Robomania Winners

Four of our Transition year students (Aaron Kennedy, Andrew Jordan, Eoin McCormac and Kevin Reilly) competed recently at the Inaugural RoboCup Ireland. The Competition promotes subjects associated with the sciences, engineering and information technology. There were 3 categories - the robot programmed by the students could either play soccer, serve as a "Rescue Robot" or dance in time with a piece of music. St. Aidan's C.B.S. was the Rescue Robot winners. Yet another prestigious victory for our school. Well done and congratulations to all involved. The four students will now compete in the World RoboCup Competition in Bremen, Germany. The competition takes place from the 14th to the 19th of June and the students will be accompanied by Mr Deneher. We wish them every success.

Sponsored Fast

We thank all our students and their sponsors for their efforts in our Lenten Fast. We raised €2953 which will go to our Zambian and other charities.

Book-Fair

Many thanks to all staff and parents for their support in our recent book-fair. We have €2150 worth of new books for our library and our students thank you.

Athletics Review

It was a long year, but what a year! The very enjoyable cross-country season produced some great young stars for the future and our incredible under 17 "Dream Team" cruised to glory in the Leinster Championships, and were narrowly beaten for the top spot in the All-Ireland finals.

An explosive start to the track and field season saw our squad winning the All- Ireland C.B.S. title. A successful North Leinster Championships ensured we would have 21 athletes competing in the Leinster Finals. Four athletes have progressed to the All-Ireland Finals in Tullamore in June - Andrew Munnelly (100m), Luke Sweetman (Long Jump), Mark McDonnell (800m) and Eoin McDonnell (Steeplechase/1500m).

It has been a tough year, but these men of steel are already drawing up plans to conquer Ireland next year.This shows great maturity, professionalism and enthusiasm. We wish them all the best in the club season, and we look forward to next seasons prospects.

Alan O'Neill

BARCELONA '06

On the 11th of April, we arrived at the airport at the ungodly hour of 7 o'clock. After checking in, we got something to eat and arrived in Spain at around 1 p.m. (Spanish time). We collected our luggage, then left the airport and set off on our travels.

We spent the rest of the day in Tarragona. After a couple of group photos, we started exploring the town in the glorious sunshine. Later we visited an amphitheatre and took a walk down by the beach. We left Tarragona at 5 and set off to our hotel.

A couple of hours later we arrived at Hotel Cap Salvo (Salou). While the teachers checked in, we excitedly discovered the pool tables, bar, arcade and swimming pool. After a while, we received our room keys and settled in. After dinner, we went for a walk. We spent the rest of the evening playing pool and bingo.

The next morning, after an 8 o'clock breakfast, we set off for Barcelona. We received a guided tour of the city. We saw Cathedrals, Government Buildings and street entertainers. We went shopping on the Ramblas, the Spanish version of Grafton Street. After Barcelona, we went back to our hotel where we swam and had a pool competition.

On Thursday, we went to Monserrat, a beautiful mountainside village.After a quick lunch, we grabbed a tram up to the top of the mountain. There, we saw a beautiful view before heading back down the mountain. We then headed to the Nou Camp, which we toured.

The following day was the most eagerly anticipated. Port Adventura was only an hour away so it was easy to get to.There were such rides as the Dragon Khan and the Hurricane Condor. Our express passes helped us bypass some of the queues. When we went back to the hotel, we had a doubles pool tournament and another round of Bingo. This was generally accepted as the best day.

Saturday came, and we started packing. Before leaving the hotel, everyone received an award, such as "Best Head for Heights" and "Most Vicious Water Polo Player". We got to the Airport at around 11 and left Spain at 12. We got back to Dublin at 3 (Irish time) with many a tale to tell.

We would like to thank Mr. Duffy, Ms. McGrath, Ms. Peoples, Michelle, Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Corbett, Mr. McCafferty, and Br. Caulfield for making this trip the highlight of out Transition Year.

Kevin Sheridan and Ciaran Sheehan.