Bake sale in aid of Operation Smile
On the 26th of April, one of the students in our year, Ben Hogan, held a bake sale in aid of Operation Smile. He organised the event very well and many of us helped him out with selling the cakes and keeping everything in order. Altogether we raised enough for 10 operations.
YSI Speakout
On Tuesday the 20th of March the YSI committee traveled to Dun Laoghaire to participate in the YSI speak out. There was YSI committees from different schools throughout the country at the event. There was schools from Wicklow, Dublin, Louth, Carlow and Kilkenny. Each school committee had to prepare a play or presentation, which they perform in front of a panel of judges as well as the other schools. In the weeks leading up to the YSI speak out, we met to prepare our performance. Our play highlighted the stereotyping of homeless people in Ireland today. Lilykate and Ben talked about our project and everything we have done throughout TY in YSI. After our performance, we all went to McDonalds. It was a great day and it was really interesting to watch the other schools perform and learn what their project was about.
E.C.D.L
Our Transition Year group had the chance to take part in the E.C.D.L course. This was taught by Mr.Craig. Each student received an account and within this account there was a series of courses to do. Some of the courses included learning about Microsoft Word, learning about Microsoft XL, Learning about Outlook and much more Microsoft Softwares. I am yet to complete the course fully but I do find very beneficial. When I complete this course I am to receive a certificate and I can also add the certificate to my CV.
Sarahs Homes for Humanity Coffee Morning
On the 16th of March I assisted Sarah in doing a fundraiser coffee morning. During easter sarah will be traveling abroad to Romania with a group of 20 young people. In Romania, she will help to build houses for the poor people in that area. She organised a fundraiser coffee morning to fund her trip! She asked a few of the girls to help her! LilyKate, Amy, Jennifer, Claire, Sally and I helped Sarah to host her coffee morning and helped her to raise an astounding €1348. This was way above what she needed and expected and was delighted! It was great to be able to help out Sarah and see the money we helped her raise.
Ty Musical
The ty musical is one of the biggest highlights of the whole year. I have watched many of the previous Ty musical from the previous years and had heard a lot about how much fun it is so I was very excited to begin the preparations for ours. When we found out that we would be doing 'Legally Blonde ' there were very mixed feelings on whether it was going to be a good musicial choice for us. We were then told which parts everyone was getting. Everyone seemed happy and there was no one that was noticeably upset which I think everyone was relieved about. I was given the part of 'Courtney, the saleswoman' and also one of the lakergirls in bend and snap. I was happy about these parts as I was a principal which meant I got to see the whole musical come together and everyone got into their roles. I was also involved in almost all the dances which I thought was the best bit. The weeks running up to the show were very stressful as we were all trying to make sure every detail was perfect and that we had all the correct costumes and props. When we had everything sorted the actual shows were a lot of fun. Everyone got on really well and co operated and help ed each other out when they needed it. Overall, it was a great and extremely fun experience and I think it is something every year should look forward to it.
Faith Friends/ Cara
At the beginning of Transition year, students from 4th year were pared up with First year students to help the new students find their way round the Senior School. We all gathered in the canteen to meet and introduce ourselves to our 'buddies' for the school year. I was paired up with 2 girls, Emelie and Giselle for the year and I ensured that they could come to me about anything if needed. I also gave them my school email incase of any queries or questions that may come to their minds
Bazaar Bake Sale
As part of YSI for the Christmas Bazaar we held a cake sale. The money that we raised went directly to TIGLIN, a charity which we have been working with through our YSI project. TIGLIN help people come off addictions. We raised —- in the bake sale and a total of —- in the bazaar. The contribute to the bake sale I made cupcakes!
As well as working at the bake sale, Jennifer and I were assigned a game to play. The game was called Poke. There was 50 cups pinned into a notice board and the top of them was covered with green crep paper. The player had to use a meter stick to stab a hole into the creche paper, if there was a green X on the bottom of the cup, you won a prize. This was really fun to work at and I really enjoyed the bazaar.
