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December
December 2014
@VilliersSchool
@villiersSchool
RedSokz Christmas 2014
Volume XIV, Issue II
The Christmas season has snuck up on us again, but
don’t worry, we here at Red Sokz have been keeping a
close eye out and we have all the cheesy holiday goodness you need! From Siobhán’s great gift ideas for your
friends or pesky secret santa’s to the return of punny
puns with Kate O’Dwyer. And for anyone who’s itching
to get out and be ‘cultural’, Holly has planned out
some entertaining events going on in Limerick
throughout the winter months.
For all you humbugs out there, don’t you worry we still
have our regular old articles littered about. Kate Kelly
returning with her bodacious beauty products, Luke
giving us the lowdown of the Video Game news, Jenny
and Holly teaming up for Harsh but True and a review
of ‘Gone Girl’ written by yours truly.
Sadly however, this is the current team’s last publication. We have had such great fun here working on this
and we encourage anyone reading this to try it out
when they get to TY. On a brighter note, think of this
as our Christmas present to you all!
So thanks to you all for reading, we all appreciate the
feedback we got and we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!
~ Redsokz Team
Christmas Shoe Box Appeal 2014
Villiers School were delighted
again this year to get involved in
the Team Hope Christmas shoe
box appeal. Every year Villiers
School students, staff and parents
are great to get involved in this
very worthy cause. This year 72
boxes were collected and next
year we hope that this number
will grow.
A big thank you to Sinead O'Donnell-Stolz, in 3T, and her family
who put together 40 Christmas
shoe boxes. This year the Team
Hope shoeboxes from Ireland
will go to street children, orphans, children in hospital, poor
families, victims of war or other
needy peoples in the following
countries in Eastern Europe and
former Soviet Union and Africa –
Romania, Kosova, Ukraine, Lesotho, Rwanda etc.
Luke Devine
Christmas shoeboxes collected by Villers students, staff, and parents
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Fashion Show!
On the 23rd of October, Villiers held its 25th annual fashion show. As always, Hillary Thompson and her models
came into the school to teach the TY students how to
walk and act like a model while also helping directing
routines. The 80+ students that participated practiced
over a period of 5 weeks in the school, to eventually
sport clothes from over 15 different shops on the night.
Some of the shops that kindly lent their clothes were
Stitch, Tailor of Blue, Dorothy Perkin, Xpose and many
more. All ticket proceeds and money from raffle tickets
totalled up to over €800 and was donated to Ian’s Trust,
a charity that supports families of children who suffer
from ‘Acquired Brain Injury’.
The show itself took place in the Radisson Blu hotel from
8pm till 11pm, ending with two students presenting both
the announcer Ms Woods and the figurehead, Hillary
with a bouquet each. We all look forward to watching
next years show getting to see the production from the
audience rather than back stage!
Ryan O’Shaughnessy
TY Drama
This year the transition year
students will be performing
The Bad Apple by Maeve
Stone, with the massive help
of Niamh and Anne, who are
currently helping us with rehearsals and casting.
We are very excited to get
involved and hope our hard
work will pay off. The show
will run from the 28th to the
29th of January. Most of the
TY students are involved in
some way, either onstage or
backstage, and we hope to
do Niamh and Anne proud.
Siobhán Murphy
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
School Bank
On the 20th of November 2014 Villiers opened its school bank, run by 10 Transition
Year students. This bank is associated with the Bank of Ireland and two bank representatives Yvonne Quilter and Ruth Hogan help the students to run it. It is open every
Thursday in Room 11 where you can open a 2nd level account or make a lodgement.
For every twenty-five accounts set up the school receives €250 from Bank of Ireland,
which is being donated to Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital. When we get 50 accounts set
up we will receive an iPad to raffle off between all of the account holders in school.
Once we receive 100 accounts, everyone who has previously opened an account will be
put into a raffle for two tickets to a Munster Match. The account can also be used for
saving money for school trips and if a student sets up a standing order they will receive
a free Munster Rugby school bag. Accounts holders who are over 16 are eligible to receive a VISA Debit Card. This comes with a 20% discount in select stores such as Elverys,
Dominos and many more.
Bank of Ireland representatives presented the Secondary Schools Programme to all TY's
last October. The Bank Schools programme involves establishing and operating a School
Bank, School Bank Incentives, Learn to Earn Modules, a Finance Field Trip, In Class Presentations, Classical Musician Awards and a Junk Kouture Fashion & Art Competition. All
Transition Year students were invited to apply for positions to operate the School Bank
and the following candidates were successful after an interview process: Lena Zur Nedden, Sofia De Juan, Luke Devine, Ryan O’ Shaughnessy, Kate O’ Dwyer, Eleanor Noonan,
Reece Gavin, Grace Cox, Sam Clein and James Howard
The team have marketed the School Bank by holding presentations on the benefits and
objectives of a Bank of Ireland Student Account and the incentives and offers available.
The Bank of Ireland continues to work with the School Bank team, creating marketing
strategies and planning future events, and is committed to a full Financial Education
Programme for the 2014/15 Transition Year Students at Villiers Secondary School.
