Cork school celebrating big wins in academic and sporting fields

IT’S been a big week for St Peter’s Community School in Passage West, which celebrated wins in both academic and sporting fields.

Siblings Éadaoin and Ciarán Farrell won first place in the Biological and Ecological Sciences – Intermediate Group category at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition last weekend.

Éadaoin explained that they wanted to determine if weather conditions affect birds standing on one leg or beak-tucking — both ways to conserve heat and energy — so they went bird watching and recorded 2,000 birds, as well as weather variables.

“We got a good telescope and one of us would set it up and call out the species of bird, whether it was standing on one leg and if it’s beak was tucked, and the other would record it,” she explained.

“I’d say our parents are glad it came to something, as they did so much driving up and down for us!”

Principal Tony McSweeney told The Echo that the entire school community were proud of the talented students, as well as science teacher and group mentor Daniel Hurley.

The success for the school didn’t end there. Yesterday, the senior boys’ soccer team won the FAI John Murphy Cup Munster final against Coláiste Mhuire, Askeaton — the same team who beat them 1-0 in last year’s final.

“They left early in the morning to get to Limerick,” said Mr McSweeney, explaining: “We were going to our opposition’s backyard, so we might have been underdogs going in.”

He added that although the other side scored the first goal, “in the second half, we really began to play”. They ended up winning 5-1, and will now go forward to an All-Ireland semi-final.

Mr McSweeney commended dedicated coach and PE teacher Kit O’Keeffe, captain Mark Lester, goalscorers Liam Quinn, Scott Moynihan, and Eoghan Farrell, as well as Rhema Mbakwe, who delivered “a player-of-the-match performance that was so exciting to watch”.

“As a school, to have such achievements in a week — both academically and in sport — showcases our student’s abilities and leadership, it shows the very core of what we’re trying to do at St Peter’s.”