Homework Club

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 13 weeks, TY students are volunteering to help out our first year students with their homework and any inquiries about school life. We meet our assigned first year student at 4:15 pm and we usually spend 10 mins discussing what their little feet's have been up to and answer one of their many questions. 

Then they start their homework with the help of the TY students. We help them whenever they are stuck but that doesn't happen a lot as they are quite capable of doing it by themselves. Over the next few weeks, we will be teaching them strategies to help with revision and study skills. One of the most enjoyable parts starts at around 4:55 pm, when the refreshments show themselves through the door and are dragged towards us on the tray with glorious eyes and jaw dropping mouths as we try to look away. 

Mostly, the hour is filled with entertainment and enthusiasm. We have a lot of experience and stories to share with the first years along with some advice which we hope will benefit them as it did for us.

TY Baking

As you may know a lot of the TY students went to Kippure last week but for the rest of the girls who didn't go there were lots of activities planned.

In the morning from 9:10am to 11:10am we baked some cupcakes. Ms. Ryan and Ms. Purcell instructed us on how to bake the cupcakes and we were also taught how to make tie dye frosting. The students who have not picked Home Economics as an option subject learned a lot about baking. It was a fun morning.

After break from 11:20am to 12:40pm we had a quiz. Ms. Flynn and Ms. O'Neill held the quiz and the prize was a pencil case and colouring pencils.

From 2:00 to 4:00 we went to demo room 1 and watched a movie called the Blind Side. It was a good choice.

Even though we did not go on the Kippure trip the TY students who didn't go had a great time.

Here are a few pictures of us baking.

TY Religion

On the 29^th of September, we made Saint Bridget's crosses out of straws in Religion class. It was a very difficult task at first but the more we got used to the weaving the easier it got. For the past few weeks in Religion class we have been learning about 'Celtic Spirituality'.  So far, we have learnt about Celtic Society and their Religion. We are currently learning about, St. Patrick and St. Bridget and how the Celtic customs influenced Christianity in Ireland. Saint Bridget's crosses are usually made of reeds but we were not able to get enough reeds for the class.

French Play

On Wednesday the 27^th September, all of the TY students who study French were crowded into the hall to watch this year's French play, performed by the FTFS group (French Theatre For Schools). The name of the play was 'Le Texte Perdu' (The Lost Script). It followed the story of four actors who were searching for the missing script for their upcoming play, meeting various strange and eccentric characters along the way, such as une actrice très célèbre and les deux mecs - Zic et Zac. We all laughed and cringed at the slapstick comedy before us. We all agreed that the best part of the play was watching some of our friends being brought up and having to act, sing and dance along with the actors on stage!

I volunteered to perform in the French play, before fully knowing what it was. I am a new student this year and hadn't seen the play before. Ms O’ Neill had given me the script a week or so before, so I learnt the lines that I had to perform thoroughly and I was nervous but excited to get up on stage.  When I arrived and was told that I could read my lines from the script, I was relieved. The actors from the French theatre company were very friendly and reassured me throughout. I was nervous to read my lines on front of so many people but I was glad I had done it afterwards. It was much easier than I had expected and several other girls read lines too. Two girls even had to disco dance during the play, and I was glad I didn't have to!

In the play, the actors spoke slowly so it would be easier to understand and made the audience participate by either: inviting people on stage to have a few lines or asking questions to the audience. It was very enjoyable and easy to understand. It was also a benefit to French students to prepare them for orals and aurals because we got to listen to real French accents.

Overall, 4^th year as a whole really enjoyed the French play and would definitely recommend it to the lower years in the school. It was a great opportunity to actively practice the French language in school.

Je me suis amuseé très bien !

JPIC Fair Trade Morning

JPIC stands for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation. A very fancy name for a very fun, interesting module. Some of the many interesting things we learn about is Fairtrade and the work they do to improve the working conditions and increase the wages of farmers in the developing world.

