3 PEAKS CHALLENGE
On Friday, we walked the 3 peaks challenge and I can honestly say I’ve never been so tired in my life! While yes, it was exhausting it was also really fun. We were walking for about five or six hours. We did the mini sugarloaf the sugarloaf and bray head. In between walking the mini sugarloaf and the sugarloaf, we stopped for food in Kilmacanogue. Everyone got ice creams and rolls and water and we then continued to walk on to complete our hike. The nicest walk was bray head and that also had the best view. The weather was amazing and almost a little too hot at times but we’re all just glad it didn’t lash rain!! It was such a good time and I’m glad we did it to raise hopefully a lot of money for our Difference Day in St. Catherine’s school!
FIRST AID COURSE
This week, we did our first AID course on Monday-Wednesday. By doing this course we could then do an exam to qualify us as a first aider! We learned so much including, CPR, now to save someone from choking, knowing the signs of strokes and heart attacks and how to dress and bandage certain cuts. I was surprisingly good at it and I was a lot better than I thought I was going to be.
I think it was such a necessary course to do as I learned so much about strokes and heart attacks and loads of other stuff that I thought I had previously known about but in truth I knew nothing at all really! We did the exam on Wednesday and I got 95% and passed! The test had some hard questions on it but we had learned them all throughout the week! I really enjoyed first AID and I think it should be something that everyone HAS to do for the safety of themselves and the people around them. My mum even wants to do it now!
I think it was such a necessary course to do as I learned so much about strokes and heart attacks and loads of other stuff that I thought I had previously known about but in truth I knew nothing at all really! We did the exam on Wednesday and I got 95% and passed! The test had some hard questions on it but we had learned them all throughout the week! I really enjoyed first AID and I think it should be something that everyone HAS to do for the safety of themselves and the people around them. My mum even wants to do it now!
MUSICAL- legally blonde
for our TY musical this year we did ‘Legally Blonde’.
In the months coming up to the musical, during rehearsals I was never there due to being filming on vikings. I would have loved to have been there and been more involved in the musical but that just wasn’t the case.
I was there although for the few weeks coming up to it and landed myself with the job of being in two dances and being in charge of all the props for the musical. I had to go out and buy everything we needed and lay it out scene-by-scene for who ever needed them to be able to grab them before going on stage. I was in the dances “take it like a man” and “what you want”. I wasn’t meant to be in “what you want but, just before the show started I was asked to step in and learn the dance as one of the girls fell sick and was unable to do it. At the start I was hopeless and didn’t know any of the dance. By the last night I was well able to do it. The musical was such a fun experience. It was just such a pity that I wasn’t able to experience all of it. I am definitely glad I took part though as I know if I hadn’t if I would have regretted it. The whole year really came together and put on such an amazing show. I don’t think anyone had expected it to of been so good. If I could do the whole thing Over id of loved to have been more involved but I simply couldn’t have been.
In the months coming up to the musical, during rehearsals I was never there due to being filming on vikings. I would have loved to have been there and been more involved in the musical but that just wasn’t the case.
I was there although for the few weeks coming up to it and landed myself with the job of being in two dances and being in charge of all the props for the musical. I had to go out and buy everything we needed and lay it out scene-by-scene for who ever needed them to be able to grab them before going on stage. I was in the dances “take it like a man” and “what you want”. I wasn’t meant to be in “what you want but, just before the show started I was asked to step in and learn the dance as one of the girls fell sick and was unable to do it. At the start I was hopeless and didn’t know any of the dance. By the last night I was well able to do it. The musical was such a fun experience. It was just such a pity that I wasn’t able to experience all of it. I am definitely glad I took part though as I know if I hadn’t if I would have regretted it. The whole year really came together and put on such an amazing show. I don’t think anyone had expected it to of been so good. If I could do the whole thing Over id of loved to have been more involved but I simply couldn’t have been.
SVP HAMPER PACKING
To prepare for packing the SVP packages, myself, adele and sarah went into school on the Monday night and we grouped the toys into groups and put them into bags to make everybody’s lives easier tomorrow morning. We went through each families details and decided what toys they needed to be given. We stayed until 9PM doing this.The next day I went down in the morning and watched how the 5th years packed the boxes and then did the same. I, in total packed 5/6 of the boxes I’d say myself. They were full of lovely food and there was a perfect amount of stuff in the box for the families.
In the afternoon, I went around to deliver the boxes to the families. They were all so great-full and seemed so happy to see us with their Christmas hampers. There was so many different people we got to meet and loads of children.
When we were done and had a hamper left to spare, we decided to give it to a homeless man in Enniskerry. I see him and his friends sleeping rough everyday. They must be freezing cold and their campsite is a mess and can’t be easy to live in. We went to give It to the mom but there was no one there so we left the hamper there for them.
It was such a lovely thing to spend my day doing and I’m excited to do it again next year.
In the afternoon, I went around to deliver the boxes to the families. They were all so great-full and seemed so happy to see us with their Christmas hampers. There was so many different people we got to meet and loads of children.
When we were done and had a hamper left to spare, we decided to give it to a homeless man in Enniskerry. I see him and his friends sleeping rough everyday. They must be freezing cold and their campsite is a mess and can’t be easy to live in. We went to give It to the mom but there was no one there so we left the hamper there for them.
It was such a lovely thing to spend my day doing and I’m excited to do it again next year.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE
On Tuesday the 12th of December, I took part in the photography course TY programme. It was really interesting and there is so much more to photography than I had previously thought.
