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Inside this issue:

Active School

Flag

Activities over the

Holidays

Sports Update

Academic Suc-

cesses and Clubs

TY Drama,

Christmas Dinner

and Christmas

Ad rankings

Cultures at

Christmas

IB Programme

True Meaning of

Christmas

WT Morrow

Best Mince Pies

and other Festive

Fun

Hannah Putzier;

Hazel MacMahon;

Martha Flynn;

Orlaith Taylor;

Chris Storey and

Ms Phillips, would

like to extend their

gracious thanks all

the staff members

and students alike,

who collaborated

with the Red Sokz

team in the pro-

duction of this

publication.

Villiers School

Headmistress: Ms. Jill Storey

Deputy Headmistress: Ms. Mary Quinn

School Secretary: Ms. Janet Bray

Headmistress’ PA: Ms. Michelle Tuite

Bursar: Ms. Siobhan Moriarty

Phone: 061-451447

Email: [email protected]

RED SOKZ readers,

Today, Villiers is holding its annual Carol Service in St Mary’s Cathedral, Lim-erick. The Red Sokz team would like to welcome you to this event, on be-half of the School. It is a very special day in the Vil-liers’ calendar and is al-ways enjoyed by parents, teachers and students alike, with many travelling from abroad to attend the service and many past pu-pils returning. It has been an annual event by Villiers School for many years.

Carol Service choirs and soloists have been re-hearsing since September, but have all worked ex-ceptionally hard over the last few weeks. Three

choirs are taking part in today’s service: The Vil-liers’ School Choir whose members rehearse every Tuesday at lunchtime; The Chamber Choir which is a small choir made up from students in all years and the Form 6 Choir whose committed vocalists, re-hearse every Monday lunchtime. Ms Fitzgibbon has also been practising with the Trad Group who will be playing the final piece of music today.

We hope you enjoy the ceremony as it is a great opportunity to get in the Christmas spirit, share our well wishes for the festive season and catch up with all the Villiers family. Be sure to keep an eye out for our soloists listed be-low, a fine representation

of the talent in Villiers School and certainly no easy feat! The soloists are: Eoin Connolly- Form 1 Emma Gordon , Sinead O’ Donnell-Stolz- Form 5 Lauren Fitzell, Deborah Adepoju, Kate Kelly, Maria King Munoz, Mia Roberts, Kate O’ Dwyer, Sophie Ball- Form 6 The Instrumentalists are: Ciara Lynch (Concertina) Jack Johnson (Guitar) Vita Soldatkina (Piano) This publication is not solely about today though, this marks the completion of our first term of the 2016/17 aca-demic year—lots has been happening!


The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department of Educa-tion and Skills initiative which aims to get Irish stu-dents more active. The flag is a national award, given to schools that strive to achieve a physically educat-ed and physically active school community. With Villiers’ sporting history, one would imagine this was ‘in the bag’, however the ASF endeavours to maintain the prestigious connota-tions to achieving this award. Although their web-site, as quoted above, states they award to schools who ‘strive to achieve…’ it is arguably more accurate to describe the award, as being given to those, who have achieved and maintain a physically educated and physically active school community.

This was no easy feat to embark on, but coordinator Dr Theresa Hereward Ryan (more commonly known as, Bean Uí Riain) felt passion-ate about getting this recog-nition. She led the way, ac-

companied by staff and students, including Ac-tive Schools Group TY

14/15 and 15/16 and many staff members: Liz Burke, Brian Gray, Shane Hanna, Mike Sutton, Kerrie Crow-ley, Neville Atkinson, Mike Storey, Mella O’Connor, Nikki Sterritt, Laura Peters, Aoife Ryan, Anita Mahon, Mike Kearsley and Dmitrijus Stankevicius -to name but a few.

The committee and its sup-porters planned and coordi-nated incentives both with-in and outside the school, promoting activity. They exemplified amazing collab-oration and commitment over the course of the past two years and continue to do so now. After literally - years - of promoting active participation in the Villiers community, their efforts were recognised and Villiers becomes one of the first schools in Limerick, to be awarded the Active School Flag, with only three other schools in the county achieving the honour.

To mark the occasion, Bean Uí Riain and Ms Burke or-ganised a guest speaker to come into the school and address everyone, before

as-sisting with the raising of the flag. We were honoured to be in the company of Jessie Barr that morning, a woman who represented Ireland in 2012 London Olympics and was a fi-nalist in both 2012 Eu-ropean Track and Field Championships and 2013 World University Games. Jessie spoke about how she wasn’t the best athlete when she was school-going and really didn’t find her passion in athletics until university. It was clear from the attentiveness in the room; Jessie had everyone engrossed in her story with sport.

Bean Uí Riain tried her best to shine the spot-light on others that day, however everyone was and is very aware that this award would not have been achieved, if it weren’t for her dedication, determination and sheer desire. We sat down for a moment and got some words from the woman herself .