To celebrate the work they do we decided to hold a Fairtrade tea morning. Everyone in the class brought in their favourite mugs and an assortment of Fairtrade goodies. We had tea, hot chocolate, biscuits and we watched a documentary about climate change, all in the JPIC fashion. It was a great morning and we learned so much about Fairtrade and gained such a profound appreciation for the work they do.

TY Kippure Trip 2017

Day 1, Wednesday 20^th September 2017

The excitement began on the morning of Wednesday the 20^th of September, as we all headed to school with our suitcases and backpacks stuffed with tea bags, milk and sweets galore for good measure. We all piled into the gym hall to unload our hefty bags. Ms. Ferris and Mr. Brennan already looked exhausted at the site of a hundred odd teenage girls. Many girls set out to Supervalu to stock up on pot noodles and chocolate. The enthusiasm was in the air with high expectations of the ‘greatest trip ever’. At 11:30 we all loaded up on to the buses with our speakers at the ready and tunes in our heads.

The hope of catching a snooze on the bus was crushed as we reached Kippure in no time. The constant snacking on the bus was seemingly insufficient as everyone rushed to get to their house to eat lunch. The exploration of the houses was cut short by the announcement of our afternoon activities. Looking up at the dark, cloudy sky, everyone silently prayed they wouldn't be going kayacking today.

Those who were assigned to go kayacking were hopeful that the weather would pick up as they hopped back on a bus and travelled to a nearby lake. Luckily the wetsuits provided were substantially dry which made the process of changing a lot easier. Time was given to make sure everyone was aware on what they had to do before we paired up and began kayacking. The rain and cold weather dampened nobodies spirits as we laughed and had fun, aiming to not capsize. Ms Moore braved the waters also, not missing the chance to catch every moment on her go pro.

We were faced with different tasks and challenges while in the water, one including sitting up and kneeling while continuing to paddle our way to land. Our team-building skills were needed as we were posed with the challenge of making a raft with our kayaks while still staying afloat in the water. We worked together and managed to complete the task successfully. The bus arrived back in time for a quick but well needed hot shower before dinner which included delicious choices of lasagna, curry or spring rolls for the vegetarians.

After dinner we commenced our evening activities. Half the group went outside to complete team-building activities and the other group proceeded inside where we were split into smaller groups. Our creativity was put to the test for these activities as we were to make a "bottle rocket" suitable to be filled with water and shot into the air. The stakes were high as a competition was formed to see which teams rocket could fly the furthest. The time limit put the teams under pressure and caused them to work swiftly but efficiently. The products produced were quite impressive but team three were presented with the crown (or bag of jellies in this case) as their rocket shot the furthest and fastest. Another activity involved dropping an egg from a height, making sure it didn't crack. Our job was to make a protective shell for the egg to sit in, however nobody was successful.

Supper was provided and everyone was back in their houses by 9pm. The nucleated distribution of the houses allowed everyone to easily pop in on their other friends before bed. The busy day and promise of another one tomorrow had everyone in bed reasonably early and asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow.

Day 2, Thursday 21^st 2017

We were awoken by our alarms at 8 o’clock, we swiftly got dressed and ready for the day. We made or way upstairs and exchanged smiles with our roommates, too tired to talk. At 9 o’clock we walked to breakfast, a selection of cereals, toast, yoghurts and sausages were available, along with tea and coffee of course. I took my pick and sat down, we talked about what the day had in store for us. My group was doing Bush craft in the morning and orienteering in the afternoon.

At 10 o’clock we walked with our instructors to the forest where we were to build a shelter, find food, cook the food, then perform a song and dance for the judges. A daunting task but we got on with it. Three girls from our teams set off on the task of finding the food whilst the remainder of us got to building the shelter. I had absolutely no idea how we would go about it, but luckily a member of our group was a very experienced scout, so she took initiative and taught us how to build a sound structure. Once the three scavengers arrived back with the food I took the job of making a decent meal out of it. We were supplied with some sausages, bacon, a bell pepper, some mushrooms, a tomato, a serving of pasta and a tortilla. In the end, we had come up with questionable wrap that I probably wouldn’t have eaten if it was the last thing on earth. We performed a hastily choreographed rendition of YMCA, but it was entertaining none the less.

