It's All Fun And Games!!!

"One of the advantages bowling has over golf is that you 

seldom lose a bowling ball!" - Don Carter

Last Wednesday I finished my last Christmas exam. In TY, this only means one thing...BOWLING!!!!

Source: http://dept.ku.edu/~union/cgi-bin/testsite/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/bowling.jpg

Our Thursday morning started off nicely with a Christmas party hosted by the best class ever ..Tabei of course! We left the school at half ten with everyone in high spirits as today we were going bowling. :) We arrived at KBowl and straight away took to the lanes! We were in groups of six which made it really fun. I hadn't been bowling in years so naturally ...i was terrible!! Well it wasn't that bad! I came a respectable fourth out of six. I think it's safe to say I may just need a little more practice ! 

Caoimhe :)

Source: http://www.kilkennycityonline.com/img_library/products/popups/k-bowl-3.jpg

Source: http://www.familyfun.ie/site-assets/uploads/2013/02/kbowl-bowling-kildare.jpg

No More Zumba :(

"Everything has to come to an end, sometime."- L. Frank Baum

After six great weeks of dancing our hearts out it was time to say goodbye to zumba. I really enjoyed taking part in zumba over the past few weeks...it was like we got to play just dance for an hour and a half every week which was great! Even if I wasn't very good at it, it was still a chance to have fun with my friends and forget about schoolwork for a while :) Maybe we will be allowed to continue with zumba again in the next term...hopefully!!

Caoimhe :)

Source: http://www.wrcnbc.org/images/uploads/zumba-banner.jpg

As Busy as a Bee !!!

Some people say TY is a 'doss year'...THEY ARE ALL WRONG!!! (NO JOKE). Well TY is definitely not a 'doss' in our school anyway. We've been going on trips galore! Don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining but it definitely keeps us really busy. I know I don't have many exams this year but with the Christmas tests coming up next week and a billion projects to do I think it's safe to say I will not be having a relaxing weekend!! 

Caoimhe :)

Happy Holly Days!!

"Chritmas isn't a season, it's a feeling" - Edna Ferber

Rudolph the red nose reindeer, had a very shiny nose...and if you ever saw him, you would even say it.....Oh sorry I just got a bit distracted there thinking of CHRISTMAS!!!! So with Christmas right around the corner,  the school thought it would be nice to do a bit of volunteering. We all spent Wednedsay afternoon collecting on the streets of Dubin City in aid of the ISPCC. 

The appeal is known as the Holly Days Appeal and is done every year at Christmas time. Our job was to sell as much holly badges as we could! All the money raised in the appeal goes towards all the children who call the ISPCC on Christmas Day. Each year around 2000 children call the ISPCC on Christmas Day alone! The money raised goes towards funding to make sure each and every call can be answered. 

The day went well and we ended up selling alot of holly badges...although we did have to do a bit of carol singing to grab peoples attention!! 

Caoimhe :)  

Source: http://www.ispcc.ie/uploads/images/dir254/dir12/6_1.php

Christmas is coming!! :)

Source: http://www.localnomad.com/en/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Christmas-tree.j

Hi everyone! Its officially Christmas!! So, today I walked into the school soon to discover that the team of  prefects had secretly been planning to decorate the entire school with Christmas decorations! Christmas is my favourite time of the year so this was definitely a good surprise!! The school looks great and I can't wait for Christmas now. Hopefully the decorations will go up at home soon too!

Caoimhe :)

Source: http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/christmas.jpg

 

Never EVER Drink And Drive!!

"If you knew you were driving to your death - would you still drive so fast?" 

Hi everyone! The Road Safety Authority and Kildare County Council held a 'Road Safety Roadshow' in Punchestown, Co.Kildare on Thursday afternoon. The event was arranged to raise awareness of road safety in Ireland...specifically in Kildare.

I would love to use this blogpost as an opportunity to create more awareness of road safety in Ireland.

It is very clear that road safety is becoming a more topical issue in Ireland and unfortunately throughout the world. Every year due to unsafe driving, drink driving, speeding, distractions such as mobile phones and other factors are leading to the increase of road injuries and fatalities across the world.  

Source: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/224/4/b/Drink_Driving_Poster_1__by_Erador.jpg

Here are just a few statistics on road accidents in Ireland...

Yearly Comparison 2012- 2013

• This year alone there have been a total of 175 deaths on Irish roads, compared to 152 deaths last year.

• There have been a total of 166 collisions this year, compared to 142 collisions last year.

•  2 in 5 of those who died on our roads over the period  2007  —2012 were vulnerable road users.

•  1 in 5 were pedestrians.

•  1 in 10 were motorcyclists.

•  1 in 3 pedestrians killed was aged 65 and over. 

•  1 in 25 was a pedal cyclists.

Source: www.youtube.com

Solving equations and freezing feet!!!

"Pure mathematics is, in a way, the poetry of logical ideas"

 - Albert Einstein

Source: http://clongowes.net/wordpress/wp-content/cwcuploads/2012/11/maths9.jpg

This week the TY'S were off to Rathbeggan Lakes in Dunshaughlin, Co.Meath for a project maths trip. The idea of the trip was to test our maths skills by getting us to solve some logical maths problems in a surrounding that we wouldn't necessarily associate with maths, in this case...a lakeside! We were put into groups of fours and had to try and figure out as many of the questions as we could. My group did quite well I have to say!! Sadley we didn't win though :( It would of been nice to win the prize but ah well! It was a great day out in the end..although I couldn't feel my feet by the end of it from the cold!

