Development Workshops!

Yesterday was our first Wednesday free after our first work experience. We had three workshops on development education. Speakers from Trocaire, Concern and Self Help Africa came to do workshops with us about their charity.
   It was really interesting to learn what the different charities do in many countries around the world. We learned how Trocaire help about 26 countries around the world. The speaker from Concern talked to us about sources and debating. We did speed debating where we had to have a debate really quickly.
   The speaker from Self Help Africa talked to us about fair trade and about how the lifestyles of people in the First World are at the expense of the people of the Third World. We learned that it take 1000 litres of water to make one cotton t-shirt!
   We learned loads and the workshops definitely made us think and had an effect on us. We really enjoyed the day and I think all of us are going to be more aware when buying products, to see where they have come from.

Fashion Show!

Today we had our Junk Kouture fashion show in school. All groups had to be done there outfits by today and the models had to wear and present the outfits on the catwalk in front of the year and the school judges.
We only had fifteen minutes to get the models ready. We had to do their hair and make up and then we all made our way down to the hall where the fashion show was held.
   Everyone had a specific song to go with their dress and theme. Our song was Pablo Nutini - Pencil Full of Lead. We chose this song because it was an up beat dance song that was fun.
   Our Junk Kouture experience is finished and we are relieved that the stress is gone but we enjoyed the experience so much!


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Cryptography....

In maths we are doing cryptography. This means we can cipher and decipher messages that are mixed up or in codes. We watched the movie "National Treasure" which is all about deciphering clues and codes.
   It is really interesting learning about all of this and there is a lot more involved than we first thought. There is a lot of different ways to decipher a code and we have to learn about a lot of them. It is fun to do something in maths outside of the curriculum and something new and fun!

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Mo Thaithí Oibre

Roghaíonn líon áirithe daltaí in Éirinn tabhairt faoin idirbhliain bhreise sin go leor cúiseanna éagsúla. Creideann roinnt daltaí gur deis í an bhliain seo éalú ó chóras na scrúduithe agus úsáid a bhaint as tallain atá acu a chuirtear faoi chois go minic toisc brú ó scrúduithe stáit.
    Toisc go mbíonn béim mhór ar thionscnaimh san idirbhliain forbraítear scileanna sóisialtaagus idir phearsana agus is cinnte gur scileanna fíorthábhachtacha iad sin.
   Bíonn deis ag daltaí freisin láithí oibre a dhéanamh agus is mór an buntáiste seo do chuid mhaith scolaírí.
   Tá mé ag obair i Músaem Náisiúnta na hEireann. Bíonn orm an leagan amach a dheanamh do na taispeantaisí. Oibrím sa stiúideo deareadh sa músaem. Is aoibhinn liom mo thaithí oibre. Oibrím ar an ríomhaire agus deanaim an leagan amach.
    Oibríonn triúr duine eile in éineacht liom. Is daoine an-deas iad. Tosaíonn mé ag obair ar a deich a chlog. Críochnaíonn mé ar leathuair tar éis a ceathair.
   Is aoibhinn liom mo phost. Is breá liom ag obair i Músaem Náisiúnta na h Eireann mar tá sé an suimúil.
  Ní mhaith liom ag obair i stuideo dearcadh sa todhchaí mar níl bua na h-ealaíne agam.

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Songs with meaning...

In English we were all asked to chose a song that had meaningful lyrics. We then all got to play bits of our song on you tube in class. There was many different types of music and songs. Some people had some of the same artists. Many people had The Script as did I. The Script's songs are always meaningful and everyone can relate to them.
   I chose "Millionaires" by The Script. The meaning behind it is that money doesn't matter. We don't need money to fulfill our lives. Instead the idea is too live life to the fullest and to spend your time like your're a MILLIONAIRE!


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Hair Couture

For our mini company we are arranging a book with step by step hairstyles. 

So if you are stuck for what to do with your hair for a party, or if you need something quick and simple for school "Hair Couture" is easy to use and very effective. 

    It is going to be on sale in our school very soon and is not only a useful book to have but also a great present for friends, sisters, cousins, mams and aunties! Bonus it is super cheap! 

 

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Once Upon a Time.....

We were recently given an english assignment to take a fairytale and change the ending. Instead of everyone living happily ever after we have to change it.
    We are in pairs and we have to write a dialogue for the new ending of a fairytale. After we have done this later on in the year each pair will have to perform their scene in front of the class. My partner and I are doing "Hansel and Gretel". We have loads of good ideas on how we are going to change the perfect ending and make sure that there is no happily ever after.

Sci-Fest!

This week my partner Rosie and I started our sci-fest experiment. We are testing how much bacteria is on make up brushes and sponges if you don't wash them. This week we have started using make up utensils and washing one but not the other to show howmuch bacteria grows on them. We are doing htis for three weeks and then we are doing an experiment using nutrient agar t show the presence of bacteria on the make up brushes and sponges.
     It is really interesting and hopefully will be loads of fun and will teach us a lesson about cleaning our make up brushes. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

A nice Surprise!

Last Thursday we went to the Mini Company talk in Naas cinema. This was our second mini company talk with Orla. However after we had been there for about 45 minutes and Orla still hadn't turned up the teachers discovered she had been unfortunately taken to hospital that morning.
    We all didn't want to head back to school and we soon foud out that Naas cinema were going to let us watch "Skyfall" the new James Bond movie. We couldn't believe it and it only became real when the lights went down and the screen lit up. We also got free popcorn, sweets and drinks in our new Madagascar cups.
   It was a fun day in the end and we were so hyper on our way back to school!

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Full Speed Ahead!

We are all definitely settled into TY by now and the weeks are starting to fly by already. I can't believe that it is nearly midterm already!! 