After lunch, which was a delicious chicken burger and chips, we set off again into the woods on our mission to find all the points on the map, which was surprisingly difficult as we ended up with only 800 points out of a possible 10,000. Nothing to be embarrassed by though as it was quickly forgotten. We came home to a warm roast dinner and team building games afterwards. At about 8:30 we were called into the marquee and we were told that in our houses we had to come up with a skit to perform for the teachers. We were given a list of words to include and a selection of props that needed to be used. With ½ an hour to come up with something, we ran home as fast as we could and started brainstorming. We ended up performing a skit about the 2016 Presidential Election, which got a good few laughs but alas didn’t win. We all went straight to bed that night, exhausted.

Day 3, Friday 22^nd September 2017

The next day, the departing blues were starting to set in. All of us were determined to make the most out of our last activity. My group were doing the bush craft activity. We all walked into the woods, following our instructors. We had to complete the tasks of making a waterproof shelter, constructing a fire, and cooking a meal on it. We got to work straight away and started gathering branches and leaves to make the best shelter ever. We worked as a team and made it our mission for our dish to be the best. We chopped up the ingredients and started using the utensils given to us to fry off the food. We managed to make a pasta dish with sausages, sweet potato and onions and peppers. Although it didn’t taste the best, it was the fun making it that counted. Finally, we had our last meal, and took our big group photo. We said goodbye to this magical and fantastic trip. It was everything and more than we expected it to be. By the end of it all, we were all exhausted, and came back to the school with the memories that we will cherish forever.

The trip was an all round success and we will all remember it in many years to come!

TY Expo 2017

On the 11th of September 2017, Mr Cox's first module class went to Punchestown Racecourse Event Centre for the TY Expo. As a student who attended this, it helped me discover everything that's on offer during the upcoming year. It's helped me connect with the right people and inspire me for the future ahead. My friend and I came back happily on the bus with minds bursting full of project ideas to be shared. It was a great way to show transition year students what is available to us first-hand and also enable us to find out about it ourselves.

The event was helpful and beneficial to both teachers and students. It was the perfect way to begin the school year on a high. We were able to visit multiple stalls that taught us about different activities we would be able to participate in the year ahead. We were able to absorb the magic and energy emanated by TY. For me, this day out was a highlight to the start of my year and it really did let me explore my creative side as a student. I would definitely recommend it to next year’s transition year students. I think the most enjoyable part overall for everyone was the bus ride to and from. A massive thank you to Mr Cox and Ms. Clerkin for organising this for us. 

Welcome

Greeting fellow students of Transition Year! With the Junior Cert results just behind us, and the prospect of a great year ahead, we would like to welcome you to the TY Blog. This blog will act as a nostalgic safe haven, full of memories for you to reminisce on throughout the year.

We hope to keep you informed on activities and events coming up, as we are of course aware of the long and busy days to be had in TY. We will also provide posts about previous activities and events that have occurred, giving you the chance to look back on some fun memories had.

We hope you find the blog of benefit to you and we all look forward to the exciting year ahead!

From your TY Blog members,

Ida, Amy, Stephanie, Dami, Caitlin, Magda, Zsofia, Malha, Saorlaith, Francesca, Laura, Rebekah, Rachel, Ailbhe, Emily, Orlagh, Rachael and Grace. 

Gaisce 2017

4pm on Friday arrived in the blink of an eye. It was as if all us Gaisce students were in the chorus of HSM singing 'WHAT TIME IS IT? SUMMER TIME!' With great excitement, we ran to SuperValu and grabbed all the goodies we could find, then sprinted to the bus. We couldn't wait.

