Today, Friday the 31st of March, I went to an Athletics Coaching Course in Sandford Park School with Emma, Rachael Cullen, Claire, Rachel Whitten and Elena Tice. Ms Scott asked me, a few days ago, if I’d be interested in attending this course, as by completing this course I would be qualified to help coach the younger years. Immediately I said yes, as it seemed like an interesting and practical course! I then asked a few others if they’d like to join me doing the course, and by Friday there was four of us going. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I was asked to do this course as I’m not really a talented and skilled athlete, unlike the others doing the course with me! I was silently hoping it would be more theory than us racing or doing the actual activities as I feared I would be the least experienced athlete there! A little nervous but mostly excited I climbed into the mini bus on Friday morning and sat beside Emma. It was a beautiful day, the sun was heating the windows making them almost too hot to touch! When we arrived at Sandford Park, I suddenly recognised it. I remembered playing a competitive tennis match here last year with Emma! We ambled into the sports hall, and were shown to our seats. There were a less schools than I had expected, there was Loreto Dalkey, Mount Anville, Muckross, Sandford Park and a couple of other schools. I wondered why we only brought girls with us, since there were some boys attending the course as well. Without further adieu the course commenced and a very athletic-looking lady appeared in front of us and a Powerpoint Presentation came into view behind her! Tennis courts at Sandford Park! The first part of the course focused on the theory of coaching. We were explained in great detail the procedures for being a good and successful coach, as well as the different types of coaching methods and the benefits of each type. In addition we were told all about health and safety, and the responsibility of being a coach. There were many other fascinating slides included in this presentation, but I won’t bore you by explaining them all! Before our break, we had to depict the ‘perfect coach’ on a large piece of paper. I teamed up with everyone from Gerard’s and we drew a massive stick-man and wrote all the qualities of a ‘perfect-coach’ around the page. I was nominated to present and explain our depiction to the rest of the students! I learned a great deal about coaching athletics in those two hours. During break we got to explore the school campus a little, and I was surprised how the atmosphere around this school was very different to Gerard’s! It felt almost as if we were in a university, as there were many different buildings which students came swarming out of for break, and for some reason there seemed to be many variations of the uniform! The fact that there seemed to be many international students added to that ‘university feel’! Sandford Park Campus! The next part was outdoors! We were shown how to do different types of warm-ups, and we also had to do them ourselves. The grass was damp, so before the morning was over we were all muddy and wet! It was interesting learning the numerous different warm-ups we could do with younger athletes, there were many I had never seen or heard of before! During this activity I started talking with a few of the students there, and they were very friendly! After a nice lunch in the town of Ranelagh, we entered the sports hall once again for another theory session. I listened attentively and took mental notes on useful tips and advice that I could employ in the future. With only one more session to go, and just under three hours left we meandered outdoors to the sports field. Here the coach demonstrated the long jump and the shot put. We each got the opportunity to try both activities ourselves, and the coach watched us as we did the activities and gave up tips on how to improve. I wasn’t great at either activities (thankfully not the worst either!) but nonetheless I really enjoyed myself. After attempting the long jump and shotput we were briefly shown the methods of teaching these activities to younger athletes. I can confidently say I know almost all the techniques involved in the long jump and shot put(even though when I do them, it doesn't seem to work as good as it should!). The long jump! The shot put! To bring this interesting course to an end we were shown how to operate the starting blocks. Starting blocks are a device used in the sport of track and field by sprint athletes to hold their feet at the start of a race so they do not slip as they push out at the sound of the gun. I believe I was one of the few people who had never used the starting blocks before, but I was there to learn! I know my sister uses starting blocks often, as she does a lot of running competitions. Lastly we did a relay race, boys against girls (which I thought was a little unfair!). It was lots of fun and very exciting as both teams had equal speed, but at the very last moment the girl fell and so the boys won the race! An image of starting blocks, and Usain Bolt on the starting blocks I had a wonderful day out, and I found the course very informative and practical. I will try to remember all information I learned today, so that I can coach the younger students in the best way possible! If anyone is thinking of doing this course next year, I would certainly recommend it, as you get a lot out of it.
