Market Day is Coming – Share in Our Success

For the last few weeks budding entrepreneuring TY students across all seven form classes have been facing a mammoth challenge. It takes vigour, determination and intelligence and the weak will be divided from the strong! No, it's not the Loreto Hunger Games - it's Fingal County Business Enterprise! 

Now that the challenge has been firmly laid down and as deadlines draw delicately closer, we (TY Class of 2018-2019) are building our own business empire one step at a time. Here are three ‘insider trading’ tips on how to build TY business success: 

Recruit by drawing pigs

·       Personalities clash, heads roll, and greed quickly becomes individual. Not everyone can be the big boss so delegating responsibility to a wider team who knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses is vitally important in getting ahead of the competition. Yes, some of us students have team members located in different form classes, but overcoming challenges is what TY 21^stcentury business success is all about! Now anyone for a game of drawing pigs?!

·         Drawing pigs: we know, we know! This sounds weird but it really helps when choosing team members. Try it! First of all get a sheet of paper and just draw a pig. It's that simple. Now follow the guide below to figure out what your swine has to say about you:

If the pig is drawn towards the top of the page, you are optimistic and positive; towards the middle of the page, you are realistic; towards the bottom of the page you might be pessimistic and prone to behaving negatively; 

If your pig is facing left, you are traditional, friendly, good at remembering important dates; if facing right, you are innovative, active, don't have a strong sense of family; if facing the front, you might enjoy arguing with others and creating drama with few details, you are emotional, naïve, a risk taker, look at the larger picture; with plenty of detail, you are cautious, analytical and don't trust others easily;  

If your pig has 4 legs, you are secure and stubborn; with less than 4 legs, you are insecure or going through a major change in life; The bigger the ears on your pig the better listener you are; the longer the tail the more fun you have

*DISCLAIMER* whatever your result is don't take it to heart. This could all be hogswash!

Brainstorming 

·         Four legged piglet or not, without a product or service or concept, you have no business. Timelines, SWOT analysis, opportunity costs: the stress for us TY students is real. Brainstorming is the creative way for us to problem solve and get everyone’s best ideas together. 

Event Manage

·         Businesses be aware – if you build it they will come. This year, the bargain that beats Black Friday takes place on Friday, 14th December in Loreto Balbriggan. ‘Christmas Market Day’ is the shop-till-you-drop opportunity forstudents and staff alike to be treated to bargains from stalls, stalls everywhere. During both lunchtimes budding entreprenurial TY and 2^ndyear Loreto girls will meet and greet you in an atmosphere where Wall Street meets Walmart (that’s Pennys to me or you, hun). Buyers beware, these smiling sales students want your coins so be armed with lots and lots of cash! With plenty of meetings, market research and business classes still ahead, ‘Christmas Market Day’ promises to be a day of success that everyone can share in. 

Fingal County Business Enterprise Awards - here we come!

-Tami Adeleke

Our Visit to the EU Contest for Young Scientists

On Monday, the 17^thof September, a group of very lucky students from 1^stto 4^thyear stood in the school courtyard, shivering with the cold, waiting to go to the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS). 

Ireland was very lucky this year to host this prestigious competition, and we were excited for it as well, despite the bitter cold as we stood waiting outside. Finally, warm coaches arrived to take us to the RDS, where the exhibition was being held. Our excitement began to build throughout the journey.

The exhibition was better than we had hoped! We met some past – pupils on arrival, such as Diana Bura, Khadija Gull and Renuka Chintapalli. We strolled around the exhibitions all morning, marvelling at each project, and yearning to some day reach this impossibly high standard. We learned how these students were innovating and changing the lives of many. 

Among my countless favourites, a project I particularly liked was carried out by a school in South Korea. These students learned how to diagnose Parkinson’s disease by examining the sound waves of person’s voice. It struck me how students so young could make such a huge difference to the world. We also met last year’s BT Young Scientist overall winner, Simon Meehan, who explained his project to us. Even though it was tough to decode the scary scientific words the contestants used, we had fun anyway. 

We were also very lucky to visit a science talk, which explained and demonstrated the science behind the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise. This fun, interactive show was enjoyable for everyone. 