As well as working at the bake sale, Jennifer and I were assigned a game to play. The game was called Poke. There was 50 cups pinned into a notice board and the top of them was covered with green crep paper. The player had to use a meter stick to stab a hole into the creche paper, if there was a green X on the bottom of the cup, you won a prize. This was really fun to work at and I really enjoyed the bazaar.
Dignity Bags
For our ysi project we decided to focuse on giving dignity bags to the homeless. We made posters and advertised what we planned to do around the school. We asked each year group to bring in a different items. When we thought we had collected enough items we packed the dignity bags. We began by sorting the items into groups and then packing them in boxes. We then lined them up on the side and people with bags walked along beside them while, one item was placed in at a time. We ended getting around 170 bags.
A few days later, we were given a great opportunity and got the chance to meet with the people from tiglin and we were able to hand over our dignity bags in a more personal way. Everyone in our ysi group carry the dignity bags on to their bus. The people from tiglin were very greatful. We finished by taking a picture outside the bus
A few days later, we were given a great opportunity and got the chance to meet with the people from tiglin and we were able to hand over our dignity bags in a more personal way. Everyone in our ysi group carry the dignity bags on to their bus. The people from tiglin were very greatful. We finished by taking a picture outside the bus
Hamper Packing For SVP
Before the rest of fourth years came down to help pack the hampers for SVP , 10 members from ysi went to the sports hall in the morning to unpack the food and see how the fifthyears organised and prepared the hampers as we would be doing the same for our dignity bags later on. All the ty students were separated into groups by alphabetical order and two fifth years were assigned to instruction them on how the hamper should be packed. The hampers were packed full of all various kinds of foods for example, beans, sausages and fizzy drinks were a few of the things that went in. Each group had 20 hampers to pack and had the collect a certain amount of item to go in each one. At the end we managed to pack over 200 hampers altogether which all went to great homes.
Some hampers also had Christmas presents given with them , these were Christmas presents for the children in each family depending on their ages and gender. Sarah , claire and I all help to organise these presents the night before so that the families would get the correct presents.
Some hampers also had Christmas presents given with them , these were Christmas presents for the children in each family depending on their ages and gender. Sarah , claire and I all help to organise these presents the night before so that the families would get the correct presents.
Careers Evening, November 16th
from 7.30 to 8.30 on the 16th of November, parents and past pupils all went to the junior school hall to talk to 4th years, 5th years and 6th years about the future careers they might be intested in. There were all sorts of careers but I decided to go to Businnes & Finance, Marine archaeology, Physiology therapy and medicine. I enjoyed learning about all these careers but after talking to them all I think I am more interested in doing science in the future.
Awareness 'Beat the Blues' Talk , November 9th
On the 9th November, we were given a talk about anxiety and depression by a speaker called Steve. Throughout the talk, Steve went through the different symptoms for depression and how we should deal with anxiety. He told us by writing down things that we are grateful for each day it can give us a more positive outlook on life. He then put us into groups and gave us a scenario which we then used a triangle formation to help us to feel better about the situation and come to a solution.
Overall, this talk helped me to gain a better understanding about depression and anxiety.
Overall, this talk helped me to gain a better understanding about depression and anxiety.
Alison Caravan, November 6th
Another talk we got during Well- being week was from Alison Caravan. Alison struggled with Anxiety for many years, and she told us all about the struggles she had with it. She also told us about when she first started getting anxious and how age started her career as a model. She got very emotional as she described to us the difficult times she has gone through. She also told us what we should do to live a more happy and positive life, we helped us to meditate and to do deep breathing. It was a very interesting talk and I learned a lot from Alison and I know that no matter what happens everything gets better .