Carmina Burana
This year a TY choir was offered as it was one of the TY Modules. We were invited to perform among the Limerick Choral Union & Orchestra with Galway Choral Association in a
piece called Carmina Burana. When we found out that we would be partaking in this concert, intense rehearsals began to take place every Friday morning with a once off visit
from the conductor Malcolm Green. We performed the coro piccolo section of the piece,
and were split into Soprano 1’s, Soprano 2’s and Altos. It was a great experience for us
students to perform with such a big and talented choir and orchestra and we really enjoyed the night.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Mun 2014
MUN this year was tremendous fun for all involved.
Unfortunately,
with MUN being hugely
popular with 4th and 5th
years, students had to be
split into two different
groups, EgMUN and SiegMUN.
EgMUN was in Espergærde
Gymnasium in Denmark.
Mostly 5th years attended
this conference as it was a
MUN built for experienced
debaters, but I’m sure the
munners had great fun!
During the trip, in addition
to attending the MUN conference, the students went
shopping at the Christmas
markets, took a trip to the
amusement park, had
lovely dinners in a really
nice restaurants in the city
and went to the Tivoli Gardens
in
Copenhagen,
which I’m told was amazing and enjoyed by all.
SiegMUN was just as exciting with the students going
to Bonne Cologne and
Siegen in Germany.
In addition to debating, the
Christmas markets were
amazing, as well as the
Lindt Chocolate Factory.
They went to the Cologne
Cathedral, but unfortunately nobody climbed it,
although it would have a
great view!
The students stayed in a
hostel for the first night
and then moved on into
Siegen where the actual
conference was held. After
three days of solid debating, the conference was
over and everyone was
ready to go home, but not
before the awards ceremony! Congratulations to
Seán Browne and Sam
Clein for winning the best
delegates award in their
individual conferences!
Jasvir Kalsi
Seán and Sam proudly
holding their awards
A sweet treat at EgMUN
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
London Trip 2014
This year’s London tour was a jam-packed three days of singing, dancing and, how could we
forget, shopping. We arrived in London early on Thursday morning with only one thing on our
minds, Harry Potter. For many people, Warner Brother Studios was the highlight of this trip.
When we arrived at the studios it appeared to be fully transformed into a Christmas themed
wonderland, which had everyone in awe. Throughout the
tour we were given a lot of information about Harry Potter
and how it all came about. The best thing about the tour was
seeing the real life equipment, props, staging, lighting and
costumes that they had used. Seeing all the time and effort
that went into designing the portraits on the wall was truly
amazing. Trying the delicious Butter Beer, which is the trademark drink, was also a highlight that everyone was dying for
during the tour.
That evening we went for a lovely dinner and after excitedly
walked to Matilda the Musical. When I was younger I had
read the book and seen the movie so my expectations were
very high for this musical. It's a little worrying when you realise that the vast majority of the
cast are children. You'd think they may not be up to the challenge but these guys were fantastic. They had so much energy and enthusiasm and they continued that for the whole
show. The numbers that featured during the show that remained in our heads for the duration of the trip were ‘When I Grow Up’ and ‘Revolting Children’. The staging was very creative
and nothing like any other musical I had seen before. There were letters written on wooden
cubes all around the stage and in the middle of the
stage were wooden cubes that spelled out ‘Matilda’.
Overall I really enjoyed this musical and would highly
recommend it to all ages.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
On Friday morning we woke up to a full continental
breakfast and after this we took part in a two hour
workshop with West-end stars. We learned a dance
from the musical and acted out with scripts as well.
Some people got into it more than others, but I’m sure
everyone really enjoyed the experience as we received
vital information and advice about surviving in the musical world.
Next on the agenda was the London Eye, and for many
this was their first time on it. Going on the London Eye
involved a half an hour, 365 degree tour of London. The
view from the top was magnificent and it was a great
photo opportunity for all.
A photo at 400ft in the air!
Now to one of the highlights of the trip; the London Dungeons. It is one of the UK’s most iconic attractions. We
were guided through streets riddled with plague, travelled to Jack the Ripper’s White Chapel and met Sweeney
Todd (the infamous Barber) and his evil sidekick Jack
Lovet. Finally we were sentenced to ‘take the drop’ as we
plunged three stories downwards in the dark.
Pre-Dungeon view
Overall it was very good with a great description of the
history of London. Very scary in places but would love to
go back and experience it all again.
We ended the evening with a Pizza Buffet and some iceskating. Some were more skilled than others. This was evident when you could see the likes of me holding on for dear
life at the edge of the rink while others were doing twirls
and tricks and having races on the ice. The ice-skating really
got us into the Christmassy mood and was enjoyed by everyone who gave it a go and put on the skates that night.
Kate Kelly
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Events Happening This Winter You Should Know About
THE UCH PANTO JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
LANDLOCKED
Starring KEITH DUFFY, George McMahon (Fair
City's "Mondo"), Richie Hayes, Leanne Moore,
Myles Breen, Richard Lynch & Trevor O'Connell.
Date : December 16th 2014 to January 4th 2015
A large-scale outdoor projection of a series of
documentary video portraits. Enjoy mulled wine
and mince pies as Limerick celebrates this extraordinary work by video artist Christina Gangos.
Location : UL Concert Hall
Date : Friday 12th December at 5:30pm
Cost : Tickets from €16
061-331549
Location: Wall above Thomas Street Community
Gardens, Thomas Street, Limerick.
LIMERICK WINTER CARNIVAL
LIMERICK CHRISTMAS RACING FESTIVAL
Date : December 27th 2014
The Annual Christmas racing festival runs from
the 26th to 29th of December. Sunday the 28th
of December is ladies day with fantastic holiday
courtesy of Sunway Holidays to be won.