How have sports developed in the Villiers’ school community since you began teaching here? The variety of sports and physical activities has increased immensely. The after school activities have ex-celled hugely, giving everybody the opportunity to participate within the Villiers sports community. The amount of teachers involved has also changed since I began teaching here, almost all of the teachers have a part to play in the sporting com-munity. What do you enjoy most about be-ing such an influential figure in the sports ethos in school? Why? I get a buzz from seeing people fit, healthy, happy and active. The hap-piness that people get out of taking part in sports affects them and eve-ryone around them. There is a huge comradery between teachers and students. I enjoy seeing the students growing closer as a result of the so-cial aspect of sports. Students get to know people from different years and bring the Villiers community closer because of this. Being able to get the active flag and have the school represented for how active

we truly are. Apart from the Active Flag, what school sports achievements are you most proud of? I’m proud of the fact that we have enough sports for everyone to take part in if they wish. Every student gets a double class of PE every week, and the amount of after school activities makes me proud to be associated with the achieve-ments in the sporting world in Vil-liers. The way that our students come together no matter what country they’re from, no matter what language they speak and intro-duce new skills to the sports and to each other. What would you like to see happen going forward, regarding expansion of extra-curricular activities in Vil-liers? I hope that there will be mass partic-ipation in the sports that Villiers supplies. I would like to build on the motivation surrounding sports, and for the school to continue taking part in school fitness challenges. I would like to see students willingly devote themselves to a physical ac-tivity and become happier, healthier

and fitter as a result. I hope to see badminton continue to grow as a sport in Villiers which looks more and more likely thanks to Jennifer O’Leary. I also would like to see more parents joining in with coach-ing and supporting the school teams. What made you want to be a part of the active schools group? I wanted Villiers to be recognised as an active, sporty school; I wanted all the work that was being put in by teachers, coaches and the students to be seen and appreciated. I thought that by providing the school with more physical activities the stu-dents and teachers would get more involved and the community within the school would develop as a re-sult. I wanted to make sure that there would always be a team for everyone who wanted to take part, no matter your skill level. I always loved the idea that sport was a com-mon language. I wanted students to move their bodies and stretch their minds and keep sports fresh and innovative.


SANTA EXPERIENCE 2016 26th November –

23rd December The award winning and original Santa Experience returns

to Jetland Shopping Centre, Limerick for Christmas.

Travel through four fun filled festive rooms meeting elves,

reindeer, and polar bears and maybe even getting to ride

in Santa’s Sleigh on your way to meet the big man himself.

One of the keys attractions besides the post office, sleigh

and Santa’s log cabin is the option to book ahead to secure

a specific time and date. This allows people to plan their

day and get the date they want.

JETLAND SHOPPING CENTRE, ENNIS ROAD,

LIMERICK

Paid Event

€10.00

€3 - Adult

Starts: Sat 26

Nov

12pm - 6pm

(Sat 26 Nov—

Fri 23 Dec)

Bookings: [email protected]

THE ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS CARRIAGE 01st De-

cember – 31st December Experience the magic and sparkle of Christmas in Limerick on the

beautifully decorated (weatherproof) festive carriage which fea-

tures: interior decorations & lights, Christmas music, warm wool

blankets and a table equipped with glass / cup holders and even

wine coolers. The carriage ride takes guests throughout the city

centre offering wonderful views of the Limerick Christmas Street

Lights, festive shop fronts, pubs & restaurants bustling with Christ-

mas parties and the popular King John's Castle Winter Wonder-

land.

KING JOHN'S CASTLE OF THE LOCKE BAR

Paid Event—€ 50 - Family Package

Various packages available

Starts: Thu 01 Dec - Various times

**ADVANCE BOOKING REQUIRED**

Days not included: Dec 24-26 2016

Bookings: www.limerickcarriagetours.com

LIMERICK ON ICE What better way to

embrace the festive spirit

than by wrapping up and

going ice skating! Enjoy all

the magic of real ice right in the centre of Limerick City.

Ireland's longest established skating rink is celebrating its

13th year this Christmas at Arthur's Quay.

The family friendly venue is a great day out for both young

and old alike, and its central location means it's easy to

find the rink and park the car.

ARTHURS QUAY PARK, LIMERICK (Paid Event)

Thursday 8th December - Sunday 8th January, except Sun

Dec 25 2016.

Bookings: www.limerickonice.com

Limerick Panto Society presents

Snow White in the Lime Tree Theatre, Mary Immac-

ulate College, Courtbrack Avenue, Limerick

Phone: (061) 953 400

Show Dates & Times:

Wed 28th Dec – 12 noon & 4pm

Thu 29th Dec – 12 noon & 4pm

Fri 30th Dec – 7.30pm

Sat 31st Dec – No Show

Sun 1st Jan – 4pm

Mon 2nd Jan – 12 noon

& 4pm

Tue 3rd Jan – 7.30pm

Wed 4th & Thur 5th Jan

– No Show

Fri 6th Jan – 7.30pm

Sat 7th Jan – 12 noon & 4pm

Sun 8th Jan – 12 noon & 4pm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.limerickonice.com


First Year Rugby

So far our First Year rugby

boys have had seven days

out playing rugby, both as

one-off matches and blitz

days. At the start of the

school year only five of

the first year boys had

played rugby before. Now

we have the beginnings of

a very strong team for the

future.

We have been on trips to

Midleton, St Munchin’s

and we also went to

watch the Munster v

Maori All Blacks match in

Thomond Park. We

played Chafyn Grove from

England and also won our

division of the North

Munster First Year Tour-

nament.

2017 will bring more chal-

lenges that we are sure to

rise to, as we have anoth-

er North Munster Tourna-

ment to participate in,

competing at a higher

level due to our success

before Christmas.

