Goodbye!

I know it has been quite a while since I have last updated this blog, and I have one simple explanation for you all - I have completed Transition Year and am on my summer holidays!
Since this blog was created as part of my TY program (ever wonder where the name Melissa's TY Blog came from?! :P ), and was used to document all the goings-on of my Transition Year,  it feels right for me to end the blog here.
However it felt unfitting for me to just never post again, so I thought I would post this in order to give a little explanation.

source

So, there it is, I'm saying goodbye to blogging, at least on this blog (who knows, I might start up another!). Thank you for reading my silly posts and sharing the year with me.

Take care,

Melissa :)

Junior Spider Awards

source

So this week we came back to school after 2 weeks off for the Easter holidays. I must admit, I wasn't particularly looking forward to coming back, although since we only have 4 weeks more to go, I'm not too badly off!
To make getting back into school even easier, I got to go to the Eircom Junior Spider Awards representing Radio TY!

`source

The awards were held in Google HQ in Dublin, and there were stands from different companies like Microsoft, Eircom, Spin 1038 and Dublin Zoo (who brought lots of snakes and reptiles!). These stands were there to provide entertainment for several hours before the actual awards ceremony, and I really enjoyed spending the time looking around!

Radio TY (which I posted about a while ago here) was nominated for both Best Project and Best Concept in the Tera Category, and we were delighted to find out that we had won the Junior Spider for Best Concept!
It was a great day all round concluding with a bonus of winning one of the categories, so I was certainly delighted with the outcome of the day!

Swim A Mile With A Smile :D

source

This Wednesday we participated in the 'Ian Daly Swim A Mile With A Smile' sponsored swim. The swim is in order to raise money for Barretstown Centre for seriously ill children, and St. John's Cancer Ward in Crumlin Children's hospital.
We all raised sponsorship money, and on the day of the swim we were taken to the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, every person aiming to swim a certain number of lengths. A mile is 64 lengths of a 25 metre pool, and I swam a total of 76 lengths!! I was certainly tired afterwards!

source

I was so delighted to be a part of raising money for such fantastic causes, that do so much good for children who are seriously sick. It was also nice to get the chance to be back in the swimming pool!

Debating Final :D

So as I said in a previous post (Debating Update!) I got through to the Final of the Leinster Schools Debating Competition which was held this Tuesday.

source

After an intense week of preparation I was really excited for the competition, and there was a lot of build up and anticipation throughout the week.
  After a controversial change of venue, now held in UCD, the motion for debate was 'This House Believes That Dictatorships Are A Legitimate Form of Government', and Juliette and I were opposing.
  After an extremely tight debate, the result was announced that CBC Monkstown was the winning team.
  I really enjoyed the experience and was extremely happy with how far I had got, considering it was my first year in Senior Debating! It was a great night on all accounts.

Djembe Djembe!

This Thursday TY class Tabei was lucky enough to have a percussion workshop with Dave from 'Jabba Jabba Jembe'.

source

  The workshop was on how to play djembe drums which originally come from West Africa.
  We started off the day with basic techniques and rhythms and tried out more and more complex rhythms and patterns as the day went on.

source

  Dave told us about how drummers explain rhythms by using sounds. 
For example, one of the patterns we did sounds like 'Bah, bah, bah, biddi biddi,' and so on!
  We learned about the origins of West African drumming, how it was used traditionally and how it is used today. We also watched a DVD on life in Africa and how it differs from life here in Ireland.
  As a violinist and someone who relates very much to music, I really loved the workshop, and I hope I get another chance to try out djembe drumming and other styles, again!

Debating Update!

Leinster Semi Finalists

So as some of you may be aware, I am an active and competitive debater, and have been competing in many competitions this year, such as the Hist and the Phil Mace Debates held in Trinity College, Dublin, and also the Leinster Schools Debating Competition and the Aoife Begley Memorial Competition, which are prepared debating competitions.
  Both prepared competitions involve several rounds over the course of the year with a week to prepare motions. As my partner and I continued progressing through rounds in both competitions, we found ourselves getting more and more pressured with rounds almost every week and sometimes overlapping. Sadly, because of this we decided to drop out of the Aoife Begley Competition.
  We continued on with the Leinsters, and after reaching the Semi Finals on Monday, we are through to the finals!! This is a really big achievement for us, as 200 teams entered the competition, and only 4 make the final!
  I'm extremely excited about this, so I will let you know how we get on!

Until next time, 

Melissa :)

Challenge Yourself!

For the past three weeks, instead of doing conventional sports for P.E. class, the Transition Year students at St. Wolstan's were lucky enough to be taken to Excel Gymnastics for three 2 hour sessions!