It was sad when we had to leave the exhibition, but we all hoped that we wouldn’t be visiting the exhibition next time, we hoped we would be competing in it.

 

- Iman Khan

TY Driving Course

On Monday and Tuesday, the 23 and 24 April, TY's participated in a day-long Road Safety and Driving Course at Whiteriver Park Circuit, Co. Louth.

Throughout the day, we were given a presentation on road safety and a demonstration about the effects of alcohol on driver awareness. In the workshop, we learned some key facts about cars and road use, which will come in handy for those that are thinking about taking their Theory Test this summer. We were shown how to change the tyre of a car, and how to open the bonnet of a car to inspect the oil and water levels, etc. We also got the chance to compete to see who had the fastest reaction time when it came to braking the car - in the end, Hannah Mannion and Seona Darling won, with Seona having a record-breaking time of 0.32 seconds! (The average for road users is 0.47 seconds.)

The most exciting part of the day was of course, getting to drive a car around the track, because for most of us, it was our first time behind the wheel. We took turns driving dual-control cars under the supervision of a driving instructor. While we were all very slow at the beginning, in fear of crashing our cars and making an absolute fool out of ourselves in front of our friends, who were passengers in the backseats, we eventually got the hang of it, and after half an hour or so, all of the cars were flying around the track no problem! Which also learned how to reverse park, which was quite tricky. Overall, it was a really fun day, and I think we'll all be a lot more prepared for what to expect when we do go for our first driving lessons. The day also reinforced what we learned throughout the year about road safety, and hopefully now, after experiencing what it's actually like to be a car driver, we'll better understand the importance of the rules of the road.

Mock Trials

On the 21 April, the full Loreto Balbriggan Mock Trials team headed down to the Criminal Courts of Justice, transforming for a day into barristers, solicitors, witnesses, jury members and others. We had been preparing for the cases, the DPP v. Francis Cara and the DPP v. Pat Plaice, for about two weeks. Both were criminal cases: one was about an alleged burglary, and the other an alleged arson attack in the form of a petrol bombing. We were all very excited and nervous entering courtroom 13, where the three trials were due to take place: we were acting as prosecution and defence for the Pat Plaice case, and as defence for the Francis Cara case. Our barristers were Emily O'Sullivan, Zoefia Woods, Ailís Odell and Ailbhe Rogers, and working alongside them were solicitors Megan Carroll, Ciara O'Reilly and Alessandra Griusario. We also had brilliant court registrars, tipstaffs and timekeepers, Ruby Pereira, Aoife Kenney and Alannah Ward who ensured that the rules of court were upheld. Also working in the courtroom on the day were court reporter, Orlagh Herne, photographer, Milana Vilenskya and sketch artist, Lauryn Flynn.

Each case was presided over by a judge, and while a jury (made up of students from other schools) was present to decide on a verdict, it was the judge who scored the contestants and who decided on the real winner of each trial.

There were stunning performances from all of our witnesses, whose quick thinking and talented acting helped them to outmanouver the opposing barristers who were cross-examining them, and in the case of Aoibha Mulhall (as the shopkeeper Gabby Codd), the other barrister struggled to even get a word in, as she rambled on and on! Maeve Curnyn acted as Pat Plaice, the accused: a former burglarer determined not to return to the dark place of her past, Mount "Sadness", and who was simply a diabetic whose insulin monitor had run out of batteries, which she needed straight away. Emma Dolan acted as Billy Boyce, an eccentric physics professor who smokes a pipe, and uses a walking stick, and who was wrting his thesis on molecular physics and the effects of dark matter on the growth of mushrooms (a special thanks to Mr Higgins for his tie!). Ailís played Garda O'Reilly, while the gun-owning, but terrified-out-of-her-life shopkeeper, Gabby Codd, was played by Aoibha Mulhall. The dear, charming Majorie Magoo, a just-turned-60-year-old off-licence worker, was played by Clíodhna Bowers, who was "on it like a car bonnet!" Finally dressed all in pink, was the Legally Blonde styled Dearbhla Flynn, acting as the young Francis Cara, who owned the nail salon, 'Fingertips by Fran'. Unfortunately, the judge refused to let her take her pink handbag and Bruiser the chihuahua up with her to the witness stand.