Under 15 Rugby

The U15 boys took part in the

McCarthy Cup B competition playing

a challenge match against St

Munchin’s at the start of the season

and four competitive games against

Ard Scoil Rís, Presentation Cork,

High School Clonmel and Castletroy

College. The term closed with a

playoff match against Crescent Col-

lege Comprehensive. Although the

opposition proved to be challenging,

Villiers played with positivity

throughout the campaign. They

scored some excellent tries, namely

through Jamie Cross, Oscar Keane

and David Howard among others.

The matches against Ard Scoil Rís

proved to be lively try-fests. They

also came very close to turning over

Crescent with a committed perfor-

mance that saw them come within a

point of their opponents. Sadly the

much sought after win has escaped

them so far but huge improvements

have been made. Special mention

should go to Captain Darragh Shelley

for his ongoing efforts and the new

players Mikey O’Callaghan, and our

Catalan/Spanish contingent of Joan

Labal and Nacho and Juan Martinez

who have contributed wholeheart-

edly to Villiers Rugby.

Junior Rugby

The Junior Boys’ Rugby has had a

good season so far. They played a

number of matches in the highly

competitive Mungret League. Villiers

put up strong performances against

Bantry and Ballincollig in Cork and

recorded our first league points with

a walkover from Midelton College.

We capped off the league with a

gutsy display against a strong Clon-

mel side which included legendary

‘Big Eddy’. Notable performances

have come from Kieran Cunnigham,

Adam Gardiner and Robert O’Grady

with team has been boosted this

year by the addition of Spanish stu-

dents Joan Labal, Nacho Martinez

and Juan Martinez.

Meanwhile, Ms Burke has ensured,

rugby is no longer

solely affiliated with the boys. Over

the last two years Ms Burke has

been introducing our female stu-

dents to Rugby as well. The Junior

Girls’ Rugby has marked another

milestone by having their first com-

petitive outings to Rockwell College

and Castletroy College over this first

term.

The girls are doing a great job pro-

moting Girls’ Rugby in the school

and are always looking for new play-

ers, so if anyone if interested or is

eager to try something new, training

is Wednesday 4-5pm.

Senior Rugby

Our Senior Boys have led by exam-ple this year with good numbers training and putting in some great performances so far. They have played 9 games so far and won 7.

This resulted in being crowned Mungret League Champions win-ning 5 from 5 on the way. For those familiar with schools’ rugby the list of scalps is impressive, Ballincollig, Bantry and Midelton College all dis-

patched, a clean sweep of the Cork B schools, followed by wins against Tipperary opposition: High School, Clonmel and finally a great victory against near neighbours: St. Clem-ents College.


Our Quest to qualify for the Senior A Cup came to a disap-pointing end following a loss to Bantry, whom we beat earlier in the season. A long trip in poor weather conditions to West Cork did not help our cause but nonetheless the better team won on the day. St Clements qualified through a late score against Bantry in the final. All involved are firmly focused on putting the disap-pointment behind us; our young squad will do all to quali-fy next year. Our only other loss came in a friendly fixture against Glenstal Abbey. Multi-ple Sports Ties have been de-servedly awarded at a number of assemblies so far this year to Darragh Oxley, Luach De-Loughrey, Conall Coleman and Liam Óg Shanahan .

The focus is now on winning the Mungret Cup a piece of silverware which has never re-sided in Villiers and should we be successful, this would mark a huge step forward for rugby in the school. The boys have just begun an eight week pro-gramme of strength and condi-tioning training in LIT under the watchful eye of Munster Branch development officers. This a new departure for the school and we hope it will reap benefits. Our thanks to the PTA who kindly funded the initia-tive. We hope to be able to se-cure funding on an ongoing basis to offer this programme to the boys.

Our Senior Girls have begun to make their mark in the world of rugby, showing grit and deter-mination in their opening three

games this year. Ed Daly (Munster Rugby Youth Devel-opment Officer) has now come onto the coaching team, in addition to TY stu-dents: Cian Russell, Oisin Cooke, Ronan O'Sullivan, Mor-gan Coghlan and Luke O'Don-nell who are coaching as part of their Gaisce.

Della Daly, Claire Brewitt, Laura O'Riordan, Olivia Gurnett, Ra-chel Hoctor and Rachel Butler are the first girls in the history of Villiers to get sports ties for girls’ rugby.

Della Daly and Scott Harvey received Sports Ties in recogni-tion of their se-lection for Irish Tag Rugby.

First Year, Minor and Junior Hockey

Congratulations to the First Year Girls on a very encouraging start to their hockey careers. Since Septem-ber they have taken part in blitz days against Crescent, Laurel Hill Coláiste, Laurel Hill Secondary, Castletroy Col-lege, Gaelcholáiste, Ursuline’s Thurles and Modhscoil, Limerick. We

have had some very encouraging results both in Ursuline’s, where Vil-liers won all four games much to our delight, and more recently in Cres-cent where Villiers drew at the top of the league against a very strong Crescent team. Plenty more to look forward to in the new year! The 1st year staff would like to take this op-portunity to sincerely thank all of our TY helpers who make these blitz days not only possible, but also a great success. Your involvement as team managers, score keepers, um-pires, and much more on the day is

much appreciated by us and all the girls. To first year girls, have a safe Christmas and we'll see you all back at training in 2017.

