Welcome to TyEye.ie
April 2012
15th May 2012
Just a quick update as everyone involved in TY are up to their eyes in ‘EXIBITION PREPARATION’. With only a week to go things are running well thanks to the dedication of staff and enthusiasm and hard work of the students. All the various teams are working to schedule and extra sessions are being squeezed in where ever possible. There are the usual unexpected hiccups but hopefully it will all come together, sorry, definitely it will all come together (fingers crossed) on the night.
On Thursday 24th 3rd year parents are due in at 18:30 – 19:15. They will then head to the McAdoo Hall for an introduction to Kilkenny College Transition Year with Headmaster Mr. Coombes and TY Co-ordinator Mr. Willis. 3rd year pupils are welcome to come to the exibition with their parents but the introduction in the McAdoo is just for parents, pupils will have their own introduction day at a later stage. The exibition opens for 4th year parents from 19:30 – 21:30. It promises to be a fun and informative evening, there will be food served, art exhibited, music played, a cinema showing highlights of the year, shops selling jewellery, food, plants and other items produced by the students with the Village theme tying it all together.
Friday 25th, is the ‘fun day’ (after the exhibition clean up). Fancy dress, ice cream, bouncy castles, rodeo are all included in the day.
Last weekend was the Burren Trip. It was a really enjoyable trip, unfortunately we have run out of room on the website so photographs are not yet up, however we are working to solve this and hope to have the photos up as soon as possible.
We hope to see you all next week!
9th May 2012
Our Gardening group have up dated their blog, see what they have been up to on the Gardening page.
Photos from a very successful visit to Cloughjorden Cookery school are now up under pictures, details of the day will go up under 'Trips Cloughjorden' as soon as we get a chance to write about it. Suffice to say everyone had a wonderful day, both cooking and visiting the Eco Village and a huge amount of delicious food was devoured!
4th May 2012
Gerry Duffy with our very own motivators!
Read about Gerry's visit to Kilkenny College on our Speakers page.
3rd May 2012
The second Outdoor Skills group headed up Mt. Brandon today to complete their challenges. Read about how they got on on the Outdoor Skills, today's photos are under pictures.
27th April 2012
New photographs up today from the Envirnomental studies group who are continuing with their survey of trees in the College grounds
26th April 2012
The first of the Mt.Brandon Challenges has now been sucessfully completed, check out details on our Outdoor Skills page and some of the days photos under the pictures, more will be posted next week when group two have their chance to compete.
On Friday 20th Terry Clune spoke to our Transition Years, read our update on the Speakers page.
April 2012
Students are now working hard with regard to the organisation of the TY exhibition which will be held on the 24th May. The students have decided to go with a Village theme this year. A large group of very enthusiastic individuals have organised themselves into a number of smaller working groups. These groups will be taking responsibility for various aspects of the village. The village/exhibition will be constructed in the sports hall and will be a vehicle for showing off all the work and activities completed during the year. At present up to 70 students are listed as being involved in the organisation and I would like to encourage the rest of the year to get involved. This is a major undertaking, which is being well supported by the Parent’s Association, and will require a huge effort over the coming five weeks if all our ambitious plans are to come to fruition. At present the process is being led by the Design and Construction Team who are working hard on identifying the layout and structure of the Village.
We are very lucky to have two excellent speakers to finish off the school year. Well known business man Terry Clune will be speaking to the students on 20th April. In addition to talking about his career Terry will be introducing students to ConnectIreland.com. Terry has set this company up with the purpose of supporting job creation in Ireland. Athlete and motivational speaker Gerry Duffy will be our speaker on the 4th May and will be speaking to both 4th and 5th year students. On our first workshop day in September 2011 students were introduced to Gerry’s exploits during the Motivational workshop, Gerry ran 32 Marathons in 32 days and is the first ever Deca EnduroMan winner.