We won all three of our cases! There were tears and hugs at every victory of the day, and to top it all off, it was announced at the end that we had won 2nd overall, out of around forty schools nationwide! Everyone was absolutely thrilled, knowing that we had gotten through to the second round of the competition, the semi-finals. It couldn't have been done of course without the hours of hard work and preparation we had put into the Mock Trials, including the efforts of the research team and the costume department, as well of course as the time and effort put in by Mr Daly and Ms O'Neill, and all the teachers who had to put up with us missing class for over a week!

The work however, is not yet even nearly finished. Best of luck to all the girls who will be taking part in Round 2 of the Mock Trials competition, the semi-finals, on May 12th! Keep up the hard work!

TY Colour Run

On Thursday, 19th of April, Transition Year students were invited to participate in a 5K Run from the school gate to the AIB bank. This walk was going towards a charity named  ' Remember Us'

We had classes as normal in the morning, had break then we headed down to the all - weather pitch and the PE teachers told us to stretch in order to avoid tension while jogging/running. The first group that ran were those who were more likely to run constantly throughout the run and the rest of us ran at a normal pace. We ran past SuperValu, to St. Peter's and Paul's and towards Millfield Shopping Center where we completed 1K. We kept running towards St. George's Nation School and towards the M1. Then from there we completed 2K. We ran down towards Arro and down the path making our way towards the AIB bank. 500ml bottles of water provided there where we completed 5K. Then we walked at a normal pace towards the school where we were served refreshments, took photos and enjoyed our time listening to music. We were awarded a double lunch for our great participation skills.

RSA workshop

On Monday the 9th of April Ms Monk’s Module class hosted a Road Safety Day. We were lucky enough to host the Road safety shuttle and turn over cage to come to our school for all fourth years to try. In the shuttle there were many different simulations that replicated real life driving situations, for example driving in the rain, driving at night, driving a motorcycle. Also there were mock theory tests, dance games and many other fun activities. The most exciting part of the entire day, in my opinion, was the roll over cage. The roll over cage consisted of a car which had no wheels or engine that was attached to a machine that turned it 360 degrees. We were strapped in with ordinary seatbelt and also waist belts to that we weren’t injured. This was a very valuable experience as it gave us a small taste of what it would be like to be in a real accident. Along with that, the RSA asistants told us the correct procedure for getting out of a crashed car, what to do when your seat belt is stuck and many more valuable lessons.

All in all it was a really fun day that was so enlightening and valuable, we hope to never experience a road accident but we are so glad that we have these tips to help us out.

Jigsaw

On Wednesday the 21st of march, the six Jigsaw peer Educators from Loreto Balbriggan were invited to the 'Read Your Mind' book launch in Blanchardstown Library.The purpose of the launch was to promote a collective initiative between Fingal libraries and Jigsaw.They provided a catalogue of books in the sectors of mental health and well being in young people.

Our school was honoured to witness this book launch along with other schools in the Fingal County area along with our neighbouring Loreto Swords and Skerries Community College.It enabled the peer educators to understand the vitality of encouraging young people to maintain good mental well being.

Towards the end of the book launch a selection of lovely pastries ,tea and biscuits were provided and served to all the attendees of the launch.

                                       

Tidy Towns

On Thursday 15th March, a group of about 25 TY students set out to help with Tidy Towns Balbriggan. This event was organised by Ms Gaughan and the Tidy Towns committee, which was set up earlier in the year. We left after break, to meet a Tidy a Towns member who would show us what to do. Half of the group went litter picking around Balbriggan, whilst the other half went to the train station, to shovel up areas for flowers to be planted. In the train station, we used shovels and rakes to loosen up the soil. We also removed litter and large rocks and weeds from the area. The other Tidy Towns members will soon return to the train station to plant flowers there, in order to brighten up the station. It was tiring work, but it was worth it when we saw what a difference we had made. After returning to the school for a well needed lunch, the two groups joined together and we went litter picking for the rest of the afternoon. We walked to the car park opposite the church and began work. Everyone was shocked to see how much litter was there, but by the time we had left, the place looked much cleaner. Going back through the village, we picked litter as we walked. I loved having the ability to make a difference, however small it was, and I can’t wait to help out again. 

