Three Peaks, May 4th
This year for our difference day, we will be heading over to St. Catherine's Specil Needs School to build them a new playground. In order to do this we needed to raise money. We were all given a sponsorship card to do the Three Peaks Challenge with a goal of €100 to raise for the cause. We headed to the Big Sugar Loaf on Friday morning and began our hike. We went over the shoulder of the Big Sugar Loaf, over the Little Sugar Loaf and then over Bray Head and finished on Bray Beach. We had amazing weather for the walk which we were all delighted with even though we were dying from the heat. We had a great day and really enjoyed
French Exchange
This year for one of my TY trip, I am taking part in the French exchange. At the end of the year, transition years get the choice to on either the Camino or French Exchange. I choose the French Exchange , as I am studying French and hope it will help me for leaving cert. A few weeks before the French arrived in Ireland we were all paired up with our French buddies so that we would get the chance to text them and relieve some of the nerves. My two French girls were called Julia and Toscane.
I was very nervous before they're arrival as I know if I did not get on with them it would make my French trip less enjoyable. We collected them from the school at 7pm on Friday night. Later on that night we got pizza, watched a movie and played lots of games such as Charades. I got great first impressions of the girls, they had great English , were very chatting and seemed really nice. On Saturday , we went to town with three of the other girls who also have French students, we visit trinity, Stephens green and of course went shopping. Later on in the evening we met up with some of the guys and went bowling and then greystones for chipper! Sunday was a much more chill day, me and the other girls brought our girls to Dun Laoighre , we shopped and went to the people's park market for lunch. We then headed for scrumdiddlys and sat by the sea eating ice cream. We then all headed home as we all had school tomorrow.
i loved getting to know the girls more and more each day after school and we always made sure we left room for a paranormal activity movie which we all seemed to enjoy.
They git two trips out of school and went to see the Wicklow mountains and Dublin City which they seemed to really enjoy.
On Wednesday afternoon, the girls and I all headed to dundrum afterschool, we allowed the girls time to go shopping for presents for their families and then we treated them to milanos for dinner which they all loved.
sadly Friday came quicker then we thought , and after we said our goodbye at our French breakfast, we were all sad to see them go but we knew it would be a couple of weeks before seeing them again.
I was very nervous before they're arrival as I know if I did not get on with them it would make my French trip less enjoyable. We collected them from the school at 7pm on Friday night. Later on that night we got pizza, watched a movie and played lots of games such as Charades. I got great first impressions of the girls, they had great English , were very chatting and seemed really nice. On Saturday , we went to town with three of the other girls who also have French students, we visit trinity, Stephens green and of course went shopping. Later on in the evening we met up with some of the guys and went bowling and then greystones for chipper! Sunday was a much more chill day, me and the other girls brought our girls to Dun Laoighre , we shopped and went to the people's park market for lunch. We then headed for scrumdiddlys and sat by the sea eating ice cream. We then all headed home as we all had school tomorrow.
i loved getting to know the girls more and more each day after school and we always made sure we left room for a paranormal activity movie which we all seemed to enjoy.
They git two trips out of school and went to see the Wicklow mountains and Dublin City which they seemed to really enjoy.
On Wednesday afternoon, the girls and I all headed to dundrum afterschool, we allowed the girls time to go shopping for presents for their families and then we treated them to milanos for dinner which they all loved.
sadly Friday came quicker then we thought , and after we said our goodbye at our French breakfast, we were all sad to see them go but we knew it would be a couple of weeks before seeing them again.
Carlingford
So far this year, Carlingford has been the most enjoyable experience for me. We headed down early on a Monday morning , When we got there everyone was very excited to find out the rooms we would be sharing. Due to the small number of girls, we were all split into two rooms beside each other. I liked this as I got on with all the girls in my room and I don't think there was anyone that was upset as everyone got on with each other and we were all ner each other. Throughout the day we took part in 3 different activities. On the first night we got there we were split into 2 different groups and we both did two different activities, the first activities I did was murder mystery , which was a lot of fun . Other activities we took part in were skylark, laser tag, canoeing, Ziplining and night activities included nightlife and the carlingford challenge. I enjoy all the activities but my favourite my zip lining. The food in the canteen we ate there was also a lot better than I has anticipated and there was also a sweeet shop which was certainly slept busy . You could always find people in the games room and many enjoyed table tennis tournaments. It was a great few days and I wish we could have stayed longer. The only down side to the trio was that there was many people getting sick and I think a lot of people feared it was going around, beside that at the end we were all very tired but all sad to be heading home.
The Netherlands, March 4th
On the 4th of March, I went to Holland for the Weekend. My oldest brother Sean, is doing his arasmo and is studying just outside of Amsterdam for the year. I really enjoyed going over and visiting my brother , I also think it was very beneficial as he showed me around his accommodation, campus and collage surroundings. It gave me a great insight as what it would be like to study away for the and after visiting I know that doing an arasmas or travelling is definitely something I am interested in.