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The very first day back at school in August, we were given an introduction to Transition Year, explaining how it works and what we can expect. We were also given a TY induction pack, with all the necessary forms for the beginning of Transition Year. On this day I learned that the school gives us the opportunity to do extra-curricular courses throughout the school year. Honestly, I wanted to do all of the courses available, but that would be a bit much! So I choose to do three of these courses: Public Access to Law, ECDL(European Computer Driving Licence) and First Aid. Public Access to Law was to take place the 11th of November; in August this date seemed ages away! Suddenly the 11th of November was at our doorstep, the time has gone too fast! Today, Friday the 11th the group of students who decided to partake in the Public Access to Law course met in the Halla Nua first thing in the morning. It was fascinating to observe the type of students that chose to do this course. A barrister was invited into St Gerards to broaden our knowledge on law and to give us a taste of what a trial is like. I was very excited for this course! As I am not entirely certain what career I would like to pursue in the future, my aim for Transition Year is to create options and possibilities and try out as many different things as possible! Prior to this course I already had an interest in law. My mother is a self-employed lawyer and my granny likes to watch ‘Judge Judy’, so I guess it's in the family! The course started off with. introducing herself and explaining to us the main concepts of law; such as the difference between a barrister and a solicitor, why we have laws, how laws come in place etc. Then we had a group discussion on various previous cases. The Barrister explained to us previous cases that had been brought to court and we all voiced our opinions on the motifs of the criminals and the decision of the jury. I found it hard to understand how humans can have the ability to murder another person, without feeling remorse. The concept of mass murder and serial killers frightens me, but what scares me more is that humanity have the ability to do this. It was an extremely interesting discussion A barrister's wig! A very important aspect of court cases is that, in order to prove your case you must have adequate evidence. As we know, evidence is found and examined by Forensic Scientists. Therefore we watched a video of Forensic Scientists trying to crack a case by looking for evidence and analysing it. Watching this video really helped me put what the barrister was saying into context, and created a clearer picture of law and the function it plays in society as well as the importance of evidence. After break, during which we had our YSI bake sale, we got the chance to do mock trials. I was, to say the least, excited and looking forward to acting out court cases with my friends! Court cases on television can be interesting, dramatic and as times over-powering. I was looking forward to seeing what our trials would be like. The first mock trial we did involved a two drivers and resulted with an assault. The story behind the trial goes something like this: The taxi driver, acted by Eoin was driving dangerously on the motorway early one morning. Another driver, Harry, was annoyed with the taxi driver for driving badly so he made an angry gesture at the taxi and slightly bumped into the taxi. Eoin was angry so he came to a complete halt, got out the taxi and started shouting at Harry. Then Eoin grabbed Harry’s keys from the ignition; this provoked Harry and caused him to supposedly ‘assault’ Eoin by twisting his wrist to get the keys back and kicking Eoin. There were some witnesses present at the trial too, and Anabel, Dillon, Darcy and Odhran were the barristers. The trial was very exciting and entertaining. I thought the barristers did a great job and their final speeches were exceptional. Once the trial ended, the jury (consisting of everyone else) had to make the decision: Is Harry guilty of assault or not? And it turns out that we couldn’t come to a clear decision as in order to convict a person the jury must totally agree. The next trial was about a passenger causing trouble on an airplane and fighting with the cabin crew and stewards. The defendant, Lauren Fahy, was convicted with disturbing public peace. The third and final trial was set in the context of a Gaelic Football match. Ultimately what happened is that after a match between two rival teams the referee, Pat Parker, and a player, Chris O’Connor got into a fight about a penalty awarded to the opposing team which resulted in the referee pushing over the player causing him to awkwardly twist his ankle. The referee was charged with assault. In this mock trial Robert was Chris O’Connor, the injured played and I was the aggressive referee, Pat Parker (we pretended it was a female!). Emma and Andrew were the barristers. It was a thrilling experience, being questioned in a firm and demanding manner. I found it quite challenging to sit in front of the jury and tell them my side of the story, it was even more challenging to answer Emma’s (the barrister) questions; a few times she caught me out and I had to quickly cover up for myself! The trial resulted with Pat Parker not being guilty (even though I personally thought Pat Parker was guilty!). In conclusion it was a eye opening course that has given me an insight into law and court cases. I enjoyed the day very much and will definitely consider law for a future career.
