Counting down the weeks

We are counting down the weeks before we finish T.Y :(  this week we are getting all our summer tests over and done with so that next week we can focus on our all important T.Y night. T.Y night is held each year, it is a night where we can show our parents what have have done all year. Each class has a 1920s dance and as a year group we are preforming our zumba dance and we are finishing off with our end of year song ' seasons of love' from the musical rent.

Geography project.

We have a new geography project its 'the geography of'' and then we choose a topic were interested in. I done my project on the flute because I play the flute and i'm interested in music.

Book review: My Sisters Keeper.

My Sisters Keeper.

I have read the novel ‘My Sisters Keeper’ which was written by Jodi Picoult. My Sisters Keeper tells the story of thirteen year old Anna Fitzgerald who wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna a child who was conceived purely for her genetic makeup so that she can save her older sister Kate who is sick with a rare type of leukaemia called promyelocytic leukemia which is cancer of the blood and bone marrow.  Anna was only supposed to be used once to help her sister and this was when she was born, when they used blood from Anna’s umbilical cord.  But as the years went on Kate went in and out of remission and every time she relapsed Anna would be used to donate blood and bone marrow. But now she is thirteen her sister has kidney failure and her parents have asked her to donate one of her kidneys to once again save her sister’s life. Anna decides she doesn’t want to donate her kidney and go through another painful procedure she just wants it to end and her decision of ending it all as she knows might mean ending her sister’s life also. Anna decides to hire a lawyer Cambell Alexander who will represent her in court when she files to be medically emancipated from her parents, this will mean her parents cannot make medical decisions for her. Over the years Kate’s illness has caused huge strain on the Fitzgerald family causing devastating effects, Jesse Anna’s older brother has gone completely of the rails and tries to get attention from his mother and father by drinking, smoking, taking drugs and setting things on fire. While Anna believes that by suing her parents they will listen to her more. The trail also put a huge strain on Anna and her mother’s relationship throughout the book and Anna moves out of the family home and moves in with her father at the fire station where he works.

The book is told over the course of two weeks leading up to and after the trail, during the book you are brought right back to the beginning before Anna was even born. It is narrated in each chapter by a different character so you get the views of Anna, her mother Sara, her father Brain, her brother Jesse, her laywer Cambell Alexander and her guardian ad litem Julia. I found this way of writing the book very interesting as you got the view from each angle. I taught the most interesting narrator was Sara Fitzgerald, she loves both her daughters equally and wants Kate to live but this means putting her other daughter through painful medical procedures. In some ways I feel she was being selfish but I can also see that she loves Kate and cant bare to see her die when she knows that Anna can keep her alive for a little while longer. But I believe that donating a kidney is just a bit too much, blood and bone marrow is a renewable source but a kidney isn’t and in later life could cause big problems for her daughter.

The novel deals with themes such as love, conflict, sorrow and regret. The novel ends with a dramatic climax that in my view made it an amazing read. I also learned a lot while reading this book about the illness itself but also the strain the illness put on a family which in my view could either make or break one. I would recommend this book to anyone it was a great read.

I would give this novel a four out of five because at times when you’re changing between characters it can get a bit confusing as they tended to have flash backs which were sometimes hard to follow.

Swim a mile.

So last Friday as I said we went to swim a mile and this post is just a short one to say how we got on. so unfortunately I didnt have enough time to swim the full mile but I got to swim half a mile with shannon. All T.Y's and LCVP's were very happy as in previous years the most miles swam by a school was 25 miles and altogether St. Wolstans swam 40 miles.

Swim a Mile with a smile.

Tomorrow all T.Ys are going to the National Aquatic Centre to take part in the annual Swim a Mile challange. The Swim a Mile is a charity event which raises funds for Barretstown  and Crumlin Childrens
Hospital. Barretstown for all of you who don't know helps to rebuild the lives of children who have cancer. The children aged from 7-17 come from all over Ireland and Europe to join in on activites such as canoeing, high ropes, drama and arts and crafts.

Shake it out !

On Wednesday in St Wolstans we hosted our annual music night, this is a night where all music students get involved and prepare a piece of music to preform for parents and family. All students in T.Y do music so we were all involved my class ( Eriu ) and Banba preformed shake it out by Florence and the machine. Our music teacher put all our musical talents together to make an amazing version of 'shake it out' which included piano, djembe drums, flutes and a variation of other percussion instruments. Everyone really enjoyed the night of music which also included a raffle with lots of prizes.

Enjoy!

Braveforce.

