DE LA SALLE TY NEWSLETTER - De La Salle College Waterford

DE LA SALLE
TY NEWSLETTER
Volume 1, Issue 1
Winter 2015/2016
Comeragh Mountains
During the year, each TY class has gone on a hiking
trip in the Comeragh Mountains. We started at
Mahon falls and hiked to two lakes including Lake
Coumshingaun. We all enjoyed the day ever much.
It was good to be outdoors, hiking through a
beautiful natural environment with friends and it
was a good bonding experience also as it was early
on in the year. We thought that it was one of the
best trips we did throughout the term and would be
happy to do it again. Overall was an amazing day.
By Eoin Kenny.
Dundrum Trip
On Thursday 17th of December, all of the TY students, went on
a trip to the Dundrum Town Centre. We arrived at 11am and
went straight to Dundrum on Ice. After an enjoyable hour
there we were free to go shopping in the wide variety of stores
there! It was a very enjoyable social outing. We arrived home
at 6.30pm. Everyone had a fantastic day!
By Jack O’Neill and Shane Barrett Kavanagh.
Newsletter 1
St Patrick’s Carol Service
Work Experience November 2015
In December, approximately 40 volunteers
from TY, walked to St Patrick’s nursing Home to
sing a variety of Christmas carols to the
patients in the nursing home. The service was
organised by Mr Dooley, it was thoroughly
enjoyed by the students, patients and staff!
During the month of November 2015 Transition
Year students went on their first week of work
experience for the year. For one week, we got to
work in jobs we may be interested in doing in the
future. This proved to be a very important week
in the year, as the week has made some students
surer of their career paths and made others
change their minds. There was a huge variety of
destinations throughout my class, from
accounting offices, engineering companies,
primary schools, gyms and much more. I went to
Douglas Carroll Consulting Engineers in
Waterford. During the week I was doing some of
the work the engineers would do on a regular
basis when designing the lighting and piping for
the buildings. I thought this was very interesting,
I would really like to do it as a career now and I
would love to go back to the company at some
point in the future. The feedback from my
classmates was great; all of them really enjoyed
it and are looking forward to our next week in
April!
By David Heffernan.
Young SVP
The De La Salle Young SVP committee is a
youth branch of St Vincent De Paul in our
school. The Saint Vincent De Paul committee in
De La Salle has tripled in size since last year
and has been hard at work raising funds for the
local community. Since this year’s committee
was first organised in late October/early
November it has raised €1460 from a no
uniform day and has received considerable
donations from the SVP food appeal. Plans are
already being discussed for various other
events through-out the rest of the year. We
look forward to continued work within our
school to aid the less fortunate in our
community.
By Brian Burke.
Focus Ireland Collection
By Gerard O’ Connor, Committee President.
On the 23/10/2015 my classmates and I went
collecting money in aid of Focus Ireland for the
homeless. During the day we filled up our
buckets with change that the people of
Waterford had kindly donated to the charity.
Overall we raised approximately €900 for a
great charity that we were happy to support.
By Jordan Griffith.
Newsletter 2
Aware
In November, Stephen, From Aware
Ireland, came in to do a workshop with
us. Aware is a voluntary organization
that was founded to assist those
affected by mental illness and
depression. He talked to us about our
thoughts and feelings, as a group. He
talked to us about the “Coping Triangle”
method of dealing with depression. It
was an interesting experience for a
group of guys to talk about mental
illness together; you don’t get to
experience that every day.
By Shane Barrett Kavanagh.
A Case of Conspiracy
In September, a former Australian forensic scientist came
in to our school, to do a workshop with us about forensic
science and detective work. We had to solve a murder
using different forms of forensics, at stations positioned
around the Senior Library. It was a fun workshop that
gave us an insight into the work of detectives and
forensic scientists.
By Jordan Griffith and Shane Barrett Kavanagh.
The Matrix Workshop
The Matrix Workshop was an extremely
productive day in which we were taught
study tips and much more, by leader
Malcolm Rowe.
