Finishing My Work Experience in Brennan’s Pharmacy!

Yesterday, I completed my final day of Work Experience in my Transition Year, and in Brennan’s Life Pharmacy.

I have been working in the pharmacy since the start of March, and have enjoyed every moment of my time in the pharmacy. I would have to say that my placement in the pharmacy, has possibly been my favourite placement in Transition Year. I felt that I had been given a real opportunity to learn, and I felt as if I were trusted by the staff.

I was allowed to undergo a lot of tasks that I never expected, to be doing, firstly, because I am a student, who had no qualifications nor any previous experience working in a pharmacy. I was allowed to take in the daily order, and check the order with the accompanying invoice. When this order had been checked over by the pharmacist, I was allowed to put away the items, and stock them in the motorized dispensary robot, after receiving training and instructions on how to sort out ordered items. I was allowed to work with prescriptions, stock, patient information and general pharmaceutical assistance.

It is a credit to the pharmacy that I was allowed to work in an environment that contained confidential information. It was extremely credible that I had been allowed to stay confidential regarding patient information. A major thanks has to be given to all that have worked along with me, each and every member of staff had been extremely accomodating and friendly.

Brennans Pharmacy had been an amazing company to work for!

Thank You Transition Year! – My Year in Review

As my Transition Year in Crana College draws to a close, I look back on one of the most interesting and inspiring times in my school life. The year has by far exceeded any expectations that I ever had, encompassing everything and anything inside the Irish Education System.

I think that it is fair to say, that I had an action-packed, yet educational year in TY. Like many other skeptics, I came into the year, with an idea of prejudice in my head, thinking that the year didn’t yield any opportunities or chances for me, and I couldn’t have been further wrong! Within a matter of weeks, I realised that TY In Crana College (and in many other hard working schools around the country) is one of the best organised programmes, that aims to get the most out of each and every student, based on the effort and commitment that the students dedicate to the programme.

Transition Year, has improved me for the better. I have became a lot more confident in this year. Through this, I have countless unforgettable memories, but of these, the most prominent include:

Speaking on behalf of TY Ireland at the National Parents Council of Post Primary Secondary Schools annual conference in the INEC, Killarney.

Participating in the 5K Mud Run!

Making the Eir Junior Spiders – Giga Spiders – Best Induvidual Project Shortlist.

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Being ‘Highly Commended’ in the National Career Skills Competition with CareersPortal.ie 

Transition Year has been simply, amazing, and has made me much more ‘well-rounded’, and confident person. I feel that this year has benefited me greatly, and that I have taken every opportunity possible to get the very best out of this year. I would urge any student who is doing TY next year, to firstly, push themselves in TY, secondly, take every opportunity available to you, and thirdly, enjoy TY – It will be amazing!

Above, is only a snapshot of what has being going on in my Transition Year! I’m sure that if you were to read through this blog, or my Twitter Feed, you would see a much bigger picture of what my Transition Year was all about.

Writing one of my final blog posts of TY has really saddened me, not only has this blog been an ongoing assessed piece of work for my Media Studies Module, but it has been a space where I can freely write about a topic that I have grown to love! A special thanks has to be given to absolutely everyone who have supported me in this journey – My TY Coordinator, Teachers, Staff, Employers, Co-Workers, Transition Year Ireland, Volunteers, Guest-Speakers, Fellow Bloggers & Twitter Users, Family & Friends , and everyone in between- each and every one of you have helped make my TY that extra bit more special!

Thank you Transition Year!

The Eir Junior Spiders Shortlist

TY’s at the Colosseum

The TY Boys Walking in Sorrento

The Trevi Fountain

The Colosseum

Me & Ciarán Touring Rome

5th Years at the Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast

The Streets of Sorrento

‘Rome’-ing about with Roisín & Tiree

The TY Boys on a Boat Trip

Selfies at the Trevi Fountain

Outside St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

‘Frescos’ in the Vatican

The Time Elevator

Subject Choices for Leaving Certificate 2018

TY First Aid Training

Promoting Inishowen’s Tourism Industry

Skiing Tour Key Ring Design

Rome Tour Key Ring Design

My Cover of ‘O Fortuna’

Starting the Architecture Module!