Regarding trips, it was unfortunate that we had to cancel the Cloughjorden Cookery School trip before Easter but it now looks like we will be able to reschedule it for April 24th. We need 18 students to participate and the cost remains at €55. There are still a few places available for the Burren trip 11th -13th May, cost €145. Best of luck to Mr. Clarke and Mr. Lowery who will bringing a group over to England on 28th April to see a premiership game and then heading to Alton Towers for a bit of light relief.
The Steer Clear students will be doing their test in the next four weeks and will need to prepare. In addition it is hoped we will be able to fit in a third First Aid course, cost €110, we may have to run this throughout a day to get it completed in time.
Students should at this point be putting the finishing touches to their TY project. The project which is 2000 words in length needs to be typed and handed up in a simple folder, further details from their TY tutors.
We welcome back our students who have been in France and wave farewell to their counterparts who have been with us for the last five weeks. The feed back has been excellent and I am sure our students have benefited greatly from the experience.
March Update
Welcome to the March TY update. On the sporting front we would like to congratulate Keri Willis, Judy Dick, Emma Duncan and Debbie Young who are members of the Senior Girls Hockey team who won the South East School Girl’s cup bringing it back to Kilkenny College for the first time in 16 years. The team has now qualified for the Kate Russell, the School Girls All-Ireland Competition which will take place in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland 21st – 23rd March. Congratulations also to David McClure and Chris Edwards, members of our Senior Boy’s Hockey team who pushed the favourites Wesley to extra time in the Leinster School Boys Senior Hockey Cup on Friday 9th narrowly losing 3 – 2. Our Senior Boy’s team will compete in the Leinster School Boys HockeyTrophy final on 21st March in Grange Road, Dublin. We would also like to congratulate Craig Miller, member of the Senior Rugby Cup team who competed against St. Michael’s last week in the Leinster School’s Rugby semi-final. The team did themselves, their coaching team and their school proud. It was a busy and emotional week in our sporting calendar.
Senior Girl's Hockey Team
Congratulations to those who took part in the Student Enterprise Awards in the Newpark Hotel on Wednesday 7th March. William Trousdall, Cameron Cavaliere, Roy Stanley, Daniel O’Keeffe and Ross Steedman. Cameron won the Best Commercial Concept Award. Read the report in The Kilkenny People
On Thursday 15th March 2 two TY teams head to Griffith College in Dublin to take part in the Formula One Schools Regional Competition. Both teams have had to design paint and promote their car putting together a portfolio and a marketing and communications strategy. During the event a gas canister will be added to the car and the car will be tested along a track. We wish the teams, Synergy Racing and Bolt and their teacher George Wallace all the best and hope they get to the national final
Good luck to all students participating in Dragon’s Den to be held on Tuesday 13th March. Thanks must be given to parents Kieran Pryal and Josephine Eviston who are coming in to help prepare participants before the event. All parents interesting in attending are more than welcome. The evening starts at 7pm in The Swift Building with refreshments available.
This week the Real Food group are heading off to Durrow to visit Tanguy de Toulgoet’s ‘Jardin de Cure’. Further details on our Real Food page.
On the trip front, we have a group going to The Cloughjorden Cookery School on Tuesday 20th March. This will be a full day leaving school at 8.30 returning 9pm, money and consent forms need to be handed in to Mr. Willis as soon as possible. Click here for further details. We also have the Burren trip, dates now confirmed as the 11th – 13th May. Click here for further details.
Organisation is kicking in for the TY Exhibition at the end of the school year. A music committee and design team have been established. Students are proposing a village theme. This project will require a huge amount of time, effort and materials. Please be aware that students will be looking for materials and props so any donations will be welcomed.
On 29th March all TY students will be participating in three workshops. These workshops will include African drumming, Zumba Fitness, Drama, Self Defence and a Car Safety Demonstration; in addition an art work shop will involve the construction of an art piece to be exhibited in the dinning hall. Unfortunately students will not be able to choose which of the six they would like to do but will be allocated three on the day.
