I actually can't believe that there are only 7days left in TY! Such a scary thought. The next few days will be filled with preparation for next next Monday night.. TY NIGHT.. This night has been spoken about all throughout the year and it's very strange to think that this day is so soon. We will be performing our Zumba and Charleston routines as well as showcasing what we have done in each of our subjects throughout this busy year. I am also performing a piece which I wrote myself for the piano on the night which I am really nervous about now! Hopefully it won't go incredibly wrong.. haha. I finished my last project last night - English and it felt so so good! :D No more projects for a few months.. until we are coming back in September to begin our Leaving Cert course.. to say I am dreading this day is such an understatement. Although at the same time it will be a relief to get a sense of routine back, study can't be that bad.. can it?
It is actually frightening how fast the past year has gone by. I learned how to actually bake and cook a few dishes, to the delight of my keen mother. I had two amazing experiences for my work experience weeks - Trinity College and MADRID! - the best time of my life. I learned how to do pilates and Zumba dancing, even though I was completely useless at both. I partook in an African drumming workshop which was so interesting. I performed on stage for the Briary Gap competition in Mullingar, went on a creative writing workshop, visited the Yeats exhibition in Dublin, became involved in the Mini Company competition, received my Junior Certificate results, made alot of new friends and spent alot of time in the computer room! Overall it was a good year, and I've made memories which will last me a lifetime. :-)
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Last Month
I haven't blogged in so so long! The Friday before last the TY group participated in the Ian Daly Swim A Mile With A Smile and it was a really rewarding and worthwhile experience and in my opinion the best part of TY so far. I was in a group with six of my friends which made things alot easier, and we planned to swim a mile which we thought was daunting enough. To our suprise when we finished our first mile we did another, and another, and another! We ended up doing 4 miles between the 6 of us so we were really pleased. The Mcdonalds afterwards was a great reward for our hard work. :-)
The projects are building up as we're nearing to the end of the TY year. In English we watched the film ''Sylvia'' based on the life of the famous poet Sylvia Plath who suffered with depression for the majority of her short life. Her career and success is very inspirational and our class our making a scrapbook with some of her works.
Last week we made a trip to Glendalough and we went on a retreat. The weather wasn't great so it was good to get home and in to fresh clothes!
Only a few weeks left! Kind of a scary thought..
The projects are building up as we're nearing to the end of the TY year. In English we watched the film ''Sylvia'' based on the life of the famous poet Sylvia Plath who suffered with depression for the majority of her short life. Her career and success is very inspirational and our class our making a scrapbook with some of her works.
Last week we made a trip to Glendalough and we went on a retreat. The weather wasn't great so it was good to get home and in to fresh clothes!
Only a few weeks left! Kind of a scary thought..
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Busy TYs
It was a sort of culture shock to be back in school last Monday morning after only arriving back from Spain on Sunday night, I miss it so much! Its nice to be back eating regular food though, and of course experiencing the gorgeous Irish weather... not. Alot of stuff has been happening over the last two weeks in our TY lives:
Last Wednesday we were given a drumming workshop by a man named Dave who was really talented at playing the drums and he gave us an interesting workshop for the whole day, my hands were sore at the end of it! We got to use different instruments from the percussion family which were from different parts of Africa and were decorated beautifully with different skins, threads and patterns. I really enjoyed the workshop because I'm realy interested in the rhythmic aspect of music and I thought that it was great that we got to try something new.
On Thursday the author Debbie Thomas came in to speak to us about creative writing and gave us tips on how to write a good story. She was really lovely and I found her to be quite inspirational - she has written children books of her own and is a successful author, something that I'd love to be perhaps when I finish college.
Yesterday we had a film workshop in the library where all of the TYs watched a film called 'Sometimes In April' which was a film highlighting the genocide which occured in 1994 in Rwanda in Africa. It involved two tribes in Africa who were having a civil argument in which over 100 days, 1 million people were brutally murdered. I found the film to be upsetting at parts, for example a seen where a group of school girls of about our age were shot, but for the mostpart I enjoyed it and I think it had a very strong message. I feel it was important for us, the TYs, to see this film so that we realise that the misfortunate people in Africa and of different parts of the Third World need our help and that although not always publicised, there is a tremendous amount of injustice and in-equality still in many parts of our world. An example of recently publicity is the hype around criminal Kony, which many people are now more aware of thanks to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I'd like to finish this this blog post with a quote which I felt was very powerful from the film - ''We are sisters, we will stay together''.
Last Wednesday we were given a drumming workshop by a man named Dave who was really talented at playing the drums and he gave us an interesting workshop for the whole day, my hands were sore at the end of it! We got to use different instruments from the percussion family which were from different parts of Africa and were decorated beautifully with different skins, threads and patterns. I really enjoyed the workshop because I'm realy interested in the rhythmic aspect of music and I thought that it was great that we got to try something new.
On Thursday the author Debbie Thomas came in to speak to us about creative writing and gave us tips on how to write a good story. She was really lovely and I found her to be quite inspirational - she has written children books of her own and is a successful author, something that I'd love to be perhaps when I finish college.
Yesterday we had a film workshop in the library where all of the TYs watched a film called 'Sometimes In April' which was a film highlighting the genocide which occured in 1994 in Rwanda in Africa. It involved two tribes in Africa who were having a civil argument in which over 100 days, 1 million people were brutally murdered. I found the film to be upsetting at parts, for example a seen where a group of school girls of about our age were shot, but for the mostpart I enjoyed it and I think it had a very strong message. I feel it was important for us, the TYs, to see this film so that we realise that the misfortunate people in Africa and of different parts of the Third World need our help and that although not always publicised, there is a tremendous amount of injustice and in-equality still in many parts of our world. An example of recently publicity is the hype around criminal Kony, which many people are now more aware of thanks to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I'd like to finish this this blog post with a quote which I felt was very powerful from the film - ''We are sisters, we will stay together''.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Experience of a Lifetime.
