St. Conleth's College

Mr. Maguire, I presume?

Dr. Livingstone is long gone, but there is now a kindler, gentler explorer trekking the varied landscapes of Africa: our very own Mr. Gav Maguire!   And gone too is the weighty baggage of messianic zeal and cultural imperialism: Mr. Maguire’s expeditions (with the considerable help of True Adventures) are an exquisitely crafted mix of adventure and development, mutually beneficial to both student traveler and the local resident.  After a mere a-hop-and-a-skip to Slovenia last summer, the focus is back on Africa and Gav and his two gangs are gearing up! The Uganda 2024 Expedition Team had their first meeting with True Adventures staff just to get to know each other… while the Morocco 2023 Team and parents met with their Expedition leader, after several earlier get-togethers planning, hiking and checking out of some very cool gear in preparation for their adventure this summer. Thunderbirds are not quite ‘Go!’ but they are getting there!

And with all this expedition planning does Gav get any actual teaching done? Indeed, he does… and in the most innovative, ‘down with the LC reform’ kind of way! Here, his Fifth Year Business class learn about team-work via the task of building the highest marshmallow tower!

Shh… What’s that Sound? Ka-Ching!

The scariest sound effect this Halloween for the St. Conleth’s Student Socialist Society/Debating Club was the clarion call of capitalism… as TYs kept ringing up the profits at their Halloween Mini-Company Fair! The timing was perfect as everyone filled up on the home-made, baked delicacies and, even after burning some off playing classic arcade video games, still had enough sucrose and e-numbers left to power them through the rest of the hectic day. Aside from the consumables, there were also some impressive handicrafts and art work for sale. And, in addition to teaching sound business principles, various charities also get their cut… or so we are told by TY Co-Ordinator, Gav ‘Three Macchiatos A Day’ Maguire!

Economics and Business

Economics

Economics is offered as a Leaving Certificate subject at both Higher and Ordinary Level. The course is divided into two parts:

  1. Microeconomics which studies price, costs, utility, supply and demand, elasticity, marginal theory, markets (competition, monopoly and oligopoly), factors of production (land, labour, capital and enterprise), and the role of government intervention in markets.
  2. Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole and examines how it is performing by measuring key variables such as GDP, inflation and unemployment.  It also explores booms and recessions and examines how governments should influence the economy via fiscal policy (tax and spending) and monetary policy(ECB).

Half the 8 questions examined by the Leaving Cert exam are on Macro and half on Micro.  Candidates must answer any 4 questions.

Business

Students enjoy the subject’s mix of practical skills and more academic theoretical elements, and the new syllabus under the Junior Cycle promises even more ‘real life’ learning.

During Transition Year, ‘mini-companies’ take over the school as the students are encouraged to set prices, cut costs and negotiate with the labour force (i.e. themselves), as they put their Business acumen into practice.

At Leaving Certificate level, Business is often the most in-demand class: few can resist the allure of practicality and entrepreneurial inspiration. A high-light of the year is trooping down to the nearby Aviva Stadium for the Bank of Ireland Bond Trader Challenge, where teams from Mr. Bolger’s Business classes compete against
schools from across Leinster in doing what Business students do best: make money!