Jigsaw Peer Education Programme

A graduation ceremony was held in Skerries Community College for the six students who got selected for training as Jigsaw Peer Educators. After attending several enjoyable sessions over the last few months,a graduation was organised to mark the end of their achievement. Six girls from Loreto Secondary School and a few other students from other schools including students from Skerries Community College were handed certificates for their accomplishment.  After listening to the instrumental show and a few speeches made by students and teachers, we had our pictures taken by parents/ guardians who also attended. We nibbled on the finger foods that were laid out for us and chatted along to our friends and family. 

Thank you to Ms.Costigan for organising the programme. We look forward to delivering the presentation based on raising awareness of mental health to our peers over the coming weeks.

Junk Kouture

Congratulations to all students on their performances in the Kouture semi-finals in The Helix. Well done to 3 of our costumes on reaching the Final : “ Tyred “  “Angel of the Night” “ "The Dutchess". We wish the finalists the very best of luck in the final which will take place in the Three Arena on the 19th April.

TY Breast Cancer Awareness Talk

Awareness helps to save lives...Breast Cancer Ireland are keen to promote education and awareness amongst women of all ages.

It's a myth to think that Breast Cancer only happens to women over a certain age!  Breast Cancer can happen to women young and old. Thanks to the speaker who came in to talk all about breast cancer and its early stages. We are now fully aware of all the symptoms. 

The speaker introduced herself and her equipments. She went through the presentation she had prepared. The presentation included a lot of useful information. We found out that breast cancer affects 1 in 9 women. She read out the instruction on how to get the breast cancer app and how it works.  We got to touch the mannequin which was helpful as you get a sense of feeling of what exactly you are looking for and what is normal around the area. 

I found the talk very beneficial because I now know how to check for breast cancer symptoms. I discovered a new app which I intend to use regularly.  I know 8 warnings to look out for and how to do the breast examination and how often should one do it.

TY Film Studies Trip

Mr. Daly's and Ms. O'Sullivan's film studies year long module class got a lucky trip to Swords cinema. We took the bus and there was excitement buzzing in the air. The movie that we watched was chosen by the teachers and it was a very good choice. We watched "The Greatest Showman ".  Swords Pavilions was filled with 60 friendly Loreto Balbriggan faces.  We got our cinema food and munched away during the 2 hour long movie. 

A little bit more about the movie;

Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Starring P.T Barnum, the Wolverine star Hugh Jackman, Phillip, the High School Musical sensation Zac Efron and Anne Wheeler as Disney's favorite Zendaya. 

The musical genre was not popular among us students but as soon as the movie started we were all indulged into it. Personally I dislike watching musicals but every since watching that one I suddenly started liking them. I would give it a 10/10 rating. 

Work Experience: Diary Entries

Student 1

Week One- Mater Hospital Dublin
For my first week of Work Experience I went to the Mater Hospital in Dublin. As I have been interested in a career in medicine for a while this course was very beneficial for me. We mostly spent the week listening to talks from different workers in the hospital. For example, we got to hear the realities of studying medicine and working after college from a Junior Doctor in the hospital. The highlights for me were visiting the blood labs and the mortuary. In the blood labs we saw bags of different blood cells and learned how blood is analysed. The hospital had tubes that could send vials of blood to different parts of the hospital instantly which I found amazing. In the mortuary we saw a brain which had been preserved in a bucket, I was surprised that nobody fainted. Overall, the week was very enjoyable and gave me a much better insight into working in a hospital. 

Week Two- Paz de Ziganda Ikastola, Pamplona, Spain
My second week of work experience was at an Ikastola in Spain. An Ikastola is a primary/secondary school where classes are taught through Basque, a minority language in Northern Spain, like a Gaelscoil in Ireland. The students learned English as a third language there and I helped out in their classes for the week. At the start of the week, I was in the playschool and primary school part of the school. I read stories like The Three Little Pigs to those children and made them do actions and sound effects with certain words to keep them engaged and help them to understand. I also helped older primary school children who were practising dramas they would be performing for their parents in English. I read scripts with them so they could hear how a native speaker pronounced different words. With one class who were studying the ocean, I told them the story of The Giant's Causeway. They loved hearing about Irish culture and laughed at my accent every chance they got.