   Next Friday is our dress up day for Halloween. TY's theme is Zombies! Can't wait to see what outfits everyone comes in with. It is sure to be a good day. 

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   At the moment we have lots of projects to do and we are so busy with all the work that seems to be piling up. We recently did our maths project on a famous mathematician, myself and Alannah did Archimedes. We found out loads about him as a mathematician and we also discovered that the owl in a Disney movie was named after him!! 

  At the moment we are watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" in religion to teach us about poverty. It is a sad movie but we are all learning loads. Unfortunately we have to say goodbye to our present religion teacher. We thank her for all she has done and we look forward to seeing her in the future. link

Junk Kouture

At the start of TY all of us had to get into groups of three as we are all entering in the Junk Kouture competition. We all must make a dress entirely out of recycled materials. My fellow designers in my group are Alana and Liz. Our dress is going to be completely decorated with BOTTLECAPS. Colourful bottlecaps  that we collected from the many pubs in Celbridge.
     One day myself and Alana went around to all of the pubs collecting as many bottlecaps as we could and now we have hundreds of bottlecaps. So now we spend our Art, Home Ec and TY design classes paper   mashaing our skirt and sewing bottletops onto our bodice. We spent hours at the start of the year with a hammer and nail hammering two holes into each individual bottletop. Hopefully when it's finished it will all have been worth it !!

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We Are the Champions XD

Our class, Cinealtas put on a great bumble bee performance at the fun walk and we won the prize for TY's !! We enjoyed a tin of roses and some extra goodies from our amazing tutor (: We were very convincing as bumble bees, we looked swaggy in our bully bee outfits and as a result of much practice our swag walk and bullying improved

Fun walk XD

At the moment we are preparing for the fun walk. Making bumble bee outfits, dancing to IMMA BEE:L and here comes the sun. We are all super nervous about performing tomorrow but I'm sure it will be lots of fun!!

Carlingford !! XD

Early Monday morning the TY's of St. Wolstan's were cold and tired but the excitement of the days ahead seemed to make it all worth while. 
    Leaving the Esso garage at 7 am there was a buzz about the buses as no one could imagine exactly what awaited us when we arrived in Carlingford Co. Louth. Approx an hour and a half later we arrived in the small town of Carlingford.
    Getting off the bus into the cold morning we didn't know what to expect. As we made our way to "Carlingford Adventure Centre" we took in our surroundings. As we all packed into the court outside the centre the buzz and excitement in the atmosphere was almost tangable.
     Later after having had a talk from our new instructors we all were given our room keys. Not knowing what to expect I think I can speak on behalf of all TY students that we were all surprised and over joyed that each room had a bathroom!! We all didn't have to share one bathroom!! (:
    First thing we did was canoeing.....!! We made our way down to the water. We got into extremely flattering wetsuits, life jackets and helmets. All ready to go we paired up and before long we were in a double canoe making our way to a "magical" waterfall.
    Going under the waterfall supposedly gives you 1 extra day of live. After going through the scary tunnel and standing under the freezing water I was unsure of this.
    Next we had fun in a zorb ball rolling down the hill. We  did high ropes, group activities and laser, a giant war game were we got to kill one another a dress up like soldier.
      Carlingford was a memory we will all remember.

Junior Cert Results and a Night Out!

Last wednesday class cinealtas along with the rest of TY  and fellow past third years received our Junior Cert RESULTS! Arriving at school at half 12 we all joined each other in the hall for half an hour of nerves, worries and excitement.
        About 20 minutes later the envelopes made their way into the hall of awaiting nervous wrecks. The hall went silent as if every student was wishing at that moment that the enveloes would somehow disappear!
      Getting it our old class group from our Junior days at school was like a trip down memory lane. With everyone biting their nails or in my case ready to get sick at any moment, our old year head, principal and deputy principal gave us a quick talk about the results.
      Then the envelopes were given out....we you get yours it seems a lot more heavier than it should. Not after long the room was buzzing as everyone opened the results and were happy with the outcome.
     It was an amazing feeling to do well, especially after all the hard work we put in over the previous 3 years.
   With the results out of the way everyone went home to begin preparations for the night that awaited. Like Cinderella going to the ball, girls dressed in their nicest outfit and far to uncomfortable shoes made their way to Time in Naas where we danced the night away.
      With sore feet, tired eyes and tan so dark an ompa lumpa would have been jealous, class cinealtas had a relaxing work free day the next day in school!

Karate moves, knickers and lipstick!

Last week, our first full week as the new class cinealtas was full of new faces, new classes and a lot of laughs. It didn't take our class long to get settled into our new weekly routine and get settled among the new classmates that we were sure would soon become our close friends.
        Our first Wednesday of complete activities was filled with laughter, positive thinking and class cinealtas roaming around room 21 with books on our heads trying to improve our bad posture and walk in a more lady-like manner. 
        To start off the day we had a workshop where we learned to view things differently and boost our confidence. A good tip that we received was that if you ever felt nervous,upset or any negative feeling, no matter where you are do a karate punch and shout HUGHH! as loud as you can and you will instantly feel better. If you ever come across a teenage girl doing this you now know why!
      Next a different setting. Our second workshop was a "Positive Party!". Not knowing what to expect when we first entered the library we soon knew it would be all laughs and fun as the co-ordinater emptied out a bag full of large boxers and knickers and we soon all had discovered a lot of different ways to wear underwear.
      Lastly we had a workshop to improve our posture, meal time manners, sitting positions, drawing our face shape inmirrors with lipstick and fake tan application. After walking around with books on our head we were in fits of laughter...im can't say our posture improved as a result though!
     At the end of the day class cinealtas went home tired, happy and a lot more familiar with each. Now we can only hope that everyday will be an exciting one full of laughs!!