Transition Year Activities
2008-2009
Every year the Transition Year classes take part in a wide variety of activities. The following is a sample of some of the activities the classes participated in this year.
DUBLIN
In November, we went to the big city of Dublin where our first stop was the National Concert Hall where we listened to the RTE concert orchestra. We then had time and went for a surprise shopping trip to Grafton Street for an hour or two. We then walked to Dublin Castle where a few of the girls (not mentioning any names) fell in love with our tour guide Danny. We had to drag them, kicking and screaming, out of Dublin castle with them shouting at him. We then got back on the bus but wasn’t on long when we had to get off to go shopping in Liffey Valley - what we were all waiting for. We had a few hours of eating and shopping. We then piled back on the bus for a long journey home. We had a great day.
ECDL
As part of our Transition Year programme we study ECDL for four classes every week. It is a very interesting and rewarding programme. It is also impressive to have on your CV for future employers and helpful in almost any area of work. There are 7 areas to focus on, and therefore 7 tests to be sat. In order to pass each of these tests, you must have obtained 75% or more. At the end of the year, you get a certificate according to how many of the modules you have passed.
Glendalough
On Friday the fifth of September 2008 we went to Glendalough to complete a 24km walk for our Bronze Gaisce. The whole Transition Year went. We stayed in a self-catering hostel which meant that we had cook our own meals. Now that was fun!! That evening when we had finished our dinner we had a talent show, which we only had about ten minutes to prepare for. But the acts were really good. The next morning we were very tired because the day before we had walked 12km and we still had to walk another 12km. The weather was not as bad on Saturday as it was Friday. Friday was really wet and windy but Saturday wasn’t too bad.
Transition Year Drama Festival
On Monday February 9th, 4.1 travelled to Macroom to participate in the semi finals of “The Transition Year Drama Festival 2009”. Their drama was titled “The Fall and Rise of Sir Wind n’ Burp” written by our very own Ms Fennelly. The girls gave a wonderful performance, each and everyone of them, so much so that the judges couldn’t criticise them or their efforts! After a couple of long, anxious days waiting for a phone call, we received the great news that the girls had reached the All-Ireland Final - the last twelve - out of sixty other dramas in the country. This was a great achievement in itself for both Ms Fennelly and the school but an extraordinary achievement for the girls after all their hard work and dedication. They returned to The Briery Gap Cultural Centre in Macroom on Feb 28th for the All-Ireland Final. Again they gave an outstanding performance and were awarded a Special Adjudicator’s Prize. “Lady Lucy”, who was played spectacularly by Ciara Kehoe, was recognised for her great performance as the leading lady. Many thanks to all involved, especially Ms Fennelly, without whom it couldn’t have happened.
Orienteering
On Thursday 6 November the two classes of transition year students traveled to Kennedy Park to participate in a day of orienteering. When we arrived we were split into two groups. Each group then, with the help of the instructors, set up a practice course for the other group to complete. When we had finished this we were broken up into groups of four and each group then completed the same course again, except this time each group was being timed. Finally each group ran the course again and again was timed. The teams who completed the course in the shortest amount of time won.
Volleyball
Last December fifteen of us volunteered to become volleyball coaches to primary school students. We had one full day of training for becoming coaches. We gave up our lunchtimes on Mondays and mornings on Fridays. We then coached our own groups of between 20 and 24 students, how to play volleyball. On Friday 13th of March, all of the volleyball coaches held a Blitz in the sports hall. There were 92 primary school students from various schools around, competing for prizes. Graham (from the Volleyball Association of Ireland) came to watch the blitz. One group of students got very into it by designing their own personalised t-shirts with their team name, Digging Divas, printed across the front. When it was all over we had a small presentation for the students who took part. They all received a medal, small bag of popcorn and a carton of orange juice. The three winning teams received trophies which we had made especially by the CWCW. We all enjoyed it fully and were happy we took part. Some of the coaches will have the chance to continue their coaching skills if they are lucky enough to be picked by the association and PE teachers.