Later in the week, I spent time in the secondary school section of the school. I spoke to them about differences between Ireland and Spain and answered questions they had about Ireland. They were especially shocked by the different foods we ate in Ireland. Nobody there had ever eaten or even heard of turnips or parsnips. They were also surprised by how different our school was to theirs. I told them that we couldn't wear nail varnish, makeup, or big earrings and they all looked horrified. They were also surprised when I showed them pictures of our school uniform and told the that most schools in Ireland had uniforms. Based on the information I told them, they assumed my school was a private school, as it sounded similar to private schools in Spain. None of them could believe that my school was not private and that most non-private schools in Ireland were similar to my school. We also talked about books, celebrities, and TV shows. Their standard of English was amazing so it was easy to have conversations with them. I even got to help out in a 6th Year English class who were preparing for the Spanish Leaving Cert. I read the ending of the novel they were studying aloud for them so they could hear my accent. Then I got to hear about the different college courses they wanted to do and what the Spanish Leaving Cert was like.

That week was an amazing and unique opportunity to see what teaching English as a foreign language is like. It really was one of the highlights of Transition Year for me and helped me to decide my career path. 

Week Three- Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Cork. 
I spent my final week of work experience at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Cork. Pfizer manufacture different medicines like Paracetamol, and at the plant I visited, they made the raw materials for the medication rather than the actual medication. We had guided tours of the labs, plant, and warehouses from workers in the different areas. The highlights of the course for me were working in the labs and engineering talks we heard. In the labs, we got to analyse different substances and use advanced technology to create graphs to help us identify the substances. This was a fun way of seeing what working as a scientist in a lab is like. During the engineering talks, we did different challenges which made the talks really engaging. We had to build a tower and a bridge out of straws and balance different things on them. This week was very interesting as I learned a lot about different careers in STEM subjects. I got to see where different STEM degrees could lead which I found beneficial. 

Student 2

Week One- Speech and Language Clinic 

My mum works as a receptionist in a speech and language clinic, so I decided to go there for my first week of work experience. I was also interested to discover more about the occupation of a speech and language therapist. On the first day, I was nervous as I arrived at the clinic, because I was unsure of what it would be like. However, the three therapists were very welcoming and I soon settled in. I was given the opportunity to sit in on several therapy sessions everyday. I was very lucky to get to do this and most of the parents were open to me being there. I liked interacting with the different kids and watching how the therapists worked with them. Each child had different issues and the therapists adapted the sessions to suits them, changing every week. I realised that speech and language therapy covers a wide variety of topics, not just stammering and pronunciation. I really enjoyed my week and got the chance to work with lots of different children. I would now consider a career with children or/and with speech therapy in the future.

Week Two- Primary School 

For my second week of work experience, I decided to return to my primary school. I didn’t really have an interest in teaching, but I wanted to experience work with children and see how it suited me. On the Monday, I attended the I Wish conference in the RDS instead of work experience. This was interesting and gave a good insight into the various opportunities the STEM subjects can give to girls. On the Tuesday I began work in the school. I split each day between a junior infant and senior infant class. This was slightly overwhelming at first, as there were so many small children, but it became easier as the week progressed. I helped out with art, writing and reading. It was fun and interactive. On the Wednesday I talked to the 6th class about secondary school and gave them some tips. I also went to the 5th class and helped them with the foreign languages they were learning. Overall I enjoyed the week, but I’m not sure if I’d like to work with kids all the time.

Week Three- Vintage Clothing Shop 

My third week was spent in a vintage clothing shop in Temple Bar in town. This was quite different to my previous weeks as it did not involve children and I was doing completely different tasks. I got great experience working in a shop and I also learned a lot about vintage clothes. I have an interest in fashion and sewing so I really enjoyed this week. My jobs involved helping customers, steaming, sorting and colour coding clothes and dressing up mannequins for display. I loved seeing the different eras of fashion while I was organising the clothes by style and colour. I would possibly like to work with fashion in the future, as I am interested in an artistic or creative career. However, I don’t think my strengths would lie in a career like managing a shop.

