Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement certificates
This week the girls tell us about their Work Experience
We completed our work experience in a primary school. This was a very educational and beneficial experience. For one week we experienced the life of a school teacher. After doing this week we now feel that it is a potential career option for us as we really enjoyed it. There is a lot more to teaching than meets the eye and we now appreciate the hard job teachers have. This week of work experience was very useful as it gave us a glimpse in to what could be our future careers. We got to put our social and organisational skills to use and gained many new skills, such as responsibility. We got to experience new things like being a secretary and seeing the education system from a teacher’s perspective. We bought the staff chocolates as a token of our appreciation at the end of the week.
On the 3rd of February all 4th year students started their work experience in the job places they had picked. We had to do work experience for two weeks. For my first week I went to a crèche called “Laugh and Learn”. I was nervous before going in but once I was in there I felt comfortable and happy to meet all the children. I started work at 9am,the crèche was just up the road from my house so it was easy for me to get to and from work. While we waited for all the children to arrive, I played games with the kids and read books. After all the children had arrived, the teacher called them all together for ‘group time’. As it was the Spring season, they talked about what happens in Spring and what animals are mostly around at that time. They then went on to talk about all the different colours and numbers from 1-10 in Irish. It was interesting to hear how much they knew for their ages. They sang poems and listened to stories also. After group time they all had to go to the bathroom and wash their hands because it was time for lunch. I brought them in threes to wash their hands and get their bags. As they started eating their lunch I had to take their copies and write down what each child had to eat and what times they ate at. For the rest of the day we all did art and played games. Because they were learning about Spring, we painted pictures of rainbows, sheep, trees, etc. It was fun. After art time was finished we all cleaned up and put everything away and they all got to play with the toys for the rest of the evening. It was mostly the same routine for the rest of the week and I really enjoyed it. It helped me see what it’s like to work with kids and helped me a lot on deciding my job choice. Hollie
From the week of the third to the fourteenth we did our work experience. I went to Euromedic because I am hoping to become a radiographer. I loved it and I really think that I benefited from the experience. I think that radiography is the career path I would like to go down. I also went to the Mater Hospital and was in a ward. The ward was especially for hip and knee replacements and I was with the Physiotherapist. I enjoyed it and found it very interesting but I don’t think I would consider doing it as a profession. Sophie
I went to Lifetime Lab near the Mardyke. I’m not sure what I would like to do after school so I thought this would be a good experience. It was Engineering week so I saw a bit of what that was like but I wouldn’t be interested in that as a career. I got to work with Primary schools which I loved I might now consider something in teaching after the week. Emma
French Exchange
I was really excited about going to France as I wanted to experience the language and the culture of this beautiful country. I travelled over with three boys from Dublin and we had a good time getting to know each other on the plane. The language was very difficult at first, however the more I interacted with the people the easier it got. I stayed with a girl called Cléa and her family in a big house in the country. Her family were very welcoming and I immediately felt at ease. To my surprise, the food was delicious. At the weekend we did lots of activities such as swimming, walking and taking in the sights. School was hard as the French is very different to the French we learn here. The private tuition was very helpful as we learnt lots of phrases used in everyday life. At the end of the three weeks I was looking forward to coming home as I missed my family and friends. I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to those who are interested in French.
By Clodagh Noonan 4D
Practising at the Church for the musical:
On Friday the 7th of February, all the transition years went to the church in St Lukes to practise for the musical. We brought all the equipment and props down first. The cast put on their costumes and we took a cast photo. We then did a run through of the whole musical from start to finish. It was a great success and we really saw the musical come together.
By Chloe, Maeve, Aoibhinn and Aoife.
Religious trip to Presbyterian Church
On Thursday the 23rd of January Mr Murphy took 4D to the Presbyterian Church. After walking past this church almost every day on our way to/from school, we were eager to see what was inside. We thought the layout of the church was very unusual. There was a big pulpit at the top of the church and an alter in front of that with a large square seating area at the back. The minister and two church elders spoke to us about the similarities and differences between our beliefs. They told us their stories about how they became Presbyterians and how it has affected their lives. We really enjoyed this experience and found it highly interesting.
By Katie Horgan, Meg Haugh and Clara Ring.
Cope Foundation Talk
This Monday we had five speakers from the Cope Foundation. Two of which were the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Cope Foundation. They talked to us all about Cope and what they do. The Lady Mayoress spoke about how everyone who goes to Cope is just like everyone else. Three of the speakers work there and they talked about their jobs. Also they all talked about how young people volunteering are such a great help to them. We all benefited from listening to these speakers because they gave us a great insight into what life in Cope is like.