  Despite having tried most sports and activities as a child, I had never done gymnastics before, so I was really looking forward to trying it out!
  Each week, our class got to try out different types of gymnastics, like artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and parkour.
  We got to try vaulting, tumbling, cartwheeling, using the uneven bars and the beam. My favourite was probably vaulting, because although it was a little scary to start off, flipping and tumbling off the vault was really so much fun!
  
 
Here's a video of Jordyn Wieber, 2012 Olympic gymnast from the USA. Floor is one of the 5 apparatuses in Artistic Gymnastics.

I found myself gaining confidence each week, and I'm really glad that I threw myself into every activity, as it was such a unique opportunity!
  If I had more time, I would probably take up gymnastics, and I would recommend anyone to take up gymnastics or something new! Challenge yourself! :)


Here's a song recommended by YouTuber Troye Sivan that I just can't stop listening to!
Enjoy!

Calamity Jane!

This week was the week of our school musical - Calamity Jane!
  So much work and effort had gone into the production, so we were all very excited and nervous coming up to the week of the show.

Lauren as Calamity Jane,
and Darragh as the Colonel

  I was choreographing and dancing in the three ballet dances in the musical, to the songs 'Higher Than A Hawk', 'Black Hills of Dakota' and 'Secret Love'.
  Over the course of several months, a few other senior students and I choreographed the 3 dances and taught 2 of them to the junior ballet dancers. After practicing at lunchtime every day for months, we were ready!!
  The 4 nights of the show went so well - everyone who came to see it thought it was a fantastic production, particularly considering it was only a school musical!
  All the cast, crew, dancers and orchestra performed so well, and it was a pleasure to be a part of the whole production!

  Here are some clips of the songs I danced to from the movie version of Calamity Jane:


Don't forget to check out the Calamity Jane blog here, and the St Wolstan's Calamity Jane Facebook page for pictures of the show and rehearsals!!!

SPECtacular !

This Tuesday was the School Finals of the Transition Year MiniCompany competition. This meant that all the mini companies set up stands in the library displaying their projects, and judges from Kildare Enterprise Board came to view and judge the companies.
  At the beginning of the year, in our Mini-Company groups we had been coming up with ideas for products or services and working hard on producing and selling them. 
  My group had the idea of making patterned and coloured stickers for the sides of your glasses. Two of the girls created the unique designs themselves, and we then produced the stickers.
  Over the past few weeks, we had also been working really hard preparing a report our work over the past months, making our poster and planning our display stand.
  On the day, we had to set up our display stand, along with the other mini-companies, and then present our project to the judges from the Enterprise Board.
  Everything went really well, and I am really proud of all the work we put in and how it turned out! Also, congratulations to Candy Blossom, the group that progressed to the County Final!

Until next time,

Melissa :)

SciFest

From the beginning of the year, the Transition Year Students were given the task of making a science project to be entered in the SciFest @ Schools Competition.
  In September, we were put into groups of 3, and were told to come up with an idea for a project, and to over the course of the next few months we had to work on our projects.
  My group's idea was to investigate what weight people thought was healthiest and best-looking. We planned our experiment, surveyed people to find out which weight out of the 4 pictures people thought was healthiest and best-looking, and compiled our results.
 Aside from actually carrying out the experiment, we had to make a project report book containing details of all the work we did, and make a poster with the details of our experiment and different pictures too.
 Admittedly, a lot of the work was done last minute, but nonetheless we put a lot into the project! I was actually so proud of how well our project turned out considering how little time we had to actually do the project.
  Friday was the day that we set up our stands in the school hall, and the SciFest judges came to the school. Some students from the other years also came around to look at the projects, after we had been judged.
  It was a great day, where we got to show all the hard work that we had done, and congratulations to the projects that got through as well! :)

  Until next time,

Melissa :)

The Phil

This Friday and Saturday, Juliette and I competed in the PhilSpeaks Senior Schools Mace Debate competition in Trinity College. The competition (commonly known as 'The Phil' ), is an unprepared debating competition with 5 rounds where teams accumulate points and the top 8 teams break to the semi-finals (I think I wrote about this in an earlier post, read it here).
  The weekend started off on an uncertain note, as when I got off the bus into Dublin City Centre, I felt the onset of a migraine. Juliette and I quickly headed for a pharmacy to try and pick up some neurofen to try and delay the migraine, and luckily, despite a pounding headache and some blurred vision, I recovered quickly enough and was able to compete! What a relief that was!
  My teammate and I prepared motions such as 'Homeschooling Should Be Banned' and 'This House Believes All Catholics Should Elect the Pope'. Over the course of the 5 rounds, we came 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 3rd, which meant that we broke as the 3rd team to the semi-finals.
  We were given an extremely tricky motion for the semi: 'This House Would Take A Pill That Stops You From Falling In Love', and we have to oppose this motion. After a great debate and a close call, we unfortunately didn't make the final, but nonetheless we had a great weekend.
  The competition was so well-run and organised, and I really had a fantastic time. Between silly games, eating popcorn and candyfloss, meeting new people and of course, debating, the weekend was jam-packed with fun activities and the society running the competition really made a huge effort so that it ran smoothly.
  One further highlight of the competition, was that I came overall 6th on the speaker tab, and as a relatively inexperience debater, I was so delighted with that outcome!