Student 3 

Week One

I decided to work in a St. Vincent de Paul charity shop for two weeks. I found my experience great and it has totally changed my expectations towards the local charity shop. I started at 10:00 and I would sign my name in the sign in booklet, then I would put my jacket and bag in a locker. The jobs varied from day-to-day, sometimes it would be a busy day full of work or a day that their would be repetitive work. The work that I had to do included recycling products that were over ten days old which included, books, clothing, house decorations, toys, CDs & DVDs. I also had to click size cubes on clothing hangers for each of the clothes, write the date and price of the products and bring in donations to the back to discard what we would not want to put onto the shelves. Colour coordinating was one of my favourite things to do along with attending customers.

We would have a 15 minute break by 11:00. During that time I would have something to eat, fill in my Work Experience Journal, talk with my colleagues and rest. We get back to work whenever we are ready and continue with our work until 12:30. Then we would have a break and we got to go out and buy our lunch, walk around the town and get some fresh air. Thirty minutes later we get back to work until 14:00 which is when I finish. Skills I developed: Sensitivity to others, Initiative, Motivation, Communication, Team Membership and Independence.

Week Two

I worked in Vila, a retail clothes shop. My experience there was good. I learned a lot of "retail skills" such as folding trousers and jumpers in a particular way, unpacking new in clothing,  steaming new in clothing, polishing the shelves and clothing rails, putting price stickers on sales clothing and tucking tags into the clothing. My day began at 9:30 I would put my bag and jacket down in the staff room, start polishing and continue from the previous day. My favourite memory from that experience was when I got complimented by a local customer of how professional I seemed to be. That made me be confident throughout the whole week. At 12:30 I had lunch and got back to lunch at 13:00, continued working and finished at 15:00.

Skills developed: Adaptability, Learning Skills, Customer Focus and Active Listening.

Student 4

Week One

Taking advice from teachers and coordinators I decided to spend one of my weeks in a career sector that interested me and I had considered for my own future. So off I headed to Hayes McGrath Solicitors on Baggot street in Dublin city. Being completely honest, I was terrified. I got an extremely early train, I got lost on my way from the train station and I still arrived far too early at the office. All was well in the end though. I learned a lot in my first day let alone the entire week. Everything was smooth sailing, except for a silly mistake that landed me on a train to Newbridge instead of Rush. I got to read case file about things I had heard in the news for example the stabbings at the Swedish House Mafia concert in 2012. It was all so overwhelming to see the real life work behind the scenes of the most famous criminal cases in Ireland. I was so impressed with my week there, hopefully I will be able to return when I’m in college for a summer job.

Week two

My second week was probably the best out of the three. I spent it in Shannon, Co. Clare in The  Irish Aviation Authority. I was in the air traffic control section and I was able to witness, in my opinion, the most crucial element of flying. The air traffic controllers speak to pilots, airports, runway staff, and other air traffic controllers all over the world. They control every single plane that flies over Irelands airspace, which is more that just the country itself. I absolutely loved every second of it. I was also lucky enough to get to visit the air traffic control tower, which is at the runway of Shannon Airport and see a few planes taking off. It really opened my eyes to another possible career.

Week three

For my third week I returned to one of my old primary schools, St. Brendans NS in Loughshinny. It was so nice to return to a place filled with such wonderful memories and to be remembered by all of the staff. I had a timetable for everyday so I was always busy and never wandering around. I spent time in every class and was lucky enough to go on some outings with a few classes. I went to the beach with 6th class to help them do a litter collection, and I went on a hike with 4th class along the cliffs from Rush to Loughshinny. I also happened to be there when a few 6th class kids were preparing for a debating competition so I helped them practice

Student 5 

On the week commencing the 9th of April, I spent Monday to Friday in Rotunda Hospital shadowing midwives and nurses. For this course I had to apply really early to secure a place, February 2017. Every day I started at 9:30am except on Friday, when I started at 10:30am. On Monday and Tuesday, I spent the days on the General Postnatal Ward, were mums and their new born babies stay until they go home. On Wednesday and Thursday, I was on the Lillie Suite, which is were the private rooms are for mums and their new born babies. 