The lady teaching us, Una Armstrong taught us about all the different equipment used in photography and taught us how to use it before she let us take photos and mess around with props. It was really fun and I would definitely recommend that people take part in the course. Una Armstrong was really lovely and taught us the ropes of photography. I really enjoyed the course.
The lady teaching us, Una Armstrong taught us about all the different equipment used in photography and taught us how to use it before she let us take photos and mess around with props. It was really fun and I would definitely recommend that people take part in the course. Una Armstrong was really lovely and taught us the ropes of photography. I really enjoyed the course.
FIRST AID
During Irish with ms. Ní fheínneadha , she took us to down to the hala nua with ms. Roy and we learned how to perform CPR. They had fake people with blown up chests that we had to push down on. You push hard and fast 30 times then take a small break before doing it again and if the person is still unconscious you keep doing it over and over again until the ambulance arrives. Apparently, the reason most people won't perform CPR is because they are scared they will perform it wrong. But, any kind of CPR is better than none. CPR is actually a lot harder than I had previously thought. You need a lot a lot of strength to be able to keep going and the average time for an ambulance to arrive in ireland is 7-15 mins.
PUBLIC ACCESS TO LAW COURSE
The public access to law course was nothing like I had expected it to be. It was quite fun and and enjoyable although I had hoped to gain more of an insight into law and learn about the different career paths and the ins and outs of law. We held our own court cases and that was really fun. I got to be one of the witness’s for a reckless driving incident. We also watched a really good CSI movie and learned about how they cought out the murderers in these cases. I would have liked to learn more about law and have had a slightly more factual talk and learned more from it. It was still really good though and the woman, Mary Bunion was a great speaker.
’AWARE’ TALK WITH STEVE
Today, 9th of November we had a talk with ‘Aware’. Steve came in to talk to us about depression and bi-polar disorder and taught us many little tricks of how to over come a mental illness you may be suffering from. He gave us facts and did games with us to teach us the ways of these illness’s. He gave a great talk and he presented the speech really well. ‘Aware’ are a great company that help so many people my age and we should be great full that their there if we need.
MINDFULNESS AND WELBEING TALK WITH ALISON CANIVAN
During wellbeing week, we had a talk with model and mother, Alison Canivan. Ali began modelling at the very young age of 15. She was quickly exposed to everything the modelling industry had to offer. She began partying and drinking seven days a week and in this industry, this is considered the normal. Alison says she started suffering with her mental health issues around this time. She developed anxiety and depression and they effected her in everyday life. According to Alison, meditation and living the happiest and best life she can really helped her more than any medication ever did. She told us that we should always be mindful and keep a really organised life. She said that everyone suffers with their mental health and it's just about finding what way helps us cope with that best.
SIMON HARRIS, MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Today, the 6th of November, the minister for Health, Simon Harris came in to give us a talk about mental health and physical health as it’s well-being week. He spoke about how mental health and physical health were the same and we needed to be able to look after both. He also talked about our diets and the food we eat. Apparently Ireland are on their way to being one of the fattest populations. He gave great facts about food and the new food pyramid that they came up with as the old one was out of date and alternatively represented the wrong information. Simon Harris was a great speaker and his story was truly inspiring. He is a great politician.
EAGLES FLIGHT WORK SHOPS
today, the 21st of September we did the eagles flight work shops. the eagles flight workshops are about learning to collaborate, set clear objectives, planning and plan execution.
In the workshop we did a board-game type activity where we had to work together as a team and collaborate to get as much gold out of the mine as we could while also return home safely. most of the teams decided to manipulate each other in order to win the game when really the main objective should be to work together as a whole and gain as much gold for the class as a whole.
One of the things we learned today was that decisions made up front have the greatest impact on productivity and that you should take time to make good ones. I think that the eagles flight workshops were really beneficial to our ability to work together as a team and will also hopefully benefit me in future with planning my projects and carrying them out in the best way possible even if I have limited time and resources.
In the workshop we did a board-game type activity where we had to work together as a team and collaborate to get as much gold out of the mine as we could while also return home safely. most of the teams decided to manipulate each other in order to win the game when really the main objective should be to work together as a whole and gain as much gold for the class as a whole.
One of the things we learned today was that decisions made up front have the greatest impact on productivity and that you should take time to make good ones. I think that the eagles flight workshops were really beneficial to our ability to work together as a team and will also hopefully benefit me in future with planning my projects and carrying them out in the best way possible even if I have limited time and resources.
IT IS NOT FOR GEEKS
On the 29th of September we had guest speakers, 'Marie Moynihan' and 'Aidan Heedan' in to present us the speach 'IT is not for geeks'. both Marie and Aidan work for Dell and came to discuss different career optiions in the IT sector and how there are so many different directions you can follow with a career in IT that aren't just based around 'techy' stuff about computers. They also discussed different career paths we can take other than ones in the IT sector. Both speakers delivered the speach really well and engaging and I learned so much more about the IT sector than I had previously known.
careers information evening
On Thursday, Ms. Maguire organised a careers information evening. We got to talk to loads of different people about their careers and ask them as many questions as we could think of. We got to see four people each. I talked to a Business Man, a Physiotherapist, a Marine-archaeologist and a Doctor. They were all really interesting and they had loads of information. They also answered any question I approached them with. My favorite career was the physio-therapist. It seemed like a hard course in college but also seems like a really rewarding career. I've always had an interest in physiotherapy as I often receive the treatment so I would love to be able to do the same for others.