Voy a ir a Barcelona!

I'M GOING TO BARCELONA! (Aoife Byrne and Roisín helped me with my Spanish hehe).

After the draw for the trip was held last Friday, I was fifth on the reserved list. I was really glad that my name got called out but I didn't think I'd actually get to go! When I was having lunch at work experience on Wednesday, my mam rang me to tell me that I had been offered a place! I was delighted to say the least!

Our trip will be for four days during the Easter break. We will get to do lots of sight-seeing and on the third day, we're going to Port Aventura. I'm so excited!

Only 170 days to go ;-)

WE DID IT

Yesterday, I went to do a charity walk for the Marie Keatinge Foundation in Glendalough,Wicklow with a few other girls in TY and fifth year. We got up really early for the long drive down and the walk started at 11 o'clock. It was much harder than I expected it to be! The first half of the walk was all uphill and we had to take a lot of breaks. We walked up so high that our ears popped! When we got up to the very top, it started lashing rain. We got soaked! The wind was also very strong and at one point, we thought the wind was going to blow us over the edge of the mountain. Luckily, the rain started to stop as we went back down. After the walk we changed into dry clothes and got hot chocolate from the shop.

In total, we walked about 7 kilometers (but it felt like 17 kilometers) and we are still collecting money. I was really tired after the walk but I'm glad I did it as it was for a very good cause. :-)

The scenery on the walk was really pretty!

We got caps :)

Projects!

This is the PowerPoint that Ailbhe, Jessie and I made for our religion project on the Millenium Development Goals. We did our project on the fifth goal, Improve Maternal Health. When we were finished, we had to present the PowerPoint to our class. The aim of our project was to become more informed on the Millenium Development Goals and to find out how we can contribute to achieving the goals. :-)

Millennium development goals project religion from katiedonaghy


This is another PowerPoint that I did for my English project on film studies. I had to pick a scene from my favourite movie and write about the different film techniques used throughout the scene. When I was finished, I had to present my project to my class. :-)

English powerpoint film studies from katiedonaghy

Fun Walk 2013!

On Friday, we had our annual Fun Walk. Every year, as part of Friendship Week, each class must prepare a routine that encourages friendship and anti-bullying. On the day of the Fun Walk, each class must then perform their routine for the rest of the school out on the tennis courts, and a winning class is picked from each year group. 

Our duck costumes!

This year, the colour for TY's was yellow, so my class decided to dress up as ducks. Our tutor, Ms O'R, dressed up as the Mother duck and Lauren Mc dressed up as the Ugly duckling. We had a lot of fun practising our dance and making our costumes! In our performance, all of the ducks were excluding the Ugly duckling at a party, but soon the Mother duck helped us to see that what we were doing was wrong and we became friends with the Ugly duckling. I thought I would be nervous when we were performing, but I actually really enjoyed it!

After our performance, we got to watch the rest of the classes, they were all really good! I was one of the TY's who had volunteered to stand at different points along the route of the walk and make sure that everyone knew what way they were going. There were six of us standing around the same place and we had a good laugh.

When the walk was over, we all went back to the school and got a drink. The prefects put on music and we danced for a while before we went home. I really enjoyed the Fun Walk and we raised lots of money for charities such as the Crumlin Hospital Diabetes Unit. 

This morning we found out that Cornaro were the winning class from TY! We were all delighted that we won and had a party in english class with Ms O'Reilly to celebrate. 

This is a small part of the video that inspired my class' idea.  :-)

Road Safety Week

As part of Road Safety week, a man called Pat Mc Neely came in to do the Drive 4 Life road safety talk with us on Tuesday.  He spoke to us about the main causes of car crashes in Ireland and he told us about the impacts of car accidents on peoples' lives. Although it was very sad, I thought the talk was really good because it showed us just how careful we have to be on the road when we start driving. The talk was sponsored by Kildare Road Safety officer, Declan Keogh, who also came in to visit us. 

By lunchtime, after watching lots of very sad videos, we were all feeling pretty depressed. So to lighten the mood, we all did the RSA theory test. I failed! I got 32 out of 40 and you need to get 35 or more to pass. 

I think that after that talk, we will all be really safe and responsible drivers. :-)  

An Abundance of Selfies

Yesterday, we went on a trip to the Pearse Museum in Rathfarnam. The Museum is dedicated to Patrick Pearse, who was an Irish teacher and one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. First, we went into the nature room and one of the tour guides told us about Pearse's love for nature. Then she took us out into the gardens of the building and told us about all of the trees and other plants there. The gardens were really nice. My favourite tree was the Crimson King because the leaves were really pretty.

After our break, we watched a short film about the history of the school that Pearse set up, St Enda's. It was very interesting. Our tour guide then brought us on a tour of the actual school. The school was also Pearse's home. I thought it was really beautiful. We also got to watch a college student's photo shoot for a portfolio which was really cool. 

When we were finished our tour and our lunch, we all went out into the gardens and made a video with our teachers, Mrs L, Ms O'C and Ms B.

I really enjoyed our trip and I had lots of fun. :-)

Pearse's Office

Ailbhe's new friend

Cornettos!

Siyahamba!

Even though I can't sing to save my life, I decided to join the choir with some of my friends. We have meetings every Monday for an hour after school. We sang at the school mass last Friday. I was really nervous when we first started singing, but as the mass went on I started to enjoy myself a bit more. So far, I think it's really fun and all of the girls in choir are so nice. Below is a video of my favourite song, Siyahamba (still can't pronounce all of the words).    :-) 

Work Experience Worries

Tomorrow is my first day of work experience, and to say I'm nervous is an understatement. I am going to the Liffey Champion newspaper in Leixlip. I'm particularly anxious because Wednesday is the day that the Liffey Champion goes to print, everyone working there will be extremely busy, and to quote the editor, I'll be "thrown in the deep end". 

Despite the nerves, I'm still really excited about starting work experience. I have always been interested in becoming a journalist and I can't wait to see what it's like. This morning I also found out that I'll be doing work experience with another girl from my year, which has definitely made the whole thing a little less scary! 

I start working tomorrow at nine o'clock and don't finish until five. I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing yet but I do know that I'll get a chance to write articles and some might actually be published (only if they're good enough!).

I really hope that after my first day I won't be as nervous and I'll enjoy going out for work experience. :-)