Disney Frozen Sing-A-Long : 10am, 1pm & 4pm
LSAD Gallery
Carnival Extravaganza - circus, dance, street theatre and song : 12pm - 4pm Milk Market
Are You Dancing : 4pm - 6pm St John's Pavilion,
Mulgrave Street
Landlocked - outdoor projection portrait of Limerick : 5pm Creative Nature Garden, corner of Thomas St and Anne St
Phoenix Rising - RTÉ Concert Orchestra present
the music of Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin : 8pm St
Mary's Cathedral
Rubberbandits Christmas Fistfight : 8pm Dolans
Warehouse
Tell Me Something : All day - send one word description of 2014 to tellmesomething.today / 0876445950 / @CleeveFactory
CHRISTMAS BY THE HEARTH - SEÁN KEANE
Join Seán and friends for a festive treat of music,
and song. Joining Sean will be Fergus Feely, Pat
Coyne and Stephen Doherty.
Dates : Saturday, December 20th, 2014 from
20:00 to 22:00
Location: Friars’ Gate Theatre, Kilmallock,
Limerick.
Location: Greenmount Park, Patrickswell, Limerick
Cost : Adult admission €20 / Students and Seniors €10 / Children FREE
Telephone : 061 320000
Email : [email protected]
LIMERICK ON ICE
Dates : Friday, November 28th, 2014 from 10:00
to 22:00 to Sunday, January 4th, 2015 from
10:00 to 22:00
Location: Arthurs Quay Park, Limerick
Telephone : 061 400200
A VISIT TO SANTA'S GROTTO
Dates : December 1st from 09:00 to 18:00 to December 24st from 9:00 to 18:00
Location: Crescent Shopping Centre, Dooradoyle,
Limerick.
Cost : €7
Telephone : 061 228560
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crescentshoppingcentre.ie
Cost : €20
Holly Power
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Phoneless For Childline
On Tuesday the 9th December students from 7 different schools
in Limerick joined forces to launch “Phoneless for Childline” in
Villiers Secondary School. This campaign was organised by Ciara
Frawley and Andrea Slevin from Villiers and Sophie Lang from
Laurel Hill. The other schools taking part in the initiative are
Laurel Hill, Laurel Hill Coláiste, Castletroy College, St Clements,
St Munchins and the Crescent Comprehensive.
On Tuesday the 16thDecember students were asked to turn off
their phones and place them in sealed envelopes for 24 hours as
a symbol of what it will be like for children to have no access to
Childline should the service be forced to close at night due to
lack of funding. All students participating will get sponsorship
for their endeavours with all proceeds going to save the Childline Service.
Childline is the only 24 hour, free of charge listening service for
children and young people in Ireland. The night-time service has
grown to become a critical support to children in distress. In
many instances the late night calls are from children who, due to
their domestic circumstances, cannot call at other times of the
day; Children who are experiencing serious abuse, fear, isolation
and confusion. Over 45,000 calls that Childline currently answers by night will go unanswered in 2015 if immediate funding
is not raised.
“The ISPCC is delighted that young people themselves recognise
the importance of Chidline’s 24 hour service and are stepping up
to help.” - ISPCC Interim CEO, Caroline O’Sullivan
“We are not only doing this to raise much needed funds, we also
wanted to create awareness amongst our age group of the problems that children and young people will face if Childline's night
time services ceases to exist. We have set up a Facebook page
'Phoneless for Childline - Limerick' in hopes of encouraging other
schools around the country to join us in helping this worthy
cause”. – Ciara Frawley, Andrea Slevin and Sophie Lang
Holly Power
Villiers Food Appeal
Many thanks to Villiers students, staff and parents who
were so generous again this
year in bringing in food for
the Limerick Lions Christmas Food Appeal.
The school should be very
proud of its giving tradition
of helping those less fortunate. The food will be going
to Limerick homes who are
struggling this Christmas,
some homes are only a mile
from Villiers School.
Well done to everyone. Wishing you and yours
a very Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year. ~ Ms.
Sexton
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Outdoor pursuits
Outdoor pursuits is something Villiers school is very involved in. Transition year students
have been going on wonderful trips organised by the school since week two of school.
The team building trip in Lough Derg proved very successful. The overall response from the
4th years was good and it looked like a lot of fun, even though it might have been freezing.
Three outdoor pursuits were organised and divided between three groups of students. Sailing, caving & rock climbing and pony trekking & laser tag.
Sailing was in the Lough Derg yacht club; in the morning students played games in the hall in
LDYC, such as shed the snake and the human chair. After a quick break to get changed and eat
their lunch, the students set sail in the afternoon. After two hours of pushing people off boats
and sailing away, the students got changed back into their warm clothes and got on the bus
home to Villiers.
The next group went caving and rock climbing in the Burren, Co. Clare. Students got suited up
in their gear and headed deep into the cave. The water in the cave was absolutely freezing and
when someone’s light failed they were plunged into darkness, but despite dark, tight spaces
and cold water, we all enjoyed caving. After the caving was done and we all dried off, students
went rock climbing in the Burren. There were several locations to climb, each with increasing
difficulty. Ropes and harnesses were used at all times though, because safety comes first!