Three Minor Girls’ teams have been training hard throughout the season in preparation for tough league and cup games. The Blue team have played 2 league games against Cres-cent College Comprehensive (1-3) and Laurel Hill Coláiste (1-1). The Purple team have played Laurel Hill Coláiste (0-1) and Urseline’s Thurles (1-3). The Pink team have played 4 league games with two losses, a draw and win. They won their away game against Laurel Hill Coláiste. Ana Radojiac captained the team to a 3-1 win with goals from Holly Long(2) and Andrea Murphy Wright. Oth-er stand-out performances this sea-son were from Olwyn Cooke, Ciara Gibbs, Ciara Lynch, Pim Jongpairat and April Hayes. Well done to all players who are consist-ently at train-ing. Keep up the good work and

don’t forget to do some running over Christmas!

Our First Year Boys, have been out training in force since September and we are fortunate to have enough players for two squads. This is testimony to the hard work and commitment of their coach George Blackwell with some help from sev-eral TY students. They have partici-pated in some blitzes and their most recent match was against Kilkenny College. They are committed and improving all the time. There are many games coming up after Christ-mas for them to look forward to.

Under the guidance of Amir Khan, our Minor Boys have played many matches and equipped themselves well. We look forward to playing Bandon Grammar away in the Cup after Christmas.

Our Junior Boys are training hard and dedicated. We recently over-came Newtown School in the 1st round of the Cup at home, coming out 2-0 winners. Congratulations to both Cian Sparling and Eli Hannon, our scorers. Best of luck to the lads and their coach Declan O’Brien.


Senior Hockey

The Senior Hockey Girls’ C team led by Captain Deborah Adepoju played in a close match against Castletroy College and ended up with a 1-1 draw. A game against Laurel Hill saw the same result, after an intense match and unfor-tunately the girls lost 1-0 after a hard fight against Presentation Bandon in the cup. The Sen-ior A Girls, led by captain Saoirse Walsh, played Scoil Mhuire and had a victorious win of 3-1. After two hard games the girls unfortu-nately lost to both Crescent and Ursuline’s Thurles. They drew 1-1 with St. Angela’s and beat Scoil Mhuire in the cup replay 3-2. The girls are to play Crescent Compre-hensive in the Cup semi-final. Both teams are looking forward to games from January onwards.

A number of Senior Hockey girls were awarded Sports Ties recently in recognition for their immense

contribution to the sport, at Vil-liers.

The Senior Boys’ Team, having qualified through a challenging provincial play off competition, travelled to Dublin to participate in the Subway All-Ireland Schoolboys Championships from the 26th to the 28th of October this year. Vil-liers were drawn against Methody from Belfast, High School from Dublin and Banbridge Academy (also from the North) who hap-pened to be the current title hold-ers.

A tense and thrilling first game against High School saw a domi-nant Villiers side go one nil up with a decisive goal mouth finish from Captain John Costello, unfortu-nately the match finished with a 2-1 scorecard. Craig Morrow and Stephen Tutty governed a superb team performance against Ban-bridge, but it was not to be their day.

Having marginally missed out on getting an elusive win, Villiers took an assertive position against Methody with John Costello, Quniten Eacrett, and Jannis Von Maydell all hitting the target ear-ly on and James Hod-kinson adding to the tally to ensure a memorable 4 -3 victory. All squad members should be proud of their efforts and take confidence that they can compete and perform with the best sides in the country.

Move your Body, Stretch your Mind!

The Villiers Active Schools’ motto is so accurate in our opinion, as these are simply a snap-shot into some of the many sports

endeavours and successes, made so far this year by Villiers’ teams. There has also been great commitment shown in the school’s basketball with the girls and boys having great victo-

ries in the Limerick School Girls’ Basketball League and the South West League respectively. Lucy, Kate, Hon, Ben and Osas received Sports Ties in recognition of the

commit-ment to basket-ball at Villiers

over the last 6 years.

In addition to team sports, Vil-liers also offer clubs and groups that promote activity, such as Mr Finne-gan’s club. Mr. Finnegan ran a lunchtime physical activity class eve-ry Friday over the last couple of months. The class was open to all students in Forms 1, 2 and 3. The ini-tiative formed part of our School's efforts for the Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge. Students were put through their paces through activities such as High Inten-sity Interval Training (H.I.I.T), known as Tabata, and also yoga. Transition Year students who are part of the Sport Science and Active Schools groups helped out with the set-up and promotion of the class.

Furthermore, while Villiers promotes the love of fitness and sport within its walls and on its pitches, it is really encouraging to see students involved with their clubs. A huge congratula-

tions are in order for Jenny White, who represented her club: St Michael’s RC in a provincial qualifier. After coming 4th in her individual 2000m race and winning gold in her 2000m relay, Jenny is now through to the All-Ireland Indoor Rowing, which will take place in January. Richard Hourigan-Powell also put in a sterling performance in his individual 2000m race.

These references a merely a snapshot into our students’ perfor-mances outside of school. There is an abundance of continu-ous successes by all our swimmers, camo-gie players and tetrath-letes. We are very proud of all of you!


We are always told ‘All you can do is our best!’ - it’s not about getting an A, it’s about reaching your poten-tial; whatever that may be, in whatever field you wish.

It is undeniable however, that when your potential is: the best—and you achieve that—we want to shout about it!

We are so impressed with

and proud of Laura Cooke, who achieved the highest grade in Leaving Certificate Home Economics 2016, in the whole country! She and Ms Byrne (her teacher) were invited to Athlone, by the Association of Home Economic Teachers and Laura was presented with a special award in recognition of her outstanding achieve-ment.

In just over a week later, Laura was also awarded an Entrance Scholarship in NUIG Medical School.

