Christmas Newsletter
| DEC 2023
Welcome Cathy Keogh Welcome to our Christmas edition of the TY Newsletter. This term has been jam packed! From learning the basics of sign language to becoming “pro” baristas, we have been kept busy! Christmas is a time for giving, and our Transition Year students have definitely got into the charitable spirit. Our YSI group worked extremely hard to collect over 300 shoe boxes and organised a fantastic bake sale which raised €3,000 for DSPCA. What’s more is all the TY students got involved in creating the St Vincent de Paul hampers for people in need.
After a very successful Careers Evening, all our TY students were sent off to experience what it’s like to work in the real world. You will be able to read about some of the interesting things students got up to on their first week of work experience below. As taking photos and documenting everything you get up to is a massive part of TY, plenty of students opted to take part in a photography course that focused on honing our skills with our camera phones. This term some of our students have really been going above and beyond and getting involved in lots of cool activities such as the UCD Maths course, DCU Enrichment Courses, Trinity Pro Am Debates and so much more. We hope you and your family have a safe and happy holiday!
Self Defence Choni Wong Cotter In November the TY students had a Self Defence course. This included a two hour talk on what an attacker looks for in a victim, a full day of practical defence work and an assessment in order for us to get a certificate in self defence. Every single part of this course was enjoyable and extremely important. I would really recommend taking part in this course and getting the most out of it because it is a skill that will serve you well all your life. In the theory section of this workshop our instructor, Darragh, spoke about different levels of awareness, how to present yourself as alert and cautious (so as not to be chosen as a victim), and how to read a situation in order to keep yourself safe. The practical part of the course was the most fun and important aspect in my opinion. We learned different strikes and attack moves: one person in each group had pads on and we took turns using the moves we had learned. There were several different parts of the practical course including offensive and defensive moves, how to avoid attacks, and ground fighting. This was the best part of the entire course, if not the entire year, as you get the chance to mercilessly wrestle on mats with your friends. The Self Defence course is a course that I would recommend for every student in TY as it gives students the opportunity to learn an important life skill while at the same time having fun. Take this opportunity as it is the only time no one will separate you and your friend in school in the middle of a wrestling match.
Barista Course Hamish Whitelaw Between the 23rd and the 30th of November St. Gerard's TY students took part in the Barista Course. The purpose of this course was to introduce the students to how to make coffee . We began with learning how to clean a coffee machine quickly by taking out the porta-filter and ‘flushing’ the machine. Next, we learned how to pull a shot of espresso, an essential component in the majority of coffees. After the break we came back and learnt how to make hot chocolates. Something new was the different temperatures we had to try and get the milk to and how some people like their milk burnt. Then we grasped how to froth milk by bringing the cup up and down to create a froth. The best part of the middle part of the course was probably doing the latte art. We were shown that to do latte art we had to pour from a height first then get lower to do the art. Then we sat down and learnt how to do the different types of coffee.
After lunch it was time to put our new skills to the test against the customer. We prepared ourselves for the event by cleaning all of our stations. The customers started rolling in and the coffee started to brew. One by one we knocked them off. The music in the background was spurring us on. There were multiple different roles required in our makeshift coffee shop. These included a runner who would get the cups to the baristas, then there were the baristas who were making the coffee and also there was the milk frother. Every person had a role and everyone did their best in their role. Overall, the course was a hugely enjoyable experience as we learnt wonderful new skills while having fun with our friends.
UCD Debates Daria Bokovenko This term, three of our TY students; Lucy Curran, Charlie Geelon and Daria Bokovenko, had a wonderful opportunity to take part in The Leinster Schools’ Debating Competition, based in UCD. Debating is really useful for school, but also life in general, as we end up getting a better sense of what's going on in the world, we gain the ability to challenge ideas around us and get a handle on what we think of important issues. We prepared our speeches based on facts and statistics and presented them to other teams from different schools. In total, we have completed two rounds of debates so far. We rebutted, offered Points of Information, and listened to other speaker’s ideas from their point of view. We became better at public speaking, presenting our arguments and we learned from our mistakes which is the most important in the life of an individual. Overall, The Leinster Schools’ Debating Competition was an important and valuable experience to all the participants and it is worth it to try at least once in your life.
