Transition Year 2012-2013

(The Programme below may be modified slightly; please visit the "Archive" to view the content of previous Transition Year Programmes, i.e. 2008-2011)

T.Y. Programme 2012-2013

Archive

Dance1

Dance2

Dance3

Dance4

Dance5

 

Interview with French Exchange Students in T.Y. – Matlilde Aubignac and Axelle Carrere

What do you think of Rockwell?

  Yes, we love Rockwell, We would love to stay longer than 3 weeks, definitely a month or two months.

2. Has your English improved since you have been in Ireland?
Yes, we understand much better. Our host families have told us that we have made lots of progress but we don’t notice too much.

3. Do you like Ireland?
Yes we love it in Ireland.

4. What is the family you stay with like?
  They are very nice. Sometimes the family members talk to us in French which makes us feel at home.

5. Are the people in Ireland friendly?
Yes they are very friendly. In France there are groups and the French don’t talk to people they don’t know but in Ireland everybody talks with everyone. We prefer this.

6. Do you find the day long?
Study in the evening is very long and very boring when we have no work to do.  We find the day difficult and the hours are crazy!

7. How do you find the weather in Ireland?
Weather is crazy here! In the morning we wake up and the sun is shining but two hours later it could be raining but it doesn’t bother us too much.

8. Do you find the teachers strict?
Teachers are calm here as it is transition year but in France it is all work and no play. The teachers in France are very strict.

9. Do you like the food? 
It seems to be always chicken, but it is ok.

10. Which subjects do you prefer?
We love music, art and cooking as we don’t have these in France.

11.  Do you prefer to spend time with Irish people or French people?
We prefer to be with Irish people as we are always with French people and can be with them at any time. When we are with Irish people our English is improved more.

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Dancing
On Monday the 4th March, our TY group started our first day of ‘Dance School’. TY “C” kicked off the dance school that morning. We weren’t too enthusiastic, but once the day commenced we got more into it; this was mainly thanks to our dance teacher, Anna, who really dragged us out of our shell, followed by TY “B” and TY “A”. To start dancing off Anna told us it was really important not only to stretch for sport but that it was equally  important to stretch for dance too; it felt like I had stretched places I never knew I could.  Everyone seemed awkward and embarrassed at the start but we all soon loosened up and soon people began to find their feet. To my great amazement it proved that boys seemed to be the better gender at dancing.  Anna chose ‘Party Rock Anthem,‘ by LMFAO which was a really good song choice on her part: it was fun and energetic to dance to. We split up into 3 groups and added our own creativity to the dancing which made it better again. It took us the first three days to put the dance steps together, but once that was over we started dealing with drama and singing, which we learned is very much  linked to dancing. This really helped us with our dancing in the sense that it taught us how to put emotion and expression into our dance steps, which automatically changed the appearance of our dancing. On the Thursday our dance was filmed and performed in front of all our other TY groups; it was great fun and we really got into it.  Anna knew at that stage that her work at Rockwell was done. As a TY class group for the last day we asked could we learn how to waltz and also learn how to Salsa. I found this the best part of the whole week as we would definitely need this in the future. Overall I found it a great part of the TY course and it brought us closer together as a group. Thanks to Mr. Egan for organising it and to our dance teacher, Anna.

Chloe Maher and Jennifer Yates.

 

Make-Up Day

On Tuesday the 5th of February the T.Y girls had an action packed day full of beauty and make-up. Caroline Holohan from the “Institute of Beauty” Waterford informed us about every girls guide to good skin, hair, nails and also the importance of good hygiene. All T.Y girls were instructed to come in with no make-up on as Caroline would be teaching us how to properly apply make-up in a more natural manner. Our day began at 8:50 in the school library;she distributed up booklets for us all about how to maintain good skin, hair and nails. We read through these hand booklets between 8:50 and 11:00; each booklet contains useful information which every girl should be aware of. Caroline also told us some horrific stories about beauty treatments that went horribly wrong which really made us all think. I went into the library that morning thinking I knew everything I needed to know about skin care and make-up but in fact I knew nothing at all, so we all really took the information Caroline presented on board. Between the hours of 11:00 to 1:00 we paired off into groups of two and removed any nail varnish we had on and gave each other mini manicures and pedicures, which was really good fun! Time drew nearer to 1:00 and Caroline began to set out the make-up she had brought with her on a table with 7 chairs set around the table. Within the hours of 1:40 and 3:45 Caroline performrd a make-up demonstration on Rachel Breen, at which we all stood around and watched. Once she was done we got into pairs again and did each-others make-up; we learnt how to choose make up to match our skin tones which would be useful when buying make up in the future. We firstly did a “Day-time look” shortly followed by a “night time look”; it taught us that less is definitely more when it comes to “Day time” make-up. It was a great part of our T.Y course and on behalf of all the girls I want to say “Thank you” to Caroline: we thoroughly enjoyed the day; it improved our knowledge about make-up and skin care which was badly needed.

