Deck the Halls

Today was the annual Christmas dress-up day. There were no themes for every individual year, which made it easier to pick a costume! I dressed up as an elf #coincidenceorwhaa , and myself, Niamh (rudolf) and Amy (the man himself, Santa) were nominated to run for the school parade. It was a bitta fun and afterwards the lunch room had our kris kindle & a bit of a party. :) I had Lowa, and she adored her present without a doubt x Shauna had me too & I also loved my present. (Y)

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas (Y)

We spent our Wednesday selling holly badges in town in support of the ISPCC. This was called 'Holly Days'. Myself and Amy were located on Upper Baggot street for the day, and we sold loaaads! Afterwards, we set off in town to get some food. #funfun

'The stage, the Stage is here!'

Friday night was the launch for Calamity Jane, and boy did it launch. With all of the hard work and support given by all of the students and teachers from Salesians and Wolstans, it was a huge success. Mrs. L was MC for the night, and there was a great turn out :) Myself and Laura were in the closing scene, and we were lifted in the air to 'Deadwood Stage'. It was held in the new 'Celbridge Manor' Hotel. A night well spent. :)

Punchestown Bants

Punchestown had it all set out for us on Thursday, all of the TY's headed out for their very first Road Safety show. We were free to walk around, and little did we know we'd bump into Johnny Doyle. There were soo many other schools there, and we knew a few from Maynooth and Celbridge. Favourite part of the day had to be the 'free stuff' as we'd call it. Between high-vis jackets, keyrings, badges and arm straps, no doubt we'll be seen. Later on we were brought to the main room for the road safety talk. We were introduced to NYPD officers, our own Gardaí and tango bot. Lol, being honest I couldn't really explain to you what tango bot actually is, but we had the craic. With volunteers left right and centre, we were never left un-entertained. As the talk went on, the videos and advertisements form the RSA they showed us became more graphic, shocking and sad. It was a real eye opener, and I for one, was definitely touched by it.

Frostbitten toes.

Last Wednesday the TY year group went on a maths trip all the way out to Rathbeggan Lakes! Yes, county Meath if you are wondering. So basically, this trip was set out to promote Project maths (to our delight of course) and within our groups we were all given a different task, involving everyday situations. Some involved towers, lakes, standing on the motorway bridge taking down car statistics and whatnot.. you know the usual. Tthe place itself was absolutely adorable. They even had goats. Yes, goats.The scenery was fab and there was a cosy fire inside the cabin if you were feeling chilly, which we all were. Even wrapped up in thermals, I swear i had frostbite.
Buuuut, to make up for it, our fabulous teachers brought us to Blanch for a bitta grub! With the trees & decorations up the Christmas spirit was flying 'round and we all had lotsa fun :)

Calam and the Gang!

All week we've been rehearsing for the big 'Calamity Jane Launch Night' in the Celbridge Manor hotel on Friday night. Adm is free so Be sure to pop along and get an exciting look on the school musical, which is sure to be a success.. With a nice few surprises along the way! #feelingthepressure

We're hitting the stalls

So tonight the candy blossomers met up in Lauren's house to make a few trees, and sure what more is there to say only we had a bitta craic. We received 7 more orders today making us more busy than ever! So this Saturday, there is a Christmas fair in the Neptune Rowing club. Aoife's sister v kindly asked us if we'd like to take part in it and we very promptly said yeaah. This will basically consist of a stall with our business laid out around it and the team getting stuck into sales 👍

The following weekend we will up in the lads school (Salesians) doing another Christmas fair! This is in aid of the 'acre project' and The guy that runs it is a neighbour of mine and sure what more is there to say! We have new posters, business cards, hundredsss of order forms and a little surprise laid out for this one.. So why not tag along on either weekend and purchase a candy blossom folks. You'll be glad you called :)

A little Throw-back

The Last Song from Plunkkk

Here's an English powerpoint I did at the start of the year. We had to choose our favourite film and break it down using film techniques. Something to keep you busy. (Y)

And we're gonna let it burn

So yesterday in religion we made our own individual Advent wreaths with Ms. B :) To do this, we had to soak a block of oasis in water from the night before, and transfer it into a tray the following morning. I used a ferrero rocher tin, but even a butter dish would do! You then get a purple candle and stick it into the centre of the oasis. Finish it off by decorating your centre piece with greenery and ribbon etc. :) 

Candy Blossom on a high!

