School art

Prepare to be impressed at the recently opened Newtown Connections exhibition at the Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford. Over 40 works of art and craft from many parts of the world are on show. The exhibition, which marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of Newtown School, runs from now until Saturday, October 3rd - opening times are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Talent hunt

Are you talented, young, academic? Just like me, in fact. Well, opportunity knocks. The Irish Centre for Talented Youth at DCU is looking for 12- to 16year-old second-level students with exceptional verbal and/or mathematical reasoning abilities. Closing date for application is Tuesday, November 6th, and the application fee is £35. A test will be held on Saturday, January 23rd, next at centres around the country. Those who score particularly well will be invited to take part in the centre's annual summer academic programme as well as weekly advanced classes. For information write to Dr Sheila Gilheany, at DCU, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 - fax (01) 704 5693.

Theatre event

You too could be present at the National Museum's inaugural experience of hosting a theatrical event in its confines at the Old Riding School in Collins Barracks, Dublin. Saturday matinee performances of the play, will be free to all school students. Doors open at 2 p.m. The play, presented by Vesuvius Theatre Company, is adapted by Vincent Woods and directed by Vanessa Fielding. It should be of particular interest to students of Italian, politics and all levels of European history. The setting is Fascist Italy, where Mussolini's new militia are on the move in the Thirties. It's hoped that the play will be one of the major events in this year's Fringe Festival. A new adaptation of a classic Italian novel, it runs until Saturday, October 17th - to book groups phone (01) 496 2033.

TV classes

For anyone who is home from school in the mornings, for whatever reason, RTE is running its Open Learning schedule of programmes on Network 2. Next Monday at 10 a.m. Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, features in the I Love My City series for eight-year-olds. At 10.15 a.m. there'll be a geography programme for the 11-plus age group. And starting next Tuesday at 11.20 a.m. is a series for 10-year-olds about artists around the world - first there's Fernando Batero from Colombia.

UN lecture

The final lecture in a series about Ireland's role with the United Nations will be given at the National Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin, by broadcaster and journalist Cathal O'Shannon, next Saturday at 3 p.m. Admission is free. The lecture is entitled Irish Troops Overseas on UN Service - A Civilian's View.

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