Chloe Maher

T.Y. Driving Course

A driving course with Mr. Noel Keeley, a local qualified driving instructor was organized by our co-ordinator Mr. Egan during the autumn of 2012 as part of our Transition Year curriculum. We were first prepared for the driving lessons and were shown interactive road safety DVDs and videos and did numerous online theory practice tests. We learned the basics of purchasing vehicles, insuring, taxing, and practicalities such as completing safety checks and basic car maintenance on your car before commencing on journeys.
The driving lesson was a two hour course and highlighted the safety features of modern day vehicles and gave us practical safety tips for both the driver and passenger. It also highlighted the consequences of dangerous driving practices and we looked into examples and case studies.
The course was aimed at us as young people to help us to adopt a common-sense and safety led approach to driving.

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"Sports Science"

“Sports Science” started for us at the beginning of the year and it lasted until November. I originally believed that this would simply be another word for P.E, but it turned out to be much more than this.
In the beginning our main focus was on human nutrition. We spent a number of double classes in the lecture theatre learning about the importance of the correct diet in order to maximise performance and general health through striking a balance between the main food groups.
We later moved on from the theory to practical sessions. We engaged in many activities such as soccer and tag rugby. We then went on to do some basic life-saving techniques over the course of three pool sessions, such as how to make basic flotation devices out of ordinary clothes and the correct way to enter the water and retrieve the individual in question.
We concluded with a project on topics chosen by Ms. Kelly and randomly distributed to us on subjects ranging from “Flexibility” to “The importance of exercise”. An interesting conclusion to a great experience.

 

T.Y Film making
Film making was a brand new experience for almost all the Transition Years. It struck us as a daunting task at first but a couple of role playing scenes in the classroom let the drama side of everybody out. We started brainstorming ideas for a movie and planned different sketches and scenes we all found to be hilarious. Picking the various characters was the next objective. Those who wanted speaking parts were granted the roles and the more shy individuals desired more silent positions in the production. We began filming as soon as possible and everybody edited the script to their own tastes. We spent many weeks filming scenes and most of the time doing a few takes before we got them right. The craic around the set was second to none with all sorts of antics occurring. With our thrown together costumes and tired minds from staying in character, we eventually came up with enough footage for a movie. We watched all of what we recorded and were happy with the result. We could not have done any of it without the help of Brian, the editor and director of our movie. He took on the responsibility of editing and creating the movie fit for a DVD. I think we all enjoyed the experience and were all filled with immense pride while re-watching our movie. It will be something we can remember about T.Y.

 

TY at "Kettlebells"

 

"Kettle Bells" - Lee Molloy

As part of our transition year course, we do a six week programme of “Kettle Bells”. This includes going after lunch time on a Thursday and spending an hour and a half in the gym. There are two trainers who take us every week, Colin and Dan. They teach us the basic steps to build your body’s strength and power. We are given proper technique and advice. The training is a lot harder than I expected as I am always being pushed to do my best. We start off with a warm up involving a light jog and a few light stretches to loosen up and prevent injury during the workout. Next we move on to circuit training. Every week there are different combinations of movements which allow us to work our entire bodies efficiently and in different ways each time. After the circuits we go straight into a “core”workout. Even for the fittest of us there this is a struggle. To finish off we have a few stretches to put our tired bodies at ease. I feel that Dan and Colin really push me to my physical limit and show me how much I can get done with a little push. I’m sure this goes for everyone else too. It’s given me new knowledge on how to train and the different ways to develop my movement. I hope I get a chance to go back to the Forge gym because Colin and Dan make it such a positive environment that you just want to exercise!

Kickboxing-By Tommy Anglim

Damian was the name of our instructor for kickboxing; we were unsure what to think before the first session because most of us had never done kickboxing before. But after a while Damian explained what we were doing and we started to enjoy it. We all partnered off with one person putting on gloves and the other putting on pads. The first session was basic stuff, with mostly straight arm jabs into the pads.
After a few weeks we began to get better at it, and we moved onto harder things, like blocking the pads, then a one-two combination punch followed by an upwards kick into the two pads. The sessions were hard work but everyone seemed to enjoy getting exercise as well as learning how to punch. Kickboxing was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the whole class and we were sad to see the end of it. It is good exercise but at the same time it was a very fun time.