Sign Language Hannah Duffy Each form got a chance to learn Irish Sign Language and about the deaf community on different days throughout the month of November as part of the Sign Language course. My form, 4B, completed this workshop on the 6th of November. Everyone went over to The Pavilion for half a day and got the chance to learn from our instructor Jenny. Before we even got to the sign language section of this workshop, Jenny told us about some of the deaf children she works with and the different methods they use to communicate or hear their family members and friends. She explained that some people wear cochlear implants to help them hear while others rely entirely on sign language, some also use a mixture of both. We were then taught many of the basic phrases and conversation topics in sign language. We all now know how to ask someone what their name is (and how to respond to that question), how to ask someone how they are (and how to reply to it), the basic colours, animals and where we live. It was really interesting and beneficial to all of our lives to learn the basics of Irish Sign Language (ISL) as Jenny told us that deaf people appreciate people just trying to sign to them, whether they are effective or not. This is perhaps the most important part to take away from this workshop. In order for deaf people to have the same opportunities as everyone else communication is key. Jenny said that a little goes a long way and that as long as you try to sign people will be very appreciative and will teach you things you don’t know in order to help. This workshop was one that will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
DCU Early University Entry Cuan Woods During the year, five of our TY students (Lucy Curran, Cuan Woods, Michael O’ Cuinn, Charlie Geelon and Chloe Holohan) took the opportunity to take part in DCU’s Early University Education Programme. A wide variety of courses are offered, ranging from engineering to philosophy. For one day each week from the start of the school year to the first week of December, each student goes to DCU instead of school. There, the courses are taught in the style of university lectures instead of conventional classes. At DCU, the students taking part in the programme were able to connect with new people from a range of backgrounds across the country and experience what third level education is really like. The programme is designed to challenge gifted students, so the lecturers there did not shy away from giving the TY’s college-student levels of work through a variety of different assignments and a final exam at the end of the course: some lecturers even took the questions from previous exams that the university students had done years before. It is programmes like these that serve as reminders as to how fulfilling TY can be to students who take all the opportunities they are given and push themselves out of their comfort zones.
US Ambassador Visit Matthew Burke The Ambassador’s Residence is located in the Phoenix Park, across from Áras an Uachtaráin. It has been described as a ‘Mini White House’ and I would definitely agree. Upon arrival, an embassy staff member gave us a tour of the grounds which were beautiful. We were then given a tour of the opulent residence, which was breathtaking. We then met the American Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin in the foyer. She gave us a tour of many rooms, including the red room, the blue room, the dining room and the ballroom. She was extremely welcoming and hospitable and she made sure we enjoyed our tour. We learned many things about the history of the building, like how seven presidents had visited; John F. Kennedy being the first and Joe Biden being the most recent. After our tour, we were brought into the ballroom where we were offered a selection of drinks, crisps and chocolate bars. We were then given the opportunity to ask questions of the ambassador. She spoke about her main priorities, which were strengthening Irish-American relations, encouraging investment from Irish businesses into the U.S. and ensuring peace was maintained in Northern Ireland. Before being ambassador, she was the house majority leader in Massachusetts, working on many important issues like gun reform and new measures to tackle police brutality in the wake of the George Floyd case. She studied political science and she also worked as a lawyer for many years. Due to her experience, she was the natural candidate for the role. Part of her role is hosting special guests, such as President Joe Biden’s trip in April. There were mainly logistical challenges for his visit and he visited the Ambassador in the residence where he had lunch and prepared his speeches for a few hours.
Meeting the U.S. Ambassador was an incredible experience for all of us. Ireland has always had a special relationship with America, connected by centuries of Irish people emigrating there. The Ambassador, Claire Cronin, is very proud of her Irish ancestry on both sides of her family, so having an Irish-American Ambassador and an Irish-American President is symbolic. It was incredible for us to meet her and learn more about Ireland’s connection to America and her role as ambassador. She is an inspiring person and excellent ambassador
Pro Am Debating Lucy Curran On Tuesday, the 14th of November, the Pro-Am Debating competition took place in Trinity College. This was a hugely enjoyable and informative experience for Charlie Geelon and I. The way this competition operated was each secondary school student, or am, was paired with a college student, or pro. From then on there were three rounds, each of which were preceded by fifteen minutes of preparation time. These motions varied hugely, ranging from the damages of social media, to a hypothetical situation involving Batman. This was both enjoyable and different, as up until that point any debating motions I had ever encountered were always serious. For this reason, it was a welcome and refreshing change. Once these three rounds were completed it was time to hear who had made it into the final. While Charlie and his pro did not progress, I was lucky enough to make it to the Gold Final. For both of us it was a super event and exposed us to a level of debating that we had not encountered before. I would absolutely recommend all TYs participate in this competition and look forward to competing in similar events in the future.