  To anyone that is thinking of taking up debating, I would highly recommend it - it is an extremely valuable skill to have, and aside from it helping so much with English and other subjects, it's just so much fun!!!
  Until next time, as someone once said; 

"Keep Calm and Think Critically"

Fashion Show!!

So guys, for the past week or so I have been unwell, so this on top of busyness has meant that I haven't really been updating this blog... Sorry!
  So, to update you on the activities that the Transition Years in St. Wolstan's have been up to this week: Junk Kouture!
  For weeks in Home Economics class we have been designing and creating our own dresses out of recycled materials. 
  My group decided to make a dress with a Vintage theme. We collected bubble wrap and old bed sheets for the skirt, and made a corset of film negatives. We also made flowers out of lace and attached these to the corset and to a vine to wrap around the corset, which was made of wire and green tape.
  Our inspiration for the dress came from this 50s Dior dress.
  On Thursday, the dresses were modeled in a fashion shoot, and we should find out soon which outfits will be entered further into the competition.
  
I'll try to be better about updating, but until then, I hope everyone is doing well!

Melissa :)

ZUMBA!

For the past few weeks in P.E. the Transition Years have had the opportunity to do Zumba classes!
  Zumba is a form of dance and fitness classes combined, with set dance routines put to Latin American and popular music.
  A lovely lady called Gráinne came into the school to teach us some moves, and I think it's fair to say that most every student really enjoyed it, particularly me!
  I was mildly surprised at how tiring I found it - zumba really is great exercise!!!
  I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get in shape, or just looking for a good time!
  Here's a video that might give you an idea of the kind of dancing we were doing, and what Zumba is like!

Be Safe!

This week the TYs got to go on yet another trip! What a lucky bunch?!
This time, we were taken to visit a road safety exhibition at the Punchestown Event Centre.
  Due to the fact we had already been given a talk on road safety by the Drive 4 Life campaign and many of us had found it very hard-hitting and beneficial, we were all really looking forward to this trip!
  At the exhibition, there were many stands from companies relating to road safety, and there was plenty of free merchandise available! Over the course of the day, I took a test to calculate my braking reaction time, felt what it was like to be in a car crash and visited many other stalls too.
  After this, all the students gathered in a hall to listen to a talk given by Guarda Assistant Commissioner John Twomey, NYPD Officers and other guests, about the importance of road safety and awareness. Although it was difficult to listen to and quite sad, I felt that it was an important talk and really important in promoting road safety.
  Until next time, take care and be safe on the roads!

Musical Maddness

This Friday was the launch of our school musical, Calamity Jane!
  Held in the newly re-opened Celbridge Manor Hotel, the cast put on a few numbers to promote the musical to the public and mark the official launch of the musical.

 To open the launch, Lauren, who plays the lead of Calamity Jane sang the lovely romantic ballad 'Secret Love' accompanied by a troupe of ballet dancers. Next, the whole chorus joined her to perform the opening number of the show,  'The Deadwood Stage'. To finish, Lauren and Róisín, who plays Katie sang a lovely duet called 'A Woman's Touch'
 As a choreographer and dancer for ballet, I had to perform in the ballet dance. It was great fun, but also quite scary for us as we had to dance in our pointe shoes on an extremely slippy floor!!
  All in all the night was a great success! Don't forget to pick up your tickets for the musical and to check out the Calamity Jane blog here: http://www.swcalamityjane.blogspot.ie/

The Pharmacy

source

For the past 8 weeks I have been doing work experience in Clancy's Pharmacy. 
  I really enjoyed my time at the pharmacy, both because I am extremely interested in science and chemistry, and also because the people that own and run the pharmacy are so lovely!
  I spent time working in the shop area of the pharmacy, helping and talking to customers, stocking shelves and pricing items. I also checked invoices and any new stock that was delivered.

  I was also given the opportunity to help in the dispensary, where the drugs are kept (all legal of course :P ). I put items on shelves, helped the pharmacists fill prescriptions and learned about many of the drugs.
  I had such a wonderful time working at the pharmacy, and I'm so glad to have had the chance to see the inner workings of a business and see the vital science aspect of the pharmacy too.
  I'm a little bit sad, to be honest, that my time at Clancy's is over, but nonetheless I will look back on fond memories of slagging the workers and having nice chats all the same!