When climbing you had to completely rely on other people. If you fell down the cliff, they
were the people holding your ropes. You had to go to the top and ring a bell to complete the
climb, but going down was honestly the scariest part of the climb. Complete trust in other
people was needed. Rappelling down the mountain face was very scary, but very fun!
Finally, the last group went Laser Tagging and Pony Trekking; students were let loose in a forest with laser guns and lots of cover to hide behind. Friendly fire was a huge issue, but overall
it was really fun. The aim of the game was to capture the enemy teams flag. To do that you
had to run to their flag, pick it up and shoot in the air. Not an easy feat when you have so
many people shooting at you. After laser tag, students went pony trekking. Each person got a
horse and went on a long walking trip around the area. Some of the horses were irritable and
hard to deal with, but it turned out to be great fun!
Jasvir Kalsi
The “irritable horses” going for a stroll”
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
Beauty Column
By Kate Kelly
@villiersSchool
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Aileen Set For Debate in London.
5th Form History student Aileen Greenwalshe has won the Munster Heat of The Historical Associations bi-annual Great Debate. The heat was hosted by the UL History Society,
under the chairmanship of Declan Mills and included students from across the province.
The topic this year was "what does Magna Carta mean to me?". 2015 is the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, an event often described as a significant turning
point in the development of civil liberties. Students were encouraged to explore whether
it is still significant or whether another turning point has greater bearing on their civil
liberty today.
Aileen excelled over stiff competition with her speech on
how she believes the Industrial Revolution and the ensuing suffrage has had a greater impact on her civil liberties.
Nastasia Vashko, Isabel Shultz-Austum and Aoife McGoey
also participated in the debate. Similarly these girls focused on civil liberties and how the 12th century document has laid the foundation for basic Human Rights as
we know them today. In particular, various articles of the
United Nations Charter.
Each competitor was given five minutes to present their case and then field a variety of
questions from the four judges. All students were guided by their History teacher, Janet
Woods.
Lady Villiers Pigs on Parade.
The Jack and Jill Foundation put out a call to Professional Artists last July to submit designs for painting 100 pigs to be auctioned in February 2015, to raise funds for this worthy charity which Villiers School has a long standing relationship with. Here in Villiers
we have students all the way from Russia, China, Korea, Germany, Spain, USA, Thailand
and Japan and their designs were selected. Put these students together in one room, ask
them to do designs related to their country and you get the magnificent Lady Villiers.
Who as you can see in the photograph has just returned from her World Tour and is
now heading off to Dublin to meet up with the other 99 piggy’s for a photo shoot and a
Pigs Parade. She will then be exhibited in Dublin (venue to be confirmed) for one month
before the auction in February. We have been sending photos of the students painting
Lady Villiers to the Jack & Jill Foundation since October and they love it. Especially the
fact that she is a pig with an international flavour! So well done to all the International
Students who worked on the design and painting of this pig sculpture. See you in January for our next project
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Mental Health Awareness
If someone tells you they are depressed what does this mean?
It's so important to be aware of how much a person who is feeling depressed can
turn inwards on themselves. We as human beings are all insecure and I think it's
safe to say we've all had days where you just feel a bit worthless or sad. Depression
isn't something only certain people can have. It's something anyone can feel so
that's why I want us all to be more aware of what it is as it has the potential to affect anyone!
So sometimes you know this person who is feeling
down but they have a good life and are surrounded by
good people. There's seemingly no reason to put all
that on themselves. But that's just it...it's often when
you really lose yourself rather than others that it hits
the hardest. So it can become difficult to find motivation to do a lot. It's hard to imagine you're still worth
people's time because how can one be truly open with
another if they feel like they've lost themselves and
can't find their way back? If they don't know themselves how can they expect you to?
I hope this has given an insight into one of the many
things some people go through everyday. We all know
it's going to get worse before it gets better but one
good thing about hitting rock bottom is you've nowhere to go but up! If you're feeling sad or you know
someone who is maybe this might help. At least I hope
it will.
So think of it like this, "You can't appreciate the good days without the bad ones".
Love always,
Friend x
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
Comics
By Kate O’Dwyer
@villiersSchool
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
Punny Puns
What do you call Santa Clause after he's fallen into a fireplace?
“Krisp Kringle”
Which of Santa's reindeers needs to mind his manners?
“Rude Olph”
What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
“Claustrophobic
Why does Santa have 3 gardens?
“So he can hoe-hoe-hoe”
What did Tarzan sing at Christmas time?
“Jungle Bells”
How do Spanish sheep say Merry Christmas?
“Fleece Navidad!”
What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
“Snowflakes”
What does a cat on the beach have in
common with Christmas?
“Sandy Claws”
What did Adam say on the day before
Christmas?
“It's Christmas, Eve”
@villiersSchool
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Best Gifts for Your Friends This Christmas
Christmas has arrived; the season of Secret Santa, distant relations and unwanted
socks! Here is a list of gifts that we recommend to avoid going wrong, especially for
those of you stuck with someone you barely know for Secret Santa!
1. You can’t go wrong with the classic Cadbury’s Selection Box. It's something to suit
everyone!
2. If you don’t know the person too well, getting them Lynx or a Benefit boxset is always
an easy option.
3. Jewellery or makeup is usually a good option, but these gifts are mostly for people
you’re closer to as they’re a lot more personal.
4. Also for the people you’re close to; buy a pretty frame and fill it with pictures of that
person and you that you think they’d like to see in their room!