Weekly Newsletter #1
Work Experience Hamish Whitelaw I held a series of interviews with T.Y students about their work experience week. I had a couple of questions about their week here they are below. Max Moroney For Max’s work experience week he went to a place called Dubai Aerospace in the Grand Canal. He learnt about the financial side of leasing planes, how A.I. worked, about models of aircrafts and how airplanes are bought and sold. I then asked him why he chose it because he had an interest in the mechanical sides of planes and plane leasing. Max enjoyed his experience thoroughly and would recommend it if you had an interest in economics and airplanes.
Aibidh Condren Aibidh spent her week at a place called Total Stunts. Throughout the week she did many things such as working on a short film, where she enjoyed working behind the camera. The main thing that she did was the risk assessment, which means finding any hazards in the stunt so there was no danger when the stunt was performed. Doing this meant the actors were safe doing their job. Aibidh would recommend this work experience to others to others
Cathy Keogh For Cathy’s work experience she went to the Business Post in Dublin. On Tuesday Cathy went into Leinster House. She also wrote an article about whether primary school children should be allowed phones in school that got published in the paper. As well as that she sat in all their meetings about the newspaper and what would be going into the newspaper for that week. Cathy chose to do her work experience in The Business Post because she enjoys writing and her uncle is the editor of the newspaper. Cathy would recommend her experience in The Business Post to others.
Work Experience Hamish Whitelaw Matthew Burke From the 4th to the 8th of December Matthew attended work experience in the House of Oireachtas in Dublin. While there he drafted legislation on A.I in a group, learned more about The Constitution and took a tour of the Dáil. As well as this, they had lunch in the member's restaurant, met several TD’s from around the country and had a reception with the Minister for Education, Norma Foley. Matthew chose it because he had an interest in politics and current affairs, and would recommend this programme to anyone with similar interests.
Photography Amelia Cobbe
On the 15th and the 22nd of November we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to take part in a photography course. We had a brilliant instructor, Elise, who took us through different aspects of photography such as lighting, timing, angles and the different colour tones in photos. After talking about different famous photographers and their work, we headed outside to put what we had learnt to use. We walked all around the school and took the time to take numerous photos of anything that looked interesting or the lighting was good. Every now and then Elise would point out and take a picture herself to show us what to look for which was really helpful as it could be complicated to figure out where the lighting was coming from and what the best way to go about showing it in a photo was.
After taking hundreds of photos, we headed inside where we were talked through how to use “snapseed” to edit our images. After experimenting with that for a while we then each picked our three favourite pictures and sent them to Elise to show to everyone else. We then went through everyone’s photos and offered thoughts and opinions on each by running through what we had learnt. This was a great workshop that I and my peers thoroughly enjoyed as it was very useful and informative.
* Photography *
DECEMBER 2023
Soroptimist Public Speaking Compitition Lucy Curran On Saturday, the 11th of November, the Soroptimist Public Speaking Competition took place in Marino Community Special School. This competition was a hugely enjoyable and informative experience for all who participated.
Prior to the day, a list of topics, each accompanied by a quote, was sent out for every competitor to choose from. As a result, it was fascinating to listen to each speech and hear the unique interpretations of each quote by different speakers. From St Gerard’s School, myself and fifth year Laura Hogan competed, delivering our speeches to the best of our ability. Laura even went first, opening the day with an excellent start. The variety of subjects discussed was amazing, from the importance of women in politics to how words only hurt if you let them. What was amazing was that the personality of each participant shone through in their speech.
Unfortunately, neither St Gerard’s representative placed in this competition, but due to the incredibly high standard of our fellow competitors we were both proud to have done the best we can, and still walked away feeling proud.
YSI Ava Browne Each TY class has the opportunity to take part in the Young Social Innovators Module (YSI). In this module the TY classes plan to raise money for a charity. This year the TY YSI class decided to do a bake sale to raise money for the DSPCA as you read about in the last edition, and to also hold a shoe box appeal. The YSI class spent time arranging and organising a shoebox appeal to deliver gifts to children affected by poverty. This took place the week before exams. The TY YSI class spent time going around to the classes and making posters to spread awareness. This was to encourage students across the school to help out in anyway they could. The charity chosen for this shoebox was Team Hope because the charity aims to help people living in poverty through the delivery of education, healthcare, protection, nutrition and skills building. This charity is chosen every year, and these boxes are given to kids of all ages for Christmas. The students across the school really made a great effort with over 300 boxes created and ready for delivery. Overall, this year‘s YSI team so far has been enjoying themselves and have been doing a great job. Thanks to Ms Ní Fheinneadha and Ms Buckley for all their help.