February 2012
We are now over half way through the school year and students have started their second Thursday long course options.
Congratulations must go to all students involved in the two fundraising activities. The 1,000 km run completed over 1,700 km with students and teachers walking or running over the 24hr period. Thanks must also go to The Model School students and staff who started the event and completed over 240 km collectively.
It was a race to get the Christmas market prepared for the last day of term but this was achieved with the commitment and hard work of all those involved in the many stalls. The market was a great success and a wonderfully festive way of concluding the term with students, teachers and parents.
Between the two events over €10,000 has been raised and on Tuesday 7th Feb a cheque for €5,000 was presented to Archdeacon Bhekindlela Magongo of the Diocese of Swaziland. Unfortunately Transition Year students were on work experience and missed the Archdeacon talking movingly about his own growing up in Swaziland. His words were very inspirational and reinforced the value of the relationship between Kilkenny College and St. Stephen’s Primary School.
Presentation to Archdeacon Bhekindlela Magongo, Diocese of Swaziland
Congratulations to all TY students regarding work experience. Feedback from employers has been very positive. At this point in time finding placements is difficult and it is important that the College acknowledges the work done by the students, their parents and guardians and particularly those accepting students on placement. Students need to be aware that there will be a debriefing session on Friday 24th February with each student required to prepare a two minute oral presentation on one of their work experiences.
It is that time of the year when we wave farewell to a number of our students heading to France on the French exchange. We welcome their French counterparts and hope that their time in Kilkenny College will be memorable and enjoyable.
At present The Parent’s Association is assisting with finding Dragon’s for our Dragon’s Den competition which will be held on March 13th. Students involved in the Business and Finance long course will be participating but the competition is open to other students.
At the end of every school year TY put on an exhibition and the first meeting to discuss its form will be held on Thursday 1st March. Students wishing to provide direction and leadership roles should attend.
A third first aid course will be starting on March 6th, if students are interested please contact me regarding a place. Cost is €110.
There are a number of trips being planned at present. These will include a trip to Manchester, Belfast, The Burren and the Cookery School in Cloughjorden. Students need to keep an eye on the noticeboard regarding trip meetings.
Richard Willis
December 2011
Kilkenny College TY students will be selling their wares in a fantastic Christmas market in the School on Thursday the 22nd of Decemeber from 11:30am to 3pm. Their will be 10 stalls in total selling the goods which the students have been busy preparing over the last few weeks. All proceeds from the sale will go to the Aishling Foundation and the Swaziland Primary School Foundation. You can read more about each of the stalls below, as well as information on the two deserving charities that we are raising money for.
Aislinn Adolescent Addiction Centre
Aislinn Adolescent Addiction Centre is a drug free rehabilitation treatment centre, which believes in the priceless potential of young people. Their mission statement is supported by our core values: respect, uniqueness of the individual, teamwork, quality of service, and accountability. It is located in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland, Its telephone number is +353 (0)56-8833777, Thank You.
St. Stephens Primary School, Swaziland
St. Stephens Primary Is a school in Swaziland that is affected by great poverty and disease, which has been occurring in Swaziland for the last decade. Two hundred out of the four hundred and thirty pupils in the school are orphans that are being raised by their older siblings. Their parents have ether died from hunger or disease. Our school has been nominated to set up a video link with them. As a group we’ve decided in many fundraising activities such as Super market bag packing, Bake sales and perhaps a small music concert. Thank You.
Wood Design
The wood design group located in the woodwork room are taught by Ms.Walsh and have created a number of high quality items for sale such as
Scented Kindle - Candle Holders- Bottler Holders- Bird feeders
Jewellery
The jewellery group of about twenty five ty students meet on Tuesdays after tea and create some beautiful jewellery for the Christmas market. This is taught by Ms.Ryder and Ms. Moynan who are experience jewellery creators. They have created a number of items for sale such as;
Beaded Bracelets - Beaded Necklaces - Friendship bracelets - Earrings
Crepes and Popcorn
The Event Production class has been divided into two teams. . and Team B will be selling popcorn and crepes at the Christmas market taking place in the Boy Study Hall. And on Wednesday for us students.