5. A gift voucher from iTunes, Boots or their favourite shop.
6. An album. For example, One Direction's or Taylor Swift’s new albums. See Jenny’s
music review for more ideas.
Siobhán Murphy
Seasonal Video Game Roundup
2014 has been a very strong year for gaming. Being the first full year with the PS4 and Xbox
One on the market, and the Wii U finally coming into its own.
The big release of the end of the year was definitely 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' on the Xbox
One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It was very well received by critics with a metacritic score of
89.
Ubisoft were disgraced with the abysmally poor launch of 'Assassin’s Creed: Unity'. It has
constant framerate drops and several game breaking glitches, which they are trying to fix
with post-release patches. Although the strong release of 'Far Cry 4' slightly made up for this
fact. Nintendo seem to have returned to form with the release of 'Super Smash Bros' on the
Wii, majorly increasing Wii U sales. The 'Amiibo' figurines of characters such as Mario, Link
and other Nintendo favourites launched alongside 'Super Smash Bros' were a huge success.
The PS4 has been selling strongly all year, ahead of every other console on the market. However, the Xbox One overtook it, sales wise, in the month of November which was a good sign
for Microsoft.
Luke Devine
Amiibo’s for our favourite Nintendo
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
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Harsh But True
Dear Harsh But True,
I have been a nervous wreck for the past few months. My mock exams are coming up and
I feel like the stress and pressure to do well is taking over my life. Everyone keeps telling
me to just do my best but I feel like my best will never be good enough as all my friends
seem to be getting all A's and B’s but I keep getting C’s. I just don't know what to do. I
need your help.
- Anonymous, 14
Dear Anonymous,
As I can see from your age you're doing your Junior Cert. Being someone who just finished the Junior cycle, I can honestly say it's not the end of the world if you’re not
happy with your results. Everyone telling you to just to do your best is right. If you
study daily, do your homework and your projects that is all you can do. Remember,
you don't always have to get the A. As a teacher once told my year, he's much prouder
of the student who works hard to get their C than the student who has the potential to
get an A but settles for a B.
No one is perfect and we all have varying levels of talent in each subject. Just find the
subject that you love and excel in. It doesn't even have to be a school subject! If your
talent is photography, dancing, sport or anything else then you should focus on that.
That doesn't mean neglect your academic subjects, it just means that you should make
sure you value your own talents and realise your potential. If you work hard, you can
do anything.
- Harsh But True
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Irish Ham with Mustard and Honey Glaze
Method:
1. Place the ham in a large deep saucepan and boil in water. After 5 minutes
remove from the heat and drain.
2. Place the ham back in the saucepan
and pour the orange juice over until it
covers half the joint.
Make the perfect Ham this Christmas
Ingredients :

Irish Ham

6 Cloves

1 onion (peeled and halved)

Orange Juice

2 Bay Leaves
Glaze :
80g of Soft Brown Sugar
Matt Varongkriengkrai
3. Pour fresh cold water over the joint
to fill the pan completely.
4. Insert two or three cloves into the
halved onions and add to the pan
along with the bay leaves.
5. Place the lid onto the saucepan and
simmer for 1 hour, adding water if required.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C / 212 °
F / gas Mark 4. Place the ham in a
roasting dish. Keep the bay leaves
with the ham.
7. Score the ham in a criss-cross pattern and push in cloves and dot them
around.
8. For the Glaze: Mix together the
honey, sugar, orange zest and juice,
and mustard in a bowl.
9. Spoon the glaze over the ham and
place in the oven. Keep basting the
ham in its juices and the glaze for
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December 2014
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Roast Goose
A dinner that Dickens would be proud
of. Roasting a goose is easier than turkey and produces fat in the most wonders
of roast potatoes. A few seasonal trimmings and a punchy trifle will ensure
everyone is merry and bright
Ingredients

Apple & Potato Stuffing, for a
10lb (4.5kg) goose:

2lb (900g) potatoes

1lb (450g) cooking apples,
peeled and chopped

1lb (450g) roughly chopped onions

2oz (55g) butter 1tbs chopped
parsley

1tbs chopped lemon balm

salt and pepper
Matt Varongkriengkrai
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Music Reviews
By Jenny Hodkinson
Up and Coming Artists
Hudson Taylor
Broods
Listen to :
Listen to :
Battles & Care
Bridges
Walking on Cars
Lewis Watson
Listen to :
Listen to :
Two Stones
Halo
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Gone Girl
Review by Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Gone Girl is the story of failed writer Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) who returns home one morning
to find his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) is missing. Although along this search the focus
changes from a possible kidnapping, to a murder committed by Nick himself!
The movie is based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn and aims
to tackle the dynamics of a modern day relationship and analyse a story from two different perspectives. Now personally I am all for a psychological drama commenting on real life situations
and when I heard about this movie I was notably excited, but this movie is just on another level
of disappointment.
