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Ireland
Welcome to my blog! In my school (and many other schools in Ireland), fourth year - the year after our Junior Cert - is optional. It's a non-exam-based year but there's still plenty to do like projects in various subjects, work experience, competitions and trying out loads of new things! This year, a new idea was brought into TY; for each student to write a blog on their year...so this is my blog about my experience of TY. I started writing it in Spetember/October and it'll go up to the end of May when we get our Summer holidays and TY is over... If you're thinking of doing TY or if you just want to know more make sure you send me questions and I'll try my best to answer! Enjoy reading it!!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Catch Up...

On Tuesday last week we all went to Mullingar to participate in the Briery Gap TY Drama Competition. We all performed our plays - the play I was in was about a girl called Aoife and the effects drink-driving has on her and her friends' lives. I was Aoife's mother in the play so I had to act all depressed which was really difficult 'cause it's hard not to laugh! The other dramas in our year were one on domestic violence, one on the novel Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, and one on the poem But You Didn't by Merrill Glass. I really enjoyed performing - it was kinda scary at first but it was a great experience.
Today and tomorrow we're all having meetings with Ms. H. about our subject options for the Leaving Cert. We'll have to pick our options next week - I'm going to do Biology, Chemistry, History and Music, hopefully! :)
Later today I'm going to Dublin with some girls from the choir to sing at a mass this evening in honour of the bi-centenary of Margaret Aylward's birth - she founded the Holy Faith Sister's and our school used to be a Holy Faith school.
On Thursday this week we're having a movement workshops organised by Ms. C. in conjunction with our dramas. We'll have to perform our dramas in a few weeks time for the Holy Faith Sisters, which should be interesting. The theme is what Margaret Aylward would have done if she was still alive today.
At the moment we've loads of projects that we're working on. In French we just completed a project on "Les Pays Francophones" -French-Speaking Countries. My project was on Haiti. We've got a project in Home Ec on International cuisine. Laura and I are doing New Zealand. Last week we cooked Hokey Pokey Cookies...they tasted pretty good!! :) We'll be cooking again this week, maybe a steak dish. In art we're doing a project associated with our Home Ec project. We have to focus on the art/architecture etc of the country we're doing in Home Ec. New Zealand is definitely a difficult one!!
This week we wrote our first letters to our French pen-pals. We don't know the names of them yet, but I can't wait to hear back!
Well that's all my news for now...I'll write again soon!! :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Back After Christmas...

Last week was our first week back after Christmas. On Friday we went to the RDS to the BT Young Scientist Exhibition. Two groups from our school, one from our year and one from 5th year had projects there. It was really interesting!
On Thursday we had a talk on recycling by a member of WEEE Ireland. He has set us a task to give out ten battery recylcling boxes.
Before Christmas we went to Carlow for a Self-Help Africa Workshop in December. We were split into four groups and each group went to three of four workshops. They were; Development, Civil Strife, HIV/AIDS and Lesotho. I learned a lot about the third world and how it's being developed.
On the 18th December a group of us from the choir carol sang at the Orchard Garden Centre. The choir as a whole sang at the school carol service the Friday before our exams began.
We were supposed to go bowling but the school was closed bacause of the snow so we're going som eother time.
Our Home Ec project last term was to design an outfit using a pair of white trousers and a white t-shirt. On Friday 10th Decmber we had our fashion show in the hall where we showed off our designs.
We were really busy last term - we had loads of projects, workshops and talks!
This term we already have two projects; one on French-speaking countries (I'm doing Haiti) and a Home Ec project on international cuisine (I'm doing New Zealand).
I can't believe that we've been in TY for 4 months already! :)