From the 26th of September to the 30th of September 2016, my TY group and I participated in community involvement week., with the help of Mr.bates, Ms.Cunningham and Ms.O’Connor
On the Tuesday we went to St.Maelruains Church where we spoke to a Protestant priest and visited the tower outside of the church, aswell as the graveyard. We also spoke to a woman who works and helps the homeless. Every week she goes to the priory and brings food and meals to feed the homeless, she was a real inspiration for me. After the church we took a tour of the priory where we spoke to a women called Agnes who is part of the community who also works with the homeless. When we were inside the priory we spoke to the priest who explained all the parts of the church and priory. We then went into the ‘secret garden’ where we seen the graves of past priests. When we returned to the school we began our making of posters for the local churches and priory to raise awareness of homelessness. On the Wednesday we had a workshop where we had guest speakers with 3 people, Mercy, Wen and Brigid. My group and I however were not able to participate in the entire workshop as we had to finish our poster to raise awareness. But while I was there I learned about Mercy and Wen’s story. Mercy was a refugee who was an inspiration to all men and women and Wen was a German man who moved over to Ireland with no knowledge of what he was going to do. On the Thursday we went to St.Dominics Church where we spoke to the priest and several volunteers in a drug help centre. I remember Jackie the most as I knew her already from my local GAA club but she told us how she helps addicts and explained where to go if we ever know anyone who is an addict or feel ourselves in that situation. The week really helped me to appreciate what I have and also encouraged me to help the homeless. I really enjoyed the week. Orlagh McGuigan 4.2
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During the week before midterm, both TY classes had the chance to take part in a driving lesson. Everyone was allocated a 30 minute slot, where we went to the basketball court and got to test our driving skills, or rather, learn some.
The lesson began with a run through of some of the main functions and parts of a car. The instructor showed us how to use the indicators, different lights, window wipers, heaters and so on. We were then thought how to start the car, including using the clutch, handbrake and gear stick. Finally, we were allowed push down on the accelerator, and take off! We began by doing simple laps around the court, and then progressed onto figure of eights through some cones. Most people agreed that the scariest part was trying to squeeze the car through the gap between the wall and the basketball post, however, it ended up also being quite easy, you just have to go for it! We got to practice our turning when going around the corners of the court; some people were told to speed up and try to drive at a decent pace (that was me) while others were told to slow down, for fear of crashing! In the end, no matter how good, or bad, our driving skills were, the lessons were really enjoyed by everyone. Our instructor was really helpful, and everyone was able to learn a lot. I, myself, am really looking forward to our next chance to drive! Jade Willoughby 4.1 On Wednesday the 12th of October the TY German class and the TY Home Ec class held their Kaffee und Kuchen event in room 35. The event was organised by the German class with the help of Ms.McCarthy and Ms.McBride. It took a lot of teamwork and planning but all in all it turned out to be a very successful event. In the weeks leading up to the event the TY German class researched what Kaffee und Kuchen was and how they would plan it. Collecting information on the German tradition and planning what to bake for the event took some time. It was decided that some people such as Darren and Luke would bring homemade cakes from home while the TY Home Economics class would prepare the traditional German dish Apple Strudel and scones. Next came the entertainment. The German class was split into 4 different groups and each group was asked to research a different topic (geography, history, culture and sport). Each group gathered facts about their topic and prepared a powerpoint which would be presented to the audience at the Kaffee und Kuchen. The German class also decided to teach the audience a little bit of German that could be used when ordering Kaffee und Kuchen in Germany. But one of the most important part of the entertainment for the event was the German songs. Luke McMahon offered to play a song on his guitar. The rest of the class learned the German song Das Fliegerlied with the help of Ms.Mullen on the keyboard. We learned the lyrics and actions to go with the chorus. We made cards with the words on them so the audience could sing along too. On the day of the Kaffee und Kuchen, the Home Ec class made their scones and strudels while the French class later helped set up the room and get tea and coffee ready. At 12 people began to come in. There was a short introduction welcoming everyone and explaining what Kaffee und Kuchen was all about followed by Luke's Johnny Cash song Walk the Line in German!. Among the people there were some familiar faces such as Ms.Buggle and Ms.O’Kennedy with her daughter Zoë who was the youngest there! After the introduction the people had their Kaffee und Kuchen before looking at some of the German students present their powerpoints on geography and German culture. The grand finale to the event was the German class singing accompanied by Ms.Mullen on the keyboard and Luke on his guitar, Overall the feedback from people about Kaffee und Kuchen was great. People loved the cakes, some even taking home a little doggie bag for later. They found the presentations entertaining and enjoyed the songs performed. So all in all the Kaffee und Kuchen was a huge success for the TY students! Kerri-Ann Jones 4.2 We have started a 6 week course in self defence with the aim of receiving a yellow belt grading. It was great fun but all those kicks caused much pain and discomfort for a few days afterwards!! We are looking forward to the next class.
On Wednesday the 5th of October we had two long term members of Dublin Fire Brigade come in and give us a presentation on the work they do and what it entails. The speakers names were Derek and Brian and between the two of them they had over 30 years experience working with Dublin Fire Brigade. They explained to us the different type of work they do from being paramedics and saving people's lives to different types of fires and how they deal with them. They told us about the different stations around the Dublin area and what each one is for. They explained that there are two types of fire stations, whole-time stations and retained stations. The difference between the two is that a whole-time fire station always has operational persons ready for immediate response and the retained one has cover provided by part-time persons. They also told us that there are 12 whole-time fire stations around Dublin and 2 retained. They talked about the rank structure and how to become a recruit for DFB one day if we wanted to and all of the different equipment and gear they use when going into fires. The talk was really interesting and as far as i could tell everyone there really enjoyed it. Some students even stayed for extra time at the end to talk to Derek and Brian to ask them questions. I think it was one of the best talks we've had and I personally thought the work they told us about sounded amazing.
Alix Murray 4.2 On the 4th of October , the music teacher Ms. Mullen formed a music group who will perform on various occasions throughout the school year. The members of this group include: Laura Healy , Jennifer Zola , Abby Whelan , Dylan Brady , Claire Whelan , Jessica Moore , Kerri-Ann Jones, Adam Johnston and Chelsea O' Sullivan.
The group performed a cover of "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus on the 5th of October at the prize giving ceremony. The group will also be performing next Sunday on the 23rd of October at the 40 year anniversary of St Martin de Porres church. Dylan Brady 4.1 |