Carmel Kelly and Teresa Lonergan
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It gives me great pride to introduce the Castleisland Community College Newsletter for 2015. The continual hard work of Ms Lovett and the transition year students ensures the quality of this production is inclusive and representative of the plethora of enriching educational experiences provided to students. The breath of academic and extracurricular activities undertaken by students is just a snap shot of the level of student and teacher engagement at Castleisland Community College. We are confident that all students at Castleisland Community College have a wealth of educational experiences to draw on to suit their particular aptitudes and interests. We are also privileged to have the continual support of an excellent Board of Management and proactive Parents’’ Association. Everybody’s’ life is enhanced by the collaboration of all partners in the education of our students here at Castleisland Community College. Kind regards, Carmel Kelly and Teresa Lonergan Parents Council The Parents Association is an integral part of our school. It makes a vital and valuable contribution to the school’s growth and development. The work of the Association is greatly valued and it ensures the spirit of partnership that exists in Castleisland Community College. Two parent representatives serve on the Board of Management. “Castleisland Community College Students make it to final 12 of the Irish Certified Angus Competition” John McMahon and Niall Brosnan, two Transition Year students of Castleisland Community College, proudly represented their school in the semi-finals of the Certified Irish Angus Schools competition in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork recently. With almost 150 entries, the students made it to the final 12 in the competition. Initially the students submitted a two hundred word composition outlining the production, processing and marketing of Certified Irish Angus beef. After being whittled down to the final 40, the students then went forward to the second round of the competition where they completed a presentation and an interview with members of the Angus producers group, Kepak, ABP food group and IASTA. Fortunately they made it to the final 12 of the competition where they were presented with an Award of Merit for their project while the ability they demonstrated in their presentation was noted as exceptional! Alan Devlin Public Speaking On Thursday 5th February, Castleisland Community College Transition Year students enjoyed the benefits of expert tuition from one of the leading actors of our day. A day of Devine inspiration it may well turn out to be when the lucky students look back on the day Alan Devine visited their school. Through his innovative and highly mobile ‘Drama Club’ the well-known face of Irish TV and film came to the school on an invitation to introduce the students to the skills of public speaking. “He taught us how to find confidence in our own voices, how to connect with an audience and the secrets of delivering our message with clarity. His workshop was very educational and enjoyable and was a great hit with the class,” said a spokesperson for the students. “This series of drama based public speaking workshops is designed for all secondary school students. Workshops focus on how to make eye contact, connect with your audience, how to structure your speech and deliver it. Public speaking is an important personal skill and our fun workshops introduce the basic techniques needed to deliver confident and well thought out speeches. “- according to the company’s mission statement The Drama Club also offers a series of drama workshops for children where each child is allowed to develop at their own pace while still being important members of the group. The sessions help children build up their self confidence, improve their speech, increase their concentration levels and develop communication and social skills. Article (in edited form) compliments of John Reidy Maine Valley Post Star Sailing Kenmare On 9th of September the Transition Years went to Star Outdoors Kenmare. They had a range of activities including kayaking, an adventure course, team building, archery and water trampoline. Archery was good fun as we all competed against each other for the highest score. We kayaked around an island and we also had a kayak race after that we went on the water trampoline. Then we went to the adventure course we had teams to compete against each other. We were broken into smaller teams to compete against each other in a range of team building exercises where we were blindfolded and had to be guided by one person with a whistle with two blows of the whistle for a right, three for a left and different number of whistles for different directions until all of us were in the box we did another exercise where there was a giant spider web where we had to get through the gaps in the web but not go through where other people had already gotten through. I thought this was Project Maths for Parents a very enjoyable experience and one of the best activities so far this year. Project maths for parents proved very popular again this year with large numbers signing up for the course. The aim of the project is to T.Y. Ice skating Trip. provide support to the parents of On the 17th of December our Junior cycle students. This course transition year class went on an will help parents gain confidence ice skating trip to Cork on ice. to support their child/children with We then went shopping at the their maths homework. It should Mahon Point shopping centre help dispel some of the fears that 1-2-1 Digital where we spent 3 hours. When parents have in relation to the new This is a very enjoyable programme we started on Tuesday the 24th of February. The we arrived we got something to Project Maths course. The course will whole idea of this project was so that we could teach people in our community how eat in the shopping centre then cover the basics with parents and will to use their smartphones laptops tablets etc. For the first lesson we spent it getting to went across the road to cork on introduce them to the language of know them and what were their major problems with the technology so we could sort ice with in minuets we were on Project Maths. what they needed help with. During second lesson for the first 20 minutes we sorted the ice skating. out any other problems they had on their piece of technology how to use PayPal and After we got on the ice a few Picture shows parents receiving their buy stuff off the internet and they really enjoyed it and so did we as their teachers. of the other students where certificates on completion of the 1,000 Learners have completed 121digital courses since 2010, in 24 schools. 1,000 TY naturals at it and took of skating course. volunteers were their Tutors. right away. A couple of us fell a number of times before we Transition year students Gary Horan and Charlie Step It Out Programme got the hang of it. The hour Cooney displayed their artistic talents when This is a programme we did with flew by and it was time to leave they painted an ‘awesome’ mural on the wall the HSE to improve our fitness. We just as we all started getting of the metalwork room. The theme behind the were each issued with a pedometer good at it. We then went back mural was positive mental health. The mural which recorded how many steps we to the shopping centre to go promotes a positive learning environment in took each day. Each week we were Christmas shopping. We left at the classroom. The word ‘awesome’ is used as challenged to increase the number 4 o’clock and where home for 6 an acronym - each letter stands for a positive of steps we took thus improving our o’clock. characteristic relating to school life; fitness levels. A - Aspire, W - Welcome, E - Effort, S - Safety, O - Original, M - Motivation, E - Enjoy. Page 1 Castleisland Community College Castleisland Community College Page 2 Learning to Drive On the 29th of January the Transition Years journeyed to Mallow to the Munster Driving Campus. They headed out with much excitement and were not disappointed!! This one of a kind campus is recognized as one of the greatest ways to introduce young people to driving. The instructors there teach you all the basics of your car’s engine and how it works. They also teach the rules of the road and start preparing you for the theory test. The highlight of the day though is undoubtedly and unsurprisingly driving around the custom track. Designed with all the features of a real road this is a fun, safe and effective way to learn and delighted everyone who went!! Jack O ’Connor & Primary School Peer Mentoring through Irish TY Primary School As part of Transition Year, a group of students are mentoring Coaching Initiative the 6th class students of Muire Gan Smál. They are developing The Transition Year students their own mentoring skills in Irish under the guidance of Ms and Jack O Connor are Killington. teaching primary schools Every week three TY students undertake a selection of activi- from the castleisland area ties in Irish with the 6th class. They include songs, games and in the Community Centre quizzes. nextdoor to our school Transition year students will benefit from this as they learn every Monday morning . Its to teach children a new language in an educational and fun great for the kids to get to environment and also to gain confidence and learn the skills meet Jack in person and have fun and learning how to play involved in teaching.