Le Chéile National Symposium
Week beginning November 17th:
Bounce Zone
On Wednesday 5th November, the TY students were brought to Bounce Zone in Wilton. This excursion was part of our school’s Health Week. The purpose of this week was to raise awareness for positive mental and physical health.
We got a bus out to Bounce Zone. Upon arrival we were given special bouncing socks. We were then allowed into the trampolines. There were four different areas in there: a large trampolining area, a dodgeball trampoline, a basketball trampoline and trampolines with foam pits. My favourite area was the foam pit. Everyone was doing flips and jumps into the pit and it was very fun. Before we left, we all piled onto the large trampolines and took a group photo. The instructors were all very kind and helpful. We were all sad when we had to leave but everyone was quite tired.
Graffiti Theatre Play: ‘’Two Hoods’’
On Thursday the 13th of November, the entire year went to a play in Graffiti Theatre, Blackpool. 4A and 4C attended this play in the morning while 4B and 4D went in the afternoon and unfortunately had to trudge through the rain to get there. Nevertheless, we arrived at the theatre excited to see the play. While we took our seats, two hooded actors, a man and a woman, took to the stage and pretended to be spray-painting a large cage. Then the play began.
The entire play was based around two characters who were playing a game – pretending to be children trapped in a car. The two characters treated the play like a video game. It was a very clever and unique idea. There were some mixed feelings about the play but I think the general view was that the acting in it was very good.
Classics Module
This year all fourth years took part in a new module called Classics. Each group of fourth years got a taste of the new subject for seven weeks. This subject involves ancient Greek Mythology and Roman History. Our main focus for the seven weeks in each class was to learn from other students whom each made a power point project that they could choose from either Roman History or Greek Mythology. This project was very broad, with one guideline to follow; link it to modern society. We had to research ourselves and present the finished product to the class and teacher. It was a new experience for all students as we never had this subject before.
Art in TY
This year our first module included Art classes. We had three classes a week, one double and one single. Many of the girls in that class had not done art for the Junior Cert so they were unsure of what to expect. Ms. Birmingham and Ms. Dillon were our teachers for the seven weeks. In our first class we were told what we would be doing for the term. The teachers explained that we would all do a single painting in the shape of a square and those single paintings would then be stuck on to a five sided cube.
At the start of this project everyone researched an artist of their choice to base their piece on. From there we began our paintings by tracing/drawing our practice pieces. After we did our practice run, we started the real thing. Many people used tracing paper and traced on to the canvas, some people began straight away. After one week everyone was painting. Every class we had we painted and kept working on our pieces. At the end of each class we would put all our pieces together and plan what paintings would go together. When everyone was finished we placed all the paintings on one table and looked at them all. Everyone had done a really good job! They all looked amazing.
Week beginning November 10th:
Kenmare Day 1, 14th October 2014
On the 14th of October 2014 we went to Kenmare in County Kerry for our outdoor pursuits trip. First we did a 5 and a half hour walk from Killarney to Kenmare town. People were dreading it but it was really fun and I’m so happy I did it because I’m doing Gaisce. For Gaisce I needed to do an adventure activity. We arrived in Kenmare at 5 o’clock and we got a bus to Con’s. Con’s is where the Star of Kenmare company is based. We ate all our meals and did all our activities here. The food was really nice compared to what I expected too!
After we had our dinner we got a bus to the apartments or houses we were staying in. We had an hour and a half to relax and unpack and then at 7 we went orienteering. It was so fun. The apartments went to the Island the first night and the houses went to the town. It was dark when we did it so this made it so exciting. Everyone was enthusiastic so it made it so much better! The island at night time was kind of scary especially since the weather wasn’t great.
The coordinators are so nice too. The majority were really young so they were actually doing it to have fun instead of just supervising us. We got home at like 10 o’clock. We were allowed go between apartments until half ten too which was fun. Ms McCarthy and Mr Murphy were the teachers in the apartments and they were so great to have because they weren’t too strict and wanted us to have fun.
Kenmare Day 2, 15th of October 2014
On our 2nd day in Kenmare we woke at 8.30 and had to get ready to get the bus at 9.30. We arrived at the Con’s restaurant for breakfast which was things like cereal, toast and tea. After we finished up breakfast we got to go do our .first activity, raft building and sailing. I was really excited for raft building but we had to get into wetsuits. The weather wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst either. Our class group 4B was split in half, one half went raft building (my group) and the other half went sailing.
Raft-building wasn’t as fun as I thought it was really basic but our instructor Heather was really nice to us. I was really happy when we got to go sailing with MJ. He showed us the basics of sailing and it’s actually harder than expected there was so much gears and I had to keep ducking so that I didn’t get hit on the head. We were sailing for about 15-20 minutes before we had to go change out of our wetsuits and get ready for lunch. After lunch we had mountain biking. The bikes were nearly 6ft tall. The amount of times I tripped over from trying to cycle is hilarious. I had to stop after falling a few times because I cut my hands.
We went back down to the restaurant at around 5 for dinner and I think we had lasagne and chips. We got the bus back to the apartment and got to shower and relax till 9 when we went orienteering again except this time in the town. My group didn’t win at all but we still had a load of fun and when we got back to the apartment we were wrecked.
Kenmare Day 3, 16th of October 2014
Today we woke up at 8 am, excited for the fun and games of the day we had ahead of us. We had cereal and toast for breakfast. It was thoroughly enjoyable and nutritious I must say, although they could have been a bit more generous with the toast.