Our mini company sales are going through the roof! The Candy Blossom team work very hard almost every day to fulfill the customers needs, with our paste making, cocktail-sticking, wrapping, sealing and cutting, we enjoy every bit of it :) Just means that we might need to order the odd Domino's every now and then, or even a Chinese. Not even joking. So for orders, questions, or simply anything you want to know about us or our candy trees, you can;

- visit us on the science corridor @ lunch times in school

- like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tycandyblossom?fref=ts

- follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/tycandyblossom

- email us: candyblossom@hotmail.com 

- or simply ask one of the team members :)

Baking Benefits (Y)

So last week myself and a few others in Cornaro made fab posters to hang up around the school to advertise our TY bake sale on Friday. This was in aid of those seeking help after the typhoon  tragedy in the Philippines. Everyone put in just over 110% to get the ball rolling, and made dozens upon dozens of cakes, biccys, cookies and muffins! We sold and sold and sold until the day was out, and in the end came out with a whopper €1,785. #achievementsaywhat

Let's all go to Burma

So continuing on from my blog about the MDG's, our whole year went on an outing to City West Hotel for a global citizenship conference. They day included Darren Irvine, the guy who's running the whole Schools Across Borders jazz, a few stalls run by people from Amnesty International, Activity Hub centre with guests from Palestine and what not. Also, out of the 6 or so schools that were there, each school had to make a short powerpoint presentation about what they had learned so far. Ours was based on poverty and was presented by Ailbhe, Aoife, Roisin, Karen. We also watched a play called 'Burma', acted by actors all the way from Antrim. Darren then introduced us to members of the Rohingya Community from Burma. I foudn them very nice and interesting :) My fave part of the day was the activity hub area. Run by people from Amnesty International, Trocaire and Concern, we had so much fun :) I loved the graffiti wall, where we spread our feelings and thoughts onto a poster. All in all, craic was had.

From one job, to the next!

And we are finito! Our first term of work experience has come to an end #sorrynotsorry.. Although I had a fab experience in the Glenroyal Leisure Centre, I was feeling the need to move on a little! I am so so excited for my next work experience, which will be left and revealed at a later stage ;) That's all for now, slaaaaan.

"Thread softly, because you thread on my Dreams"

So with all of our TY planning I've been so busy that I haven't got the chance to update my blog! So here goes (Y)

The last two Thursdays of November we were all busy bees. All of the TYs headed into town for an English trip on WB Yeats. Feeling adventurous we visited The National Museum, The National Library, The National Gallery and The 1913 Lockout Exhibition.In the National Museum, we learnt all about the Bronze Age and The Iron Age. We got to see actual real life bog bodies. I was amazed as to how well the bog preserved them as some of them were as old as 2000 years!



My favourite was the WB Yeats exhibit in the National Library. I loved the lay out of the whole place and I felt more independent walking around, as you got the chance to explore different sources and rooms as you wished, without a tour guide leading the way. In the centre of the room was a poetry layout which was very nice. As you looked around there was a an over voice on an intercom reading out some of Yeats' poetry.


For a short and unexpected visit, our history teacher Mr. K brought us to the 1913 Lockout Exhibition for a short while, as this is what we have been doing in our history classes at the moment!

Our teachers then let us off for our lunch on Grafton street for a good two hours! We got a wander in and had plenty of fun.. although I lost 5 euro, but Maccy D's made everythaang better!