Samba Drumming
Tuesday 13th January a Drogheda man called Kieran came to our school to teach us how to samba drum and to perform a routine. We started by warming up with different routines which involved remembering different rhythms with out feet and hands which tested everyone’s memory. We then got into groups and had to make up a performance which involved these rhythms we had learned. When we were finished performing these for our class we then got to try out the different drums and percussions for ourselves, Kieran would do a routine first and we would listen and do it after him. Every girl got to try out the different instrument with a different routine. Near the end we learned off a routine which involved the variety of size drums and the different percussions getting together and we performed in front of the 1st years that enjoyed listening to us!
Film Studies Day
On the 27th of March we had a film studies day. Siobhan Ward and Anna Rogers from the “Cross the Line” production company came in to talk us through all the stages of making a documentary film. They showed us some of their latest projects, some of which included documentaries recently shown on RTE and a film which will be shown in cinemas later on in the year. Also some of the girls got to try their hand at interviewing each other about TY in front of the camera. At the end of the day they also took some shots of the class on the camera which will be shown at the TY graduation night!
Sports leadership!
As part of our Ty year. We do a sports leadership course. This course shows us how to manage large groups and show them different games to show them that they do not have to be inside playing the like of play station or Nintendos or anything like that. They can also enjoy a healthy and fun life playing outside. For the first few weeks we did different activities ourselves trying to find different games to suit children of different ages. After a while we started to go down to the children and play the different games and help them to feel fit and healthier while they play outside. At the end of our course we re-decorated the playground of St. Joseph’s national school New Ross.
Opera
On the Thursday the 16 of October we went to Wexford opera house. We left at 10.20 that morning and got a bus from the school to Wexford. There we went to the Opera house and were seated for the show. Nobody really understood what was going on for the most of the show and by the end of it we were completely lost! Afterwards we got to walk about the town for an hour or so to eat and shop. That was probably the best part of the day!
Psycho Spaghetti
A random name for one of the most random shows I have ever seen. On a Thursday afternoon all of TY set off to the theatre not really knowing what to expect. TY’s from the Good Counsel, CBS and Holy Faith and LCA’s from the Good Counsel all filed into the theatre and took their seats. We all waited for the show to begin. Ger walked in slow motion onto the stage and we all wondered what we had sat down to watch. He began to mime a classroom and I can honestly say I was worried. I worried we were going to be sitting for two hours watching some random man doing a mime. But then he turned to us and started talking about teenage life. He spent the next two hours describing the way we lived, but so much funnier. Every aspect of teenage life, from school to first loves to first kisses, he went through them all. For many weeks afterwards, and still today, we laugh about this show and it was another one of the TY activities that we loved so much!!
Childline Talk
During the year, a woman who worked for Childline visited our school to explain to us what Childline is about and how it works. The woman gave us a brief description on what the organisation does. It has phone lines set up so that children can ring in whether it may be a minor or serious problem. It’s a free call number. The number is 1800 66 66 66. It’s a voluntary organisation which means not as many people are doing it as there could be. In 2007 alone, child line received 294808 calls. It was a good talk and we learned a lot.
Poetry Workshop
On Wednesday the 21st of January we had a slam poetry workshop. A Limerick poet called Steven Murray visited the 4:1’s in the morning and the 4:2’s in the afternoon. He did the exact same workshop with both classes because in the afternoon he would run a competition to find amateur poets to compete in a slam poetry competition in Waterford. When he came in he introduced himself and told us a bit about what slam poetry is. He told us that it was not like normal poetry (which we soon discovered!) and that we could use any kind of language in it. He then recited a poem he wrote himself. He said that he could have made that poem boring or interesting because it’s all in the presentation. To show us this he divided us into four groups. Each group was to present their poem like a certain group of people. The groups were gospel preachers, priests, D4’s and rappers. Afterwards he got us to answer questions (like what’s your favorite food and why) and said that we could recite it to someone we love. He read out some and dedicated it to the girl’s boyfriends, to which they went very red! After lunch he got the two classes together and got them to write their own poems. He then got girls up who wanted to recite them. They had to recite them in front of all the TY’s and a panel of judges which consisted of five TY girls. They gave each poet a mark out of ten. When all the scores were added up the top three went through to a final in Waterford in May. The three girls that made it through were Nóirín Murphy, Ciara Kehoe and Aisling Rowe.