Now don’t get me wrong, this movie has a fantastic
premise. A struggling marriage where the wife gets
kidnapped but suspicion arises around the husband as
evidence points to him, all the while we follow Nick
trying to redeem himself and prove his innocence. The
only problem is it’s executed awfully, the acting isn’t
great and the pacing was off. Okay that’s three things
but still they're all accurate. The movie is 2 hours and
29 minutes long yet spends the first hour and 50 minutes building up for the twist then staggers
towards its horrible excuse for an ending. As for the acting, I had never seen Ben Affleck in anything prior to this but I had heard he was going to be the new Batman so naturally I had high
hopes. Now I don’t know if you’ve seen many mannequins, but I’ve seen enough to know that any
mannequin could replace Affleck in this movie and you’d see more emotion. As for his sister
‘Margo’, which is a ridiculous name to begin with, I’m fairly certain they wrote on her script
“complain, just complain all the time and never do anything else” because all she did to forward
the plot was own a house. No spoilers but if one particular plot point wasn’t included she could
have been replaced by a dog or something. Strangely enough Neil Patrick Harris, famous for his
part as 'Barney' in the hit TV show ‘How I Met Your Mother’ makes an appearance in this movie
as a weird stalker and after seeing him act previously I honestly say I have no idea why he
wasted his time with this movie. To be fair, he brought a lot of character to his small part, but still
could’ve been replaced with any C lister who wanted the spotlight.
To be perfectly honest, if this movie hadn’t ruined its ending it would have been much better.
With such a long build up you really need to have a concise few scenes twisting and turning to
finally end at a resolution. Instead of this, Gone Girl decides to drag on for another 50 minutes
jumping from timeframe to timeframe while not resolving anything and causing more questions
and criticisms.
Overall, while it’s a great plot, the book did it better. Rating 5/10.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Actor Spotlight
Chris Pratt - “The male Jennifer Lawrence”
2014 brought a lot of great things to the world of cinema and TV like the sci-fi blockbuster
'Interstellar', the finale of one of the biggest shows of the century 'Breaking Bad' and sadly,
the end of the Hobbit trilogy taking us away from middle earth forever.
However, this year I discovered something much greater than Matthew McConaughey
flaunting about in space. I stumbled upon a gem of an actor by the name of Chris Pratt.
Now unlike a lot of actors, Pratt wasn’t some inspiring child who grew up in the theater,
dancing about as if they were destined to act. No, his backstory is much more different
than your Tom Cruises and Angelina Jolies.
Chris was born on June 21st 1971 and was raised in Lake Stevens, Washington. In high
school he came 5th I'm a wrestling competition and Pratt recalls being asked what he aspired to do by his gym teacher. He replied with "I don't know, but I know I'll be famous and
I know I'll make a ton of money". Later on in life Chris dropped out of community college
after one semester, and after working as a daytime stripper, he ended up homeless in Maui
sleeping in his van or tent on the beach.
Similar to every actor, Pratt started with a lot of small
roles so I won’t bore you with a long list of extremely
obscure roles he played. Instead, I want to focus on
this year and years to come. Pratt is most famously
known for his performance in the cult comedy ‘Parks
and Recreation’ as Andy Dwyer. As far as TV idiots go,
Andy definitely takes the cake for me (obviously Patrick Star is a close second). He's just at that perfect
Pratt looking ripped for Guardians
level of stupid where we can all laugh at him but also re- of the Galaxy
late to him in some way. Pratt has appeared in ‘Parks and Rec’ as a main character since
the show's beginning in 2009 and will continue to do so till its ending next year. Keeping to
2014, Chris played the lead role in two of the biggest cinema releases this year; the action
packed superhero comedy ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and the hilarious nostalgia evoking
comedy ‘The Lego Movie’. For anyone who has seen either of these movies (and if you
haven’t, where have you been this year?) you will know exactly what I mean when I say
that when Pratt plays a character, he isn’t taken over by the character. He always brings a
bit of his charming self to life, no matter what his role is.
Chris Pratt is by far the fastest rising actor we’ve seen in a long time. His backstory is inspiring, his performances are hilarious and he himself as a person is charming and relatable on so many levels. I look forward to seeing everything and anything he is a part of in
the future.
Ryan O’Shaughnessy
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Basketball
Basketball has been an ongoing sport in Villiers for many years. It is not our most
famous sport but we manage to stick our name in when it comes to competitions
across Ireland. Our current team is an odd bunch with ages ranging from 14 to 18
and heights from 5”5” to 6”2”. Yet it’s not about the height or age, it’s about effort,
as our current coach Owen always says. Villiers' basketball team is always looking
for new boys and girls who are interested in the sport and will put in effort when
it comes to training and games. The boy’s team trains every Thursday after school
and the girls train every Tuesday. I hope we will see some new faces there soon!
John Costelloe
Afterschool Activities
Badminton is on every Monday & Tuesday from 3.40pm - 5pm. We have a great
turnout each week. What's unique about this sporting activity is that it is a chance
for all year groups to play together in a relaxed non-competitive way. On each
court, playing doubles there is often students from 4 different forms! Boarders &
day pupils alike are really enjoying it and it’s a nice break from their cold wet
training sessions on the pitch! The gym is also opened at this time for senior students (Form 4-6). Only 5 students are allowed in the gym at one time. Priority is
given to 4th year students who are working towards Gaisce Awards.
Chess in the School
Chess is held in the school every Thursday from four till half five. It is organised
by John Alfred and is open to everyone that wishes to take part. Chess is an excellent game which forces you to think multiple moves ahead to outsmart your opponent. It was supposedly created in India by a mathematician.
