Today all TYs went to Trinity College for an hour to a science exhibition set by Intel. It displayed all new and future like technology, It was very interesting. They showed us the lightest notebook (laptop) on the market, it was amazing. They also showed us a video game which you can play with just a piece of paper and many other cool stuff however my favourite was the programmed robot they had on display. He was able to dance, carrying out tai chi, walk along side a person, speak to you and the one i thought was the best was him being able to get himself back up on his feet when he was thrown down. I have a video of it above for yous all to see :) As if that wasn't good enough, they also laid out food, tea, coffee and water for us all to help ourselves too. I had a brilliant day and I really appreciate the teachers bringing us and Intel for allowing us to attend. 

Scared to get into a car....

   On Monday the 21st we had a talk from Pat McNeely about the importance in road safety, it was called "Drive for Life". He taught us about the dangers involved in drink driving, drug driving and fatigue (falling asleep behind the wheel). He showed us videos and pictures of the consequences and he showed us interviews with families who had lost children to crashes related to dangerous driving. It was really interesting and it really opened my eyes to the importance of wearing my seat belt at all times. Some of the clips and pictures he showed us were very sad and upsetting however he needed to get his message across and that is exactly what he did. We also got a chance to do a mock driver theory test, I can safely say I failed. Will definitely need to study before I attempt the real thing. I really enjoyed the day and I learnt a lot from it :) Thank Ms. L

and the Count down begins....t

 Next week is are final proper week of school :) Then we have TY night on Monday the 28th! I have mixed emotions about finishing school, I can't wait to be able to sleep more and not have as much projects to do however I am definitely going to miss all the girls in my class...and the other two classes of course! However, its not all fun and games, we do have exams coming up which I am nervous about. Yesterday I had my Spanish exam, it was so hard! Tomorrow I have an Irish test, which I am so nervous about and on Friday I have my maths test. I love maths so I feel more obliged to do well in that subject. Finally, my last exam is an oral in Irish which is next Tuesday,I am most nervous about this as Irish is my worst subject and I always get nervous when it comes to speaking aloud. Wish Me Luck :) I'll let you know how they go!

  On Wednesday the 9th of May, all TYs and a small group of 1st years attended Sci Fest competition in IT Tallaght. This is a science competition just like Young Scientist. I was in a group with Monique and Orla and our project was to test Milk and see which container keeps the milk freshest for longest. We prepared a poster, a power point and a folder to display all the work and experiments we carried out. I really enjoyed the day and I got a chance to look at all other projects. We were also able to attend different talks about science and I went to "Fighting Crime with Science" with Siofra's dad. This was all about different ways science is used at a crime scene. It was really interested and I really enjoyed it! My group and I didn't win anything however a good amount of people from our school got awarded :) I was really proud of them all. 

Hotel Rwanda

   Throughout the past few weeks, my class and I have been watching the movie 'Hotel Rwanda' which is about the genocide in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsis! We have also watched the movie 'Sometimes in April' which is about the genocide too but it is viewed from a different perspective.
   We have been watching these movies as we are currently learning about conflict and how it can affect different people in different ways. I was shocked and upset after watching these movies because I had never heard about this genocide and how bad it was! I was amazed at how this conflict situation was allowed to happen and how nothing worthwhile seemed to have been done by the West to save the lives of all these Rwandans. Was it because they were African?
   What also upset me was the fact that it was Rwandans against Rwandans. They were all from the same country yet they were trying to destroy one another. During this genocide, the Hutus tried to 'get rid' of all the Tutsis or anyone related to a Tutsi! This really upset me. However it has really encouraged me to look into other cases of genocide and cases where peoples basic human rights aren't being met!
   For the next few religion classes we will be studying Conflict and so far it has been really interesting!

Sci Fest !!

   Good News! My science group got into SciFest :) Sci Fest is a science fair competition, just like Young Scientist where we all get to display our projects and experiments we have carried out. My group and I are investigating to see which type of milk container ( Carton or Plastic) keeps the milk freshest for longest! To do this, we are using Universal Indicator Paper and a Ph Probe to see which milk turns sour first. Therefore we can determine which container best preserves the milk!
   We better get working though because it's on the 9th of May and there's a lot of work to be done :)

First Year Sports Day :)

 On Tuesday the 27th of March, my base class Banba organised a Sports Day for the first years! We were chosen to organise it because we're brilliant, just kidding. We were chosen because Mr.Lawlor (the PE teacher ) is our tutor. We set out numerous activities to allow the first years to try them all out and find out which they enjoy and are good at, and also to encourage them to enter Santry.
 We had activities such as hurdles, high jump, javelin and much more!We were all put into groups of 2 or 3 and each had an activity to take care of. I was originally meant to help with calculating scores and announcing the winner but I ended up helping Siofra with the hurdles as her partner was out. We basically set up the hurdles and took times and winners! It was great fun plus the sun was shining! I was delighted to go home and see i got a tan! I just hope the first years had as much fun as I did! :) 