Week beginning December 9th
TY Magazine
The St. Angela’s College Magazine “Living the Green” is due to come out next week in the run up to Christmas. It is a Christmas themed issue including school news, competitions, reviews, photos, recipes, fashion and more! It will also have a pull-out featuring the change-over from the old St. Angela’s to Marymount. It will be handed out for free to all students and faculty during our last week of school before Christmas. The transition year media class along with the help of Ms Brannigan produced Living the Green, and we are all very excited to see the finished result!
Week beginning December 2nd
Romeo and Juliet Movie:
On the 27th of November, all of Ty and the 1st years met outside Peace Park, to go to the Triskel Art Centre. They were showing the only viewing of Carle Carlo Carlei’s adaption of the Shakespearean tragedy: Romeo and Juliet. Starring in the film was Hailey Steinfield, Douglas Booth and Damien Lewis.
Everyone was very excited to see the new film, to see if it lived up to our expectations, which it did! The new adaptation was beautifully captured in the production and the great acting from the experienced actors.
Law Day:
On Thursday the 21st of November, we all went to the Ambassador Hotel for Law Day. We went to learn more about the profession of law. There was 3 different speakers all involved in different parts of law. We split into 3 groups and the speakers rotated.
One of the speakers was a barrister and talked to us about the different parts of crimes and people involved. The next speaker was a woman solicitor and she talked to us about how to get into a law degree and how you don’t need to do a law degree in college to branch into to law after. The next speaker was a solicitor and he talked to us about our legal rights as sixteen year olds. After lunch, each group participated in a mock trial. We all got the opportunity to take part in it.
Practicing for the musical:
Our 4th years are performing the musical “Tell me it’s not true” in March of 2014. A lot of hard work is going into practicing and rehearsing the musical. The leads practice every lunch time and the whole cast gather on a Friday for rehearsals. There are other important roles also such as making the sets, organising props and lighting and sound engineering. There is also a group in charge of administration and ticket sales. Ms O’Regan ,Ms Whelan and Ms O’Keeffe have done an excellent job of organising and directing this musical. Every person in our year has a crucial role in making our musical the best it can be. Everyone has a job from being a sound person to selling tickets for the show. The show will be shown for a matinee performance for the schools Christians, Scoil Mhuire and Pres. We are all really looking forward to the performance.
Suicide Aware Talk:
On Monday the 25th of November we walked down to City Hall to attend a talk about mental health. It was introduced by the deputy Lord Mayor. We were given a PowerPoint presentation about bullying, depression, self-harm and suicide by a guidance counsellor. It was very informative and encouraged us to watch out for any signs or symptoms, and to look out for each other. There were two other speakers, a rugby player who spoke about the importance of team spirit and inclusion. The third speaker told us his personal story of how suicide has touched him and his family and how he came to be a volunteer with Suicide Aware. A very worthwhile talk.
Wicked:
On Thursday the 28th of November all fourth years travelled to Dublin to see a production of “Wicked” in the Bord Gáis Energy theatre. We left school at 9am and stopped for food on the way to Dublin at the Midway. The musical started at 2.30pm. We were all very excited as we took our seats, many of us had not seen the musical before and couldn’t wait for the show to begin! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially the songs that were performed. All the actors and actresses played their parts extremely well. We arrived back to the school at around 10pm, after a day enjoyed by everyone.
Week beginning November 11th
Transition Year so far:
Transition year has been a brand new experience for us all, and I think we are all grateful to be provided with such an active and interactive course. Every 7 weeks our modules change in order to expose us to new and interesting topics never before studied by us. In this way, 4th year is very different to 3rd year. 3rd year being an exam year is much more academically focused- whereas taking part in 4th year has allowed us to see more of the world outside of school and see new ways of learning. It reminds us that school books and exams are not everything, and that a world awaits outside the classroom. We have been given the opportunity to form new friendships and we feel our year has bonded as a whole, rather than 4 different classes.
Science Week at UCC:
On Wednesday 13th 4D went to the Brookefield Medical Centre with Ms Trant for a talk on STEM careers as part of Science Week 2013. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. There were four speakers who each had a different job within STEM. The speakers were Arlene O’ Neill, Rory Walsh, Norma O’ Callaghan and Adrian. They gave us an insight into a wide variety of upcoming STEM careers and how it is important to continue science subjects for the Leaving Cert. We were told how important personal branding is when applying for jobs and to be careful what you put about yourself on the internet as it could have an negative affect on your future career opportunities. At the end there was a question and answer session and the best question was given the prize of Beats Headphones. Everyone found the talk helpful and enjoyable.
A view of Ireland from our German students!
Joline and myself (Silja) came from Germany to Ireland to learn English and to see the culture of this Country. Every day we see new things and differences between Ireland and Germany and from this experience we would like to tell you.
Prejudices about Ireland:
– Lots of Sheep
– Red Hair
– Bad weather
– Everything is green
– Friendly people
And lots of Whiskey!