Calum Morrow, Meadbh Barry and James Walker did Villiers proud once more, when they were all award-ed Entrance Scholarships in Science and Law in UCD.

Well done! What an amaz-ing achievement!

In our Open Day Edi-

tion, the Red Sokz

team published a list

of all the Clubs and

Societies available at

Villiers. All the groups are

making progress and

having fun in their cho-

sen hobby, with experi-

ments galore in the Sci-

ence Club; senior stu-

dents attending the Junior

Debate Club and offering

guidance; the Quilting Club

getting ready for Christmas,

to name but a few. We

caught up with the Model

Steam Engine Club, and

Killian Keane gave us an

insight into what they’ve

been up to—

“It may come as a surprise

to some, that the Villiers

Science Department is one

of the last in possession of

a Mamod Steam Engine, as

distributed by Griffin and

George from the 1950s on-

wards”. At present both

engines (Kevin recently

purchased one himself) are

at an advanced stage in

restoration by Ms Mahon,

Kevin and a small group of

fifth form students.

We have to say, this

lunchtime club sounds real-

ly interesting—we will be

catching up with them later

in the year for an update,

and hopefully some pic-

tures of a full restored

steam engine!

John Lewis’ Advertisement: Buster the Box-

er — 2/5

We think John Lewis’ Christmas ad game was weak this year. Past ads have been emotional and made people shed a tear but this year, unfortu-nately, was nothing special.

Sainsburys’ Advertise-ment: The

Greatest Gift — 4/5

We think this advert is great. We love how its animated it makes a nice change from the other ad-verts. The song is great and very catchy. We think a lot of people can relate to the ad, which makes it so appealing and heart warming. We recommend you give it a watch.

M&S’ Adver-tisement: With Love from Mrs

Claus — 5/5

We think Marks and Spencers killed it this year with their advert. It's like no other Christmas ad we've seen. We love how it em-powers women and shows that Mrs Claus can do Santa Claus’ job just as well as him! Definitely our favourite!


This play is being directed and casted by Niamh Bowen and Ann Blake. Based in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire near Massachusetts. Our Town is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913, twelve years of life changes -- from the mundane in Act I, “Daily Life,” to the romantic in Act II, “Love and Marriage,” to the dev-astating in Act III, “Death and Eternity.” Through the young lovers, Emily (played by Zara Bolger) and George (played by Uisca Hammond) , their strong and loving parents, and the many other Grover’s Corners’ locals, Wilder delivers universal truths about what it means to be human. All the Transition Year students are involved in some capacity, whether it be casting, production or costumes—everyone is putting in a lot of work. We are very excited to run this play in the Lime Tree Theatre, next February. You can buy tickets at Janet’s office after Christmas; don’t miss out!

The Lead Character Casting is as follows: Stage Manager Pilk – Char-lotte Carway Stage Manager Simpson – Molly Vincent Stage Manager Putnam – Pia Roycroft Emily Webb – Zara Bolger George Gibbs – Uisca Ham-mond Dr. Gibbs – Karl Sheppard

Mrs Gibbs – Megan Cole-man Mr Webb – Jonathon Cooke Stage Manager Smyth – Ella Rose Donlon Mrs Webb – Ciara Koenig Soloists are: Orlaith Taylor Sorcha Boland Isabelle Luff

Here’s a sneak peak at what some of our stars...

With so many events and

activities happening at

Villiers it would be diffi-

cult to pick a favourite,

but there is no denying,

The Villiers Christmas

Dinner is a contester. Day

-Boarders, Boarders, Stu-

dent Council Members,

Prefects, Staff and Guests

sit together and enjoy

the festivities.

Transition Year students

traditionally conduct

table service and it must

be noted, the TYs were

exceptional in their roles

this year, showing very

attentive skills through-

out the evening.

Amongst the jovial at-

mosphere there was an

air of anticipation cast

over the dining hall,

waiting for the reveal of

the coveted ‘Best

Dressed’ for the Junior

Cycle, Senior Cycle, TY

and of course—Staff.

Well done to all our su-

permodels who won on

the night!

The highlight of the

night for many however,

was the speech made by

Head Boy: Sam Clein.

Every ear in the room

hung on his every word,

engaged and impressed

by his perfectly balanced

speech of humour and

sincerity.

The close of the speech

was welcomed by a well-

deserved standing-

ovation from all the stu-

dents. Did someone say

#Sam4President? Watch

this space!

All the students ended the night with a movie, but can you guess what movies these quotes came from? 1. "Yes! Yes I do! I like Christmas! I love Christmas!" 2. "Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings." 3. ''Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind and that's what's been changing. That's why I'm glad I'm

here, maybe I can do something about it." 4. "Look, Charlie, let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big Eastern syn-

dicate, you know." 5. "A sequel. That’s it. We’ll bring it out on March 25, and we’ll call it … Christmas 2!" 6. 6) Mayor: "How horrible our Christmas will be!"


As Villiers is a multi-denominational and international school, with students from all around the globe,

here are a selection of Christmas traditions, from a few countries we have made connections with. Have

a read of some more on http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/

SPAIN:

Epiphany or ‘Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Magos' - 'The festival of the three Magic Kings' - is cele-brated on the 6th of January. Children who live in Spain have some presents on Christ-mas Day, but most are opened at Epiphany.