Malcolm was very enthusiastic and
knowledgeable; he gave invaluable
advice to us. The Matrix Workshop was
completely based on what previous
Transition Year students think would
have helped them in their Leaving Cert
and in College. Malcolm talked about
the recipe for getting the results you
want in school. He emphasised how
important it is to have an activity in
which you de-stress and recommended
use of meditation to do this. Malcolm
also covered exam technique and gave
us the opportunity to discuss topics that
were on our mind. Overall, it was it was
a very important talk and Malcolm
Rowe did a fantastic job of keeping it
entertaining for the whole day.
By Andrew Mulhall.
Ballyhass
On September second of this year, the newly-formed
TY's of 2015/2016 set off on a fantastic trip to Ballyhass
Adventure Centre in Mallow, Co. Cork. Here, the TY's
climbed wooden frames the likes of which most had
never seen, canoed through a dark, vast lake in the
centre of the area, took part in teamwork exercises with
their brand new companions and last but not least,
glided through the air on an extremely high up zip line
which overlooked the surrounding idyllic countryside and
stood high above the shimmering lake on which the
centre lies on. It was truly a great day to remember for
the Ty’s and it was only a small taste of what was before
us all in Transition Year.
By Jack O’Neill
Newsletter 3
BT Young Scientist
TY Retreat
In 1963 two physics researchers from the
University College Dublin, Rev. Dr. Tom
Burke and Dr. Tony Scott, came across the
concept of ‘Science Fairs’ while conducting
research in New Mexico, America. The pair
decided that this type of hands-on science
was something that students in Ireland
could benefit from. And so the Young
Scientist Exhibition was born. BT has been
the proud sponsor and organiser of the BT
Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition for
15 years. The exhibition allows secondary
school students to showcase a project in
which they have spent time, researching and
developing and allows them to learn about
other students’ projects.
By Darragh Quinn, BT Young Scientist
Contestant.
This year the TY classes went to Saint Paul’s
Community Centre for their retreat. We did
many activities such as a quick reaction
activity and an activity where you talk to a
person to learn about them and then
remember as many facts about them as you
can. The most outstanding activity where
everyone’s sheet, with their name on it, was
passed around and you would have to write
something positive about that person on
their sheet. It increased a lot of people’s
self-confidence. It was a strange retreat, but
was a fun one!
By Callum Oram.
Footloose
“! Everybody cut Footloose!”
The DLS College show this year was
“Footloose”. It was the first time ever this
show was put on in Waterford and was a big
success. Many of the nights were sold out.
The show was set in 1984 and is about a
newcomer Ren McCormack (Tadgh Brennan)
from Chicago, he is in shock when he
discovers the small Midwestern town he
now calls home has made dancing and rock
music illegal. As he struggles to fit in, Ren
faces an uphill battle to change things. With
the help of his new friend, Willard Hewitt
(Tomas Moore) and defiant teen Ariel
Moore (Aishling Larkin) he might loosen up
this conservative town. But Ariel's influential
father, Reverend Shaw Moore (Ben Nolan)
stands in the way. Rehearsals began in
August and cast had to work hard as
rehearsals were almost daily. It was a very
enjoyable experience and something I’m
proud to have been part of! I would
encourage anyone who is interested, to get
involved! Those who wouldn’t want to act
can help out with backstage or front of
house!
By David Heffernan, Cast Member.
Newsletter 4
Bank of Ireland School Bank
Programme
Our school bank here in the college, “Bank to
the Future”, was launched on the 27th of
November of this year, hundreds of students,
teachers and other staff came to the event in
the school sports hall. The event itself was a
fantastic occasion that saw the visit of Eoin Kelly
of Tipperary and our local Déise heroes, Maurice
Shanahan, and Pauric Mahony. We couldn’t
have gotten to this stage without the help of our
Bank of Ireland coordinators who worked hard
in supporting the bank team and providing them
with the training we need to operate the bank
professionally. The bank team was selected after
an application and interview process, after
which, the five permanent staff members were
chosen, over 20 students are involved in total.