The hour long journey was filled with booming music, laughter and catching up on the latest Riverdale episode! On the way, we spotted the looming mountains and our hearts skipped a beat as we realised we would be climbing them that night and the next morning. As soon as we arrived, we gathered in the games room and were introduced to our guides. We then pushed our way to the rooms list to grab a room with our friends. We were shown to our rooms; ours was filled with 10 bunk beds. Then the clock struck 6pm. It was time; the hike had finally arrived.

That evening, we hiked 10km. While the first hill was almost impossible to walk up (considering it was basically a vertical wall!) we made it eventually, and we were all extremely proud afterwards. Some of us even jogged the last few hundred metres! We all whooped with joy at the finish line, and scurried back inside to enjoy a delicious pasta dish, followed by ice cream wafers and biscuits. 

At 10:30pm, the guides called us to the games room over the intercom. We fretfully played a game of Heads Up, and then headed straight to bed. Well, bed as in staying up chatting and laughing all night long! At precisely 8am, the intercom burst into loud music, waking us up from our sweet dreams. Breakfast was served, followed by sandwiches, popcorn, fruit and millions of sweets. The last 15km of the trip stood before us. Could we do it?

These last few kilometres were extremely hard, as we were constantly climbing up a gradual hill. At least our thighs and calves felt fabulously toned afterwards!! Hiking up the Cooleys was next to impossible, and the Haribos really came in handy to provide us with extra energy...!!! 

After we had finally completed the 25km in total, we collapsed on the benches and waited for the bus to bring us back to home sweet home. We were all so proud of ourselves for completing the hike, as we were the fastest year to do so! Overall, it was an amazing weekend and I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'd love to do it again!

TY Musical 2017

From the 4^th to the 7^th of April the 4^th years preformed a standout performance of Beauty and the Beast. Sold out every night, with an amazing cast and brilliant Costume and makeup team, Props, Lighting, Set design and PR, the show was a huge success. With exceptional help and preparation

from the teachers. It was enjoyed by everyone and they memories will stay with us forever.

Walton's Music Competition 2017

Well, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be standing on the stage of the National Concert Hall, singing to my hearts content! 

I remember asking my principal as a 5th class student if we could enter the Waltons music competition, but my request was denied as we apparently were not good enough to compete. Well wouldn't you know - we made it to the top 6 in Ireland this year, in TY! 

The theme of this years competitions was crossing musical borders, so we all put together a mix of three modern pop songs that suited this theme - Same Love (Macklemore), It's Alright Not to Feel Okay (Heathers) and Drive it Like You Stole it (from Sing Street, the movie). We added in a cello, which was played like a guitar, and a guitar which was played like a cello (crossing musical borders). We also used body percussion, rattled old coins in our pockets, and boom whackers. About 30 of us sang the songs along with the instruments. The end result sounded really professional, and being up on stage in front of the different schools and audience members felt amazing! 

After all the weeks of time and effort we had put in after and during school, we felt really proud to have finally performed our finished piece. While we didn't place in the top 3, we still had the most wonderfully fun experience and day out in town with our friends. I can't wait to compete in Waltons again next year, and be in charge of rearranging the songs and music!

Mock Trial 2017

This years TY Mock Trial team had a brilliant day in the Criminal Courts on Saturday the 8th of April. The team had a very unlucky defeat but performed very well in all three of cases.

There were many different roles involved with our team. There were barristers, solicitors, witnesses, photographers, sketch artists and the research team.The barristers had to present the case in court and either defend or prosecute the accused. They had to prepare questions for witnesses and write opening and closing statements. The solicitors had to advise the barristers on objections and help their witnesses to prepare.The witnesses had to learn of their statements and practise being questioned.  

                                    

This year the team had to prepare three cases; The defence and prosecution of Francis Cara and the prosecution of Jackie O' Faolain. The team worked extremely hard in and outside school. The week prior to the competition the girls came in at 8am and stayed til 11pm for the musical, as many girls also had vital jobs for the musical (chorus, costume, props etc.)

When the day had finally come, all girls put their tiredness aside and performed extremely well. Unfortunately, we lost our final case but winning and losing aside all girls worked really well together and should be very proud.It was a brilliant experience.