Minister of health, November 6th
On the 6th of November, we were lucky enough to have the minister of health , Simon Harris talk to us during our well- being week. Simon Harris started by telling us, how he got to where he is today and what being minister for health is all about. He also told is what the health of Ireland is like, showed us the new improved food pyramid and what we can do to improve our health. I Really enjoyed this talk and would like to hear more from Simon Harris in the future.
Eagles flight workshop, September 21st
On the 21st of September, the whole of 4th year took part in the Eagles flight workshop. The workshop was run by Gerald O' shea and helped work on many abilities such as planning, focus and working together as a class and a team
At the start of the workshop we were split into 5 different teams, we then took part in a game called ' The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine'. In the game we had 20 days to mine as much gold as we could. The 20 days also included getting to the mine and home again. Each team had a limited number of supplies, fuel, shelter, batteries and money. There were 3 various routes we could take and we were shown on screen, what the weather would be like each day which affected our journey that day. Each route took a different number of days and we could only go on a route once. We were able to trade various supplies with other teams in order to get back home in time. We also had the option to communicate and work together with other teams, although no one went for this option as every team was focused on getting as much gold as possible.
As we went through each day we had to use one supplies card and one fuel. This was difficult for some teams as they didn't a
have enough cards. This task was challenging for most teams , some teams planned their journeys and communicated well with each other but other teams struggled and only just made it back home.
Overall I think this was a great experience and it helped us to communicate with each other. It was a very beneficial workshop and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
At the start of the workshop we were split into 5 different teams, we then took part in a game called ' The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine'. In the game we had 20 days to mine as much gold as we could. The 20 days also included getting to the mine and home again. Each team had a limited number of supplies, fuel, shelter, batteries and money. There were 3 various routes we could take and we were shown on screen, what the weather would be like each day which affected our journey that day. Each route took a different number of days and we could only go on a route once. We were able to trade various supplies with other teams in order to get back home in time. We also had the option to communicate and work together with other teams, although no one went for this option as every team was focused on getting as much gold as possible.
As we went through each day we had to use one supplies card and one fuel. This was difficult for some teams as they didn't a
have enough cards. This task was challenging for most teams , some teams planned their journeys and communicated well with each other but other teams struggled and only just made it back home.
Overall I think this was a great experience and it helped us to communicate with each other. It was a very beneficial workshop and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Business talk, September 20th
On the September 20th, all fourth were given a given a formal talk about the business mini- company that most fourth years take part in during transition year. This talk was given by a women called Serena Bryans. She showed us previous winners such engine table. She told us how the overall marks work and the judges are looking for. She told us that even the simplest thing can be turned into something great. To prove this, she handed out paper clips to groups of three and a piece of paper and told us to come of with as many uses for the paper clip as we could and right them down, one group came up with as many as 25 ideas.
She told us that she will be back in November , and by then we should have are market research and our product done to show her for the competition in march. We look forward to seeing her again in November.
She told us that she will be back in November , and by then we should have are market research and our product done to show her for the competition in march. We look forward to seeing her again in November.
I.T is not for geeks, September 29th
On Friday the 29th of September we received a very informative talk on what is it like to work in a software company such as Microsoft. Two speakers from Dell, Aidan and Marie came by to tell us what opportunities Dell has to offer.
They started of by telling us their different backgrounds and How they began working in Dell. They explained to us the roles they have in the company and what other roles are involved.
They also explained to us that you do not have to be hugely talented in i.t to have a job in a software company. They finished by showing us videos of the people who work in Dell and other software companies such as google. They all showed a huge love and interest for the work they do and it give me a more open mind to working in an I.t company in the future.
They started of by telling us their different backgrounds and How they began working in Dell. They explained to us the roles they have in the company and what other roles are involved.
They also explained to us that you do not have to be hugely talented in i.t to have a job in a software company. They finished by showing us videos of the people who work in Dell and other software companies such as google. They all showed a huge love and interest for the work they do and it give me a more open mind to working in an I.t company in the future.