Me and my little sister Dearbhla, pictured just after my last day at work experience at her “Big School”

My ‘Space Study’ for Architecture

Blog Challenge – Six Word Story

Ice Skating in Belfast

Hill Walking Trip

Hill Walking in Uriris

Christmas Market Poster

Drugs & Alcohol Conference

Disability Awareness Module Part 1

Our Greatest Scientist – Nikola Tesla

Completion of the Cube Project

TY Panel at the National Parents Council Post Primary Annual Conference in the INEC, Killarney

TY Panel at NPCpp Annual Conference

‘Chain Reaction’ Key Rings – TY Enterprise Mini Company

Semi-Completed Cube

Prize-giving – Co-Junior Student of the Year 2014/2015 & Co-Recipient of the ‘Bríd Boner Memorial Plaque’

TY Panel at the National Parents Council of Post Primary Secondary Schools

Irish Wheelchair Association Collection

What I’ve been learning about in TY Geography – The Human Development Index (HDI)

‘Chain reaction Keyring’s’ first product!

Oisín i dTír na nÓg – Mindmap

TY Panel at National Parents Council

Month In Review – October

My Work Experience Report, written in ‘The Drumfries Times’

Monthl

Foyle Hospice Coffee Morning Donation

National Road Safety Week

Ireland Trip

TY1 Post-Surfing Selfie

Cube Project

Surifng

Surfing

Foyle Hospice Coffee Morning

Cube Project

Music Appreciation Module

Room 13 – Pre-Coffee Morning Setup

TY1 Receiving the iPads

Junior Cert Results

Irish Mythology presentation

European Day Of Languages

 

Making the National Career Skills Competition Shortlist

Recently, I have been extremely honoured to find out that I have made the shortlsit of the National Career Skills Competition. The competition was ran by Careers Portal, the leading provider of Careers & Educational News throughout Ireland.

The National Career Skills Competition is a nationwide competition, open to Senior Second Level Students in Ireland, who have participated in Work Experience, through their Transition Year, Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Applied & Leaving Certificate Vocational Programmes. Each category is also offered in Irish. From over 1,500 Entries, I was extremely happy to be ‘Highly Commended’ in the Transition Year Category. 

Each entry had to submit a series of collective doccuments based around a Work Experience Placement that they have carried out. At the time of submission, I had only underwent my first Transition Year Placement in Scoil Naomh Pádraig, Drumfries, teaching music. The entry consisted of a Career Investigation, a Work Experience Report and a Skills Research Section, amongst many other sections. I researched how to become a music teacher, and followed various different pathways to acheive this goal. I also had to think about my Work Experience Placement, and about what skills I had both used and learnt through this placement.

Tomorrow, I will be heading to the Department of Education, in Dublin to recieve my prize. I am thoroughly looking forward to the event, and cannot wait to see the Department of Education. I can’t believe that I have made it this far! A special thanks has to be given to my Career Guidance Teacher – Ms McElhinney, and my TY Coordinator – Ms Bradley, who have played a vital role in my Work Experience Placements, as well as my employer and coworkers at Drumfries National School who were good enough to allow me to teach music in the primary school!

Month in Review – April

April has been one of the busiest, yet most enjoyable months of my Transition Year. To recap on this month, I will reflect on my top 5 highlights of April.

1. The Mud Run

Possibly one of the most enduring, yet memorable aspects of my Transition Year, had to be the Mud Run, in which TY Students were to trek through 5 kilometers of mud and dirt! On the day of the run, it was extremely cold, and was raining, which only added to the experience. Surprisingly enough, it was actually quite enjoyable to undergo this activity, and it was something that I had never imagined myself doing! The mud run, has been one of the best experience of my Transition Year, and it was something, that I will remember fondly, for a long time! It was such a sense of achievement, when I completed the 5k. Despite it being freezing cold, the mud run was unforgettable, and left everyone who really did try throughout the 5K, with a great sense of achievement.

