Driving Lessons

Today class Aurora went to the Leinster School of Driving to do a driving lesson. I was slightly nervous before we arrived because I had never driven a car before. The group I was in got to drive first and the other half of the class had to take the theory test. We learned how to drive in first and second gear and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. After this, we had to swap over and then my group took the theory test, there were forty questions and to pass you had to get 35 correct. We then went outside and did an activity where we had to try and place one cone on top of the other while wearing 'drunk' glasses. They changed your vision to make it feel like you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It was much more difficult to do the task while wearing the glasses so they really showed how dangerous drinking and driving is! It was a great day, and I think everyone found it really interesting and enjoyable!

                                                           leinsterdrivingcampus.ie

Gaisce Hike

Last Friday all of the TYs taking part in gaisce did the 25km hike as part of the bronze award.  We left the school at 1:20 to go to Kippure Estate in Co. Wicklow. We arrived at around ten past two and left our bags in our houses. We put on our hiking gear and were introduced to our guides. We then set out on our 15km hike. The mountains were quite steep so it was a difficult hike. It took us 5 hours to complete this distance with few breaks along the way. On the way down the mountain it was extremely steep and many people fell and tumbled. We had to walk through fields, forests and bogs! There had been a forest fire a few days before and the grass and trees were burnt. When we arrived back at the estate, it was around 9 o'clock and everyone was extremely tired and hungry. We cooked our own dinner. Nobody got much sleep that night so we were all exhausted the next morning. We had to get up and half 7 to begin our activities at 9. The first activity we did was the 'leap of faith', we then did abseiling and rock climbing, it was really fun and everyone really enjoyed it. After the activities, we had our lunch and then got on a bus to go to the beginning of our hike. On the way up the mountain in the bus we nearly hit a lamb that ran across the road, everyone jumped in their seats including the teachers! When we got to the starting point, it was snowing, everyone was dreading the hike and was ready to give up before we had even started! The 10 km that we did on Saturday felt like the longest walk ever because it was freezing and everyone was tired. At around half 5 we finally arrived back at the houses, everyone changed into warm clothes and we got the bus back to Celbridge. It was an amazing experience to hike 25km and i think we definitely bonded more as a group during this trip because we had to get through it together. 

Millennium Develpoment Goals

In religion class we are currently working on a project alongside Self Help Africa. We are producing a book on Millennium Development Goal 6, 'Twenty Fifteen- Thoughts and Reflections on MDG 6: 'Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.' This is the sixth book in the series, previous books have contributions from Seamus Heaney, David Norris, Alan Rickman and Mary Robinson. The aim of the book is to bring the effects of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Ebola in developing countries to peoples attention. People in developing countries don't have access to simple vaccinations or medications which can easily cure and prevent these diseases. About 210,000 children died from AIDS related causes in 2012. Simple 10 second vaccinations could save millions of lives each year. Everyone in our class had to contribute to the book, some people drew pictures, others wrote opinions and a few people even interviewed their grandparents on what they remember about TB in Ireland in the past. It is interesting to see everyone different interpretations of goal 6.The other two TY religion classes also have contributions to the book. We also emailed people such as, scientists from the labs in St. James Hospital and Fr Peter McVerry from the Peter McVerry Trust to give us their opinion on goal 6. It was great to get contributions from people with an expertise in this area. We have learned a lot from making this book and have really enjoyed the experience. It has really made me realise that we are extremely lucky to have vaccinations and medicine in developed countries and sometimes we take these for granted. 

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