-Hazel Lattimore.

Junk Kouture - The Final 2017

After weeks of anticipation, Thursday the 27th of April finally came. The Junk Kouture Grand Final. Jumping on board the 8:50 train, we were nervous and discussed the schedule that had been emailed to us. The 3 Arena was buzzing with excitement from the moment we arrived. In our dressing room, Ms.Lennon, Ms.Lynch, Nicole, Ayman, Niamh, Roisin and I were immediately hard at work getting the models ready. We were lucky enough to be put in a dressing room with lights and mirrors running along each wall. Our teams, Luster and Taped, ft to share dressing room along with a team from another school. This was the lap of luxury compared to the makeshift tables some teams got in the huge space that served as a communal dressing room for the day.

Once the models’s costumes, hair and makeup were ready, the judges came around. They were impressed with our mood boards and our costumes. As it got later a large pizza was sent to each team (one of the highlights of our day!) Following this, everyone except for the models were asked to leave the dressing rooms. From this point forward it was a waiting game. We were excited and nervous for our models and wondered what they were doing as we were at “fun in the foyer.” Here we were given face paint, wrist bands and power banks. We left with more stuff than when we arrived! There was an “art-off,” a Virtual Reality Studio,  a variety of talks, meet and greets with Seo Linn, a 360 degree camera studio as well as other games which gave you the chance to win amazing prizes. Who wouldn’t join in when a Penney's voucher was up for grabs?

At last it was finally time for the show. The arena was trembling with anticipation and everyone was in high spirits. We were introduced to our Judges (which included Una Healy and Louis Walsh) and our hosts, then stunned by an extremely talented group of dancers. Seo Linn performed for us as well as two contestants from ‘dancing with the stars.’

From the beginning of the fashion show, it was immediately evident with each team that a lot of work went into not only the dresses but the hair and makeup and the performances. Luster was our first dress to come on stage, followed soon after by Taped. Ayman and Nicole’s performances were flawless- no one could have guessed how nervous they were backstage before coming on. A mass of supporters from our school arrived to cheer our models on waving the torches on their phones to the music. Unfortunately neither of the loreto teams placed in the Grand Final, but the hard work we put in was (to us) definitely something to be proud of.

Tips and Tricks for TY Interviews

It is the most stressful time of the year for TY’s, interviews coming up, and most of us do not have everything signed, and no projects printed out. Also there is some of us that have no clue what we need, and if you are one of those people you have clicked on the right blog post.

For your TY interview you will need:
● A folder with 5-9 pieces of work in it and along with that you will need the assignment record sheets. I recommend to include your English literacy journal and all of your module projects.
● Your work experience journal.
● Your module logs signed (those sheets in the back of your journal).
● Those 3 book reviews we were told about at the start of the year.
● Your journal completely filled out. Each interview lasts about 10 minutes, there will be two people interviewing you. Everyone who have done it already, have said it went really well and there was nothing asked they were not prepared for in the interview. If you have the work you need you will be fine!

Good luck!

TY Work Experience 2017

Hannah 

On the 30^th January, I walked through the gates of St Brendan’s National School in Loughshinny with a bag on my back. Obviously, I have grown a bit since the last time I did it! Working in my old primary school for a week was absolutely brilliant. Myself and the two girls I did my placement with had a very hands-on, enjoyable week. We were given the opportunity to try a variety of different jobs- from taking over the secretary’s office to making smoothies with the students! Some of my afternoons were spent in the sandpit with the Junior Infants while others were spent knee-deep in coloured paints and crepe paper. I particularly enjoyed working with children who had learning difficulties throughout the week. This aspect of my placement made me realise that I would love a career in speech therapy, something I had never considered before.