To finish off our day, we went to The National Gallery which I also enjoyed. We focused mainly on the paintings created by Yeats himself. We were left in absolute awe with the beauty of some of the paintings :)

'ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA'

Last Thursday we had our very first zumba class with with Grainne! It was so much fun and I cannot wait to do it next week :) Yesterday all of the TYs went on a chemistry trip to Tallaght IT as part of science week! We had a talk with a lecturer in the college who did lots of experiments with us. Afterwards Ms O'C and Mr. L brought us to Liffey Valley for a treat, me and the girls enjoyed ourselves immensely, we got Ginzeng Chinese and had a stroll around afterwards. Cheers to our teachers for that (Y) Tomorrow is our third last week of work experience, I'm really looking forward to it.

Back in Action

So it's been a while since my last blog, but before I skip ahead, last Friday we had a Halloween dress up day. Each year was given a theme and had to put their best effort into their costumes and make them as eco friendly as possible! First years were witches, second years were zombies, third years were vampires and werewolves, TY's were villains, fifth years were ''the circus' and sixth years were Harry Potter! Myself, being mini me from Austin Powers, Niamh, being Billy the Puppet, and Ailbhe, being The Joker from Batman, were nominated to represent our class in the parade at lunch time. And let's just say, victory is sweeeet. We bagged ourselves a pile of goodies to share amongst our fellow cornettos!

My midterm break full, between costume hunting, mantra, Halloween parties, and chillin with the pals, I enjoyed every bit of the week off :) But now I'm back to school, s'pose it's 50/50, because being honest I missed my cornettos! 

Then he waddled away

So the day after the fun walk we found out that all of our hard work had paid off and that our class had won the fun walk out of the three TY classes! We put together a dance routine along with a dance remix. Our theme colour was yellow, and we dressed up as ducks! But of course we couldn't have done it without Ms. O' Reilly, our mother duck. #quackquack

World of work and wonder (Y)

Last Wednesday we had our first work experience placement. Nerves were on a high, but there was no need at all! I headed out to the Glenroyal Hotel Leisure centre on the 67 at 2 o'clock. The staff were so welcoming and nice. I started off doing pool tests which are very interesting. Also, I got to swim from 4 until 6, and watch the little ones' swimming lessons :) 
Last Thursday, all TY's went on a trip to the Pearse museum in Rathfarnham. We learned all about Padraig Pearse's past, got a nature tour and had a fabulous lunch in the brambles cafe.

For our religion project on the Millennium Development Goals, we were split into groups to do a powerpoint. Myself and Niamh gathered information about goal three. Goal Three is 'Promoting gender equality and empowering Women'. We made a powerpoint on this topic and presented it to the class explaining the importance of the goal. We gathered our information in the library and the IT room. It was our very first group project and I enjoyed every bit of it! Take a look (Y)

One month later...

Another Wednesday, another three workshops! On Wednesday we spent our first period with Mr. Corcoran and Mrs. Hughes. They had a powerpoint presentation and worksheets prepared for us, all about our work experience and the world of work. We got advice on what dress code we should have for different places, and told eachother where we were going and how we'd get there.
Our second workshop was with Denise from Positive Parties. This has always been my favourite one. Denise is such a bubbly and fun person, and always has a jam packed day set out for us. We did the hokey pokey, wore bumble bee masks, played pass the parcel and dressed up in banana suits!
Our third workshop was with Kate and Brenda again. This time, they told us all about our health and hygiene, and how to look well. We got a make up tutorial, and i was the volunteer :) Brenda did my make up, but before, she taught us how to moisturise and hydrate our skin. At the very end, we did a catwalk in our heels down the red carpet, and they taught us how to walk with a good posture as we went along. Even Mrs. Leahy got involved #pinksparklies
On Friday, we had our very first opening school mass. As choir members, we sang our songs at different stages throughout the mass. #Siyahambaa
On Thursday we are all going to the Pearse Museum with our Irish classes, I'm really looking forward to it as I love Irish history, and plus, it's a day away from the board. (Y)

Siyahamba baby

Last Friday we had a speaker in to talk to us about the Millennium Development Goals. The talk was based around a project that is in order, and that we as a TY religion group, are going to get involved in. We will be creating a new blog, to keep an update on our progress, and contacting other schools through skype sessions and a presentation in November. In my religion class, we are currently working on a project to do with the Millennium Development Goals, which will help us with this school presentation. The aim is to raise awareness of the Goals and the things we need to do to achieve them. Also last Friday, myself and a few of the others joined the choir for the first time. We started off with Ms. Maguire and it was so much fun. We are working and running through a few songs at the moment for our school mass on Friday, for example 'Here I am Lord'. Below is the link to my favourite song so far, Siyahamba, take a look!