Luke Devine
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Spikeball
Villiers has been selected to take part in the Volleyball Association of Ireland’s Transition Year Girls Spikeball leaders award programme 2014-15. This is funded by the Irish
Sports Council's ‘Women in Sport’ project encouraging girls to actively participate in
sport. On the 20th of October, Villiers was visited by Mary Lalor and Graham Torrance,
development officers from the Volleyball Association of Ireland, for a full day course.
Mary and Graham introduced us to the game of spikeball. We learned the spikeball
rules, how to play the game and how to introduce it to primary school students. We also
learned about coaching, refereeing, sports reporting and organising a spikeball blitz.
The coaching began the week on the first week of November.
There are 14 TY girls taking part in this programme and we all look forward to our
schools competing against one another in the Blitz which will take place after all the
coaching sessions are finished. The schools we are visiting are Cratloe National School,
Salesians, JFK, St. Nicholas Adare National School and St. Michaels. The coaching was
enjoyed by everyone including all of the primary school students. The toughest part of
coaching was having to teach so many young children at once but after a while everybody was enjoying themselves. What makes our class special is that all of the TY girls
are all friends that can work together as a team and because of this the whole programme was a lot of fun and much easier to do.
Equestrian Success
The Villiers Equestrian team has had one outing this year, at Ennis Show-Grounds, hosted by
Limerick-Clare Interschools. We were delighted to introduce six
new riders to our ever growing team. They are Katelyn Sweeney,
Enya Conway, Rachel Mullins & Sarah McMahon in first year and
Melanie Leonard & Aislinn Patrick in fourth year. These new riders
are very accomplished and performed well, despite it being quite a
long day. The junior team qualified for the Speed/Jump-off round
but sadly did not progress from this. The senior teams had some
good rounds but were unsuccessful in qualifying for the Speed/
Jump-off round.
The new riders were joined by our regular riders, Laura O’Connor,
Orla Shiel, Becky Davis and Kelly Gleeson. We were delighted that
Laura and Becky took time out of their busy study schedule to participate and guide our new
riders. Success came for Kelly Gleeson, who won the Individual Secondary School Competition with a stunning lively speed round. We are looking forward to more competitions in the
New Year and have great hopes for continued success.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Boys Hockey
Boys hockey has been as busy as ever – with weekly trainings for 1st Yr, minor, junior and
senior taking place on both Monday and Wednesday afternoons on our astro turf.
The majority of our first years were new to hockey in September. They are training hard
and making excellent progress. They have played Kilkenny College, Bandon Grammar,
Midleton College and Newtown School.
Our minors are doing extremely well and have only experienced one defeat so far this season. Their shining lights are Quinten Eacrett, Smith Omojoefodun and Marcus Ryan. Not
forgetting Sam Lilburn who marshals an excellent defence.
Our juniors remain undefeated this year and possess the following Munster u16 players –
Conor Beck (GK), Craig Morrow and Quinten Eacrett, with Marcus Ryan as a reserve. With
continued application and commitment to training – there will be many future successes.
We hope for silverware.
Our seniors narrowly missed out on All Irl Schools qualification back in September, a draw
was required in our last match v Midleton College. We were very unlucky to suffer defeat
in the last minute. We play Midleton College at the end of January in the cup and will be
seeking revenge !
We have a young talented squad and competition for place is rife. Andrew Tutty and Calum Morrow currently represent Munster at u18 level. Congratulations to Andrew who
has also been selected for an Irish trial.We wish him every success.
We must not forget our senior captain David Cardy who is an example to all , is in outstanding form and playing some fantastic hockey.
Our annual tour again took us to Edinburgh back in October. We travelled with both the
minors and juniors and played seven matches and remained undefeated. A very enjoyable
trip was had by all. We departed school on the Thursday and returned on the Sun night.
Thanks to Mr.Kearsley, Mr.Hanna and Declan O’Brien for coming along to help.
Finally many thanks to all the coaching staff , Alan Whisker, Brian Gray, Declan O’Brien,
Nathan Eacrett and George Blackwell who give of their time and enthusiasm each week.
Neville Atkinson.
Craig, Conor and Quinten, Munster U16 Interpros
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Junior Girls Hockey Review Christmas 2014
The Junior girls have been kept busy with games both home and away over the past 6
weeks. The Junior B team are going from strength to strength. They lost their first league
game against Laurel Colaiste but friendly games against Laurel Hill Secondary and Castletroy College helped them to secure victory against Cahir (4-0) and Presentation, Thurles (2-1). Aoife McNamara, Grace Keely, Mikayla Kearney and Orla Mulvihill have all got
their names on the score sheets. This team, led by Grace Keely, will begin their cup campaign in January against Laurel Hill Colaiste.
The Junior A team are showing that they are a force to be reckoned with, with wins in
their first 3 league games: Laurel Hill Colasite (2-0), Laurel Hill Secondary (2-1) and Regina Mundy (3-0). This talented and competitive team showed true Villiers spirit when
they took on Scoil Mhuire in the second round of the Junior A cup. Superb goals from
Taine Amodeo, Robyn Stanley, Megan Bateman and Munster starlet Lauren Ryan meant
the team progresses to the semi-finals in January.
Not to be outdone, Muireann Scanlon, Hazel Alfred and Orla Mulvihill have also been on
form, providing the team with the goals necessary succeed in the league campaign to
date. Best of luck to this year’s captains Ciara Murphy-Wright and Tara Finucane as they
lead this team into the next run of league and cup fixtures. The message from their
coaches is to “Keep up the positive attitude and commitment to training everyone!”.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
Senior Girls Hockey Review Christmas 2014
Senior girls hockey got off to a flying start this season with 30 plus girls making training
on Monday and Thursday evenings. The girls were enthusiastic and very motivated putting in some gruelling fitness sessions and getting practise games their leagues began.