T.Ys took part in Braveforce assault course.  It was a great day out which involved going through tunnels,climbing and going through ditches which would start around your feet and you would end up that you would have to swim to get out of it. Although it was really challenging, mucky and cold it was a lot of fun.

Drum workshop.

All T.Ys had a drum workshop with Dave who owns a drum company. He came our school to do a day long workshop where we learned all the techniques of djembe drumming. Everyone loved the day and I learned rhythm is everywhere in your daily life you  use it in the most simplest tasks like walking up stairs!!!!!

Internet safety talk.

Last week T.Ys had an internet safety talk from a man who works in child watch Ireland. he was telling us how to stay safe on the internet. He told us about the dangers on the internet. He told us that its not the internet that's dangerous its the people who use the internet. He gave us some tips about staying safe.

1) dont use the same password for your acconts like facebook and twitter because its easy for people if they figure out your  facebook then they can get your email because its the same password.

2) Dont add people you dont know on facebook.

3) Put a plaster or a sticker over your webcam because people can hack into you webcam without the light turning on therefore you dont know its on.

4) Don't give away personal information on the internet.

English book review..

I have read the book ' The Book Thief '  by Markus Zusak. I enjoyed reading this book, I enjoyed it because of the style it was written in. It is narrated by death. The book is set in Nazi Germany. The book is about a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter and quiet a lot of thievery. The book tells the story of Liesel Meminger life or the book theif as she is also known. During the book death visits the book thief three times. Liesel also likes to steal books. The author tells you at the beginning of the book what the book is about, he also uses this method throughout the book at the beginning of nearly ever chapter what he tells you what coming up in the chapter. The information written like a poem.


We first meet on a train with her brother on there way to there new foster family. It's on the train when death first visits the book thief, this is when her brother Werner passes away, Death describes Werners death in short effective lines ' There was an intense spurt of coughing. Almost an inspired spurt. And soon after-nothing'. When Liesel's brother is being buried the grave digger drops his handbook Liesel decides to keep the book, that is when the book thief steals her first book. During the book I began to love deaths introductions at the beginning of chapters written in the style of a poem I found it kept me interested, I knew what was coming up in the chapter. 


Liesel's new life begins when she arrives in Himmel Street. Rosa and Hans (the    accordionist) Hubermannn take Liesel in. Liesel soon settles in and gets particularly attached to Hans and refers to him as her 'papa'. Liesel and Rosa's relationship is very rocky at the beginning but as the book goes on their  relationship improves. The book begins to get interesting when the Hubermanns take in Max Vanderburg (the Jewish fist fighter) a Jew they let him hide out in their basement. The Hubermanns have to conceal Max very carefully because if they were found helping the Jew they would be in trouble. 


Liesel has been haunted by her brothers death since he died and has recurring nightmares. Max also is plagued by nightmares and this brings them closer together. Max begins to write Liesel a book 'The Stand over man'. Liesel also becomes very close friends with her cheeky neighbour Rudy Steiner, they do everything together. 


During the book many themes emerge the most prominent ones where the theme of poverty and war. The book was set in Nazi Germany. During that time Adolf Hitler was sending all the Jews to concentration camps there was a lot of bombing, violence and racism. As a result of all this during the book there is many times when the Hubermanns  found it hard to have enough food.


I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to adults and young adults. I enjoyed this book as you were learning as well as reading the story.

2nd work experience.

Last week 27th Feb- 2nd of March, transition year went on our 2nd week of work experience. I went to my old primary school, Scoil Oilibheir Naofa in kilcloon Co, Meath. I got this placement by writing a letter to the school principle. On the first day I was nervious but looking forward to seeing all the old faces. The first day i was given a time table which showed me which classes I was in each day. usually I would be in two classes each day for example on monday I was in juniors and then after there break I was in first class.

During the week I was asked to do jobs like photocoping, sticking posters on walls, helping the teachers decorate the classrooms and supervising classes for teachers. All the teachers were really kind and welcoming.

Out of the two work experiences I now know I would probably not like to be a primary school teacher I learnt that I would be interested im helping people with disabilites.

Lollipop Day.

Lollipop Day.

On the 24th of february transition years went to Dublin and did some fund raising for Lollipop day which is in aid of raising funds for Oesophageal cancer research. We went into Dublin and we were assigned different stations where we stood and sold lollipops and badges to the public. The day was a good success and we raised loads of money. I think lollipop is a great idea to raise money and awareness about Oesophageal cancer I was particularly happy I got a chance to get involved as my nanny died of Oesophageal cancer.