Business women

Today the three TY classes got a bus out to Naas for a talk in the Moat Theatre by the student enterprise board all about mini company. The talk was held from half nine until half twelve. In the theatre, we mixed with other schools, boys and girls, from Athy and Monasterevan. The lady giving the talk showed us past mini companies that had been very successful and gave us tips on how to be innovative while creating a product/service. We had so much fun coming up with different ideas together as groups, and mixing with the other schools! To top it all off everyone headed to McDonald's afterwards for a bitta grub! #lovingty

Workshop Banter Part II

I really enjoyed the workshops today! They were so much fun. This time we were split apart from our classes into three separate groups, which was good because it meant we bonded more with the other classes. In the morning we had Giliosa, who taught us step by step how to give a head massage. We took turns in giving the massages, and they were well needed after Carlingford!

In the afternoon we had another workshop with Denise from Positive Parties. She worked on confidence and our strengths. Later on she did laughter yoga with us which was really enjoyable :)

Our third workshop today was with Kate and Brenda, these two ladies were really nice. We did deportment with them and brought in our own high heels! We'd also to walk up the red carpet in them whilst balancing our journals on our heads. They then gave us examples of what we could wear to work experience, and also how to simply dress sensibly every day. Finally they let us paint eachothers nails after they'd given us hints and tips and demonstrated on a girl in the group!

All in all I had a fun day, filled with excitement (Y)

Ravin' it up in Carlingford

What a week!

Between results, raving and rambling to carlingford it's certainly been a really enjoyable time so far.

Wednesday gone by, all of the junior Cert students of 2012/13 received their results. Celebrations continued that night when a few of us headed to the Wright Venue in Swords and had an absolute ball, although the following day we were still half asleep!

That weekend all ty's prepared themselves for their upcoming trip to Carlingford Adventure Centre the following Monday. Twas an early start that morning, getting up at 6! But I really couldn't complain, as we had an absolutely banterful trip. I'm pretty sure everyone was pleased from the second they arrived right up until the second we left the centre, as we were accommodated so well and treated so pleasantly by the lovely staff. They were up for it just as much as we were! From laser tag in camo suits, kayaking, jumping off trampolines into the middle of the sea, body sorbing into tumbles, crazy mazes, simply plodding around in our wellies and team building all the way up to blind folded night line walks in the forests of county Louth, I really could not compliment it enough! It was for sure a successful 'bonding trip' and was so delighted to be accompanied by the three musketeers; Mrs. Leahy, Mr. Kennedy and Ms. O'Callaghan (y) #chuffed

First week es completo!

Hey there, my name is Eimear, I am 16 years old and now a TY student in St. Wolstans Community School in Celbridge. We're already into our second week of transition year. I absolutely love my new class. We have been called 'cornaro' in honour of the first woman ever to be awarded a degree in the world. All the girls seem to be settling in quite well, although some of us are still only getting to know each other. As part of our IT class, Mrs. Leahy has assigned us to keep an up to date blog on all of our TY experiences and banterful memories throughout the rest of the school year. We've also been assigned our first english project. Ms. O'Reilly has asked us to put together a powerpoint presentation about film techniques. Using our favourite film, we have to pick a scene that portrays the use of different techniques. Earlier on in the week, we had workshops throughtout the day. We had so much fun between giving massages, getting massages, dancing around in wigs and the lot! I do hope that the coming year will bring lots of fun and laughter into our lives, and that it will be a terrific experience for each and every one of us. My whole experience of TY so far has been good, so all I can hope for is that it keeps getting better! #onwardsandupwards