Then on Friday, I spent the day in the Paediatric Outpatient Unit, where babies would come back for their 6-8 week checkups, if they had any problems with jaundice or weight loss etc. From Monday to Thursday, the jobs were very similar, although I did prefer being on the Public Ward rather than the Private Suites. I went around with the healthcare assistants to ask the mums how they were getting on and how their pain was etc, I got to watch all the 2-3 day old babies get their hearing tests on the day they were going home, I helped out with baby baths, brought babies down to another part of the hospital to get their antibiotics, helped out with changing linens and observe tests for the babies' breathing and heart. 

All the staff in the hospital were extremely welcoming and took me under their wings throughout the week. They answered any questions I had and would also explain whatever they were doing during the day. I learnt a huge amount about different postnatal illnesses and medication. The parents were also really lovely and I was glad they didn't mind me being there; many of them invited me in to chat and watch their checkups being completed. On Friday, on the Paediatric Outpatient Unit, I shadowed 2 midwives who did the checkups for the 1-2 month old babies. These included weighing the babies, taking blood tests, using a bilimeter to measure the babies jaundice levels and asking about the general wellbeing of the babies.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my week in Rotunda Hospital and gained a whole lot of valuable information and experience that I will take with me for the future. After this placement, I would definitely consider working as a midwife, as I've found I'm really passionate about this area of work and found myself adjusting to the environment of the hospital and the wards really easily.

Junk Kouture 2018

Congratulations to all twelve teams from the school that reached the semi finals of the Junk Kouture competition

JPIC

Transition year students in the JPIC group attended a presentation and workshop on homelessness. Mary Kilgarriff from the Dublin Central Mission in Abbey St. Dublin, gave the group an inspiring insight into the life of rough sleepers , the limitations of services available  and the causes of homelessness. The group also packed toiletry bags for homeless girls and women and presented the charity with 200 euro they had raised and supplies of sanitary ware that they had collected over the past weeks. The workshop was hugely informative and motivating and it has inspired the students to maintain links with the homeless charity and continue to work towards understanding & changing the homeless crisis.

Fashion Focus Workshop

The 4E form class took part in a ‘Fashion Focus’ workshop on Wednesday morning facilitated by Eco-UNESCO. They engaged in activities which discussed and challenged their ideas on fashion, the ‘fashion life cycle’ and the environmental impact of the textile industry. They finished off the workshop by learning some upcycling skills. The students made some throw bags from old t-shirts and also created some other new fashion items from old shirts and t-shirts they had in their wardrobe.

BT Scientist Competition

TY Trip - Butlers Chocolate Factory

All TY Home Ec students were offered an opportunity to go to the Butlers Chocolate Factory to have a tour of the factory and to see what happens in the factory. We left the school in the morning and arrived an hour later in Coolock. First of all, we had to make sure health and safety measures were put in place. We had to wear fishnets and white coats to protect our hair and clothes. After that, a speaker, Laura, spoke to us about how chocolate is made in the factory.

As we were walking around listening to her, we got ready made toffee chocolates. There was different departments and every person in the factory had a role to fulfil. Some people had to decorate the chocolate and others had to package the chocolate. We saw different types of machines that make the work more efficient. We learnt about the origin of chocolate by walking through the timeline hallway. A short film was presented to us about the origin of chocolate and the Butlers Chocolate Factory. From the short film we learnt many new facts. For example, modern chocolate comes from West Africa. The founder of Chez Nous was Marion Butler. James Sorenson bought the company and renamed it Butlers Chocolate. Also, the company was renewed in 1984.

At the end of the tour we got to make our own personalised chocolate elephants. First of all we had to watch a demonstration and then we had to try make it ourselves. Everyone had their own brush to decorate the chocolate with white chocolate and a plastic bag and ribbon to package the chocolate. After that, the tour unfortunately came to an end. But fortunately we got to go to the Butlers Chocolate Cafe and we stayed there and waited for our bus to come and pick us up. We took a group photo before the bus came. When the bus came, we headed back to school. Overall, It was a successful outing and I think everyone gained more understanding about their favourite snack! It was a very enjoyable experience that will long in our memories.