On Thursday the 17th of November, all the senior students had the opportunity to participate in the “Careers Evening” event, organised by the Career’s Councillor, Mrs Maguire. I was excited when we received the form on which we had to tick the careers we would be interested in learning more about! I thought very deeply about which careers I wanted to learn more about, as at the moment I am not quite sure what I would like to pursue in the future. I am trying to keep my eyes and mind open to all possible careers during Transition Year. Thursdays are generally busy days for me! I have ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) after school and then I help out at Greystones Library as part of my Gaisce Community Service. Today I had to cancel the library as we were going to have the Careers Evening! When I entered the Junior School Hall at 7.30pm, I was amazed to see several tables set up everywhere around the hall. Signs were hung above tables to show which careers this person would be talking about. I immediately sat at the Public Relations table with Carla and Anna. I actually knew very little about Public Relations prior to this event. I am glad that I now know and understand a great deal more about Public Relations than before, and it also seems an exciting and appealing career. The tables were full very quickly, so you had to run to get a place! Next I went to a lady who was talking to is about Business Studies. This is a very broad and interesting career, and the talk helped me grasp the concept of Business and the type of careers it is better. The following talk I attended was Human Resource Manager. I found this career particularly appealing as it seems to tick many of the boxes of what I like and what I am good at! The fact that females tend to go towards the careers of Human Resource Manager more than men, fascinated me. Quickly I claimed a seat at the table for Journalism, TV/Film and Drama. I could really relate to the speaker, and her career interested me very much. It seems quite an exciting yet difficult job! However I do enjoy writing extremely much, and the idea of doing it as a big part of my career seems very nice. Lastly I went to the Marketing table. Since I did Business for the Junior Cert I have a fair idea of what marketing is and what the career entails. Nonetheless it was useful to talk to a person who is involved in marketing themselves, to get an insight into the career. This Careers Evening has really inspired me and opened my mind to many possible options for future careers. I was very happy with the talks I went to, and thought the speakers were especially kind and answered all my questions fully!
Monday, 24th October Entering school on Monday morning in my tracksuit, I walked into the Halla Nua not knowing what to expect from this Martial Art course! I have very little knowledge on the topic of self defence and martial arts. This course seemed to me as very useful and practical, to defend ourselves in the future. We were greeted by our two instructors, Daragh and Cathy, who are both very experienced martial arts and self defence instructors. The first part of the course was theory, which is almost as useful as the practical part of the course! We were shown a detailed slideshow on self defence, including a few videos of people street fighting and an elderly man being mugged. The purpose of the video of the man being mugged at a train platform was to investigate the stages of the man approaching the elderly man and eventually stealing his laptop. It is very important if we sense someone is a threat or dodgy we must always follow our gut instinct and be alert. When the ‘bad guy’ asks their victim a question they are ultimately interviewing them. Based in the answer the victim gives, they can figure out whether they are an easy target or not. Therefore if we feel we are being ‘interviewed’ by a ‘bad guy’ we must make a point of looking them in the eyes and answering with confidence. Very importantly we must be assertive, especially girls. I found this information very useful as I feel sometimes I am not assertive enough and this could have consequences. I now fully comprehend how to respond to a potential threat. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation, where we are not sure how dangerous a person could be or we don’t know what to do we must follow the SAFER method. S stands for step back, A for asses the situation using the POP method (place object person), F for find help, E for evaluate the possibilities and R for respond. We must not react to a situation but rather respond, as responding involves thought and is safer. We were provided with a lot of valuable information to defend ourselves and to avoid being attacked. We were explained that there are three main reasons you might be attacked: for property, physical attacks, or to be killed, and we were told how to handle each type of attack. Next we all ambled down to the sports hall to commence the practical part of the course, the part most of us had been waiting for! We got into groups of 6, I was with Emma, Carla, Anna, Eleanor and Lily. Firstly