The bank opens each Wednesday at lunch time,
1.10pm to 1.50pm, on the C-floor; students
from all years are free to open a fully
functioning Bank of Ireland second level
account, lodge money, and avail of other such
banking functions. No photo ID or proof of
address is needed! There are no fees or charges
on the accounts! We have opened in excess of
130 accounts to date. Banking is an important
part of everyday life in the modern age and can
be of great benefit to young people, allowing
them to save securely and use electronic
payment methods online, in chip and pin
machines etc. It is also of great benefit for the
school, as Bank of Ireland sponsors rewards for
setting up certain numbers of accounts,
including cash, iPads and rugby tickets. Students
with accounts in the bank can avail of access to
events, such as, training sessions with Henry
Shefflin and Seamus Calnan, the TYs who can
attend a trip to a Munster rugby game later in
the year, and other such events, if they set up
an account! We look forward to banking with
you in the future! If you wish to contact us, find
us on Facebook “Bank to the Future” and on
Twitter “Bank to the Future” (@bank2tfuture!)
By Shane Barrett Kavanagh, Branch Manager.
French Breakfast
For a double class in September, all the TY French
students were invited to the dining hall to enjoy a
French style breakfast. It consisted of pain au
chocolats, croissants and hot chocolate! It was
delicious and great fun!
By David Heffernan.
Synagogue and Mosque Trip
In November, TY Religion classes went to Dublin
to further their knowledge on world religions in
Ireland. This trip included the visit of both a
Mosque and a Synagogue. We first went to the
Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, where we were
given a tour of the mosque and taught about the
Islamic religion and customs. We then visited
Terenure Synagogue and we were given another
tour and were taught about the Jewish faith and
worship practices. It was a great experience and
we all learned a lot!
By Jack O’ Neill.
Newsletter 5
Edmund Rice Religion Trip
Law Workshop
15th–
19th
Over the course of the week of the
of
November, all Transition Year classes of De La
Salle took part in a Law Workshop here in the
college. Every T.Y class took an entire day each
to take part in the workshop. The workshop
was done with us by a barrister, James Fahey
who travels to different schools around the
country doing this Law Education/Workshop.
He explained and discussed with us numerous
aspects of the Irish Legal System such as the
Courts System, civil versus criminal and gave us
some of examples of each. He also shared with
us an abundance of the terminology used. He
also gave us a detailed breakdown of the role
of a lawyer, barrister, etc. and their roles in the
Law. This was a very interesting experience as
we got to learn a lot of things about this area
that we wouldn’t normally learn about in
school. At the end of our time with him, after
sharing a number of his own experiences of
different cases and the aspects connected to
them we ‘performed’ a mock trial. This
involved several students in a class being given
roles of witness, defendant, barrister etc., etc.
along with a script. However we did not follow
the script. It was used as an information source
for the cross – examination and defence of the
different characters called to the stand that
were involved in the incident. The whole
workshop was a thoroughly enjoyable and
unique experience which was very informative
on the topic of law. Mr Fahey did a great job
and made the workshop the memorable day
that it was. I think that it’s safe to say that all of
T.Y enjoyed their particular days in this
workshop.
By Cian Kehoe.
During the month of October, Transition Year
classes went to Mount Sion Primary School to the
Edmund Rice Centre and to Callan, the birth place of
Edmund Rice, where the house he grew up in still
stands, although it has been remodelled, based on
the original cottage. In Mount Sion we were all given
a tour of the school, where we learned about the
life and work of Blessed Edmund Rice. We then
went to the birthplace of Edmund Rice, where we
learned about the upbringing of Edmund Rice and
his icon, which tells the story of his life and the
things that were of significant importance in his life
which changed who he was and would determine
who he was to become. This was a very interesting
and informative trip which all the students
thoroughly enjoyed.
Brian Burke.
TY Mass
6th
On Friday the
of November we had our annual
Transition Year mass in the chapel. It consisted of
readings, hymns, offertory procession, Eucharist,
and other such customs, all of which were
performed by TY students. It was a mass to give
thanks for a great year, in the hope that the coming
year will be just as good for us TYs. It went very
smoothly and was a very nice occasion to be a part
of!
By Jack O’ Neill and Shane Barrett Kavanagh.
Newsletter 6