Confey College
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| Confey Community College Coláiste Phobal Confey |
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| Motto | Meas ar Chách Irish for 'Respect for all' |
| Established | 1986 |
| Location | Leixlip, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland |
| Students | 620 |
| Principal Deputy Principal |
Mr Cathal Travers Mr Niall Hare |
| Number of staff | 50 |
| Homepage | http://www.confeycollege.org |
Confey College is a co-educational Community College in Leixlip, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. The school opened to 36 students in September 1986 and has approximately 620 students at present and about 50 staff members.
The school is situated at the end of the River Forest Estate. It is one of two secondary-level schools in Leixlip, the other being Colaiste Chiarain.
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[edit] History of Confey College
Before the construction of the original school building in Riverforest in 1994, Confey College teachers taught in nearby Scoil San Carlo on a part time basis after the primary school closed for the day at 3pm. After lobbying from teachers and parents, prefabricated buildings were provided on the site which the school currently occupies. With the growth of Leixlip and an expanding teenage population, these facilities were inadequate. With much further teacher and local pressure, what is now the older of the two school buildings was built in 1994, with three prefabs remaining in use as classrooms. The remaining prefabs were removed in 2001 with the construction of a new, larger building.
The School consists of two separate buildings, one of which was completed in November 2001. The original building has 28 classrooms, including an engineering room, a woodworking room, several computer rooms and a P.E. Hall.
The new building contains rooms for Art, Technology, Building Construction, Science, a new Library and Learning Support room and eleven General classrooms. The new building also houses the main administration offices.
[edit] Teachers
Mr Cathal Travers, now principal, is the only teacher to have uninterruptedly taught at the school since its foundation in 1986. Mr Robert Boland, the woodwork teacher, also taught then on a part time basis from Colaiste Ciaran, but he left in 1999, returning the following year. Other long serving teachers at the school who have taught for ten years or more are Ms Anna McKenna (Science), Mr Philip Devereaux (Engineering), Mr Niall Hare (History and English), Mr Richard Sullivan (Irish, English and Geography), Mr Ollie Walsh (P.E.), Ms G Darcy (French),Ms Mary Boyd (French), Mr Enda Power (History and Geography), and Ms Mary O Beachain (Mathematics and Career Guidance). Mr Travers became vice principal in the early 1990s and in 1997 replaced Ms Pamela Traynor as Principal. The post of vice Principal was taken by Mr Rory O' Toole, who left in 2004, and in turn was replaced by Mr Niall Hare. Tom Malone, the school caretaker is also a long serving member of staff, and has worked at the school for in excess of ten years.
[edit] Confey College in a political context
Confey College has remained predominantly benign in terms of industrial action down through the years. In 2001, at the height of the secondary school teachers industrial action, the college remained open with almost every teacher teaching during the strike. It continues to have a good relationship with the nearby Intel plant. In fact, the almost embarrassing situation has developed whereby the school has been given more high tech computers than it can use; at one stage before the new building came into existence there were four computer rooms running in the school. The school is active in the local community in providing a venue for various adult education schemes.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
Confey College has relatively few extracurricular activities. In terms of sports, there is little in the way of male facilities; in recent years there has been a notable absence in male soccer, rugby or GAA teams. This is not the case with the girls, who do have facilities for most sports, and the school has been reasonably successful nationally in these fields. The one exception to this lack of facilities is the indoor soccer tournaments run by Mr Enda Power every Friday from 4pm-9pm. It is a testament to his willingness to try to improve the lives of students that Mr Power continues to give up his Friday evenings to run this event as he has been doing for the past 10 years.
[edit] Awards and Graduations
Confey College holds an annual award ceremony as part of what it describes as the "positive ethos" of the school. There is a ceremony for each year from 1st to 6th. Generally, awards are "distinctions" and "merits" covering most subjects. There is usually a "Student of the Year" in most subject categories for 6th years. In addition, there is an overall male and female "Student of the Year" category for each year apart from first years. In sixth year, there is a "Student Munificance" award, which is voted for by the students themselves. There are various other prizes for achievement in sport and other extracurricular activities. This ceremony is held towards the end of the academic year. For sixth years, it is incorporated into the Graduation Ceremony. The Graduation Ceremony of 2001 has become etched in Confey College folklore. When receiving an award, it is customary to shake the hand of Mr Travers, who presents them. When John Purcell collected an award, he avoided the outstretched hand of Mr Travers and wiggled his fingers on his nose. He then attempted to shake the principal's hand, but this offer was rejected, and Purcell was suspended for the rest of the year, having taken his place in the unofficial Confey College "Hall of Fame". After much debate, he was allowed sit his Leaving Cert at Confey College. The Graduation Ceremony is usually followed by a party in a nearby disco bar.
[edit] Confey College today
Academically, Confey College regularly ranks in the top five percent of schools nationally in terms of exam results, often achieving higher average results than fee-paying secondary schools. The school is often represented at the Young Scientist exhibition, which is an annual event held at the RDS. The school has been reasonably successful in the competition, and regularly wins major prizes at it. Confey's annual participation since 1999 has been organised by Mr Philip Devereaux.
The school caters for students preparing for their Leaving and Junior Certificate Examinations. It also gives students the option to stay in school an extra year between the exams. This is called fourth year or "transition year". This is compulsory in many schools in Ireland.
Confey College caters for 95% of all secondary school students in Confey. In addition, 11% of students now come from non-traditional catchment areas, such as Celbridge. To this end, a school bus now runs to and from Confey to these areas.
Karl O Dwyer, son of Mick and who played for Kildare in the 1998 All Ireland Final is a Business Studies teacher at the school. Trevor Brennan, the Irish rugby international who currently plays for Toulouse in France, is a past pupil of the school.