each group was given a pad, which one person from each group took turns holding. The pad represented a person’s head! We were shown how to effectively slap, punch, elbow, knee and kick the ‘head’. I greatly enjoyed this, as it is almost fun to muster all the power you have and lash out at a pad, I think I would be a lot less enjoyable were it an actual head! Emma was by far the strongest, her kicks were very powerful! It is interesting to see how some people are very aggressive if they want to be, while others remain calm but accurate with their punches and slaps. Everyone thought it was hilarious that I had to jump to successfully knee the pad, as I am quite small! After lunch we moved on to ground fighting. Daragh told us the last place you want to be in, during a street fight is on the ground, as you are a lot weaker and more vulnerable. We did a few exercises where we had to get off the ground as quickly as possible. Some people had good balance and got back onto their feet in no time, however others had more difficulty and kept falling back down! We were shown how to successfully get off the ground, and how to bring our opponent down to the ground using a few simple but effective tricks. As the day went on, instead of getting more tired, our year seemed to get more energetic and aggressive! We ended up doing actual ground fighting, the goal of the exercise was to pin your opponent to the ground for 3 seconds. A few girls did this exercise, but almost all the boys did it. They were very competitive and a few minor injuries aroused! It felt almost barbaric as we cheered on the boys fighting and scrambling on the mats...like wild animals. When it was time to go home I definitely felt more confident and skillful. I was already looking forward to tomorrow! Tuesday 25th October As opposed to yesterday, today’s schedule was all practical. We started off the day by getting into pairs and performing elaborate and slightly complicated moves. I paired up with Emma, there was only a bit of a height difference so when we had to ‘strangle’ the other person I couldn’t reach! The instructor advised me if I am in a situation where my opponent is bigger than me (most likely) I should first kick them in the groin and then strangle them (violent, I know!). It was very fun and exciting doing all these sequences as they looked and felt very realistic. Our instructors made a point of putting all the moves they teach us into context so we know when they could be used. I very important thing I learned is that if you ever find yourself being strangled the first thing you should do is bring your chin down to your neck as this will help the blood and oxygen flow to your brain. The following exercise we did was based on ground fighting again. This time we were all a bit more experienced and knew how to do the basic things in ground fighting. Soon afterwards the instructors brought in weapons. Firstly we were all given a bat, and were taught to to protect ourselves from a swinging bat and how to disarm a person. It was quite entertaining watching my year swinging rubber bats dramatically at each other and them swiftly disarming their fellow student! Then knives were brought in. Even though they were rubber knives, they could still potentially injure someone, so it was a bit frightening combating with my partner who possessed a knife! The method to disarm someone, be it a bat or a knife, remains mostly the same. By the time I managed to get the knife off Emma, I would probably be stabbed to death...The part of this course I found most frightening was the exercise where your partner sits on you and forces the knife down directly at your chest. The sensation of lying on the floor and a knife directly above you was, to say the least, frightening! Daragh and Cathy demonstrated how to forcefully stop the knife from coming down on us, and how to reverse our positions so that the victim gets onto the ‘bad guy’ in a matter of seconds. All it really takes is strength and aggression! The 'stabbing' exercise, demonstrated by Carla and Eleanor! As we were leaning all these fascinating skills I had forgotten we were also going to be assessed on them! As I am in form D, I was in one of the last groups to be assessed. The test was mainly fitness, strength and aggression based. I was paired with Mar. As Mar held the pad I had to slap it with all the power I could, them run up and down to the wall, then do push-ups and punch the pad. The format of the assessment was: performed a skill on the pads, run up and down and then do some type of exercise. I actually enjoyed the assessment more than I thought I would! I got really into it, and forgot I was getting tired or out-of breath. Finally we were shown what to do when the ‘bad guys’ have a gun. According to the instructors guns are rarely used in street fights, their purpose is more to intimidate when they want your property. For example they might hold you at gunpoint and demand for your purse. Although the guns weren’t real, they had the exact same design as a real one, and once I held one I felt a strange feeling of power over my opponent!