Some of them are true. The red hair legend is not really true, Ireland has just a little bit more people with red hair but it’s smaller than other countries so you see more of them in one county. To be honest, the first sheep we saw after two months were on a trip to Kenmare. But after that we still saw no sheep. The weather is actually not really different to Germany. It rains a little bit more here but it’s just drizzle rain. So its most of the time the same.
The only thing that is really true is that in Germany we have a hotter summer and colder winter. It’s really really green here including our school uniform. But it’s a good thing, not the school uniform, but that the Irish people care so much about nature. Irish people and German people are from the friendly side not so different but the Irish people are more happy and there’s lots more music on the streets.
So you can see. You can’t believe most of the prejudice but sometimes they are true. Make your own view of life and search for information if you’re interested in something. Thanks for listening us.
Heritage Class visit to Cork City Library:
On Friday the 8th of November the Heritage class went on a trip to the Cork City library. We spilt up into two groups, one went to the local history section and the others researched on catalogues. We searched for books and newspapers. We then went upstairs and looked through really old newspapers. We really benefited from this trip and some of us even planned on returning. It helped us a lot with our Cork’s School’s Heritage projects.
Talk from Shine Autism Ireland :
On Monday the 11th of November, us transition year students had a speaker in from Shine Ireland. Kim came to speak to us about Autism and Asperger’s. She told us about her line of work and what she does with children with Autism. She told us about the symptoms of Autism and Asperger’s. On the 6th of December she asked us to volunteer to help fundraise for the charity. We are going to sell Santa hats and collect money.
Preparation for the Crib Ceremony:
Tuesday 12th November, the 4th years started preparing for the annual Christmas crib ceremony. We are really excited and determined to perform a very special and happy ceremony. We have been split into four groups; choir, acting, art & design and reading. We will take two classes every Tuesday and Friday to gather in our groups and practise to make it perfect. The ceremony will be held in the school chapel for the entire school to attend. There will be lots of songs that will portrait the happiness and celebrations of Christmas.
Week beginning November 4th
The 4D Class give us an account of their time in Kenmare!
Kenmare: Fashion Show
On the last night of Kenmare, every house and apartment was given a black bin bag to be used in their design of their outfit. At 8:30, all the TY students got the bus to the sports hall. All the models were covered up for the big unveiling. The judges were Ms. Curtin, Ms. Costello and Ms. O’ Regan. Each house and apartment had a model and a speaker to introduce their model and what they were wearing and their inspiration for the design.
First up was Reidín (model) and Isabelle (speaker). No one could believe how she could keep a straight face the whole time! Then there was Annalisa (model) and Michaela (speaker). Rocking the 80’s look. Ciara (model) and Jenny (speaker) were up next with their simple black bag and “moots”. Alison (model) and Ellen (speaker) and their room did their take on Wrecking Ball. Megan (model) and Robyn (speaker) sassed it up! Silja (model) and Clodagh (speaker) had a strapless dress , with white flower.
Kenmare: Accommodation
There were two types of accommodation in Kenmare, houses and apartments. Approximately 14 girls stayed in each apartment and 6/7 girls stayed in each house. Although we had to take buses to the activity centre every day, the accommodation was not too far away. The apartments and houses were very different. The houses were very luxurious. They had a combined kitchen, dining room and sitting room. They had 3 bedrooms one containing an en suite. The apartments had 7 bunk beds. There were 3 in each room and one in the living room. Although the apartments wern’t as luxurious as the house it was still very satisfactory. There was also an outstanding atmosphere at the accommodation, everyone got on well and there was a real sense of community. We were allowed go from apartment to apartment or house to house but we had to be in our own accommodation by 11. We had a lot of freedom as we didn’t have a set time for bed so we were allowed stay up at night and chat. Over all we found the accommodation really good and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Water sports in Kenmare
On Wednesday the 23rd of October, we started the water sports. The first thing we did in the sea was kayaking. People were in either a single, double, three or four person kayak. We played games for the first hour, then kayaked around the island. On the Thursday we went on the banana boat and it was exciting. We also went on the water trampoline and water slide. After that we did raft building with the instructors and we all worked as a team. At the end of the day before we finished we went kayaking again.
Our Walk in Killarney
We arrived at Torc Waterfall just outside Killarney at about 11am. We were expecting, and slightly dreading, a 25km walk to Kenmare. However, with thanks to our lovely Irish weather, the walk was cut “short” as the mountain pass was flooded. It was then a respectable 15km trek up Torc Waterfall and around a beautiful scenic lake. We stopped for a couple of breaks along the way, which were greatly appreciated by all. The last stretch through Killarney town was the hardest part, but our singing and chanting got us through it. It was raining steadily, but we enjoyed the walk for the most part anyway. It was safe to say though, that towards the end of it we were all pretty exhausted. Lucky we brought those blister plasters!
Thanks to April Coffey for the beautiful landscape photograph of Kenmare Bay !
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