GERMANY:

A big part of the Christmas celebrations in Germany is Advent. Several different types of Ad-vent calendars are used in German homes. As well as the traditional one made of card that is used in many coun-tries, there are ones made out of a wreath of Fir tree branches with 24 dec-orated boxes or bags hanging from it. Germany is also well-known for its

Christmas Markets, where all sorts of Christmas foods and decorations are sold – a tradition that is becoming more popular in Ireland every year.

AUSTRALIA

Most families try to be home to-gether for Christmas, but as it is so hot the main meal they share together is usually a cold Christmas Dinner, or a barbecue with seafood such as prawns and lobster. On Boxing Day (St Stephen’s Day) most people go visit their friends and often have barbecues at the beach. A famous yacht race from Sydney to Hobart in Tasmania is also held on Boxing Day.

ITALY

On Christmas Eve, it's com-mon that no meat (and also sometimes no dairy) is eaten. Often a light sea-food meal is eaten and then peo-ple go to the Midnight Mass ser-vice. The types of fish and how they are served vary between different regions in Italy. When people return from Mass, if it’s cold, you might have a slice of Ital-ian Christmas Cake called ‘Panettone’, which is like a dry, fruity sponge cake and a cup of hot chocolate.

JAPAN

In Japan, Christmas is known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas Eve is thought of as a romantic day, in which couples spend time together and exchange presents – much like Valentine’s Day here. Fried chicken is often eaten on Christmas day. It is the busiest time of year for restaurants such as KFC and people can place or-ders at their local fast food restaurant in advance!

MEXICO

From December 16th to Christ-mas Eve, children often perform the ‘Posada’ processions. ‘Posada’ is Spanish for ‘Inn’ or ‘Lodging’ – there are nine Posa-das. They represent and cele-brate Joseph and Mary looking for somewhere to stay. The out-side of houses are decorated with evergreens, moss and paper lanterns. One game that is often played at Posada parties is the famous piñata, however it is commonly decorated something like a ball with seven peaks around it – the seven peaks rep-resent the ‘seven deadly sins’.

IRELAND

I’m sure we are all aware of what Christmas is like in Ireland, but there are a number of traditions that are not as popular as they used to be and are often only celebrated in rural Ireland. There is a very old tradition known as the Wren Boys’ Procession that takes place on St Stephen’s Day. This goes back to ancient times when a real wren was killed and carried around in a holly bush. Some processions still take place, but no wren is hunted or used. People dress up in home-made costumes, carrying a long pole with a holly bush tied to its top, singing a rhyme about the wren. They are commonly accompanied by musicians playing accordions, harmonicas, and fiddles. The processions usually call from house to house, but can also play in pubs, while collecting money ‘for the starving wren’ – this would be a designated charity.

The Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) is celebrated in loads of countries however there is a slightly different twist in Ireland. 6th January is known as ‘Little Christmas’ or ‘Women’s Christmas’ where traditionally the women got the day off and the men did all the housework and cooking. The women would meet up in each other’s homes to sew and chat. Nowadays, for those that still celebrate it, it is more common for the women to meet up in a restaurant, enjoy a nice meal and have a good aul natter!

http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/


Q1. What is the IB programme?

The International Baccalaureate

programme is an alternative to

the Leaving Cert programme

that is internationally recognised

and highly regarded by leading

universities across the globe.

Q2. What are the benefits of

the IB programme?

The benefits of the IB pro-

gramme are it offers students

opportunities to be independent

and to take greater responsibil-

ity for their learning. It also

helps to develop a more interna-

tional minded perspective on

what they learn. It encourages

the students to be balanced, re-

flective and to be risk takers in

terms of their own learning.

Q3. What are the differences

between IB and the Leaving

Cert?

IB students only do 6 subjects, 3

of which they do at Higher Level

and 3 of which they do at Stand-

ard Level. The range of subjects

is different as are the types of

assessment used in the Diploma

Programme. The students also

have to do Core elements like

the Extended Essay, TOK (theory

of knowledge) and CAS

(Creativity, Activity and Service).

It could be said that the DP

offers greater breadth and

depth when compared with the

Leaving Certificate.

Q4. Is the LC or IB more diffi-

cult?

They are two different models

so you’re not really comparing

like with like. A good place to

start is the IB Learner Profile-

Inquirers; knowledgeable; think-

ers; communicators; principled;

open-minded; caring; risk-

takers; balanced; reflective. If

you think, these attributes fit

you, then the IB might be worth

considering. Another thing to

consider is what you are think-

ing of doing after school. For ex-

ample if a student was consider-

ing studying abroad after sec-

ondary school then the IB might

be a better option as it is inter-

nationally recognised. On the

other hand, the Leaving Cert.

might open more doors for par-

ticular career paths here in Ire-

land.

Q5. What kind of people would

you recommend do IB?

People who are naturally inquisi-

tive or curious about how things

work and people who like to

look for answers themselves in-

stead of having people tell them

how things are.

Q6. How many schools apart

from Villiers are involved in the

IB programme and what pro-

gress has been made?

Villiers, if and when (hopefully)

we are authorised, will only be

the second school in Ireland

offering the IB programme and

will be the only boarding school

in Ireland offering the pro-

gramme. 2795 schools currently

offer the programme in 143

countries around the world.

Q7. When did Villiers get in-

volved in the IB programme and

how much progress has been

made?

The process has been going on

for over 4 years, with a lot of

behind the scenes meetings,

planning and preparation. Vil-

liers in now a candidate school.

Villiers hopes to be authorised

as an IB school next spring. If

everything goes according to

plan, the first IB class will begin

in September 2017.