A Tour in Town

This week the Transition Years were taken into Dublin City Centre for a W.B. Yeats themed trip.

source

  We had 3 places to visit over the course of the trip: The National Library, The National Gallery and The National Museum of Ireland.
  First, my group and I went to the National Gallery. We were taken on a short tour of some of the exhibitions, such as the section on the artwork of the Irish artist Jack Yeats, and 20th Century art in Europe. Some of the artwork was very thought provoking and intriguing, even to someone without a shred of artistic talent such as myself!!
  Next we went to the National Museum of Ireland. We were shown two exhibitions; the Iron Age exhibition and the Bog Bodies.

source

  In the Iron Age exhibition there were many pieces of gold and ironwork, like coins, torcs and tools. This gave a great insight into the lives and lifestyles of people at this time, even though I had already know quite a bit about this period.

source

  Following this, we were taken to see the Bog Bodies. These are a series of bodies that were preserved shockingly well in the bogs of Ireland, due to the chemicals and lack of air in the soil. It was quite amazing to see how accurately well the bodies were preserved - for example, we were able to see wrinkles and marks on the skin that would have been there when the person was still alive!! I found this exhibition quite remarkable.
  After spending an hour walking around Grafton Street and eating in McDonald's for lunch, we were all herded into a big group to be taken to the final stop - the National Library, to see the W.B. Yeats Exhibition.

source

  At this exhibition, there were various artifacts and pieces on the life of the famous Irish poet and writer William Butler Yeats, and his family. The Yeats family had a huge influence on the arts in Ireland, for example, as I mentioned earlier, William's brother Jack was an important Irish painter.
  When we were finished learning about W.B. Yeats, we all headed back to the bus, tired but satisfied with the day out in Dublin!
  I hope we get to go into Dublin again soon!

The Hist

This weekend, along with my partner (and sister!), I competed in the Trinity College Senior School's Mace Debate, also known as 'The Hist'. Mace Debates are events which usually run over two days, a Friday evening and all day Saturday. Teams are given 15 minutes to prepare speeches on unknown motions and then compete against 3 other teams. Mace Debates usually have 4 or 5 rounds over a weekend.
   In our 4 rounds, we came 1st, 1st, 4th and 1st, debating motions like 'This House Would Boycott the Russian Winter Olympics', and 'This House Would Make Irish the Only State Language'.
  Juliette and I broke as the 3rd team into the semi-final, which we were delighted with as we are a relatively inexperienced team! We spoke proposing the motion 'This House Would Hold Parents of Bullies Criminally Responsible for their Children's Actions'. We unfortunately didn't make the final, but we were delighted with our performance and had a lot of fun over the weekend!
  One final surprise, was when the overall speaker tab was announced, I had come 3rd, which meant I had received the 3rd most speaker points over the whole weekend of competition! I was not expecting this at all, and it was a great way to finish off a great weekend!

  I would highly recommend debating and Mace debating to anyone who is considering giving it a try!

Snapchats and Science!

This week, as part of Science week, the Transition Year group in St Wolstan's went on a trip to the Institute of Technology Tallaght, to attend a talk on science.

  After getting a bus to Tallaght, and singing a few songs on the bus to keep everyone awake, we arrived at the college. We were ushered inside, and brought into one of the labs to receive an introduction. One of the biologists gave us a brief talk about the work done in IT Tallaght, and told us what each of the apparatus in the lab do.

  I found this really interesting, but as everyone began to move forwards, I heard some people calling for the teachers. I looked around, and Lauren had fainted! Luckily she was fine, and was back in school the next day.

  We then filed into one of the lecture theaters along with another 2 schools, to be given a talk by the Xtraordinary Science group. We were shown experiments and told about how amazing groundbreaking developments have been made in science over the years, and how this has affected people's everyday lives.

  I really enjoyed this talk, but afterwards we were all eager to go and get something to eat. We were brought to Liffey Valley shopping centre, with an hour to spend how we wished. A few of my friends and I headed to McDonald's to have lunch, and we went a little bit crazy by spamming lots of people with taking so many SnapChats!

I'll let you know about any more trips we go on over the year, so don't forget to check this blog for more updates!

Radio TY

This year, Mrs L decided to set up a TY media team. Around 30 students volunteered, and we were all really excited about the work that we would be doing! So, armed with dictaphones, an Audioboo account and Audacity editing software, the media team set out with the task of interviewing students, teachers and any speakers who come to the school.

Interviewing 6th years at Halloween

  So far we have interviewed students on dress-up days, production team members of our school musical, cast members of the school musical and many more!
  I am really enjoying being a part of the media team, and I'm looking forward to hopefully reaching our goal for the end of the year, of recording our own radio show!
  Check out the Radio TY blog here, follow @StWolstansTY on Twitter and search for 'St Wolstan's TY' on iTunes to download all our podcasts.

  I hope everyone had a good week, and I'll be updating soon! :)