Senior B’s played their first game against St. Angela’s of Cork in the Mardyke. The girls
got off to a slow start but had found their stride in the second half, with Lucy Gardiner
and Maeve Higgins leading a strong Villers attack. Unfortunately it was not to be and the
girls lost out on penalty stokes to St Angelas.
The Senior C team had a very tough game against Presentation Bandon losing narrowly
by two goals to one. Ciara McKenna, Laura Cooke and Hayley Jones led the team from
defence right through to the forward line.
The girls now enter the Senior B and Senior C cups respectively and look forward to the
league fixtures in the coming weeks. Congrats to all the senior girls who received honours ties a number of weeks back. Ties are awarded to students based on hard-work and
commitment. Keep up the good work seniors.
http://www.villiers-school.com
December 2014
@villiersSchool
A New Year in the life of Villiers Rugby.
"Hard work spotlights the character of people; some turn up their sleeves, some turn up
their noses, and some don't turn up at all" - Sam Ewing.
The new season started all the way back in August with warm long evenings still available to those
who aspired to continue to build a rugby tradition in Villiers School. Our wish at the start of every
season is simple, build on last season and learn from our mistakes.
Our junior boys of last year who experienced success at a level never achieved before in the school
in winning the Mungret shield moved on this year to compete initially in the Bowen Shield B competition at u-17. They competed well yet again despite some injuries in the Squad, only losing narrowly to PBC from Cork an iconic name and school in Munster rugby. The boys should be proud of
their achievements.
The majority of this Squad are now part of our Senior Team who has navigated their way to the
semi-finals of the O’Brien cup which will take place after Christmas. We wish them well in the
weeks ahead and compliment them on playing some really entertaining quality rugby in the Villiers
jerseys this year. The O’Brien cup was won last by Villiers school ten years ago and despite coming
close in the last number of years the honour of winning this cup again has evaded us. It would be a
great achievement to succeed this year.
Our junior team this year have played a lot of friendly matches and are looking forward to playing
in the Giles shield after succumbing to a strong team from Hospital Co. Limerick in round 1 of the
King Cup. There is a great group of lads working very hard at this age grade who deserve success
this year. They have been frustrated at times this year where results have not gone their way. All
involved believe they will do well in the months ahead. Keep at it lads. We urge all in this age grade
to get involved and train hard and regularly for the remainder of the season.
Our U-15 Squad participated in the McCarthy Cup B competition and played very well. They now
look forward to playing in the Clearly cup after Christmas as we try to mould a new junior squad for
next year. These boys have lots of potential but need to work hard this year so they can enjoy success next season at Junior Level.
Our First year boys have been working hard since the start of the season and are starting to take
shape. They recently beat the might of PBC from Cork and are a shining light for the future of the
game in the school. We would like to invite all boys who have not being involved so far to come out
and enjoy the challenges that lay ahead for this group of boys. No time like the present to learn a
new sport and challenge yourself.
Well done to Alan Fitzgerald, Conor Murphy, Richard Bateman & Gordon Shannon on their Provincial Honours.
So the hard work continues, the rewards are trickling towards us but as the quotation at the outset
of the article highlights there is no replacement for hard-work if you wish to taste success.
Perhaps a motto for the New Year? "Some wish for it - we work for it".
http://www.villiers-school.com
http://www.villiers-school.com
December
December 2014
@VilliersSchool
@villiersSchool
Announcements
Parent/Teacher Meetings:
Villiers Contact Details:
Fifth years— Thursday the 15th of January
Phone: 061-451447
First years— Tuesday the 1st of January
Second years—Thursday the 12th of February
Email: [email protected]
Fourth years—Friday the 20th of March.
Twitter: @VilliersSchool
Mock/Pre Exams:
Website: http://www.villiersschool.com
2nd of February and end on the 13th of February.
Ski Trip: February mid-term break
Postal Address: Villiers School,
NCRd., Limerick
Credits
Editor - Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Christmas Shoebox Appeal - Luke Devine
Music reviews - Jenny Hodkinson
Fashion Show - Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Gone Girl - Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Ty Drama - Siobhán Murphy
Actor Spotlight - Ryan O’Shaughnessy
School Bank - Kate O’Dwyer
Basketball - John Costelloe
Carmina Burana - Kate Kelly
Afterschool Activities - Ms Antonio
MUN 2014 - Jasvir Kalsi
Chess - Luke Devine
London 2014 - Kate Kelly
Spikeball - Rachel O’Connell
Events in Limerick - Holly Power
Equestrian Success - Ms Woods
Phoneless for Childline - Holly Power
Boys Hockey - Mr Atkinson
Outdoor Pursuits - Jasvir Kalsi
Girls Hockey - Ms Sterritt & Ms Ryan
Beauty - Kate Kelly
Rugby - Mr Sadleir
Aileen set for Debate - Ms Woods
Recipies– Matt Varongkriengkrai
Gifts for your friends - Siobhán Murphy
Villiers Pig - Ms Murtagh
Mental Health - Anonymous
Puns & Comics - Kate O’Dwyer