We’ve noticed a lot of teachers talking about this ‘IB Programme’ , especially since September, so we decided it was about time we met up with Mr Hanna and asked ‘What’s all the fuss about?’

Below is the printed version of our interview with Mr Hanna, a teacher who has been steering the ship on the progress of the International Baccalaureate Programme at Villiers.


Christmas Shoe Box Appeal

In our last publication of Red Sokz, we reminded our readers of the Team Hope Shoe Box Appeal. This is a fantas-tic cause that Villiers has been involved with for many years. Over the last eighteen years The Team Hope Appeal have delivered shoebox gifts donated by the generous, caring people of Ireland to over three million children. Delivered to some of the re-motest and poorest parts of the world. Delivered to children who think they’ve been forgotten, but the kindness of these people, shows they haven’t

been. Villiers takes great pride in con-tributing to this cause every year. We mentioned in our October Edition that last year we collected seventy-three boxes and that we really wanted to beat that this year. It is with great pleasure that we

can reveal, Villiers collected ninety-

eight shoe boxes in total, with a fantas-

tic fifty-one of them been prepared by

5th year student: Sinead Donnelly-Stolz

and her family. They are an incredible

family who continue to donate shoe-

boxes in this large capacity each year.

Limerick Lions Food Appeal

With 1.35 million members helping local communities in more than 208 countries through 46,000 clubs, Lions Clubs International is the largest service member organisation in the world. The Lions Club here in Limerick, work in conjunction with St Vincent De Paul. Students, staff and par-ents of Villiers School made ex-tremely generous contributions to the Limerick Lions Christmas food appeal. Mr. Noel Sexton,

President of the Limerick Lions Club, was delighted with the great school spirit that was shown again this year. He thanked the Villiers family for their continued support by do-nating food to Limerick families who are struggling this Christ-mas. Ms. Sexton wishes to thank everyone who supported the food appeal and who brought in food in such abun-dance. She would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christ-mas and a Happy New Year.

Charity Beauty Night In our October publication, we gave our readers an update on Villiers’ efforts for the Zest4Kidz Charity at that point in the year, which includ-ed raffles, bake sales and an Antique Fair. Zest4Kidz Charity is an organi-sation with an aim to help children pay for operations to fix a common deformity in Uganda, known as club foot.

On Saturday the 19th of No-vember, two Transition Year stu-dents, Ava Cunningham and Emma

Fitzgerald organised a beauty even-ing in Dream Creative Academy, Riverpoint, Limerick in aid of Zest4Kidz. There was a master class with MakeupbyFiona and a raffle with a prize of €200 worth of makeup.

Both of the girls made a total of €500 euro and the proceeds have been given to the Zest4Kidz Charity for children in Uganda. The whole night was organised and coordinat-ed successfully by Ava and Emma—Well done girls!


One of the most momentous

developments at Villiers this

year, was the opening of Der-

ravoher. It is no secret we feel

privileged to have obtained this

building and are extremely

proud of its renovations. It

even featured in Open House

Limerick, in October this year,

which saw hundreds of people

come through our gates to ap-

preciate the building.

On Wednesday 30th No-

vember, the Boardroom in Der-

ravoher was officially dedicated

to W.T Morrow, as an apprecia-

tion for a lifetime of commit-

ment and contribution to Vil-

liers. We like to think of it as—a

gem for a gent!

Trevor was synonymous

with Villiers. He embodied all

that is good about our school

and all that Villiers strives to

cultivate in us, the students. He

was a generous, astute, diligent

man. He was wise, he was kind,

and without fail he was gra-

cious and courteous.

He had a life-long asso-

ciation with Villiers. Coming to

school on Henry Street as a

small boy he became Head Boy

in his final year. Leaving school

as a pupil didn't in any way end

his involvement with Villiers.

He was an active member of

the Past Pupil’s Association,

indeed his first date with his

future wife Sylvia was to a Past

Pupils’ dinner. In time he be-

came a parent in the school

and a dynamic member of the

Parent Teacher Association. He

became a member of the Board

of Governors where he served

for almost forty years, as well

as being a founding member of

the Board of Management.

Generous with his time

and insight, he brought his con-

siderable financial mind to the

development of the school, and

was a courageous and percep-

tive advocate of the school’s

improvement programmes; the

most recent of these is the on-

going Derravoher develop-

ment.

Trevor’s influence in

Villiers is immense, and will not

be forgotten. His loss is a diffi-

cult one. We all learned from

Trevor, every encounter, every

conversation and every interac-

tion left one warmer, richer

and wiser.


Here are three different brands of mince pies at three different price points. We tried each one out,

researched some online reviews (to obtain wider opinions) and decided which one was the best for

taste and value for goods.

Tesco 6 Mince Pies

€0.89 for 6 mince pies = approximately €0.15 per mince pie

The Tesco Mince Pies have widely been reviewed as having a slightly bitter filling

but a soft and sweet pastry. It is great value for money, but causes us a little con-

cern for the quality of ingredients! HINT: Definitely heat them up before eating,

and try countering the slightly bitter filling with some fresh cream or custard.

Lidl Snowy Lodge 6 Luxury Mince Pies

€2.49 for 6 mince pies = approximately €0.42 per mince pie

The Lidl pies were widely reviewed as having a sweet pastry but the filling

has an unpleasant, bitter aftertaste and the pastry is a slightly floury. While

we really enjoyed the thick pastry, the filling left a peculiar taste on our pal-

ates afterward. They are still very reasonably priced and admittedly very visu-

ally appealing!