2. The Eir Junior Spiders Awards

Getting shortlisted for  the Eir Junior Spiders, was an unbelievable achievement, and was a personal highlight of TY for me. I was truly honoured to make the Top 7 in the country to be shortlisted for the ‘Best Individual Project’ in the Giga Spiders category, for the work carried out on this very blog. The event itself was also amazing, and it was a great experience for all, not to mention the TV interview which I had with Nick Sheridan for RTÉ2’s ‘news2day’. (click here to watch the interview). The Eir Junior Spider Awards gave me a great insight into Digital Media in Ireland, especially among the youth of Ireland. It was an unbelievable experience!

3. Finishing the IAF Architecture Module.

 As frequent readers of my blog will know, the Irish Architecture Foundation’s TY Architecture Module has not only been a prominent part of this blog, but also a very important and prominent part of my Transition Year. Since December, each student was facilitated with a ‘Design Journal’ which would help us to create and design an idea for our Design Task, which would be created in March & April. I really enjoyed filling put the Design Journal, as it allowed me to become more aware of architecture all around me, as well as of the architecture that is found in everyday life. Throughout this project I learned many new valuable skills, and experienced architecture first hand! I became more aware of aspects such as  height, elevation, planning, functionality, and design, all of which form important aspects of design. I also learned about various architects and their work dotted around the world, and allowed me to create my own designs! The Architecture Module, has certainly been one of, if not the most enjoyable module’s of my Transition Year!

4. Portfolio Preparations.

Believe it or not, preparing for my TY Summer Portfolio of Assessment, has been a very interesting experience for me. Putting it simply, the Portfolio of Assessment is the backbone to Transition Year in Crana College. Each TY Student must prepare 2 portfolios throughout the year (one in November, one in April.). The portfolio is to function as a grading system for TY, as we have had to have a graded piece of work form every module studied, displayed in the folder. The portfolio also contains work carried out from each of the students’ three work experience placements throughout the year, as well as various other assessments and certifications. I have really enjoyed preparing my portfolio as it allowed me to reflect on all that I have done over the past few months, similarly to my ‘Month in Review’ series of blog posts!

5. ISSU / ICTU Worker’s Rights Talk. 

Transition Year, and Leaving Certificate Applied Students, were gathered together to be given this talk, by a representative from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), and the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU), of which have developed the website, and advisory service – youth-connect.ie, which aims to advise Irish Teenagers, about a wide variety of areas, and items of importance to Irish Teens. We were advised on areas such as Minimum Wage, Legal Working Hours & General Working Rights, as well as responsibilities of the Employee & Employer. The talk given to us, has been one of the most helpful, of all the talks in my Transition Year, as it has given me a very important insight into the working world, which I will begin to experience now more frequently, and will allow me to make confident and smart decisions about where and when I will  begin working!

Monthly Photo Post – April

To make my blog more interesting and to keep track of my favorite photos that I have took in the past month, I have decided to start up a ‘Monthly Photo Post’, where I will choose my favorite picture of each month

About this photo:

L-R; Oran, Michael, Ciara, Peter, Michael & Oran

April, has possibly been one of the hardest month to choose photo for my ‘Monthly Photo Post’, as it has been one of the busiest and most fun months of my Transition Year! The photo was taken, just after the Mud Run, which we did, at the start of the month. The mud run, has been one of the best experience of my Transition Year, and it was something, that I will remember fondly, for a long time! It was such a sense of achievement, when I completed the 5k. Despite it being freezing cold, the mud run was unforgettable!

The Eir Junior Spider Awards

Yesterday, I was at an event that celebrated, the work carried out on this very blog! I was at the Eir Junior Spider Awards, in which my Transition Year Blog, was shortlisted for the Giga Spiders – ‘Best Individual Project’ Category!

At 7 o’clock in the morning, myself, Mr Boyle and Gerard, left and headed for Croke Park, where the awards were being held. We drove down, and arrived at the stadium at 11 o’clock, after stopping in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan, for breakfast at about nine!

