Notice to all Students, Staff and Parents,
Due to the expected improvement in weather conditions it is intended to reopen Hazelwood College to all students on Wednesday 13th January
In the unlikely event that there are changes to this they will be posted here and relayed on local radio stations.
Notice to all Students, Staff and Parents,
Due to the continuing poor weather and road conditions the Minister for Education Batt O’Keefe has decided to close all schools until at least Thursday 14th January
Any further updates regarding Hazelwood College will be posted here and relayed on local radio stations.
A snowy scene from 2009
Statement from Department of Education Website
08 January, 2010 – Minister O’Keeffe tells schools to close for first three days of next week
The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe TD, has told all primary and post-primary schools to close on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week due to the bad weather.
Minister O’Keeffe took the decision in the interest of the welfare of school children.
The Minister took the decision following a meeting today [Friday] of the Government’s emergency planning group and in the context of the poor weather outlook for the coming days.
Minister O’Keeffe said: ‘I took the decision to close all schools based on my concern for the health and safety of school children in these very challenging weather conditions.
‘I considered, in particular, the forecast for snowfall on Sunday and Monday which will cause further disruption.
‘Although most schools decided not to open this week and many more will take the same decision next week, I wanted to bring clarity and certainty to the position for parents and students by telling all schools to close.
‘While it may be that some schools would have been in a position to open depending on the weather, I consider on balance that the responsible and prudent approach at this stage is to close schools in the interest of safety.
‘The situation will be reviewed on Tuesday,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.
Minister O’Keeffe stressed that the decision will not affect the local decision-making powers of school boards of management.
‘I am taking this decision in particularly exceptional circumstances and against a backdrop of extremely bad weather conditions,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.
He said his Department officials will be discussing with the education partners ways in which the impact of the closures can be minimised, particularly for examination classes.
Higher education institutions will make their own decisions on whether to open based on local roads and weather conditions.
ENDS
Notice to all Students, Staff and Parents,
Due to the continuing poor weather and road conditions it has been decided to close the school until Monday 11th January
Any further updates will be posted here and relayed on local radio stations.
A snowy scene from 2009
Frank Broderick of Brudair’s Bakery Dromcollogher was faced with over seventy pupils yet was unfazed at the prospect of 140 glaring eyes as he set about using his expertise and craftsmanship in cake decorating. The group consisted of senior cycle students from fifth year and transition year. The transition year students paid particular attention as they will be getting their chance to showcase their skills in Home Economics in the following weeks, when they will bake and decorate their own Christmas cakes. The speed and accuracy of Frank’s craft was hypnotising, but after this masterclass it will be hard to replicate as this man has hand skills that would rival a certain cheating Frenchman!!
Frank’s wit and charisma was evident throughout the demonstration as he wowed students and staff with different aspects of cake decorating. These included basic icing techniques using royal and fondant icing, almond paste work, colouring, piping and foliage work. Students benefited as Frank shared hints, tips and practical advice on cake decorating and solutions to cake decorating problems. He demonstrated with great enthusiasm and willingly answered our questions throughout the morning. Frank plays a pivotal role in the community, not only satisfying various taste buds but also training and employing many people from the immediate and surrounding areas. Ms. Daly would like to sincerely thank Frank for taking time out of his hectic schedule especially in the run up to Christmas and for inspiring the next generation of sugar craft enthusiasts.
Front row: Siobhan O’ Sullivan, Aimee Enright, Marcella Moloney, Letitia Noonan, Jennifer Kiely
Back row: Ms. Dolan (vice principal), David O’ Donnell, Frank Broderick, Diarmuid Coleman, Mr. Burke(principal)
Hazelwood College’s Concern debating team ended the year with a victory over CBS Charleville, which places Hazelwood top of their league group facing into the Christmas break. Captained by Máire Flanagan and containing stalwarts Sean Morrissey and Niamh Curtin, along with ‘super sub’ Donal O’Callaghan, Hazelwood successfully opposed the motion “The Irish media has a stereotyped and unfair view of Africa”. Hazelwood’s supporters included parents, fellow students and staff, who took time from preparing for the upcoming examinations to watch both teams debate. CBS provided a final stern test before the Christmas break in this competition.
After a close, entertaining and good natured debate, all three adjudicators, chaired by Mr. Bill Doyle, praised the obvious effort, skill and dedication of both teams. This marks Hazelwood’s third successful consecutive outing, after emerging victorious in previous debates against Laurel Hill Colaiste and near neighbours SMI.
