Work Experience - St. Vincent's Private Hospital

From Monday the 27th of April until Friday the 1st of May I completed a weeks work experience at St. Vincent's Private Hospital. During my week at the hospital I was given the opportunity to visit a variety of different departments in the hospital. I went to each department for around 2-3 hours before I moved on to the next. The physiotherapy, cardiology, pharmacy, PFT and  sleep lab were just some of the departments that I was able to visit. During my week while I was with the departments they showed me all their equipment for the various tests and exercises, they explained what they do and how they use the equipment and they then let me observe appointments with patients so that I could get a real sense of what their job is. The week I spent there was one of the best things that I have done all year. I found the week really interesting and am I so grateful that they took me on for the week.

  

Work Experience - Clover Hill Veterinary Clinic

From Monday the 13th until Friday the 17th of April I completed a weeks work experience in Clover Hill Veterinary Clinic. During my week I learned so much about veterinary. For the week I mainly shadowed the vet and her assistant nurse during their everyday tasks and appointments. The veterinary clinic focuses on small animals, mainly cats and dogs. I was able to observe the appointments during the day. Then I also learned how they do blood tests and how to analyse the results. I was also able to watch two small procedures that were being carried out at the clinic. I really enjoyed the week as I love being around animals and caring for them. I also enjoyed it because I learned so much about the job in such a little amount of time.

Difference Day - Bray Lakers

On Thursday the 23rd of April around twenty students from TY went to Bray Lakers for difference day. We were picked up by volunteer members of the organisation. Once we arrived we were split into three groups and given a quick tour of the grounds. Every group had their own section of the grounds to complete. The weather was amazing which meant that we were able to complete all the outdoor projects that they organised for us to complete. My group was in charge of fixing the area at the back of the building. Tasks included having to paint the walls and fences, clearing the flowerbeds and painting them, putting down gravel and laying down new topsoil. The tasks for the other groups were very similar. By the end of the day the place was transformed. Everyone managed to finish their section and the place look great. When we had finished we were all brought in side for cake.

 

Transport/ Environmental Workshop

On Tuesday 24th of March there was an environmental workshop for anyone in TY. Twenty four students chose to attend, including myself. Emily Archer talked to us about the different inventions she has come across that promote an environmental mode of transport. Emily Archer came from the organisation 'cre8 sustainability', they promote creative environmental sustainability. Once she finished her presentation she then asked us to split into groups, we played a game that made you combine three different objects in the world. Ours were a unicycle, snake and boat. We then had to create a transportation object including the three topics. I enjoyed this workshop as it was very creative and you had to really use your imagination.

Lecture - Organ Donation

On Thursday the 26th of March a representative from the Irish Kidney Association of Ireland came to our school to talk to us about organ donation. He talked to us about what a donation can do for a person. Then he also talked about the treatments for the people who need to get a organ. He also talked to us about the statistic for Ireland of people who are waiting for a donation and the increase in people donating their organs for others. He had to get an organ a few years ago which meant that he had a great amount of detail, experience and also made the talk very personal. At the end of the presentation he gave everyone cards that indicate whether or not you are a willing donate if something were to happen to you. He explained to us that if we wished to do so then we would carry this card around with you were ever you go. I found the talk every interesting as I did not know a lot about this topic before.

Martial Arts/ Self Defence

On Tuesday the 6th of January we had people come to our school to teach of some self defence moves. We spent the morning practicing different punches and kicks in pairs. Then in the afternoon we spent the rest of the day doing ground work so that we could learn what to do if you are being attacked from the ground. Then on Friday the 16th of January we completed the second half of our course. We were first shown a PowerPoint presentation about self defence and we were also able to see some real life footage of people being attacked. In the afternoon we went over every thing that we had learned from the week before. We then had an assessment on everything that we had learned over the two days.

Gartan

On Monday the 23rd of February my entire year departed for Gartan Outdoor Adventure Centre in Donegal. We arrived in Donegal in the afternoon. The first thing that we did once we arrived was we were shown are rooms and had time to get unpacked. After dinner we were split into the groups that we would be in for the week and began our evening activity for that night. I was put into group C. Our groups activity that night was night lining which was going around a course in the dark blindfolded. The next day our group had orienteering in the morning and team tasks in the afternoon. In the evening we did the egg test, where we had to try and make a contraption to protect the egg from cracking when we dropped it off the first floor. The following day we had archery in the morning and kayaking in the afternoon. With snake and ladders in the evening after dinner. For our final day our group had rock climbing in the morning and a hill walk in the afternoon. That evening we didn't have any planned activities as we had to spend the evening packing our bags for the early start in the morning. On the Friday we left early and made it back to the school for around one. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and thought that it was one of the best things that I have done all year!

