Carlingford- best trip ever!!:D

so the day that all TYs were all so excited about had finally arrived! on Monday morning all of us got up and ready to leave for carlingford adventure centre at 6.45 at the petrol station in the village. even though everyone was tired from getting up early no one slept on the bus because we were all so excited! we got to carlingford at about quarter to nine and got divided up into our bedrooms! then the whole group was split in two and my group went to our first activity which was laser combat!
Laser combat was amazing! everyone was dressed in army overalls and we were all given a big laser gun! we then walked up the mountain to the area set out for the laser combat! The walk up to it almost killed me and i was exhausted by the time we reached the laser combat zone! it was so fun! we were split into two teams, blue and red, and we played three different games. the first game was called annihilation. the aim of the game was to kill everyone on the opposite team! i was on the red team and to be honest luck was against us and we lost the first two games. however our luck changed when we played the next game which was like capture the flag but with teddys instead of flags! we won that because we got two out of the three teddys! the we played king of the hill were the red team had to defend a castle and the blue team had to attack it! we won that game to! and then we played another game of  annihilation. it was so so fun!
we then went back to the centre for lunch which was chips, beans and sausage rolls and were sent back out straight away for kayaking! this was so fun as well even though it was lashing rain when we started and it made my arms really sore! it was still so good! it was two or three to a boat. we kayaked over across the lough and stopped at a waterfall. the story behind the waterfall was that if you put your head under the water for ten seconds that an extra day would be added onto your life. after that was done we headed back to the pier and got changed and went back to the centre for dinner!
after dinner was eaten we headed back out for our night activity called night line. we went back up to the laser combat zone and got in a straight line. we were then blindfolded and had to walk through the forest while holding onto the person in front of us! the purpose of the exercise was to gain trust between each other.
on tuesday morning we were woken up bright and early by Mrs.L and had about forty minutes to pack our suitcases and clean out the bedrooms. we then went off on our next activity which was high ropes and zorbing.l we were split into three groups. my group went zorbing first! i have to say it is probably one of the best things that i have ever done!:D zorbing is when you and another person are straped into a big plastic hamster ball and pushed down a hill! it was so scary getting ready to go but when we were rolling down the hill it was so, so, so fun!!:D Then my group moved onto the high ropes which was so scary!
Then we headed back to the centre for lunch and had chips beans and really nice chicken!! after lunch we headed back out and off to the challenge course. this is where we all split up into groups ten people and do a load of games to win gems! at the end of the 2 hours the team with the most gems wins! and MY TEAM WON!
then it was time for us to get back on the bus and go home!:( after we all got home we wanted to go straight back!:) it was one of the best trips that i have ever gone on and i think alol the TYs got alot closer!
Then although everyone had alot of bumbs and bruises we all had to be in school on the wednesday but it was ok because on wednesdays we have workshops. firstly we had a workshop from Mrs H. on work experience as we will be on work experiencve every wednesday starting next week! then we had a continuation of the personal development workshop from two weeks ago! this time we played a game where we found out our personalities! i am a blue observer! then after lunch we had a continuation of the positive party workshop which was really fun.
then today we had a workshop in naas for mini company and had a random stop in lidl on the way home!
Here are some videos of our carlingford experience:







Eilíse:Dxx

Sighs of relief!:D

finally the time that everyone was worried about came and out junior cert results were given out!:) everyone was really nervous while we waited in the school hall for the envelopes to be brought in! to be honest the waiting was the worst part! when i got my envelope i didn't want to open it straight away but when i saw everyone else opening theirs and i couldn't help myself!! i was so delighted with my results and to be honest i don't think anyone was really disappointed!:)
next week is jam packed with activities for the TYs!! first of all on Monday and Tuesday we are going to carlingford adventure centre in louth!! i cant wait! i have been before so i kinda know what to expect! everyone is really looking forward to it!:D on Wednesday we have a day where we will have a continuation of two of the workshops that we had last Wednesday(positive parties and social development) and also a workshop on work experience! then on Friday all of the TYs are heading to naas for a workshop about mini-company!:D as you can see TY is a very busy year!:D
Eilíse:Dxx

Junior Cert. Results Day!!

Almost 2 weeks into TY and its been great! I really like my new class and i have gotten used to it! The time has come for us to get our junior cert results. We have been given a late morning and only have to go in for half an hour to get our results at 12.30!!! Everyone's really nervous but to be honest i just want to get them out of the way!!:) Especially because next Monday and Tuesday all of the TYs will be in carlingford!! I cant wait!:) I have been there before and its so much fun! I cant wait to try all the challenges with my classmates!!
Eilíse:Dxx

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!:D

Its only a week in and the projects are already building up. In religion we have been put in groups and have been given one of the 8 millennium development goals. We have to research the goal as a group and present it to the rest of the class in a couple of weeks. We have also started our 'Trip around the world' for geography. We must pick two first world, two second world, and two third world countries and find out things about each country and things you can do there. In Home ec. we have started to make our outfits for junk kouture. On Monday we were also introduced to the Bt Young Scientist exhibition. We have to come up with a project good enough to get accepted into the competition. this alone is proving difficult!! I have no ideas at all of what to do because there have been so many projects done before and coming up with an original idea is going to be hard!
Since work experience this year is happening on a weekly basis, we have no classes on a Wednesday. This gave a perfect opportunity for all the TYs to take part in some workshops!!:D We had workshops on etiquette, social development and positive thinking. For etiquette, the two instructors taught us about Personal Health and also how to present yourself in different situations! In social development, we had to share our most embarrassing moments with the class and in positive parties we had to share a positive memory and we learned how to anchor those memories!! all in all it was a really fun day!! The instructors will be back in two weeks time to finish the workshops! At the moment the J.C. results are looming and I think everyone just wants to get them out of the way!!:)
Eilíse:Dxx