The awards ceremony got underway at about 11:30, where all of the shortlisted gathered, in the Hogan Stand Mezzanine. Here there were all types of events and displays showcasing everything from CoderDojo Displays, to Plate Spinning. During this time, we were free to walk around, and take in the surroundings. Along with all of the displays, there was a competition being ran, where we were asked to send our #JuniorSpiders selfies, to them on Twitter, where prizes would be up for grabs! All of us, were very busy tweeting our photos, and I was fortunate enough to win a new 4G Alcatel One Touch Pixi 3 Smartphone, with this photo:

Following, the numerous selfies, I started talking to a Reporter with RTÉ – Nick Sheridan, who presents news2day, on RTÉ2. I was talking to him about this blog, and the work, and the work that I carried out on it, when he asks me to stand for an interview for their news report on the Eir Junior Spiders Awards! Of course, I accepted his offer, and recorded the interview, still in shock that I would be appearing on TV. Later on in the day, I found out that I was featured on the ‘news2day, news report on RTÉ2 at 4:20.

Click here to watch my interview on news2day!

After being interviewed for television, it was time to find out who had won the awards. We all gathered in the Conference Room, and were guided through the ceremony by MC Aidan Power. The award that I was shortlisted for, had seven amazing entries, and was one of the largest categories of the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, I did not achieve the award, and it went to an fantastic website – YouthTech.ni. It was an amazing website, and was a well deserved winner.

Following, the presentation of the awards, we left the conference room, took our goodie bags, and headed for home, happy with the day’s events! It was an extremely fun, and unique day, and it was mind-blowing to see that I appeared over the TV.

Getting shortlisted for  the Eir Junior Spiders, was an unbelievable achievement, as I never expected my TY Blog, to ever get this far! A special thanks has to be given to all on Twitter who have engaged with my blog, and the teachers in Crana College, who encouraged me, whilst writing the blog – especially Ms Bradley, Mrs Morrison & Mr Boyle, whose constant dedication to the Transition Year Programme, has been invaluable, and has inspired me to keep up blogging!

Another thanks has to be given to all at the Eir Junior Spiders Team, who arranged yesterday’s amazing events, and also to a digital idol of mine Colin Meagle, CEO of Continuum, which sponsored and judged the category . Congrats to all of the winners yesterday, they were all amazing!

 

My Progressions in the Transition Year Drama Module!

Drama, is one of the newest, and most exciting modules of my Transition Year. I started studying the module, three weeks ago in my TY Performing Arts class, and since then,  it has not only interested me greatly, but has also showed me about an area of ‘The Arts’ that I have never experienced before.

Over the past three weeks, I had to keep a log of all the work that we did in each week of the module, and reading over this weeks module, I decided to blog it, to give my readers an insight into the module!

Similarly to last week, this week in our Performing Arts module, we were very busy working on dialogue and beginning to express our voices.  This week, again allowed me to, understand drama, and work with others. In its second week, we were given the chance to practice this through a number of activities. I really enjoyed this week, as I liked learning about dialogue, and how to express it! The Drama Module, is a really interesting module in my Transition Year, as it combines many activities and exercises into one class, of which a quick overview of them can be seen below!

Warm Up

Once again, we began by warming up our voices, by all expressing our names through different emotions, before we recited some items,and began then to work our way into different movements, and small routines. We played a few games, and did a few exercises to warm up also.

Drama Exercise

We, worked together in small groups, pairs, and teams, and began with a few drama exercises, movements and games. For the majority of the time when we were doing these exercises, I worked along with Aaron, and sometimes along with Gerard. Some games and activities that we did over the last few weeks, were done again – ie: freeze frame & mirror images.

Group Piece

We participated in a group acting session! We had to come up with a scene and act it! I was in a scene along with the other boys in my class – Aaron, Denis, Gerard, Adam, Tomás & Donncha. We had to experiment with different scenarios, and devise different events and scenes. We got a chance to both mime these scenes, and to express them with dialogue.

The Module, so far has been extremely enjoyable, and has allowed me to learn about something totally new for me -Drama. It has been such a fun three weeks of the module so far, and I can’t wait for the next few Tuesdays, where TY will once again dive into the World of Drama!