For my second week’s placement, I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to observe a landmark data-privacy case between Maximilien Schrems, Facebook and the Data Protection Commissioner in the Four Courts. My uncle is a solicitor and he was defending Maximilien Schrems, an Austrian data privacy activist and lawyer. Throughout the course of the week, I sat beside Mr Schrems in the High Court while Facebook’s team of lawyers, who they had flown in from the USA, stared at us from the other side of the courtroom. I must say that it was a totally unique experience that I really enjoyed. I was immersed into the case, just as the solicitors and barristers were. This gave me a valuable insight into different roles in the courtroom.

During the third week, I did work experience in Fighting Words, a creative writing centre founded by Roddy Doyle. Fighting Words provides children, teenagers and adults with intellectual disabilities with the opportunity to use their creativity and write their own original stories. My focus for the week was on the primary school workshops. A class came in to the centre every morning from different primary schools across the country. We created a magical, creative environment for them while they wrote a story as a group. We were each assigned a child who we would help and encourage to write their own unique ending to the story. Complete with the beginning, unique ending, professional illustrations and their picture on the back; each child went home with their own book- as a ‘published’ author. I thoroughly enjoyed this placement. My favourite part was seeing children who had no confidence in their ability to be creative leave with a copy of their book and a smile on their face!

Isabelle

Ever since I was a fretful First Year, the anticipation of Transition Year has got me through difficult times such as the Junior Cert. I’ve been looking forward to going on work experience for years! Recently the long awaited time came for me to venture out into the big bad world of professionalism and public transport. My most enjoyable placement happened to be the one I least expected to like. To be blunt about it, I didn’t know what the function of a PR company was until I spent a week working in one in Dublin City. I was petrified by my lack of knowledge before I arrived on my first day, but as soon as I met my co-workers (four people who were all experts in their own right) I was put at ease! All week I was extremely busy in the best way possible. I was given tasks to do almost all of the time. Of course I still managed to drink five cups of tea a day but that’s beside the point! I wrote press releases, answered phones, did administrative work, researched events and companies, collected news stories, and created a possible social media campaign. By the end of the week I felt like I was a PR master ready to take on any bad press a client could get!

Overall it was a very rewarding, positive experience.

Megan

For 3 weeks TY students embarked on work experience in an attempt to gain a sense of what careers we would/wouldn’t like to do in the future. I went to 3 different places, Murray Flynn Maguire Solicitors, the Photo Centre Balbriggan and O’Briens.

My favourite was the solicitor's office because that is where I gained the most experience and law is a career I would like to pursue. During that week I learned very quickly that it is nothing like you see on TV, in real life solicitors are buried in paperwork and most of the time they are not working on high profile cases. I also got the chance to talk to one of the practising solicitors and she gave me a step by step guide on how to qualify as a solicitor and she also gave me advice on how to enjoy the process since it does take roughly… 7 years!!

My least favourite placement was the Photo Centre. Although I did enjoy the independence he gave me, I felt like there was a lot he did not explain clearly no matter how many times I asked. I also didn’t learn much about photography or owning and running your own business, which I had hopped to do. However one of the valuable skills I learned, was how to improve my people skills improved.

I enjoyed my week in O'Brien's, the staff were all really kind and so were all the customers I dealt with. I was able to handle the fast pace needed to keep up with the flow of customers. During that week I was able to improve my communication skills.

Overall I enjoyed work experience, I feel it helped me improve on some of my transferable skills and gave me a real sense of what I want to do in the future.

Study Tips TY Exams

With exams for TY’s fast approaching (January 26th and 27th), most of us aren’t prepared since this year has mainly consisted of project deadlines and sheer panic over getting our dresses completed for Junk Kouture. This blog post will hopefully give you some study tips to help you get back on track with studying.

Tip no. 1: Highlighters

Invest in a pack of highlighters, and only highlight the key words and phrase, in your notes, textbook etc. Highlighters can aid in the memory of material, especially if you are a visual learner. If you highlight the whole page it will look like a 3 year old got to your notes and coloured them in neon yellow and you won't know where to start. REMEMBER ONLY HIGHLIGHT KEY WORDS AND PHRASES!