The Collection Handcrafted Mini Mince Pie Selection

Handcrafted, all-butter mini mince pies: 12 Ultimate mini mince pies; 12 hazel-

nut-topped mini mince pies; and 12 brandy buttercream and pecan mini mince

pies.

€24.00 for 36 = €1.50 per mince pie

The M&S pies are perfect for a Christmas party as they are petite and come in a

pack of 36. They are a perfect gift as they have different varieties for everyone’s

tastes, they are garnished in an appealing manner and they ooze gourmet din-

ing. They are different to the other pies as they are a creative take on the basic

mine pies. Worth the money!

This was a hard decision to make and warranted a lot of sampling,

but from these three commercial mince pies we would recommend

the M&S pies—they may be more expensive than the others, but cer-

tainly we think they're Worth it.

Having said this, nothing compares to homemade mince pies,

especially Villiers' Homemade Mince Pies courtesy of both Ms Byrne

and Gordon Shier, of Gordon’s Café. Both Ms Bryne and Gordon are

slow to share their secret recipes, but that’s okay as long as they

keep supplying the goods!

(We will take those mince pies after the Carol Service guys—thanks!)


Ingredients 150g chocolate cake

25g soft butter

50g icing sugar

25g plain chocolate

100g milk chocolate

small pretzels, broken into large

'antler' shape pieces

8 small jelly sweets, red chocolate

beans or Smarties

2 tbsp royal icing coloured black or

purchased black writing icing Equipment 8 cake pop sticks and a polystyrene block to stand up the cake pops

1. Crumble the cake into fine crumbs using your hands or in a food processor. Put into a bowl. In another bowl, beat together the butter and icing sugar until creamy. 2. Melt the plain chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture and combine well. Add this to the cake crumbs and mix thoroughly using your hands, until it sticks together. Divide the mix-ture into eight and shape each one into a smooth ball. Insert a cake pop stick, place on a tray lined with baking parchment and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering wa-ter. Take a cake pop and dip in the chocolate. Shake gently until the excess has drained off. Push into a polystyrene block. 4. Make two holes in the top of the head and insert a pretzel 'antler' in each one. Press a sweetie nose onto the front and hold for a few seconds until attached. Repeat with all the other cake pops. Leave to set for about 20 mins and then using black icing, pipe on eyes and a mouth.

This easy no-bake cake-pop

recipe is perfect fun over the

Christmas

break. Find this

and more on

bbcgood-

food.com

Or why not try some of

these designs :)

P M W V D B T A G Q N A X F B W I Y M V

X G S X K E X T S I R H U Q L R T X P Q

C A R N O Y E N Y B F O D B C I P T A Y

I A E E O S B A C D B T T J V L W S U T

K E N J I W T S B S M B O I E K X X E C

Q N Z D X N H H T N E J T G H D Y G L F

G V S S Y T D O G X A A N A P Y P T B K

N X W Q A C C E X I N A B Q W R V T U P

I M T E S K A O E S L C U G E G O E A H

D X R D I V L N N R H U Q S S Q W P B T

D W C N S F L E E P A N E H A P P Y K J

U W G V D I T S N S F N S N O W M E N T

P S C M F T W T E L T D Z K J W A R Y U

C W I G I P J A B S O F N L M M D D I R

U E O M Y X J R W U A B T C B Q V Z V K

X J E V I T S E F M B G P F Y C E V B E

H K O I R K G J I U O Q T O L M N K J Y

D Y V Y Y D B L K N O O X O N M T G M X

I C I R K Z Y K M A G L S D J I G P B H

D R V T R E E G U N G L E R Z Y Y W D L

ADVENT

ANGEL

BAUBLE

CANDYCANES

FAMILY

FESTIVE

FOOD

GIFT

HAPPY

JOY

NATIVITY

PRESENTS

PUDDING

REINDEER

SANTA

SNOW

SNOWMEN

STAR

STOCKINGS

TREE

LIGHTS

MITTENS

TURKEY

WREATH

1. "A Christmas Carol" (1938)

2. "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

3. "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)

4. "A Charlie Brown Christ-

mas" (1965)

5. "Santa Claus: The Mov-

ie" (1985)

6. "The Nightmare Before Christ-

mas" (1993)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/butter


2016 was a year notorious for celebrity losses, terror attacks and a very controversial election, but let’s not dwell on losing Father Jack, the Brussels Attacks or Syrian Refugee Crisis, not even the Trump Vs Clinton fiasco—while it’s important we never forget, we must still look forward

to 2017 with positivity and hope.

Let’s store the memory of the 2016 Euros—when the whole world fell in love with Ireland! Let’s focus on the 200 babies born on February 29th 2016, in Ireland, who have to wait four years for a birthday! Let’s cherish the moment Ireland beat the All-Blacks in a passionate dis-

play of rugby, in honour of Anthony Foley. Let us take solace in the fact, RTE have recordings of their interviews with the O’Donovan brothers, from Cork.

There will always be something to worry about, something to fear –but the Red Sokz team on behalf of all at Villiers, would like to wish everyone health and happiness over the break, a

very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Work of Christmas Begins

By Howard Thurman adapted

"When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples, to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ, every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say. Then the work of Christmas begins.

follow us: @villiersschool & school · emma gordon , sinead o donnell-stolz- form 5 lauren...

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