Smaointe ar Idirbhliain

Tá an idirbhliain beagnach thart. Bhí bliain den saoth againn. Rinneamar an chuid imeachtaí.

Chuamar go dtí an t-ionad siamsaíochta i Carlingford, Contae an Lú.Is baile álainn é Carlingford, bhí bláthanna ildaite i ngach áit. Rinneamar a lán rudaí nua. Rinneamar spórt uisce agus chuamar amach sa loch sa bháid. Bhí an craic againn san uisce ach bhíomar ag crith leis an bhfuar.Bhí sé ag stealladh baistí ar an chéad lá. Sa tráthnona, chuamar ag siúloid sa coillte dorcha.  Rinneamar imeachtaí sa grupaí ar an dara lá. Labhair mé le a lán daoine nua agus rinne mé a lán cairde nua ar an thuras seo. D’fhanamar i Carlingford thar oíche agus caitheamar seomraí a roinnt le ár gcairde. Chodáil mé sa seomra mór le mo cairde.D’itheamar a lán milseáin agus bhíomar ag caint go dtí a dó a chlog ar maidin ach níor cheapamar go caitheamar a dúisigh go moch ar maidin agus bhíomar an tuirseach an lá ina dhaidh sin. Ní dheanfaidh mé dearmad ar an turas seo go deo.

Bhailíomar airgead don ISPCC sa Baile Átha Cliath ar an deichiú lá de Nollaig. Caitheamar t-leinte ón an ISPCC agus dhíolamar cuileann do na daoine timpeall lár an cathrach. Lá fliuch a bhí ann agus bhí a lán trácht sa chathair mar bhí agóid ar siúl don praghsanna uisce. Bhí sé an gnóthach agus bhí na stráideanna plódaithe le daoine. Thug a lán daoine airgead don an carthanas mar is cúis maith é. Bhailíomar a lán airgead ar an lá agus bhí buíoch ar na daoine ón ISPCC. Ar an iomlán, bhí lá iontach ar gach duine.

Rinneamar gaisce freisin san idirbhliain. Chun an bonn cré-umha a fháil chaitheamar dúl ar siúloid de 25 ciliméadar. Roimh an siúlóid, rinne gach duine imeachtaí agsu scileanna nua ar fad 13 seachtaine. Rinne mé íoga, ceachtanna piano agus chan mé sa chór scoileanna. Chuamar ar an siúlóid sna shléibhte Cill Mhantáin. Chaitheamar buataisí agus sean eadaí.  Ar an chéad lá bhí sé an fhuar agus bhíomar ag sioc. Bhíomar an tuirseach tar éis an siúlóid ar an chéad lá.D’fhanamar thar oíche sa tithe beaganna le ár chairde. Bhí seasúir daoine i mo theach agus caitheamar an dinnéar a ullmhú. Rinneamar lasagne mar dinnéar agus bhí sé an dheas.Chodail muid go samh an oíche sin mar bhí tuirse an domhain orainn. Ar an dara lá bhí ag stealladh baistí agus ag sneachta! Ar maidin rinneamar imeachtaí, mar shámpla, ‘leap of faith’ agus dreapadóireacht. Chríochnaigh muid an siuloid ar an dara lá agus bhí sé uafásach! Bhí tuirseach ar gach duine ag an deireadh ach bhÍ am iontach againn!

Is bhliain iontach é, bíonn deiseanna agat imeachtaí nua a thrial agus taithí oibre a dhéanamh. Molaimid é!

Celbridge Enterprise Town

On Friday the 8th of May, I had the chance to take part in the Bank of Ireland, Celbridge Enterprise Town Exhibition in the Celbridge Manor Hotel. They asked the school is any of the TY Mini Companies would like to take part and represent the school, so we (Bambeauty) and i.protect got to go and set up a display. We arrived at the hotel at 1;00pm and set up our displays. The exhibition began at 3:00pm. Loads of businesses from around Celbridge were there. Norah Casey from Dragon's Den was also there, she gave a speech about finding yourself and it was great to hear advice from a leading business woman. She also came to our stand and talked to us about our product. It was a great experience! To make the day even better we won an ipad as part of the school enterprise competition.It was a really enjoyable day and we are extremely lucky to have gotten such an opportunity. 

Driving Lessons

Today class Aurora went to the Leinster School of Driving to do a driving lesson. I was slightly nervous before we arrived because I had never driven a car before. The group I was in got to drive first and the other half of the class had to take the theory test. We learned how to drive in first and second gear and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. After this, we had to swap over and then my group took the theory test, there were forty questions and to pass you had to get 35 correct. We then went outside and did an activity where we had to try and place one cone on top of the other while wearing 'drunk' glasses. They changed your vision to make it feel like you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It was much more difficult to do the task while wearing the glasses so they really showed how dangerous drinking and driving is! It was a great day, and I think everyone found it really interesting and enjoyable!