Jump Zone
All of the girls in the year were very fortunate as we were told we were going to go to jump zone. When we got to jump zone, we were all taken into a room are given special socks, we were then told all the rules that apply to trampolining and we then headed to the trampolines. We started by just jumping on the normal trampolines and we then started to play Games. Some of the trampolining actives we took part in were, dodgeball, trying to knock each other off podiums and jumping into the foam pit. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves even the teachers took part!
For a treat afterwards we were then taken to McDonald's. Overall it was a great day and a great bonding experience for our small year of girls.
For a treat afterwards we were then taken to McDonald's. Overall it was a great day and a great bonding experience for our small year of girls.
D.I.T Open Day, December 1st
On the 1st of December, A group of 4th years headed to the D.I.T open day. I was looking forward to seeing D.I.T because my older brother goes here and I had never seen it before. As soon as we walked into the building we were given and bag with everything about D.I.T . We decided to start off by walking around and seeing what the building was like. We walked around to the classrooms, restaurant and library. They were also many display areas that we got to have a look out. I decided to start off by going to the sports and scholarship course, although I do not have a great interest in sport , I thought I would see what it is like. After going to it, I don't think it is for me and I think it is more aimed at someone that is competing in sports at a competitive level.
After eating lunch in the restaurant I decided to go to choosing a good course talk. I wasn't interested in any of the other talks going on and I thought it would be good to here how other people chose their course and what I should aim for. I like this as I opened my eyes as to how I should decide on what I would like to do in the future and what career path I might like to take.
Overall, I don't think I would like to go to D.I.T, as I do not think it gives off a college atmosphere and reminded me of more of a school, but I am glad I had the opportunities to see it as I don't know where I will end up in the future.
CCA Business Quiz, November 29th
On the 29th of November, 8 fourth years took part in the CCA Business quiz in kilcoole. After having lunch we all got a taxi to kilcoole. When we got there we split into 2 teams of four. There were about 20 teams there all from other schools. In the quiz there was 10 rounds with 10 questions. Most of the rounds were business based but some other rounds included, faces, logos, sport and songs. It was a lot of fun and in the end, we ended up coming joint third but lost in the tie- breaking.
DCU Open day, 17th November
gAt 9.30 on Friday morning on the 17th of November, the whole of 4th year set off to the DCU open day. On the way there on the bus , we were all given a schedule of all the talks that would take place that day so we could organise what we wanted to go to. When we got there we all split up and headed to the first talk we decided to go to. The first talk I went to was 'Accounting and Finance'. Although I do not do accounting in school, I did business for junior cert and I enjoyed it and wanted to see if being an accountant was something I would be interesting in doing in the future. After going to the talk I know that I am not interested in doing accounting in the future. After thus I went to nursing, I enjoyed this talk as I am interested in science and medicine. They talked a,of about what nursing is all about and what type of people become nurses. Becoming a nurse isn't something I am totally interested in doing , but I would put in down as an option. Then I took a break and had lunch before planning which last two talks I was gonna go to. I decided To go to business studies international, I thought this was good as it focused on languages as well as business studies, and even allows you the experience to go away for a year. The last talk I went to was health and society which I didn't find interesting at all, I liked the science behind it but I think going to a more scienced based course would be more beneficial.
Kairos , October 13th
On the 13th of October 2016, one class from 4th year travelled to Kairos in Maynooth to produce a news segment that was completely our own production. We were all really looking forward to producing our own after seeing the others years programmes which looked amazing.
We were told during the week that everyone who was going had to be at the school at 8:30am in order to beat the traffic and be at the studio in time. We were aloud wear casual clothes, so anyone who wanted to wear a costume in their show could.
When we arrived we met the man who was in charge of the studio, his name was Gerald Doyle. He was very helpful with all of our ideas and really cooperated well with all of us. He explained the rules to us all when we arrived and was very clear about them which we could all understand, considering we were around a lot of electrical equipment.
If we weren't in the studio we were in the board room which was just down the hall which we brain stormed our ideas and went through our segment in.
Gerald gathered all the people together who were going to be behind the scenes during the show doing cameras, sound, graphics, the producer, the director and floor manger. These were all very important roles in making the production happen. When they realised how everything worked, it was time for us to plan what segments came first and start to run through the show a few times to practice. We did many rehearsals changing things as we went along. The set itself was quite small so we had to use our space wisely. We had a lot going on during the show and during the rehearsals we all laughed a lot at each other, as we tried to make the show as funny as possible.
My part in the programme was being a best friend in the Jeremy Kyle segment where a boyfriend was thought to be stealing from his girlfriend. It was so much fun to shoot .