Sports
Amber O’Donohoe
We have many students playing different sports in our school. It is a huge achievement to see such variety in sporting ability amongst our students. This term I interviewed some of these students to learn more about them and their sports as I thought this would be a fun way for all of us to learn from these athletes. I interviewed four people; Eva Doyle, an Irish and Leinster hockey player, Darby Condren, a member of the inter schools horse riding team, Malachy Kenny who is involved in a Leinster Athletics Training Programme, and finally Jack McGovern who is a part of the Senior Rugby Team. How long have you been playing your sport? Eva: I started hockey when I was seven in 1st class in St Gerard’s and Bray Hockey Club and I have loved it ever since. Darby: I’ve been showjumping for 6 years and riding for 10 years. Jack: I started playing rugby when I was around 6, playing for Greystones Minis and continued that until I was 9 until I started playing in Gerard’s. Malachy: I have been doing athletics since I was 12.
Who inspires you? Eva: I’m inspired by Katie Mullan, the women’s Irish hockey captain. Darby: I’m inspired by Cian O’Connor. He has amazing horsemanship and is a great showjumper. Malachy: David Rudisha inspires me. Jack: Jack Conan inspires me, as he went to Gerard’s and now plays for the Irish rugby team. How do you deal with nerves? Eva: I listen to music and talk to my teammates. Darby: A good warm up and rescue remedy helps me deal with nerves. Jack: I usually listen to some relaxing music before a match to get me in the zone as nerves can distract me sometimes. Malachy: I like listening to music to deal with the nerves. As you can see, we have huge talent in our TY year group, and cannot wait to see what they achieve in the coming year.
Careers Evening Uliana Nedinko On the 21st of November at 7:30 pm students from 4th, 5th and 6th years had an opportunity to speak with people from different professions and postgraduate students who finished school and started college/university arranged by Ms Maguire. The evening was created so that students could get acquainted and delve deeper into those areas of future professions to which they plan to devote their lives. The evening was possible thanks to the parents who agreed to share details from their professions. Each student had an opportunity to choose three areas of interest. Before entering, they gave out booklets with additional information about each parent who took part in the evening. Every 10 minutes, every student shared tables with one of three parents, who talked about their profession and students interested in the same field. This event made it possible not only to look at professions of interest from different angles, but also to receive comments from people working in these areas. Very often, after graduating from college, students do not know what to do or what profession to choose, so it is very important to communicate with people who have connected their lives with a particular profession. It allows us to find out about their life path and what they consider their mistakes and the right decisions. I would like to express my gratitude to all parents, students and teachers who took part in this evening. Through this event it helped us with one of the most difficult decisions in life - the choice of a personal path.
St Vincent Paul
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Hannah Magee
On Monday the 17th of December every student in TY took part in organising the Christmas hampers for the Saint Vincent de Paul Charitable Foundation. It is an annual tradition for TY students to take part in this wonderful charity event, so it was no surprise that everyone was delighted to be involved. More than four hundred hampers were prepared and delivered to different locations in Wicklow. The parents, teachers and students who volunteered to help and deliver the hampers have our deepest appreciation. The deliveries would not have been possible without their willingness to help out. We also want to express our gratitude to the SVP staff and teachers who helped to organise this event. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and determination the 5th years and TY students put into creating the hampers that are given to those who are less fortunate. Charity work and volunteering is a noble cause, and a valuable way to spend a day for all the students who participated. Most of all, thank you to Ms O’ Connell for arranging this.
UCD Maths Course Colm Kavanagh This year a number of TY students, Dasha Bokovenko, Matthew Burke and I were invited to attend the Maths Enrichment classes in UCD every Saturday. For the first class, we went into a small lecture theatre. The professor, Andrew Smith, gave a two hour lecture on very complicated and abstract mathematical topics. This was definitely a challenge as it was far more difficult than the Junior or Leaving Cert curriculum. It was hard to believe that people our age could grasp the complex ideas and abstract concepts of this programme, but fascinating to talk to and interact with individuals so advanced. There was a test on Saturday the 2nd of December to determine the Irish Olympiad team. We are still awaiting their results but are hopeful. It would be great to represent St. Gerard’s and Ireland at the next competition in Bath, England in July.