Road Safety: Colm O’Shaughnessy

This year as part of our TY course, we took part in six weeks of learning about road safety. Mr Flynn was our teacher. We watched DVDs and went to the computer rooms to learn about how to be safe on the road and in a car or on a motorbike. It was very interesting to learn the rules of the road and how to keep safe on the road.
We started learning about motorcycle safety first. We learned that not only does the driver have responsibilities but also the passenger or pillory. We watched videos by the Road Safety Authority that informed us about the necessary equipment and safety checks required before setting off on the motorcycle. It also informed us about the correct seating position for the pillory.
We then learned about car safety. We watched more RSA videos that informed us about things like stopping distance and all the hazards that we should be aware of on the road. We also learned the rules of the road and then performed a practice theory test online int he computer rooms.
Overall it was a great experience, and we all learned a lot and benefitted greatly from it. It will also give us a head start when we begin our own driving theory test and driving lessons.

 

Transition Year Magazine

 

 

T.Y. on Ice

 

Hope Foundation Holds Information Launch at Rockwell College
While many will no doubt of heard of the Hope Foundation and the huge work they have done for Street Children in Calcutta in India few will have had the experience of seeing at first hand the work this truly remarkable charity does.

However on Wednesday October 17th last thanks to the work of the Foundation, 12 street children from Calcutta visited Rockwell College in Cashel to tell students at first hand of the help the foundation has given their city. Indeed it was fitting that the presentation was held in the College as for the last five years Rockwell under the Guidance of transition Year co-ordinator Mr Patrick Egan has been sending groups of transition Year pupils to the Indian City. According to Mr Egan ''Each pupil has had to raise up to €3,300 to fund their trips and they have to do this by various means including, holding bag packing days in local supermarkets in Clonmel and Thurles, hosting Golfing outings, 10Km walks sponsored cycles, meals at Indian restaurants etc'' He said that he was ''particularly indebted to Ms Amanda Kelly in Tesco's in Clonmel for all the help she had giving the students in arranging bag packs for Hope''.

On Wednesday last Master of Ceremonies and Rockwell 6th Year Student Aoife Purcell who herself travelled to Calcutta in February 2011 said that she ''had been blown away by the experience''. She told the gathering that ''to date Rockwell had sent 32 students to Calcutta and to date they had raised a combined total of €106,000 for the Foundation''. She said that she was very struck by the HOPE Foundation motto namely 'A World Where it Does Hurt to be a Child' Others to address the gathering included Jean O'Donnell a 5th Year student who went to Calcutta in February 2012 she said that she is looking forward to going back some day. After a video was shown of the Rockwell experience in Calcutta two street children from the city addressed the gathering. Modeeka and Sinaha revealed that the country as whole is improving thanks to the work of home and it now has a 74% literacy rate which is much greater than ever before.

Rockwell Principal Ms Audrey O'Bryne spoke about the work of the organisation. She told students 'Hope is a fragile word . But hope is the strongest thing we all have''. She added what while the Hope Foundation has done wonderful work for Calcutta the 32 students from Rockwell have also benefitted hugely from their experience in terms of the knowledge they have acquired. The launch was also attended by a number of students from the CBS High School in Clonmel and teacher Ms Caroline Kenny.
> In February 2013 Rockwell will send 10 students to Calcutta accompanied by teacher Ms aoife Mulcahy. The students who will travel are James Heffernan (Cashel), David Cremmin (Kenamre), Nicola Buckley (Latin), Ellie Morrissey (Bansha), Gerard Hourihan Clancy (Boharlann), Betty Barlow (Clonmel), Kara Dunne (Clonmel), Darran Fehilly (Clonmel), Chloe Maher (Clonmel) and Elliott Stone (Cork).

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Toastmasters

 

On Tuesday November 6th, a crowd of over one hundred parents and students gathered for  the Rockwell College Toastmasters Open Night.  It was chaired by the impressive Conor Beary,  who proved to be an encouraging  and steady hand throughout.  Eleven students gave three minute speeches each on such diverse topics as GM foods, Bullying and ‘Why Penneys is better value than Hollister’.  The speeches were followed by the Topics Session,  held by Ellie Morrissey. Despite  the audience being a little shy, Ellie skilfully provoked debate by offering up an interesting list of topics.  The highlight of this list occurred when Pat Egan suggested that Ireland needs a benign dictator to get it back on its feet,  and nominated his colleague James Keating  for the role.
The night came to a close with Clonmel Toastmasters’ President  Jim Keating presenting the students with their certs,  and encouraging them to maintain their link with Toastmasters wherever they go.  The staff and students at Rockwell College wish to thank Mr Denis Corcoran who is in his twelfth season of Toastmasters in Rockwell College and who dedicates so much time to the Transition Year Youth Leadership Programme in the schools throughout South Tipperary.

Skelligs/Tralee Sept. 2012