 

Transition Year Architecture Module is completed!

This morning, in my Architecture class, Transition Year Students finally finished their Irish Architecture Foundation’s Module. The module has been one of the most interesting (and blogged about!) modules of my Transition Year.

I was really happy, this morning to finish my design task, in which we all had to create a model for a new school campus for Crana College, which will form part of my Summer Portfolio Assessment for my Architecture Class.

Since December, each student was facilitated with a ‘Design Journal’ which would help us to create and design an idea for our Design Task, which would be created in March & April. I really enjoyed filling put the Design Journal, as it allowed me to become more aware of architecture all around me, as well as of the architecture that is found in everyday life.

Throughout this project I learned many new valuable skills, and experienced architecture first hand! I became more aware of aspects such as  height, elevation, planning, functionality, and design, all of which form important aspects of design. I also learned about various architects and their work dotted around the world, and allowed me to create my own designs!

The Architecture Module, has certainly been one of, if not the most enjoyable module’s of my Transition Year! A special thanks has top be given to Mr Boyle & Breedge Galbraith, who helped us throughout the module!

Worker’s Rights Talk with the ICTU & ISSU

On Friday, we were given a very insightful, and a very useful, talk based around the topic of ‘Worker’s Rights’, which was of major importance for Transition Year Students, who have working, for the first time this year, through our work experience.

Transition Year, and Leaving Certificate Applied Students, were gathered together to be given this talk, by a representative from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), and the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU), of which have developed the website, and advisory service – youth-connect.ie, which aims to advise Irish Teenagers, about a wide variety of areas, and items of importance to  Irish Teens.

The areas that we were advised on, in this talk was mainly based around regulations of 14/ 15 /16 /17 Year Olds working in Ireland. We firstly discussed the minimum wage, that there is in Ireland, which can be seen below:

• Aged 14-18: €6.41 per hour.
• Aged 18 and over, with one year experience: €7.32 per hour.
• Aged 18 and over, with two years experience: €8.24 per hour
• Experienced adult worker: €9.15 per hour.

This means that for students, like me, if I were to get a part time job, and were to get paid, the minimum wage would be €6.41 per hour, whilst an experienced adult worker would get €9.15 per hour, as a minimum payment from their employer.

We, were then given an insight into the resting (break) hours that there are for any worker, depending on their age. Similarly, to the minimum wage, there is a breakdown, and there is also a restrictions on the amount of hours that can be worked dependent on age, however, the maximum hours which can be worked for the most experienced members of the workforce is 39 hours per week (plus overtime). However, with younger workers, there are certain restrictions about working after certain time periods, and when they can work (IE: weekends, holidays, weekdays, etc.).

The talk given to us, has been one of the most helpful, of all the talks in my Transition Year, as it has given me a very important insight into the working world, which I will begin to experience now more frequently, and will allow me to make confident and smart decisions about where and when I will  begin working!

 

Cross-Correcting English Short Stories in Creative Writing

Today, in my Transition Year Creative Writing Module, we participated in a very different and interesting method of learning. This method of learning was based around the Short Stories, which we wrote prior to the events of today!

We have all been writing 4 A4 Page, Short Stories over the past month in this module, and today, after all of the stories were finalised, we began to ‘cross-correct’ them. Cross-Correcting, is when two students in a class will anonymously correct and scrutinise the work of the other student.

We were all given an essay which was written by another member of the class, however the work carried out was today was totally anonymous, as the essays had been typed, and all names and indicators of identity were covered in tipex. We each had to then read an essay, of an another student in the class. This allowed for us to get the chance to get and receive both positive and constructive criticism from others from the class!

The short stories, which I were reading have been of a very high standard, and it has given me a great inside into the examination system for English at Leaving Certificate, as it highlights the importance of the uniqueness of an essay for an examiner, in order to achieve the highest possible result for the student.

This activity, will also give me a chance to be able to receive a lot of positive and constructive criticism from my own short story, which was also scrutinised by another student in my class. I am really happy to undergo this activity – It has given me an insight into the examination system, and also has improved my learning experience in Crana College drastically!