Sloan. And the award for biggest poser? We’ll let you guess which pupil won that one.
After the awards the ‘dancing’ started. All care for expensive dresses left our minds as ‘Rock the boat’ was blasted out of the speakers and teachers and pupils took to the dance floor. S Club 7 turned everyone back into 10 year olds again and surprisingly most remembered the dance routines. As the pupils filed out into the rain for the after formal party it was agreed that a fantastic night was had by all.
We are launching a new blog spot which will be written by any number of students or staff identifiable by Mr Brown and Ms King but not by students.