Fighting words.

On the 19th of January class Eriú went to fighting words in Dublin. We went for a creative writing work shop. During the workshop as a class we wrote a short story. From this workshop I learned how hard it is to make a good quality story/essay. But I also learned some useful tips for essay writing. Here are some of the thing I learned for when your writing an essay.

* Set the scene ( school/a home/a park ).
* Set the mood ( Happy/ sad )
* Include dialogue between characters in your story.



Here is a link for their website.

Back to school.

This week are back to school after our christmas holidays. I didnt want to go back but once your back in the routine its fine. So far this week:

1) We got our exam results back ( I did okay.)

2) Today we are going to start out new activities which are Zumba dancing, massage classes and band activity.

3) Tomorrow all T.Y students are going to the B.T Young Scientist competition.

4) On monday my class are going to a creative writing workshop.

Favorite Christmas Ads..

When I see these ads I know its Christmas...

Sentence without words

Christmas.

Heres a christmas tune.. Enjoy.!!!

English book review

I've read the book ' Harry Potter and the goblet of fire' which is the fourth book in the collection of seven written by J.K Rowling this is one of my favorite books so far. This book is set in a world of witches and wizards.

The book is based in Hogwarts school and Harry is in his fourth year. Usually the book begins with it being the end of the summer holidays and harry is getting ready to go back to school. But in this book it begins and you are taken to the Riddle house which is all boarded up which it has been for several years after all the riddles have died. The house gardener still lives on the premises. When one night he notices a light on in the house he goes to investigate and finds two men in an upstairs room when hes listening to the men he doesn't notice a snake coming up behind him. We find out one of the two men are Voldemort the other wormtail his assistant. In this chapter we learn that Voldemort has killed a women and is plotting to kill Harry Potter. When Voldemort notices the man outside the door he summons him in and kills him. The chapter ends with the line 'two hundred miles away a boy called harry potter woke with a start'. Not only is this a great first chapter but it was my favorite chapter of the whole book, because it is the first time she has actually made me feel like I was transported to the scene she was writhing.

The book continues and describes how the dark mark is released signaling the rise of Voldemort at the a Quidditch world cup.

Usually the school year is about the quidditch but this year it is all about the up and coming Triwizard tournament and when someone enters harry ( how is too young to enter ) it causes a lot of trouble in the school and friend ships are strained. The Triwizard tournament consists of three competitions in which all competitors have to complete. At the end of the book after the third task has taken place all the twist are revealed.

I love the way in which J.K Rowling writes her books there is so much detail and I would think this is a very hard thing to create in a book set in a magical world. There is also a lot of dialogue between the characters in the book. I think J.K Rowling has a magical outlook because these books are set in a magical world within the normal world. I would recommend these book to people of all ages I wouldn't just recommend the goblet of fire but all of the Harry Potter books.

Day 5 work experience..

Friday was  my last day of work experience and I really didn't want to leave. I made a promise myself to enjoy every minute of my last day so I did.  The day started off by me going down in the equestrian centre again there I helped clean out the horses and I watched a riding lesson. Then we had lunch. After I had to supervise some on the service users as there was a big pottery order that needed to get out. They all had a great time they had a mini disco and were dancing to shakira and loads of other songs. Then at there afternoon break I gave out the sweets I brought in for everyone. They all really appreciated it.
I really hated leaving stewarts but im really glad with what I've learned while on work experience.

I think work experience is a really good opportunity to learn about the working world but also to help you choose what career path you would like to take in the future. From work experience I've learnt that I would be very interested in working with people with disabilities in the future, whereas before work experience I wouldn't have been very interested in this area.

I hope you enjoyed reading my work experience blog till next time....

Day 4 of work experience..

The week has flown by so fast I don't it to end at stewarts.. Today I was great day I spent the whole day in the equestrian centre I had such a good time. I didn't think I would be able to do anything with the horses just in case something happened, but I got to do loads I started of brushing  a horse called Karl he was gorgeous. Then I watched a riding lesson. Then I got to hold the horses as they were getting wash and I led one back into its stable. Then after lunch we mucked out all the stables and swept up.
I'm getting to know every one really well and a man called  Barry who goes to the centre insisted I sat with him at lunch (I worked with him yesterday in the kitchen ). Also i brought in my flute and played a couple of songs for everyone I didn't know that they would enjoy it that much and after I got a couple of songs sang to me some included fields of athenry and some Christmas songs.

I will blog again tomorrow and tell you about my last day .. :'(