Tip no. 2: Multi Coloured Pens

These come in handy when writing key words or for different topics within the same subject. For example pink pen for Shakespeare and blue for media studies. Doing this will make you more likely to remember material in the exam!

Tip no. 3: Sticky Notes

These will be one of your best friends from now on. They are so handy for taking quick notes or for putting definitions on them and sticking them into your textbooks or notes! They are also really handy for short to do lists.

Tip no. 4: Test Yourself

Testing yourself is one of the best things you can do. How many times have you walked in thinking you were prepared for an exam and then you sit down and forget everything you know, and all you can remember is that it is something to do with X or maybe Y…..? Well if you test yourself (you can find past papers online or use questions from your textbook) on important names and dates etc., you’ll become better equipped to handle a stressful exam situation.

Tip no. 5: Flashcards

Using flashcards is an easy way of testing yourself or simply just studying. Write a date or word on the front of the card, then the definition or what happened on the date on the back. Go through all the flashcards, the ones you get right go in one pile and the ones you don’t get right go in another pile. You can even get apps to create stacks of flashcards. Hopefully these tips helped you study more efficiently, and helped you prepare for exams.

Christmas Cake Workshop 2016

We are in the run up to Christmas, with only less than 2 weeks to go, TY Home Economics students jumped at the chance to take part in a Christmas cake workshop. Ms.Ryan informed us that there were spaces left and it was now open to non Home - Economics students, I  jumped at the chance to attend. Thye next day I came in with my money to secure a place in the workshop. We went to kitchen two to make a chocolate biscuit cake, the smell of chocolate was heavenly. We put it in a pudding bowl so it would look vaguely like an igloo which was the goal of this cake. The following Monday all the students taking part showed up to kitchen two again, buzzing with excitement to ice the cakes. We were handed a bag with three different colours of icing and our cakes. Then we set off icing our cakes. The goal was to ice them to look like igloos with at least three penguins. Every student was in the Christmas spirit singing Christmas songs, while the teachers were impressed with what the finished cakes look liked. After the cakes were well documented, we cleaned the kitchen and brought our cakes home, hoping they tasted as good as they looked!

TY Shakespeare Festival 2016

Well done to all TY English students who participated in this year’s Shakespeare Festival – an amateur drama initiative based on the celebrated works of William Shakespeare. On Wednesday 7th December last, all seven Form groups within TY performed their unique ten-minute drama productions in front of a packed audience in the school hall. This year’s group of TY students proved to be exceptionally gifted in the art of directing, acting, script writing and stage designing and some of the creative, spellbinding adaptations on show included scenes from ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘High School Musical’. Special congratulations to Ms Malone’s 4D class who were crowned Overall Winners with a memorable ‘Northside V Southside’ adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

SVP Food Drive 2016

Twas the 14th of December 

In the school hall 

When an abundance of food was brought in by all.

The best part.. it's all for St Vincent de Paul

4th years with xmas jumpers and a festive attitude 

Packed bags full to the brim with food.

All hands were on deck, carols were sung,

A sure sign that the Christmas season has begun.

A great day of fun for a fantastic charity,

Reminded us all that Christmas is a time of giving and generosity.

On Wednesday the 14th of December, a huge team of 4th years, assisted by Ms Gaughan and the Student Council gathered in the hall to collect and pack food for our school's Annual St Vincent De Paul food drive. All students and teachers were invited to dress in Christmas jumpers and bring in food, particularly Christmas treats, to be donated to St Vincent de Paul. In the true spirit of Christmas, both students and teachers were extremely generous and we collected a huge amount of food for families in need, bringing some holiday cheer to them at Christmas.

The hall was quite literally packed with food, from mince pies to selection boxes. We all organised the food and packed it into bags before it was taken to the local St Vincent De Paul branch. It will be distributed to families just in time for the Christmas holidays. A great day was had by everybody. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the hall, the fact that we were able to contribute so much to such a fantastic charity really helped everybody to get into the Christmas mood!

We would like to thank everybody who contributed so generously to our food drive this year. Happy Christmas!