Everyone’s segment in the show was unique and very good. We did well considering we didn't have much time to prepare it.. We all really enjoyed it and we are very excited to so the footage of what we produced and the other groups programmes as well.
We were told during the week that everyone who was going had to be at the school at 8:30am in order to beat the traffic and be at the studio in time. We were aloud wear casual clothes, so anyone who wanted to wear a costume in their show could.
When we arrived we met the man who was in charge of the studio, his name was Gerald Doyle. He was very helpful with all of our ideas and really cooperated well with all of us. He explained the rules to us all when we arrived and was very clear about them which we could all understand, considering we were around a lot of electrical equipment.
If we weren't in the studio we were in the board room which was just down the hall which we brain stormed our ideas and went through our segment in.
Gerald gathered all the people together who were going to be behind the scenes during the show doing cameras, sound, graphics, the producer, the director and floor manger. These were all very important roles in making the production happen. When they realised how everything worked, it was time for us to plan what segments came first and start to run through the show a few times to practice. We did many rehearsals changing things as we went along. The set itself was quite small so we had to use our space wisely. We had a lot going on during the show and during the rehearsals we all laughed a lot at each other, as we tried to make the show as funny as possible.
My part in the programme was being a best friend in the Jeremy Kyle segment where a boyfriend was thought to be stealing from his girlfriend. It was so much fun to shoot .
Everyone’s segment in the show was unique and very good. We did well considering we didn't have much time to prepare it.. We all really enjoyed it and we are very excited to so the footage of what we produced and the other groups programmes as well.
Camping trip, September 13th
As soon as we, the Junior Cert class of 2017, received our results, everyone was really excited to go camping. From start to finish our trip in Lough Dan was a truly great experience ! We all had it in our mind set that it was going to be freezing cold and rain the whole time we were there, although it wasn't as bad as I had thought I do think I would have enjoyed it more the weather been better.
We left for Lough Dan after getting our results and telling our parents how we got on. When we arrived at the camp site, we were told of the rules and were left to set up our tents just before it started to rain. We had some lunch and relaxed and talked for a while after a stressful morning and then we set off on a 6km hike around Lough Dan. The scenery was amazing and the views were breath taking. When we got to a stream about 3km from where we started, everyone took a break.
When we got back everyone made their own dinner , we decided to make pasta, we then sat around the camp fire chatting, laughing and playing music for a few hours, which we all enjoyed a lot.
When we went to sleep we didn't sleep alot as it was freezing during the night. Everyone up and out of their tents at around 7:30 in the morning. Everybody was up making breakfast and getting ready for the day ahead, which was a long one!
At around ten o'clock we all set off on a 22km hike. It was expected to rain and we were also informed that we could be caught in the middle of a storm so we all wrapped up well! It took around five hours to complete the walk. We also took a lunch break in between. At the end of the walk everyone's feet were in a lot of pain. Luckily we all got the chance to swim in the cool lake which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
We all made our dinner again and hot chocolate as we were freezing and went to sit around the camp fire for the last time. Everyone had grown and bonded that bit more with each other after the long, tiring day.
Everyone was so tired that night it made it very easy to sleep, and we had learned to wrapped up well before heading to bed. The next morning we were all up at eight cooking breakfast and dismantling our tents to head home. After clearing the entire camp site we all got onto the buses to head home.
The camping trip was a better trip then I had first imagined. It was a great start to what I hope will be a great year!
We left for Lough Dan after getting our results and telling our parents how we got on. When we arrived at the camp site, we were told of the rules and were left to set up our tents just before it started to rain. We had some lunch and relaxed and talked for a while after a stressful morning and then we set off on a 6km hike around Lough Dan. The scenery was amazing and the views were breath taking. When we got to a stream about 3km from where we started, everyone took a break.
When we got back everyone made their own dinner , we decided to make pasta, we then sat around the camp fire chatting, laughing and playing music for a few hours, which we all enjoyed a lot.
When we went to sleep we didn't sleep alot as it was freezing during the night. Everyone up and out of their tents at around 7:30 in the morning. Everybody was up making breakfast and getting ready for the day ahead, which was a long one!
At around ten o'clock we all set off on a 22km hike. It was expected to rain and we were also informed that we could be caught in the middle of a storm so we all wrapped up well! It took around five hours to complete the walk. We also took a lunch break in between. At the end of the walk everyone's feet were in a lot of pain. Luckily we all got the chance to swim in the cool lake which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
We all made our dinner again and hot chocolate as we were freezing and went to sit around the camp fire for the last time. Everyone had grown and bonded that bit more with each other after the long, tiring day.
Everyone was so tired that night it made it very easy to sleep, and we had learned to wrapped up well before heading to bed. The next morning we were all up at eight cooking breakfast and dismantling our tents to head home. After clearing the entire camp site we all got onto the buses to head home.
The camping trip was a better trip then I had first imagined. It was a great start to what I hope will be a great year!