Let's Garden
The 'Let's Garden' group have been extremely productive under the guidance of Mr. Dool and have a large selection of products at extremely competitive prices. They will be selling Wreaths, Table Decorations, Turkeys, Hen and duck eggs, Vegetables in pots, Winter flowering plants, Window boxesand Hanging baskets.
Badges
A team mainly composed of TY art students have been hard at work using the badge machine purchased by Mr. Willis to create badges with an array of logos, colours and designs. These badges will be on sale for the excellent price of fifty cent each. You can also design you own custon badge with any picture, design or logo for the price of €1.
Real Food
Directed by Ms. Milne, the real food group will be cooking and preparing many savoury foods such as chutneys, sausage rolls,calizonies, stuffing for your Christmas dinner, hot dogs and relishes. They will also have a range of sweet foods on offer such as gingerbread men and mulled apple juice. So make sure to visit their stall at the market and taste the many flavours of the season.
Hats and Scarves
The bobbled hats and scarves are being made by Ms. O’ Donnell and the TY knitting group. The hats are made of wool and will cost €8 at the Christmas market and are a perfect way of keeping warm as the temperature falls.
Introduction to the Transition Year Programme 2011/2012
6th December 2011
T.Y. Drama Group are providing the entertainment at a Charity Christmas dinner which will be held in Café Sol, William Street, Kilkenny.
The dinner is in aid of The O’Neill Centre and St. Vincent de Paul.
Date: Tuesday 13th December
Time: 8.30pm
Price: €40 incl: 3 course meal, glass of wine & festive entertainment
Contact: Kilkenny College 056 7761544 for bookings
1st December 2011
A very busy run up to Christmas lies ahead of us. On Thursday 15th December we hope to run 1,000 km over a 24 hour period raising funds for St. Stephen's Primary School in Swaziland. Staff aim to cover 100 km of this leaving 900 km for the students!
We have our Christmas market on 22nd December, we hope to have a wide range of food and crafts available for sale, over the next week we will post photos on this website of items we will be selling, we will also give you details of how to pre-order. Many thanks to both staff and parents assisting in every area.
Richard Willis
Kilkenny College Transition Year Programme 2011 - 2012
Kilkenny College is fully committed to the Transition Year Programme. We believe it is an initiative that allows students the time and space to develop and mature without the pressure of examinations. Past years have demonstrated how confidence and self esteem are acquired while students develop socially, personally, physically and academically through involvement in a broad range of activities.
During the year the world of work is experienced and possible career choices explored. There is emphasis on self regulated learning and skills that help provide a strong foundation for Leaving Certificate.
Transition Year aims to promote students personal, social, educational and vocational development and to prepare them for a role as an autonomous, participative and responsible member of society.
The overall aims of the Transition Year are:
- To provide the time and space for students to develop and mature without the pressure of examinations
- To build student's confidence and self-esteem
- To encourage students to develop socially, personally, physically and academically through involvement in a broad range of activities
- To provide the opportunity for students to experience new subjects and activities
- To assist students to build interpersonal and leadership skills
- To provide the opportunity for students to experience the world of work and explore possible career choices for the future
- To develop student's life skills
- To encourage students to develop greater independence of thought and capacity for decision
- To help students be better prepared for the demands of the Leaving Certificate
- To further develop student's I.T. skills
- To develop an environment of support and respect within the year
The aim of this site is to provide parents and students with information regarding the Transition Year Programme within Kilkenny College. During the year the Journalism group will be maintaining the site and updating it frequently with photographs, students articles, reviews and upcoming events.
Richard Willis.
Transition Year Co-ordinator 2011