Music Night

 Tomorrow, Wednesday the 29th, St.Wolstan's is holding our Annual Music Night :) My class (Banba) and another TY class (Eriu) are singing Shake It Out by Florence and the Machine. We've been practising for a while now and its really coming together! We have people playing the drums, tambourines and the piano ! Then we have singers :) Class Fodla, the thrid TY class are performing on their own, they're singing Wake Me Up Before You Go by Wham! I'm sure that will be really good :) We're performing in the second half, saving the best till last of course haha! No I'm sure everyone will be great :) If i get any pictures I'll be sure to post them!

Swim a Mile

 Swim a Mile is coming up soon and I am so excited. This is a charity in aid of Child Cancer. Its the Ian Daly Swim a Mile with a Smile. The majority of TY are participating. For this we get a sponsor card to support us as we prepare to swim a mile. However, swimming a full mine alone would be very hard so we are allowed to team up in teams of any size to help each other complete the mile! I'm considering going in a group of 3 or 4 as i would not be able to do a full mile or even half! I really can't wait because it's for such a good cause and it will be really fun too as everyone will be there :) I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Sometimes in April

 On Monday gone, all TYs watched a movie about the Rwandan Genocide and how peoples basic human rights were stripped. The movie was called "Sometimes In April". It was really worth watching as I found it very interesting and I'm glad I got the opportunity to watch it. The movie showed us how the Hutus and the Tutsis started fighting simply because of their different religions. The Hutus gained power and set out to get rid of all Tutsis. It showed young children and women being shot for no reason other than there religion. The Hutus had no sympathy towards them.
 After watching the movie I was very upset and shocked at how so many people were killed in such little time. I thought it was disgraceful how the UN and the American Government allowed it to happen and refused to help. It also made me appreciate my life a lot more because i realised that the things i complain about are no where near as bad as what the young girls and boys in Rwanda went through. I would definitely recommend people to watch this and become aware of this horrible tragedy.

BraveForce Challenge

 On Wednesday the 14th of March, all of TY, well the majority of TY went to county Meath to take part in the BraveForce Challenge Race. It was a 3.5km course full of different obstacles! It was so much fun but I am in bits! My arms and shoulders are acing and my legs are bruised to pieces however it was so much!
 The first obstacle we reached was an underground tunnel, we had to drag ourselves through, those who were claustrophobic were advised not to do it. A lot of the obstacles were based around water, they were so much fun! My favourite was a pool of water that went up to your chest and there was five logs which we had to climb over or swim under! However, no one swam under because the water was so dirty and unbelievably cold! There was other obstacles that involved climbing up frames, They were so scary even though I'm not afraid of heights!
 There was an awards ceremony at the end of the day where prizes for fastest girl and boy and teams were given out! I am proud to say St.Wolstans got the award of the "Biggest Entry", which was expected considering our whole year went :)!
 All in all,  I had a brilliant day and I would definately recommend for people to go if they're looking for a challenge ! :) Thanks to our PE teacher and Mrs.L for organising for us to go ! :)

Work Experience No.2

 Last week, the week of February the 27th - 2nd March, all TYs were on our second Work Experience. For this i went to Cocoon Creche in Clebridge as I am was interested in childcare. I am really glad I went because it gave me a great insight to the world of work down the line of childcare and it was a lot more stressful than I expected it to be. I can gladly say I do not intend to pursue a career in childcare which i think it a good thing to be able to say as before I was very unsure about it.
 During my week there, I went to lots of different areas and ages of childcare. On Monday I went to Montessori, here I helped the children colour, learn about different occupations and how to be nice to one another. I enjoyed working with children of this age as it was easy to communicate with them and it was very interesting to see how hard it is to manage a group of 25 children ageed between 2-4.
 On Tuesday I spent the day in the Baby Room, there were 5 babies here all under the age of 1. It was lots of fun to work in this room as we got to interact with the kids and play with them :) they were all so cute. However, it was not all fun and games, I also had to feed the children, change nappies and help put them asleep for their daily naps.
 On Wednesday, I went to junior pre-school, this was my least favourite room, these children were all aged between 2-3. For most of the day I watched the kids as they played, gave them their daily snacks and dinner and I read book to them. I felt like this room was the hardest to control as all the children were very hard to communicate with.
 I was sick on Thursday and Friday so i couldn't go in however they were very nice about it and understood the circumstances. Overall, I am glad I went because now I can rule out Childcare and focus on either Science or Beauty :)

Good News!