YSI Speak Out

On Monday the 23rd of March around twenty members of the YSI team, including myself travelled to UCD for the annual YSI Speak Out. All the school from the surrounding areas came to show case the work that they have done throughout the year. We spent the day watching everyone's performances and then we also preformed ourselves. Our project was called Dose Of Wisdom and our aim was to bring equality to the elderly in our community.  We decided that we wanted to act out our message. We played out three scenarios in the short three minutes that we had to preform. We showed that the elderly are as knowledgeable as the youth of today when it comes to technology, we also showed that they are very helpful in the community. Our final scenario was to show the audience that the elderly are youthful and active. I think that our performance went very well and that we were able to get our message across to everyone.

Dublin Museum Tour

Collins Barracks Museums & The National Museum of Ireland
On Tuesday the 13th of January form A and B went for the day to Dublin to visit Collins Barracks Museum and the National Museum of Ireland. Once we arrived in Dublin we split into our forms, we then went to the museums.
 My from visited the Collins Barracks first. The museum was very interesting and informative about the buildings military background and the armies various sections. My favourite part of the museum was seeing the military vehicles as they made everything very realistic.
 Once we had finished looking around in the barracks we swapped museum with the other form after we had lunch. We then continued to the National Museum of Ireland. We spent the remainder of the day at this museum. I found the bog bodies the most interesting part of the museum.
 Overall I really enjoyed the day out.

Musical

Our musical this year was The Wiz, which is Micheal Jackson's version of The Wizard of Oz. We had three night performances from Tuesday - Thursday, and then we also preformed our musical during the day in front of different classes and year groups around three times also. The musical took months of preparation but I felt that it came together very well and that all the time put into it definitely was worth it. I was a munchkins along with around twenty other classmates. I got to be in two dances and a little bit of acting before and after my dances. My costume was very colourful and bright. I really enjoyed the musical and think that it has been one of the best things I have done so far this year!

Community Service - Wicklow SPCA

During the week of the 8th of December I completed a weeks community service in the Wicklow SPCA in Sharpshill Genealey.

I enjoyed my time at the shelter. In the morning the majority of the work was carried out. On two of the days I began my morning cleaning out the cats pens and the other morning i cleaned out the dogs pens that were in quarantine. In the afternoons I walked the dogs individually, going for around 7 - 10 3km walks with a variety of the dogs at the shelter. In the evening we had to check over all the animals to make sure that they have everything which they needed for the night and then at 4 o'clock I went home. I enjoyed the week however it was very sad seeing all the animals with no home to go to.

UCD Tour

On Tuesday the 25th of November my year was invited to come to UCD for the day. When we arrived we were split into groups, with a student from the university as our tour guide around the grounds. The girl that was showing my group around was very informative. She was able to answer any questions we had, and spent a lot of time with us making sure that we had seen everything the university has to offer. Once she had shown us around we went for lunch on the campus. After lunch we then had a short amount of time to look at anything we didn't have a chance too, before getting back on the bus.

.

NUI Maynooth

On Friday the 28th of November my entire year went to NUI Maynooth to their annual open day. We spent the day walking around the large campus and going to a variety of different lectures. The lectures informed us what the various courses were about and what careers you can pursue with their qualifications. I also learned about the large variety of clubs and society's the university has to offer which I found very interesting. I enjoyed the day out and found it very interesting.

Work Experience - Early Days Montessori

On Monday the 2nd of March I began my weeks work experience in Early Days Montessori. Every morning I arrived at 9.15 to help set everything up for the day. I was given the job of setting out all the wellies in a row against the wall for later. At 9.30 all the children arrived. We spent the mornings doing various activities such as singing songs, playing games, doing arts and crafts, reading. I was able to get involved in all the activities during the week. After lunch everyone had to get ready to go outside. I had to help them get their waterproof trousers and coats on. Once they all had their wellies on we would all go out and play. When their time was over outside we then had story time until their parents came to pick them up. During this time I would put away all the jackets and trousers. I then helped clean up the classrooms. I enjoyed the week a lot and I think that this week showed me that I might want to have a career to do with children when I'm older

.

BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

On Friday the 9th of January my year went to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS. We spent the whole day looking at the stalls of all the different schools and their experiments and inventions. They also had an area in the RDS for a giant robot which was interacting with the audience and squirting them with water. There was lots to see at the exhibition and however it was very crowded making it difficult to make your way around to see the projects.