Caoimhe :) 

Source: http://regangraphics.com/images/lakes.jpg

Schools Across Borders

Hi again!! So, as part of our TY programme this year St Wolstans are participating in a new programme known as 'Schools Across Borders'. This programme was set up to create a platform for all young people around the world to act in partnership to create a more equal, peaceful world. There are a total of six schools in Ireland who are taking part in the programme. There are also schools in Burma, The Balkans, France, Palestine and Romania. 

Source: http://www.guilderdesign.com/images/photos/branding/SABlogo_fullsize.jpg

 



The idea of the project is that young people get the chance to communicate with their peers in other countries as well as their own. It gives young people the opportunity to find out more about the lives of people in other countries and is an opportunity to be actively involved in helping to solve some of the major issues in the world.
We were recently brought to City West Hotel in Dublin to meet the other groups of Irish students and also some of the  students from Palestine and Burma. The day consisted of a drama, presentations made by each school, a chance to express what we learned through art, presentations made by organisations such as 'Trocaire' and 'Aware' , and also a chance to talk to the students in the other schools.



Source: http://www.beyond2015pakistanconference.org/images/MDGs-targets.gif

All in all, it was an enjoyable day and hopefully together we can come up with a way to help improve the state of some of the major issues is the world. We can look at the Millennium Development Goals as a guide to help us in our project.



Source: http://www.un.org.kh/unv/sites/files/mdg2015.jpg

"Tread softly because you tread on my Dreams"

Last week all TY's spent a day in town completely dedicated to learning about W.B Yeats and his family. We had previously been studying W.B. Yeats in school and thought it would be a great idea if we visited some of the museums that contained facts and info about Yeats and his life.

Our day began with a trip to the National Art Gallery in Dublin. We were given a guided tour of the museum and looked at many of the paintings by W.B. Yeats brother Jack Yeats. My favourite painting of the day was a painting by Jack Yeats called "Grief".

I love the use of colour in the image which really set the mood of the image. I also love the fact that the image is very abstract. 




Source: http://www.macgreevy.org/bak/xml/text/images/lloyd/grief.jpg

Next up was as trip to the National Museum of Ireland. There were many different exhibits in the main hall but we decided to focus on firstly, the 'Gold Age' and 'Bronze Age' exhibits. We then headed off into the next room to see the bog bodies. William Butler Yeats  had a huge interest in Bog Bodies and wrote many poems about them. It was extremely interesting to see how well preserved the bodies actually were. Some of them even still had their fingernails!



Source: http://irisharchaeology.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/clonycavanman-bog-body.jpg

All Mondays should involve Explosions and Fast Food!!!

Yesterday was by far one of the best Mondays so far this year! This week is Science Week so all Transition years went to Tallaght I.T. Let’s just say we spent the day listening to a British man talk about extraordinary science and watching him make things EXPLODE!!!

     It was a very interesting talk and I would definitely recommend it for next year’s TY's :) When we arrived at the college we were brought straight into a large room which is used for chemistry and biology. It had lots of machinery and big tanks used to grow bacteria and make different chemicals. It was really warm with all of us in the same room and unfortunately one of my classmates fainted! :( Her mam came to bring her home and she was okay after that! We then went into one of the lecture halls and watched a presentation made by one of the professors in the collage. He showed us loads of really cool experiments which yes, as you may be wondering…DID involve fire!!

      On the way home from Tallaght, the teachers decided to treat us! We stopped in Liffey Valley shopping centre for lunch and got to spend a while with our friends looking around the shops. It was great fun and the KFC was delicious! :P

A Trip To Remember

So much has happened since the last time I posted :) The whole TY year went on a trip to Carlingford Adventure Centre in Louth and it was so much fun!! We all had such a good time and it was a great way for us to bond and get to know each other better.
We were there for two days and got the chance to do lots of activities such as  kayaking, laser combat, a challenge course, archery, zorbing and much more!! It was an amazing two days and we even got to go get Chinese food in the evening!! :)

Caoimhe :)

Souce: http://www.cenarth-paintball.co.uk/images/laser_title.jpg

Here come the NERVES!!

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work learning from failure."   -   General Colin Powell

I can't believe I'm saying this but tomorrow is the day that all the TY students have been working up to for the last three years! JUNIOR CERT RESULTS!!! I'm starting to get a little nervous now thinking about how I've done but hopefully all the hard work has paid off. :)

Caoimhe :)

Week 2- Positivity :)

" In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision." - Dalai Lama

souce: http://positiveparties.com/

This week we were very lucky to have three workshops in one day! Our Wednesday was filled with positive thoughts and was aimed at improving our confidence and helping us create positive energy. The first workshop was with a fellow Celbridge man, Austin Dunne. The workshop was all about making us feel more confident in our own skin. The second workshop was great! We all learned how to do shoulder massages on each other which was a really relaxing break from school life. Lastly, we had a positive party :) We were basically shown how to turn negative thoughts into positivity. It was good fun and we all got lollipops at the end which was a great way to end the day!!

Caoimhe :)

A New Year, A New Beginning!!

"The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings"- Dave Weinbaum

Hi everyone :)  
This is my first ever blog post so I'm not really too sure what to write! I'm looking forward to improving my blog throughout the year and I'm sure with all the fantastic new experiences and challenges that are heading my way I'll have a lot more to write about. So, I've only been in TY for four days now and I'm already starting to get used to the new routine. The first day was quite nerve wrecking as we were put in our new classes and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'm in class Tabei!! There are a lot of new faces to get used to in class but I'm sure I'll get to know everyone throughout the year. On Friday I had my very first technology class which actually went a lot better than I thought it would...well I didn't chop off any of my fingers yet and that's always a good sign!!!

Will write again soon,

Caoimhe :)