 On Tuesday the 7th of February, all TYs went to Kildare Town for a Pilgrimage of Saint Brigid. However, i was not in that day and i was really sad to have missed it because i would have loved to learn more about St.Brigid. Designing our prayer room in tribute of her was really fun so i would have loved to learn much more about her ! The girls filled me in and it sounded great!
 Good News to tell, I blogged before about the Drama Competition that MOST TYs entered. Well our English teacher got a call to say that my group "Tich Miller" was the only group to get through :) We are all so happy and honoured to have been picked! we are also very surprised as we only made our drama a week before we went to perform.
 Since we got through we get to go to Cork on the 3rd of March which is a Saturday to perform our drama again. Let hope it goes well :) I'll be sure to keep yous updated :)

Our Masterpiece!

 Today my class and I went to visit our somewhat Masterpiece in the school's Meditation room. Our artwork dedicated to St.Brigid looks really well and I am so proud of how our class worked together to get it done in such a small amount of time :) We really managed to create a sacred praying and peaceful space for all to visit. I am really looking forward to our trip to Kildare Town on Tuesday as it will give us a better insight into Brigid's life :) Like i promised, here are some pics :)! Hope you like it!

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hi guys :)

Happy St.Brigid's Day! :D

 Today is the First of February and yes it is St.Brigid's Day :) St.Brigid is the Patroness Saint of Ireland and she is also the Patron of Scholars,the sick and Animals. To celebrate St.Brigid's Feast Day, my religion class and I are decorating our prayer room to make it special and personalised to St.Brigid!
 I am involved in this project as a historian, this means we research her life and everything associated and we write this out nicely for people to read and learn all about her. The group I am working with are linking up with the artists to produce a round tower and we are writing our information to spread around it. That way it is nice and easy to read and wont bore people :) We are setting this all up today so i will be sure to take a few photos to upload :) Wish us Luck! 

Drama Drama Drama!!

 So yesterday all TYs took a trip out to Mullingar's Art Centre to perform our dramas that we have spent month perfecting! Well, thats the case for most of the groups however my group have made about 3 or 4 different dramas from the time we started haha! This was because we would start and not like it or it wouldnt work so we finally decided to keep our drama based on the poem Tich Miller! Funny but scary thing was, we only madeit a week ago and had to perform it in front of judges yesterday! Surprisingly, it went very well and we were all very happy with our performances! :) Everybody did great :)

Mr.s L's Blog Challenge !

 As part of out TY blogs, Mrs.L gives us different challenges which are topics we must blog about and today I'm going to write about a place i would like to visit when i leave school!
 I decided to complete this challenge today because last night i watched a movie based about World War 2 and all about the war and fighting between Germany and France! I had only planned to watch the start and record the ending to continue whenever i had the time but i got so into it and i found it so interesting that i had to watch all of it! It was about 3 hours long but was so worth it! It really gave a good insight into the unfair treatment of the Jews during the war!
 Because of this movie, i decided to blog about a place i would love to visit when i leave school, which is Auschwitz! This is the largest concentration camp complex which was set up by the Nazi's during the war to punish the Jews for their religion! These lay 37 miles West of Krakow near the polish border. The Nazi's set these camps up in May, 1940.
 Jews were forced to stay in these camps under severe conditions! They were made work and very little of their rights were met! I think it would be very interesting to visit here as we have discussed Auschwitz in History but i think it would love to see exactly how the Jews were treated and in what conditions! However, it would be  a very sad experience!
 This the gate into Auschwitz, It says "Arbeit Macht Frei" which means "Work Makes One Free!"

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Back to School...

 It is currently 11.38 on Wednesday, the 11th of Jan 2012.  Happy belated New Year everyone haha :) We came back to school this Monday and yes it was very very hard to get out of bed at 7 that morning! But, I'm slowly getting used to it, fell asleep at 10.30 last night, that will tell ya how tired I was ! However, its great to get back into routine and getting to see all my friends again :)
 This Friday all TY's and 2nd years are making a trip out to BT Young Scientist to see all the projects ! We are so proud that 4 groups from our TY group got into it and are presenting their projects these next few days ! :) Congratulations to all of them! They'll do great :) I cant wait to see them all there on Friday! :)
 Just got some really GOOD NEWS!! we are starting ZUMBA tomorrow! I am so so excited! I love zumba. Its a form of exercise but you dance to really fast music! Me & my sister did it a few times in a school nearby in Maynooth, it was great fun! Also got news that we are being thought how to give massages properly too! I cannot wait for tomorrow and every thursday from now on... :) Happy Days ! Thanks Mrs.L !