09 Dec School Magazine
Headmaster’s Forward from The Grammarian 2013
The school year began with a great sense of excitement and with more students (over 570 between the Junior and Secondary schools) than at any previous time in our history. We had just seen a fantastic set of examination results with no less that ten of our Leaving Certificate class of 2012 receiving entrance scholarships to UCD and TCD.
Summer 2012 was a hive of activity. Between June and August we carried out a huge amount of demolition and as well as simultaneously building and fitting out a temporary classroom village (including a fully functional Chemistry laboratory). And while the construction works have continued unabated since then, all of our teaching, administration and housekeeping systems have operated smoothly throughout the year. Thus school life (apart from restricted parking!) has continuing uninterrupted. This is a testament to the hard work of the DGS staff team who cover all the different areas of the school: classrooms, school office, housekeeping, canteens, boarding house, grounds and caretaking. The school could not function without their dedication and professionalism.
September 2012 also saw us move into our new School Hall, a wonderful facility which has truly lived up to its “Multi Purpose” designation. During the course of this academic year it has at different times provided the venue for Prize Day, Open Day, Carol Service, Junior School Play, Fashion Show and a wonderful Gala Concert. As well as hosting these headline events, the MPH has also shown itself to be an excellent venue for core activities such as PE classes, Parent Teacher Meetings and school assemblies.
The building project presently underway is the biggest since the school first moved to the existing site in 1817. An investment of this scale will surely not happen again for another 200 years. So we are, in many ways, privileged to be here at this moment in time, a very exciting period in the school’s long history since its foundation in 1739. And of course we also owe a debt of gratitude to those school governors and parents whose voluntary work whether on our Board of Management, our PTA or our Board of Governors has helped the school to achieve so much in this past year.
It is also appropriate to acknowledge all those individuals and organisations in the wider community who have provided ongoing assistance to the school this year including those who have helped with the production of this magazine. Not least I am indebted to Mr Jonathan Farrar for the many hours he has invested as editor.
Cyril Drury (May 2013)