The School will be closed for classes on Thursday, Dec 11th to facilitate Whole Staff Training by the Department of Education in the new Child Protection Guidelines.
We are looking forward to getting into the festive spirit and also fundraising for St. Vincent de Paul with our annual Christmas Jumper Day.
In order to minimise the environmental impact, we are encouraging staff and students to swap, reuse and upcycle existing Christmas jumpers if you would like a ‘new’ Christmas jumper this year!
If you have an unwanted Christmas jumper (clean and suitable for age 12+) that you would like to donate to the school, please hand them into Ms. Burke in F49 or the Office by end of school Wednesday.
Funds raised from the school's new Re-turn bottle bins will also go to SVP this Christmas.
No Grinches in the L.R.C.
This year’s Late Late Toy Show is all go.
Everyone in the LRC is ready to go!
Treat Bags at the ready.
Wishing everyone a fab night 🎅
Our Leaving Certificate Chemistry students enjoyed an engaging and informative trip to West Cork Distillers today, where they explored the real-world application of key chemical principles. During the tour, students learned about the large-scale distillation process, seeing how sixteen pot stills and three column stills together produce almost 16.5 million litres of alcohol annually, with additional stills dedicated to gin production. They also discovered the skill involved in “making cuts,” the technique distillers use to separate the heads, hearts, and tails of the distillate. Each fraction contains different compounds—some desirable, some not—and students gained an appreciation for the precision and expertise required to choose the perfect cut to achieve the highest flavour and quality.
The group also observed the extensive storage warehouses that hold up to 200,000 casks on site in Skibbereen.
Students were particularly impressed by the distillery’s strong commitment to sustainability. West Cork Distillers emphasises its responsibility to address climate change and leads the way in eco-conscious production within the alcohol industry. Their circular-economy approach includes the use of renewable energy and the repurposing of by-products to support local farms through animal feed and the generation of biogas at Timoleague Agri Gen—green energy that the distillery later repurchases from the national grid. These by-products also contribute to the creation of organic fertiliser used to grow crops such as barley, a key ingredient in their whiskey.
Overall, the visit offered a valuable opportunity for students to connect classroom learning with industrial practice, while also gaining insight into how modern chemistry, craftsmanship, and sustainability work hand in hand.
A huge thank you to West Cork Distillers for their warm welcome, expert guidance, and the invaluable learning experience they provided for our students.
A huge congratulations to our past students, Fiona, Ava and Naomi on receiving UCC Quercus scholarships.
Fiona and Ava both received Quercus Entrance scholarships based on their outstanding Leaving Certificate results while Naomi received her title of Quercus Scholar based on her outstanding results in her second year mental health nursing course.
We are delighted to see our past students doing so well and wish them all the very best for the future.
Aladdin at the Panto.
Oh yes it is! That time of year again!
The L.R.C. Annual trip to The Cork Opera House And Neville Jewellers Panto – Aladdin.
Followed by our yearly pilgrimage to Luigi Malone Restaurant - a huge thanks to all the staff.
"Warmest wishes and Merry Christmas" from all the students and staff.
Sunday Dec 14th from 12noon until 2pm
Depart School at 12noon
Same Route as last year
€20 Entrance Fee with all proceeds going to the “Féile O Sullivan Treatment Fund” . This is the fund to support the Beara Teenager who lost both legs in a Farming Accident last year.
Application Forms can be got from Mr. Peter Swanton, Engineering Teacher and evidence of Insurance and Motor Tax must be submitted before hand.
There will be refreshments afterwards in the school.
The 6th Year Chemistry class carried out the saponification experiment today, successfully converting fats into soap through careful refluxing and distillation.
Students worked with real precision as they watched the reaction mixture thicken, before adding it to brine to “salt out” and isolate their final soap product.
The class demonstrated excellent teamwork, strong practical skills, and plenty of scientific curiosity throughout the investigation.
A special well done to the winning team of Grace, Katie, Natasha, and Niamh, whose soap was judged the highest quality by their classmates — an outstanding achievement! They truly rose to the surface, delivering a soap-erb final product, and created quite a lather!!
Well done to our students who performed in Connolly’s on Sunday night.