In conclusion I found this Martial Arts/Self defence course very useful and enjoyable. The instructors were kind and helpful and the students all participated well! They told us we were the best group they’ve ever instructed at our school, and possibly in the country. This was a lovely end to a great two days. I remember very clearly as I longingly watched last year’s Transition Year students rehearsing for their musical! I truly couldn’t wait until the day that we could commence our musical, and today that day has finally come! The Musical Workshop was just an introduction to the musical, so the teachers could get a sense of our level of singing and dancing. My form was the last group to do the musical workshop, and I had already heard lots of positive feedback from the other forms! We entered the Halla Nua, all full of energy after our lunch break. First of all we did an energetic dance routine together. It was hilarious to see everyone attempt at doing the moves, and after about the 5th time we started to get the hang of it! I really enjoyed this, as everyone was really into it. It was clear that everyone was having fun and no one was being judged or judging. People tripped over each other, some couldn’t stop giggling, and others looked like they were born dancing! After about half an hour of dancing Mrs Olohan arrived. We were then split up into two groups, one group consisting of boys, the other of girls. We were also reminded numerous times that not much was expected from us from the first rehearsal and we would certainly not be judged based on our first day! The song we were given to sing was ‘Summer Loving’ from the musical ‘Grease’. First we sang it as a group, boys together and then girls together. It was amusing to hear people sing who I had never heard sing before, and I was surprised by the hidden talent of some people! Then one girl and one boy had to sing together. I had to sing first with Luke, it went alright! I assume singing in front of your group of friends gets easier over time.
In conclusion I immensely enjoyed my first taste of the musical, although it is still another two months until we are announced what our musical is! I genuinely cannot wait to rehearse and perform with my year! Our very first workshop of Transition Year was called Eagle's Flight. We were told this workshop was aimed at improving our planning skills, help us think more logically and use our time and resources as best we can. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I first heard this. I thought maybe a speaker would come in and simply explain these concepts to us and we could listen and take notes. I certainly did not expect it to be a type of board game that we would play in groups! I entered the Halla Nua on Thursday afternoon full of anticipation. Sinead was the ‘photographer’ so she took a few group photos of us before we commenced the workshop. Next we were assigned to specific groups, each group a different colour. I was with Anabel, Conor, Oliver, Sinead and Jude in the ‘Orange’ group! First we were explained the rules and aims of the game, which was called “The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine”. Then we had fifteen minutes to organise and plan how we were going to play the game with the resources we were given. Immediately my group got organised and we each took on a role in the group. The objective of this game was to get to the gold mine and stay there for as many days as possible. Each day you spend in the gold mine, your team earns $2500. My team decided we would take the longer, yet easier route to the gold mine, which in the long run was the right decision. We also stayed an extra day at the base to gain extra information. This may make little sense to you but I’m explaining as well as I can and hopefully you understand most of the game! Waiting an extra day for the information was really worth it, the information helped us an incredible amount! The game lasted 20 days (each day being 2 minutes), so you had to complete the journey to and from the gold mine within that time. We did lose a day waiting for the information but we gained a lot more knowledge and this enabled us to make educated decisions throughout the game. With a lot of decision making and planning, negotiating and collaborating with other teams we eventually returned ‘home’ and collected $17500, which meant we came second in the class! I feel my team worked very well together, everyone contributed to the team and we listened to each other as well as helped each other. When each team had finished the game we discussed as a class the tactics that could be used to win the game and the meaning of the workshop. The speaker asked us a number of questions that really made us think hard about our actions and decisions. The one thing my team agrees we could have done differently is that we should of stayed an extra two days, as opposed to one day, at the base to receive all the information available to us. This information would have greatly helped us throughout the game. Also I think we could have collaborated more with the other teams.
We learned some valuable information at this workshop such as: what elements are part of a great plan, how important collaboration is with other people, having a specific goal helps you achieve what you would like to, communicating and presenting your ideas with others clearly and most importantly the benefits of planning! In conclusion I greatly enjoyed myself at the Eagle's Flight workshop. It was a fun experience working together with my teammates! It helped me understand how decisions affect everything you do, and how difficult it is to decide between options sometimes. I will now fully appreciate the effort and planning that goes into events and everyday school life as I fully understand how stressful planning, organising and decision making is, especially within a time limit! I would recommend this workshop to next year’s Transition Year students as I feel it is enjoyable and teaches you useful skills. |
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