TY Biology Talk - "The Genetics Revolution"

On Tuesday the 14^th of November, Ms Gillen's lucky Biology students took a trip to Dublin Institute of Technology to attend a science talk called "The Genetics Revolution". This anticipated lecture was to be of stimulating content to the class as we had spent the previous number of weeks studying the cell and efficiently, genetics and DNA etc.

We arrived to the college at approximately 10:15 that morning, with a comfortable 15 minutes to spare before the talk began. We arrived into the hall to be presented with a large number of other schools, also there to attend the talk.

The talk began and we were immediately immersed in engagement with the speaker and voluntary audience contribution. The speaker made sure everyone felt involved and even called some members of the audience up to help him with experiments.

The lecture mainly focused on the biological areas of genetics, DNA, blood types and subtopics such as chromosomes and cells etc. It was very interesting to learn about ways to collect cell samples and also how to preform experiments on them.

The talk was overall incredibly interesting and I gained a lot of knowledge on the subject

Public Access to Law

On Tuesday the 28th of November a group of 30 Transition Years had the chance to go to a Public Access to Law course in the school. The course took place all day in a classroom. In the morning we watched a CSI video which talked about two famous murder cases. The cases were easy enough to deduce just by watching, but they showed that forensic evidence plays an important role in court cases. The second case we saw was especially easy, I saw a good few people mumble "it was him" the second the actor who was later revealed as the killer came onto the screen. Nevertheless, the videos were informative and educational.

Afterwards we went through the main newspaper headings concerning law for the day, which showed us that law is always a topical subject. My personal favourite headline which was about a genuine case: "Man jailed for stealing from church boxes using sellotape-on-a-stick." In the afternoon we did three separate mock trials where we had the chance to be barristers, witnesses, and defendants. I chose to be a barrister for the prosecution for a case about an angry man 'disturbing the peace' on an aeroplane. My side won the case as he was found guilty, although I later felt bad because I certainly had a reasonable doubt about whether he was actually guilty or not.

I really enjoyed the course, even though Ms. Clerkin came in at the end and informed us that we had a test on everything we learned that day. We've been assured that the test is very easy. We didn't get a chance to discuss Twelve Angry Men, the film we had to watch and answer questions on prior to the course, but we did get to discuss important aspects of being a barrister. Overall I found the course extremely beneficial and it has guided me to consider pursuing a career in law in the future. 

Third Age Computer Course

Last week, lots of TY students attended a meeting, wanting to volunteer at a course teaching elderly people basic computing skills. This week, seven students were randomly selected to participate. Every Thursday, from two o’clock until four, myself and the other volunteers will go to Balbriggan Library to help out at the course, run by Third Age. Third Age is an organisation which offers several free services for the older generation, including the computing course, helping senior citizens to feel comfortable using computers, tablets and phones in their everyday lives. (http://www.thirdageireland.ie/) 

Last Thursday was the first week of the five week course. At twenty to two, the participating TYs met with Ms Clerkin in the atrium and walked to Balbriggan Library where we were greeted by Ruth, the very friendly woman running the course. We were asked to sit beside one or two of the senior citizens in the room and help them throughout the lesson. The woman that I was helping was lovely and she chatted away to me throughout the couple of hours. I found that the time flew by! Not only did I help her to improve her skills for using the internet, I realised that I was learning a lot from her too, as she told me stories of life before the internet and computers. 

Halfway through there were refreshments, and we then continued with the class. One of the women was Polish and the girl that initially sat down beside her couldn’t understand the settings on her computer. Luckily enough though, one of the other TYs was also Polish, and could soon help the woman with her computing skills! Even more of a coincidence, the two had actually met a few years before, in Balbriggan. They exchanged emails and will keep in touch if the woman needs further help with her computer. The others also really enjoyed the class, and each TY got on very well with the person they were helping. We realised how important it is that the older generation know how to use the internet safely, and that it is a great idea for the younger generation to teach them. Ruth taught the class and instructed us on how to help the senior citizens, so we had nothing to worry about. We showed them how to use Google properly and navigate around websites. Next week we will be setting up emails with them. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there and I am really looking forward to helping out again next week!