Well done to Danius Vaitiekus, Ned Roe, Patrick Connolly, Serena Wainwright Kingston, Sarah Kinsella, Eoin West, Leila O’ Driscoll, Donna MiriamJiji, Edwin Borsca, Thomas Hickey Navarro, Ultan Dennis Mc Aleavy, Cathal Daly, Aoibheann FitzGerald, Joe Ardis and Danish Mohd Saiful.
LCA students visited Skibbereen Garden Centre and were given an educational tour by Mark Lee.
A special word of thanks to Mark and the staff for giving up their time during this busy time of year.
Discussions ranged from identifying bare rooted trees, to Olive and Christmas trees, to herbs, fruit bushes and hedging.
All students benefited from the trip, and made them aware of the various plants and the importance of horticulture.
Best wishes to Eolann Miles 5th year, who along with his team are representing Ireland in the inaugural ILCA Sailing Team Racing event in Athens, Greece 4-8th December 2025.
'Fair winds and Following Seas'.
4th years had a wonderful day today in Watergrasshill go karting and paintballing.
We have a number of prize winners from the go karting.
Round 1 first prize Jim Houlihan, second prize Shane Delaney and third prize Conor Cawley.
Round 2 first prize Andrew Connolly, second prize Ciaran Barry and third prize Stephen O’Neill.
Round 3 first prize Jack Foley, second prize Jamie Dullea and third prize John O’Regan.
Fourth Round first prize Oisin Moore, second prize Micheal Wynn and third prize Einon Gottschall Jones.
Thanks to Mr. Conor Uhl, Ms. Gretta Burchill and Mr. Tom Foley for organising.
Thanks to Mr. Aaron O’Riordan, Ms. liz Leonard and Ms. Orla O’Sullivan for accompanying.
Thanks also to Phil O’Sullivan from Long’s coaches for his superb support.
Important Notice – VSware
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Please see link below and note the following message from VSware regarding an issue with Google Messages SMS which may impact Android users receiving VSware messages.
Google Messages SMS Issue
A recent change made by Google is currently affecting SMS delivery for Android users utilising Google Messages. Google's AI filtering potentially results in legitimate messages being flagged as spam and therefore not correctly delivering.
This change is completely out of our hands but if Android users are reporting issues around SMS delivery they can follow the instructions below.
https://support.vsware.ie/en/google-messages-sms-issue
Pictured here are some of our Transition year students with the lovely residents of Skibbereen Nursing Home. Transition year students love spending their few hours every Friday catching up and helping out where needed with the residents of Skibbereen Nursing home.
Fourth Years litter picking this week.
Many thanks to Skibbereen Tidy Towns, Cork County Council, Ms. Orla O’Sullivan, Mr. Aaran O’Riordan, Ms. Liz Leonard, Mr. Conor Uhl and Ms. Gretta Burchill for organising.
Pictured here are our students at Cara House, doing meals on wheels, an exercise class and helping the clients.
Thanks to Ms. Aine Minihane, Mr. Aaron O’Riordan, Mr. Conor Uhl, Mr. Tom Foley and Ms. Gretta Burchill for organising.
Senior Boys Football
SCS V St.Brendan’s of Killarney
Venue: Páirc Ui Chaoimh
Throw in: 1.30pm
Transition Year Home Economics students had a wonderful morning taking part in a sugar craft workshop led by the talented Caroline and Joanne. With creativity flowing, our students designed and crafted their own sugar pieces before carefully icing their Christmas cakes. Igloos and penguins were a popular style of decoration this year!
The room was filled with fun, laughter, and festive spirit as students learned new skills and expressed their artistic flair. It was a busy and rewarding workshop that left everyone proud of their creations.
A heartfelt thank you to Joanne from Cork Sugarcraft Association, and Caroline from Cakes by Caroline B, for sharing their expertise and making the experience so enjoyable. Thank you also to our own Martina McCarthy for supporting everyone on the day.
On Friday 20th November, Transition Year students had the privilege of hearing from Mikey Power, who shared his powerful story about overcoming substance and alcohol abuse. Mikey spoke openly about the challenges he faced and the impact of poor choices on his life. His message was clear: no matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong path, it’s never too late to turn around.
Through honesty and courage, Mikey reminded students that one right decision can change everything. His journey from struggle to success is a testament to resilience and hope, encouraging young people to make positive choices and seek support when needed.
Thank you, Mikey, for inspiring our TYs to believe in second chances and the power of making the right decision.
