Professional Bongo Players



Hey guys,

So this week included two major events. Firstly, we had a 'percussion class' and secondly we went into Dublin to collect money for Lollipop day.

Lollipop day takes place every year, and Transition year students from all over the country participate in collecting money for charity. It's a fun day out and a great way to raise money for Oesophageal Cancer Research Ireland. We held collection buckets and gathered as much money as we could, and we also got to make our own way to any lunch destination of our choice (ours MacDonalds, no surprise there!). It was a great day and although we were f-f-freeeezing and at times felt like our toes were ready to fall off, we really feel like we have made a great contribution to the cause. Thank you to everyone who donated!

Earlier in the week we got together in our class groups to de-stress with ssome mad bongo playing. We learnt classic African songs and had a blast learning how to bring everything together. We were told the different names for different sized and shaped 'bongos' although I can't remember them now.. oops. If you're interested in having a fun afternoon of mad bongo playing then you can click here to contact David from the JabaJaba Jimbe organisation.

Till Next Week,
Ciara



Happy Pancake Tuesday!

In a week's time

Hey guys,

So this week was a lot of fun, and comes before our week long mid term break. We made risotto, watched some movies (for educational purposes of course) and practised for our end of year MUSIC NIGHT!

This Tuesday consisted of a jam packed afternoon when me and my Home Ec partner got together and whipped up a tasty chicken risotto. It was the first time I had ever tasted risotto or even tried to make it. Before then I had always thought of it as such a hard dish to make... how wrong I was!

This week and last week (and for the foreseeable future) myself and my class have been slowly but surely making our way through two movies. The first of these two movies we watched in religion class. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's called 'The Pursuit Of Happiness'. The purpose of us watching this film is to teach us about poverty and the devastating effects it has on people's lives. On going with this theme my class have produced a play on homelessness. This is why we were in Mullingar last week for a drama competition, and I have news.... WE GOT THROUGH! So watch out for a future blog post on my trip to Cork for the finals!

The second of the movies we have been watching (this time in Geography class) is 'Contagion'. We have recently been learning about different diseases. Each of us had been assigned a different disease to research and make a leaflet about. Our leaflets consisted of vaccinations, causes and symptoms of different diseases. My disease was Tuberculosis. Not a very pleasant disease to withold!

Today in music class we continued practising for our Transition Year music night that will be held in May of this year. We are singing a mash-up medley of 'Hey Ho'- The Lumineers, 'Hall of fame'- The Script and of 'I follow rivers' - Lykke Li. It's great fun to perform and we're really looking forward to the night!
 
In other news, I have recently picked up a book from the school library. Our school library had been neglected for a long time and turned into an uncomfortable, cold class room. But, all of that changed this year and it has been completely transformed. We have gotten a librarian, new books (voted in by students) and there's talk of us getting bean bags, water fountains and computers! So, due to this drastic change there has been a lot of excitement produced about the library and I have been encouraged to read more books. So far I have read 'The Kite Runner' and am currently reading 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini. If you haven't already, RUN to your nearest book outlet and get yourself a copy of each, they are fantastic reads!

Till next week,
Ciara

Mullingar !

Hey guys,

This week was a lot of fun and involved an educational trip to Mullingar, another successful day at work experience and an Oreo malt to finish off the long week of hard work.

Don't get me wrong, Transition year is full of lots of projects and work that needs to be done. Our school makes sure that we keep working hard and developing new and old skills. That being said, we have a lot of learning opportunities that require us going on school trips, and of course there's lots of fun to be had away from school! One of these trips was our drama competition that was held in Mullingar. 

We've been working on dramas regarding the Millenium Development Goals during religion class. We went to Briary Gap in the Mullingar arts centre to perform our dramas in front of judges. No news back yet but if we get through, we're going to Cork! It was a great day out, we got to perform on a stage with an audience and snack on some McDonald's before hand. We have our fingers crossed that one of our plays get through because we worked so hard on them and would love to support each other in Cork!

In other news, I have progressed with my 'teddy making' process and now have all the pattern pieces cut out. We also bribed our home economics teacher into allowing us to make Oreo malts for the whole class, they were D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!

Till Next week,

Ciara

      

I Do What I Say and I Say What I Do

Hey guys,

So it's been another hard week in Transition Year, although, when I say hard I really mean tiring (probably due to my own lack of sleep!). This week judging was held for our mini company projects, we made advances in our teddy making process and we got cracking at our third week of work experience.

First up on a snowy Monday morning we each set up stalls and promoted our mini company products. The day consisted of a small award ceremony and a public speaking presentation from each team in front of two judges. The judges were there to choose what group would be going through to a national competition later on in the year. Although we didn't get short listed, myself and my group are very proud of our progress and left very happy indeed.

We also made a DELICIOUS cheesecake, no doubt I ate it all myself! And as I said I would, here's a picture..

That's all for this week,
Ciara

Crumbled

Hey guys,

So it's the end of another eventful week in Transition Year and although alot happened, there isn't too much to report on seeing as I blogged a mammoth post last week!

First up on tuesday afternoon, we made an AMAZING apple crumble. Of course, it was completely demolished before I even returned home, and it tasted soo good that I decided to name this post after it. Next week, CHEESECAKE. I may even post a picture of that one, if it lasts long enough!

One major project that we've all been working on this week has been mini company. A lot of work went on to finish our report and get our project ready for judging this Monday. It's been crazy and required an abundance of hard work but we are finally finished and we cannot wait to set up our stall and present our finished product to the judges.

I've also been continuing to work on my teddy bear and I got the most gorgeous material to make it from, it's baby blue with small white polka dots, a little something like this:

So that's all that I've gotten up to this week, including a day of work experience in a Spa. If you want to check that out, i've put a link on the top right hand side of this page for you to click on and read all about it.

Till next week,

Ciara

Hi ho Hi ho, It's off to work we go

Hey guys,

Back this week after a fantastic 2week long Christmas break and already I have made advances in my mini company, recieved my Christmas test results, started my second work placement, and visited the BT Young Scientist exhibition. It's been a loooong week.

Of course, it was torture getting out of bed at 7:30am on Monday morning, but I've gradually gotten back into the swing of things, and you know, this week was a pretty good one. We kick-started this week by making some delicious scones that were nearly gone by the time I got home, and by preparing for a new project, something I think is going to be really enjoyable.We're going to be making teddy bears! Let's hope when i'm finished it will resemble a teddy bear, but none the less, i'll try my hardest :)

I started my second work placement in a ridiculously posh hotel spa, and it was so so enjoyable. If you'd like to read more about that, you can click on a link to that blog on the top right hand corner of this page.

We were up and out bright and early Thursday morning to greet our fellow students and explore the scientific grounds of the Young Scientist Exhibition that's being held all week in the RDS, Dublin. We had a fabulous day, seeing lots of amazing scientific discoveries and experiments and of course, stocking up on looads of free things. I even entered myself in a competition or two in an attempt to win an ipad. If you're in Dublin this weekend i'd definately recommend you go and visit!

My mini company group and I have also been working like mad women trying to get our report completed and rushed off to the judges for the competition. The deadline is soon and the whole class is hectic, franticly trying to finish a 20- page report in what little time we have left!

So that's all from me this week, keep an eye out here  for more posts about the life of a Transition Year student every week.

Till next week,
Ciara.