Halloweeeeeen!

Today we had to dress up as Zombies. Each year got assigned a dress code.
1st years were Witches
2nd years were Pirates
3rd years were Heroes and villains
TY's were Zombies
5th years were clowns
6th years were Harry Potter

Landed with Projects

It is said that 'TY is a year where projects are plentiful' and to my surprise this fact is true. I have been landed with so many new and exciting projects I didn't know where to start. Jumping from a year of tough study in third year to a more independent way of learning in TY is quite difficult. Sometimes I feel myself thinking 'I wish I had an essay or some exam papers to do'. Almost immediately after this crazy thought enters my mind it soon leaves. I then remember all the projects and fun thing's that TY brings with it. 

       TY is also said to be a 'doss' year but I disagree completely , although it has only been eight weeks in I feel that this year is more intense than last year. Last year everything was simple , do homework , study , exams. This year we are set with tasks such as Sci-fest , Junk Kouture , Geography Virtual Trip Around the World , History/English/Religion PowerPoint's , Spanish/Science and maths posters. Most of the work we are set is independent based and teaches us to be very organised and punctual.

            I have done so much work already in TY. I have chosen to visit France , Madagascar , Peru , Croatia , Mexico and Australia for my Virtual Trip around the world in Geography. This is a slow and time consuming project as you have to explore each country and find out a lot of information about each. I have also completed a PowerPoint about Millennium development goal 3 - To promote Gender Equality and Empower women , for religion and a PowerPoint exploring my favourite scene in a movie , for English.I made a poster for maths about the importance of maths in sport (camogie). I also made a poster for Spanish and science , about the summary of my favourite movie in Spanish and about gold in Science.

Junk Kouture

Junk Kouture is an all-Ireland competition for second level students, where they are challenged to create High Fashion Couture outfits from old every day junk.

           For Junk Kouture I am in a group with Corrie and Rosie . The theme we chose for our piece was 'nature'. For the first few weeks we designed our outfit.We decided to make a skirt out of leaves , a top with an owl design, a tree house head piece and many more accessories .

          This task seemed daunting at first but now we are a few weeks in it is becoming more realistic. So far we have made our skirt from chicken wire ,paper maché and leaves. Corrie dried the leaves with kitchen towel and heavy books leaving them for a week or so to fully dry out.We carved chicken wire into the shape of my waist. We next paper machéd the chicken wire which took a few weeks. We then PVA glued the leaves onto our skirt.

          Next we began to make the top we are still in the process of this. We have decided in using felt and rope and various other materials for our top. I am very excited to see the finishing product of all our hard work , I will keep you posted!
              

Mini Company

Odeon Naas:

On the 21st of September all TY classes from St.Wolstans went to the Odeon cinema in Naas. We went to the cinema to receive a talk from Orla about mini company. There were three other schools at this talk too. We learnt all about what mini company is and how to go about finalising our groups and our ideas. Some groups shared their ideas and even showed us a sample of a wooden plaque they were going to sell. Seeing how far ahead the other groups from other schools were gave me motivation to get to work. We made a group consisting of Alanna , Katie , Lauren , Orla , Orlaith , Sarah , Corrie and Myself. I was voted the managing director for my group. Brainstorming ideas was pretty difficult , it must be hard to believe but for a group of 8 we didn't have much ideas. We spent a week brainstorming ideas. At the end of the week we met up as a group and came up with the main ideas we were going to focus on , these involved toys for kids with ADHD , waterproof iPod speakers and a wireless phone charger. The task at hand seems quite daunting but I cannot wait to get stuck into it.

 

September Synopsis

Science:
So far in science we have done experiments and started to brain storm ideas for projects to enter in Sci fest or BT Young Scientist. Two of my favourite and most interesting experiments were making 'volcanoes' and 'brass'. To make volcanoes we used the method of neutralisation. We mixed and acid (vinegar) and a base (bread soda) to make carbon dioxide gas and an 'eruption'. To make brass we used a copper coin. We turned the  
coin from a copper colour to silver to gold!
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/buildavolcano.htm
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/goldsilverpenny.htm




Technology: 
In Tech so far we went over the safety rules in the tech room and are in the process of making key rings and clocks. I have completed my key ring and am filing my clock at the moment. This is my first year trying out tech as a subject and I am really enjoying it. I thought the practical work would be 
extremely difficult but it turns out 
it is fun and rewarding.

Junk Kouture:
At the beginning of TY we were told we had to take part in Junk Kouture. The task seemed quite daunting at first but once we got in our groups and got stuck in it became enjoyable. Our group chose to make a 'nature' based outfit. We decided to make a skirt out of leaves. We paper pachéd the skirt using chicken wire as our base and stuck leaves on top using PVA glue. We had to dry out the leaves before hand , flattening them in layers with kitchen towel and books which took a very long time. We still have a long way to go but we hope it turns out well in the end.

'Lend me some sugar , I am your neighbour' - Hey Ya : Outkast

Friendship Week - YELLOW

This week was friendship/Anti-bullying week in our school. Anti-bullying week is a week in school where our main focus is on friendship and to try and stop all bullying that may or may not be occurring. The aim of this week is to bring everyone closer together and to minimise bullying. Every year we have an annual 'fun walk' where each year is assigned a colour.

     First years - Pink 

     Second Years - Purple 

     Third Years - Green 

     TY's- Yellow 

     Fifth Years - Blue

     Sixth Years - Black

 Each base class has to come up with a theme based on the colour they are assigned and have to create a 2 minute routine for the day of the fun walk. On the day of the fun walk each class has to preform their routine based on friendship and the judges pick the best from each year. Our colour was yellow we decided to make a dance routine and dance to 'Hey Ya - Outkast'. Even though our class didn't win I think we all really enjoyed the excitement of the day and all wanted to preform again! It brought us closer together as class Síocháin. For the walk our class were chosen to help direct the traffic and guide the students , this was also really fun and at the end of the day we got cans of coke/fanta/7up and danced in the yard.

My costume:

 

Before

After

Workshops

Workshop Wednesday

On Wednesday we had our second lot of workshops. We were divided into our class groups and each sent to a different location. Our first workshop was with Mrs.H , she thought us about work experience and what to do in the work place. Here we learnt different safety rules and how to treat members of staff. 

         Our second workshop was with Austin again and we learnt about all of our various personalities. There was the red group which were fiery and determined , the blue group were planners , the green group were caring and the yellow group were loving and jolly. I was put in the yellow group.

        Our last workshop was with Denise at Positive Parties , here we learnt how to channel positive energy going into the world of work where you are the 'new kid' . Being the new kid on the block was terrifying but Denise thought us how to be calm and enjoy ourselves. Cannot wait until our first day of work experience!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Positive-Parties/165977886762319?fref=ts