Then it was time for PAINTBALLING! In my opinion, paintballing was one of the highlights of the trip. After we all got kitted out in our groovy, camouflage suits with helmets and guns we were ready to go. We played capture the flag and fortress in the two different courses. Although it hurt when I got hit, it was such a laugh and I really liked it. Mr. Murphy even joined in which was fabulous. He was a very strategic and competitive player.
After a lunch of pizza and soup we were ready to go kayaking. We got into our wetsuits and matching booties, which were not very flattering to be honest. First, we were shown how to paddle the kayaks. Then we took a break from paddling to go on the banana boat. This was fun but a small bit of a letdown as nobody fell off. It was a large, yellow contraption tied onto a speed boat which sped us around the bay. Then we returned to the kayaks. Me and my pal chose a 2 person kayak and got settled inside of it. We paddled around near the edge of the water for a while. In my view, we were really successful at this. I’m considering a career as a professional kayaker. We then paddled out to the water-trampoline. This was super-douper fun. We all bounced to our hearts contents. On the way back to shore on the kayaks, me and my companion took the longest out of the group. However, it is not because we were poor kayakers, it was because we went around the long way back to admire the scenery.
After a dinner of spaghetti in a sweet sauce we returned to our apartments. Here, we were to prepare 2 models for the fashion show later that night. We chose Clodagh and Jessica as our models. Clodagh was transformed into a ‘runaway bride’ while Jessica was a fairy.
The fashion show was really great. The models strutted down the runway fiercely accompanied by music. They dressed up as a wide range of things such as a bride and groom, a witch, a ‘cereal killer’, a dancer, a car and lots more. It was really entertaining.
We returned to our apartment that night, exhausted but hyper as it was our last night.
Kenmare Day 4, 17th of October 2014
Everyone woke up on this last Friday morning exhausted and not in great moods. It was time to clean up the apartment. We were all a bit surprised at the mess we made in four days and the amount of food we consumed! At 9:30 we were collected from the apartment and brought to Con’s restaurant. We were given the usual breakfast of cereal and toast. Breakfast was a quiet affair as we were all tired and sad to be leaving.
We were then split into groups for the last time. The group I was in were brought through a forest and we had to jump over a stream. We arrived at an obstacle course just as it started to rain. We were talked through the instructions and rules before we started.
When the obstacle course finished, we made our way back to the pier, where a cruise awaited for us. We were brought around Kenmare and we saw some seals. After the cruise it was time for a lovely hot lunch of either chicken nuggets, sausages or a burger.
After lunch it was time to say goodbye. We collected our bags, thanked the instructors and hopped onto the awaiting buses. It wasn’t too long of a drive back to Cork but most people fell asleep.
Everyone had a really great time in Kenmare.
Ger Carey Stand Up Comedy Show, Thursday 2nd October
The show took place in the Firkin Crane. All fourth years attended. We started walking at 9:30 for the ten o’clock show. There were two other schools there. We took our seats in the theatre and waited for the show to start. The stage was set up like a classroom. It had a standing white board and table and chairs. Ger walked onto the stage and started his act immediately. We were soon in fits of laughter. He told the story of his experience in school. Everyone in the room could relate to something and this made it extra funny. The show ended at half twelve and we returned to school. It was definitely worth seeing and I have to hand to Ger as he kept me entertained right until the end of the show.
Shrek the Musical
On the 22nd of October 2014, the TY students travelled to Dublin for Shrek The Musical in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. We set off early that morning and arrived in Dublin at lunch time. We were given two hours to have lunch before meeting up outside the theatre. The cast was outside taking pictures with some people. At two o clock we met the teachers. We were each given a ticket and we were shown to our seats. The show began at 2 30 pm. Many people found the show very similar to a pantomime but others thought it was really enjoyable. There was a short interval in between acts. The show finished at 5 pm and boarded the buses and headed home. On the bus we sang karaoke. We arrived back in cork at 10 o clock. We were all really tired but really enjoyed the day.
The Ploughing Championships
On Thursday 25th of September, all fourth years of the school went to The Ploughing Championships in Laois accompanied by four teachers from the school, Mr Murphy, Mr Sheehy, Ms Murphy and Ms McCarthy. Every year all fourth years travel to The Ploughing Championships with our school. Fourth years always enjoy going to the Ploughing Championships. In the Ploughing Championships there are many stalls and shops surrounding the area. The complimentary gifts that are given are very popular and there are also many things to buy as a reminder of the Ploughing Championships.
Included in the site there is a Merries and lots of food stalls surrounding the Ploughing area. We got to try and buy lots of things we saw in the Ploughing Championships, but unfortunately there was so much we didn’t get to do everything. But what we did get was worth our time and was a great experience. We really enjoyed our time in Laois for the Ploughing Championships and we would definitely recommend the school to continue the tradition of bringing fourth years to the Ploughing Championships.
Transition Year in St Angela’s College
As we began our new school year, we were unsure what to expect from the coming months. To say transition year has lived up to our expectations already, is an understatement. Transition year has broadened our knowledge in so many ways from movie making to creating our own business. The transition year timetable in St. Angela’s College offers such a wide variety of new experiences. Modules include; driver’s education, Japanese, Chinese, self-defence, physical education, community work, mini company, horticulture, cultural studies, environmental studies, classical studies, ICT and the usual core subjects. As you can see, the school gives many opportunities to each student to discover new strengths that they may have.
I think everyone in our school year is especially excited for our upcoming school musical, ‘Voulez Vous’. Each student has their own role to play in the musical whether it’s in the management team, production team, costume design or cast. The musical is well on its way and is sure to be a show to remember.
[nggallery id=170]
Related posts