                                                           leinsterdrivingcampus.ie

Gaisce Hike

Last Friday all of the TYs taking part in gaisce did the 25km hike as part of the bronze award.  We left the school at 1:20 to go to Kippure Estate in Co. Wicklow. We arrived at around ten past two and left our bags in our houses. We put on our hiking gear and were introduced to our guides. We then set out on our 15km hike. The mountains were quite steep so it was a difficult hike. It took us 5 hours to complete this distance with few breaks along the way. On the way down the mountain it was extremely steep and many people fell and tumbled. We had to walk through fields, forests and bogs! There had been a forest fire a few days before and the grass and trees were burnt. When we arrived back at the estate, it was around 9 o'clock and everyone was extremely tired and hungry. We cooked our own dinner. Nobody got much sleep that night so we were all exhausted the next morning. We had to get up and half 7 to begin our activities at 9. The first activity we did was the 'leap of faith', we then did abseiling and rock climbing, it was really fun and everyone really enjoyed it. After the activities, we had our lunch and then got on a bus to go to the beginning of our hike. On the way up the mountain in the bus we nearly hit a lamb that ran across the road, everyone jumped in their seats including the teachers! When we got to the starting point, it was snowing, everyone was dreading the hike and was ready to give up before we had even started! The 10 km that we did on Saturday felt like the longest walk ever because it was freezing and everyone was tired. At around half 5 we finally arrived back at the houses, everyone changed into warm clothes and we got the bus back to Celbridge. It was an amazing experience to hike 25km and i think we definitely bonded more as a group during this trip because we had to get through it together. 

Millennium Develpoment Goals

In religion class we are currently working on a project alongside Self Help Africa. We are producing a book on Millennium Development Goal 6, 'Twenty Fifteen- Thoughts and Reflections on MDG 6: 'Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.' This is the sixth book in the series, previous books have contributions from Seamus Heaney, David Norris, Alan Rickman and Mary Robinson. The aim of the book is to bring the effects of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Ebola in developing countries to peoples attention. People in developing countries don't have access to simple vaccinations or medications which can easily cure and prevent these diseases. About 210,000 children died from AIDS related causes in 2012. Simple 10 second vaccinations could save millions of lives each year. Everyone in our class had to contribute to the book, some people drew pictures, others wrote opinions and a few people even interviewed their grandparents on what they remember about TB in Ireland in the past. It is interesting to see everyone different interpretations of goal 6.The other two TY religion classes also have contributions to the book. We also emailed people such as, scientists from the labs in St. James Hospital and Fr Peter McVerry from the Peter McVerry Trust to give us their opinion on goal 6. It was great to get contributions from people with an expertise in this area. We have learned a lot from making this book and have really enjoyed the experience. It has really made me realise that we are extremely lucky to have vaccinations and medicine in developed countries and sometimes we take these for granted. 

www.un.org

TY So Far

As part of our blog challenge we have to write a post about our thoughts on TY so far. Sadly there are only two months left in TY, but it has been a great year so far and I've really enjoyed it. In the beginning it was dificult to get used to how different TY is from the other school years. Although we may not do a lot of homework or essasys we still have a good few projects which take up quite a bit of time. So it was hard to get used to organising my time to do each project. It was also strange to be in a different class with new people, but now it feels like we were always a class. Ty is a more practical year and we do a lot more presentations this year. Now that we've done a few presentations everyone has gotten much better at standing in front of a group and talking and this is definitely a great benefit for us. As part of Transition Year we are also taking part in gaisce, this has allowed us to take up new hobbies and learn new skills. Work Experience is also a big part of TY and this has definitely been a great experience because it has given us the oppurtunity to experience the world of work. I have learned a lot from going on work experience each Wednesday and had great fun. We have gone a quite a few trips this year as part of TY, we went to Carlingford, Young Scienist in the RDS, the cinema in Liffey Valley, Drama Competition in Mullingar,a maths trip in Wicklow, Punchestown and we also took part in the Holly Days collection and Lollypop Day. These were really enjoyable and everyone had a great time! My favourite trip was the trip to Carlingford Adventure Center (read about it here). Overall TY has been a great experience so far and I have really enjoyed it and I am glad I chose to do. I would recommend Ty to everyone. 

Sam Smith and John Legend perform Lay Me Down for Red Nose Day 2015