Modules
Every Tuesday afternoon our Transition Year girls have the chance to mingle with the boys from Good Counsel College’s Transition Years for modules. These vary from year to year but this year included cooking with Mrs. Mahon, environmental studies with Mr. Quigley, dancing with Catherine Ronan and community care with Mrs Wallace and the local community workshops and nursing homes.It was great craic for everyone and gave us a chance to have a laugh and make new friends.
As transition year students we do a lot of fundraising. So far we have done fundraising for the ISPCC and the lions club and we are going to do some fundraising for the Irish Heart foundation. In December we went down town selling holly badges to raise money for the ISPCC. In December we went bag packing in Tesco to raise money for The Lions Club. Very soon we will be doing some fundraising for the Irish heart foundation and in return there teaching us to do CPR.
Retreat
On the 23rd of October our TY year took a trip to Mount Sion for a school retreat. While there we started off playing games such as “apples, oranges…” and “musical chairs”. We then divided into smaller groups. When in smaller groups we each had to fill in a sheet detailing the relationships we have with our friends and families and how we feel about these relationships. Following this we were led to a prayer room where we lay down on the ground and meditated for about half an hour. The last thing we did was prepare and act out a play to the other groups showing religion in modern life. The retreat was a lovely day which helped each of us become more independent and spiritual people.
Work Experience
From the 17th to the 28th of November we had 2 weeks of work experience. Transition Year students went to various different business and work places that they had an interest in pursuing after school. They ranged from radio stations to primary schools. Overall everyone felt they gained a lot from their work experience and thought it gave them a real insight into the world of work.
Irish play
Ms Murphy’s 42 Irish class preformed an Irish play called ‘La Buí Bealtaine’ for the senior half of the school in the new school library. The class put in a great effort to learn the play as there was a great deal of lines to be learned. Everyone got different jobs to do. When the girls got their parts they got to work on getting their costumes. They got clothes that look like clothes that were worn years ago as the 1940’s. The play was about two old people called Noneen and Padear who were once in love and now they are in the same nursing home. They met years ago when they were young and they fell in love but Noneen wanted to make Padear jealous so she danced with a different man. Padear got really mad and killed the man Noneen was dancing with. Padear was sent to jail and when he got out he got married and had a family. Noneen had a family too but she never loved her husband like she loved Padear. Now they are in the nursing home together but they do not know each other until the end of the play when Noneen hears Padear calling her name. She starts to cry because she knows Padear always loved her. However they do not get to meet as the nurses bring them in opposite directions. The play was a great success and everyone enjoyed being in it and watching it. There were great actors in it and everyone put in a great effort.
Engineering Workshop in W.I.T
As part of our Science we went to W.I.T to do a workshop in engineering. We looked at the actual manual engineering (putting the machines together) and the programming. With the manual engineering we made a circuit that hooked up to an MP3 player and a speaker and we were able to make it play and also add in a volume knob. In the programming we learned how to make a simple robot move using a computer programme on the computer. We each got our own little robot and we made them do a little dance! Then we made a track for them to follow with lots of paper and a marker.
CPR Anytime
In May the TY Students took part in a Irish Heart Foundation project where they spent a morning learning how to give CPR to a person who needs it. This is a life-saving skill and extremely important. Each person who takes part in the course gets a pack which contains a blow-up manikin named Mini Anne, a DVD, Booklet and Information on the Irish Heart Foundation. Also a member of the Irish Heart Foundation came to have a talk on what they do and how important this skills is to have. The TY girls fundraised over Happy Heart Weekend as a thank you for the packs they received.
Overall we had a fantastic year and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities undertaken by our year. We’re very grateful to Ms. Woodcock and Ms. Goulding for organizing everything and to everyone who helped organize the activities for us.