Picture : Hazelwood College Concern Debating Team L-R Donal O’Callaghan, Maire Flanagan and Sean Morrissey
Raising money for Milford Hospice and Temple Street Children’s Hospital was a piece of cake for the students and staff of Hazelwood College Dromcollogher as they hosted a Tea and Coffee Morning. All students and staff laid down their books for a choice of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or minerals and homebaking, in return for a donation. Sweet things certainly tickled the fancy of everyone as trays of marvellous muffins, sumptuous sponges, fantastic flapjacks and blissful biscuit cake went down a storm. This successful event was organised by the Transition year students under the guidance of Ms. Daly. A total of €800 was raised at the event which took place on Friday morning the 6th November in the school gym. Before the big day students and staff donated baked confectionary, while local businesses donated cakes, milk and disposable drinking cups.
Many patients and their families throughout Limerick, Cork, Clare and Tipperary benefit from the work carried out by the Hospice so we were glad to have the opportunity to organise this event to raise awareness about their work and funds for this worthy cause.
Special thanks to all of the local businesses who helped support us, the parents, students and staff for their generosity.
“The Transition years did a fantastic job and credit must be acknowledged to the staff, pupils and their families for their generosity” said Ms. Daly
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Reporter: Gary Hanley
Over the past few weeks in Hazelwood College we have been busily preparing for our first interschool’s show jumping competition of the year. We aimed to compete on the 1st of November in Clonshire Equestrian Centre Adare. We had minor problems a few days before the competition but we came through these and were able put out a good team for the event. With this we decided to get in some practice and headed down to Clonshire where we went for four practice sessions. I would like to thank Dan and Sue Foley who were very obliging in allowing us to use their facilities in Clonshire Equestrian Centre. I would also like to thank Dan who gave us a show jumping lesson coming up to the competition.
We decided to enter both a novice and an open team. On the novice team we had Sophie Brouder on “Fiesta”, Rebecca O’Connell on “Millie”, Loretta Hanley on “The Big Al D” and Ian Morrissey on “Busby”. This team battled really hard and showed great determination to jump in the outdoor arena on a wet wintery morning over a tough course. The team performed much better over the indoor course and were unlucky not to be placed.
On the open team we had Sophie Brouder on “Tidal Bay Dreams”, Loretta Hanley on “Kirsten”, Rebecca O`Connell on “Lucky Free Spirit” and Sinead O Keefe on “Blue Chiraz”. This team showed great character and grit as the outdoor arena was very heavy under foot. The team battled through and came out of it with three clear rounds. Soon after they were jumping their second round in the indoor arena, the team showed great riding ability in here and we finished off with an overall team score of only four faults. We decided to wait until the team event was over to see if our hard work had paid off. After several hours of waiting around we were informed that we had been placed fifth. Naturally the team was delighted with such a great result in our first competition together. Hopefully we can take this result and push forward and compete in more competitions over the coming months.
Students and staff at Hazelwood College in Dromcollogher are giving something back to underprivileged children in Eastern Europe and African countries by taking part in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. This event, which is better known as the Shoe Box Appeal generated great interest with many students in the school. Over 170 boxes containing toys, books, colouring pencils, toiletries, small items of clothing and other treats were packed, gift wrapped and assembled in the school turning it into a replica of Santa’s grotto. Students from all years gave of their time to assemble the Christmas boxes and willingly supported this cause by doing a good deed for less fortunate children in countries as far away as Mozambique, Nepal and Swaziland.
Many of the students will never understand the full impact their generous gift will have on street children and children in orphanages and hospitals. These children are of various race, creed, gender, religion and ethnic background. However, this simple act of kindness will unite needy children this Christmas and bring love and hope into the bleakest of situations. “We take these things for granted. It gives us a sense of sharing and consideration for others less well off than ourselves, especially at Christmas” said Ms. Daly
A sincere thank you to all staff, students and members of the local communities for supporting this worthwhile cause. A special thank you to Kate Fitzgerald who helped distribute leaflets, raised awareness of this event and organised the collection which will undoubtedly make this Christmas a very happy and special occasion for many children. Ms. O’ Connell said “it was a great event to partake in and we were pleasantly surprised by the response which surpassed expectations.”
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Below are some photos from the Basic First Aid Course the Leaving Certificate Applied class are participating in at the moment. The course is spread over a number of weeks and is Certified by the Irish Red Cross
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Recently some students visited the Clonakilty Agricultural College openday. The aim of the trip was for prospective students to visit the College’s facilities and investigate Third Level possibilties there for next year
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