Work experience has by far been the best thing about TY for me so far. It is so beneficial, you get to feel what it's like to be working and what life is, and can be, like after school.
I would say that this week here working in La Canada, the bilingual school in Madrid, has been the best experience I have ever had, not only in TY, but in my life to date. I spent my week working in many different classes of the school, with ages ranging from 3 years old to about 11 or 12. I was basically assisting the teachers to teach the students, mostly in English classes, helping with pronunciation and understanding, but sometimes I was in Spanish classes where I was observing and myself learning Spanish. Most days I helped give aural exams to the kids which are kind of like the exams we have in our school for French and Spanish. The questions were like "Do you have any pets and describe them" and "Describe your family and tell me their birthdays". I really enjoyed going through the questions with them and trying to explain meanings to them, I was forced to use some Spanish too which was good for me.
In the Spanish bilingual schooling system three subjects must be taught through English, in this school they were Science, Arts&Crafts and Mathematics. I was really impressed by the children's level of English especially in the science classes, they were learning about the solar system and all of the planets, they actually knew more than me even though they were speaking in what was a foreign language to them. In the classes I was in with the infants, I was teaching them the English names of all of the animals, such as "monkey" and "giraffe", stuff like that. I helped them do finger painting, read them stories through my bad Spanish pronunciation and helped to teach them stuff like the days of the week and numbers. In Spain children start school when they're three and they have to do the full day, there's no going home at half past one like Ireland.
The classes which I enjoyed most were the music classes. The music teacher was brilliant, so friendly and really talented. She had a very minimal amount of English so I spoke to her in Spanish. All of the children learn to play the recorder in school, and I taught them an Irish reel which I knew from when I did recorder when I was younger, they really liked it and some of them were attempting to Irish dance.. aha it was hilarious. In Spain from 1-3 is a time of rest, so the children either go home or stay and eat in the school, it was weird having such a long break during the day, comparing to our school lunch of 40 minutes..
Today, which was my last day, there was a trip to the Royal Palace in Madrid which I accompanied the 5th and 6th graders on. One of the students Isabella loves speaking English, so during the tour she translated what the tour guide was saying in Spanish to me in English which was very helpful. The children all had to take notes in English as it was a part of one of their cultural projects.
I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work in a school like this which such a nice atmosphere with lovely students, teachers and workers. I am not looking forward to tyhe end of the day when I have to say goodbye to all of the kids, they are so nice. I would definately recommend working abroad to anyone interested in further work experiences involving teaching English to children. For me this wasn't just work experience but an experience of a lifetime, and I will never forget it :-)
I would say that this week here working in La Canada, the bilingual school in Madrid, has been the best experience I have ever had, not only in TY, but in my life to date. I spent my week working in many different classes of the school, with ages ranging from 3 years old to about 11 or 12. I was basically assisting the teachers to teach the students, mostly in English classes, helping with pronunciation and understanding, but sometimes I was in Spanish classes where I was observing and myself learning Spanish. Most days I helped give aural exams to the kids which are kind of like the exams we have in our school for French and Spanish. The questions were like "Do you have any pets and describe them" and "Describe your family and tell me their birthdays". I really enjoyed going through the questions with them and trying to explain meanings to them, I was forced to use some Spanish too which was good for me.
In the Spanish bilingual schooling system three subjects must be taught through English, in this school they were Science, Arts&Crafts and Mathematics. I was really impressed by the children's level of English especially in the science classes, they were learning about the solar system and all of the planets, they actually knew more than me even though they were speaking in what was a foreign language to them. In the classes I was in with the infants, I was teaching them the English names of all of the animals, such as "monkey" and "giraffe", stuff like that. I helped them do finger painting, read them stories through my bad Spanish pronunciation and helped to teach them stuff like the days of the week and numbers. In Spain children start school when they're three and they have to do the full day, there's no going home at half past one like Ireland.
The classes which I enjoyed most were the music classes. The music teacher was brilliant, so friendly and really talented. She had a very minimal amount of English so I spoke to her in Spanish. All of the children learn to play the recorder in school, and I taught them an Irish reel which I knew from when I did recorder when I was younger, they really liked it and some of them were attempting to Irish dance.. aha it was hilarious. In Spain from 1-3 is a time of rest, so the children either go home or stay and eat in the school, it was weird having such a long break during the day, comparing to our school lunch of 40 minutes..
Today, which was my last day, there was a trip to the Royal Palace in Madrid which I accompanied the 5th and 6th graders on. One of the students Isabella loves speaking English, so during the tour she translated what the tour guide was saying in Spanish to me in English which was very helpful. The children all had to take notes in English as it was a part of one of their cultural projects.
I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work in a school like this which such a nice atmosphere with lovely students, teachers and workers. I am not looking forward to tyhe end of the day when I have to say goodbye to all of the kids, they are so nice. I would definately recommend working abroad to anyone interested in further work experiences involving teaching English to children. For me this wasn't just work experience but an experience of a lifetime, and I will never forget it :-)
Monday, 27 February 2012
Estoy en Espana! :-) !!
For my second work experience I had the opportunity to travel to Madrid and work in a bilingual school there, where both English and Spanish is spoken. I thought that this would be a great way for me to brush up on my Spanish, aswell as being able to experience teaching English in a foreign country.
I arrived on Friday evening and my Spanish friend, Patricia, brought my mam and I back to her brothers apartment to meet all of the family and have dinner, which was tapas - a traditional set of dishes in Spain. Alot of dishes were set out in the middle of the table and we could just pick as we went. They were delicious but some of them were very strange tasting. After the main food everyone ate fruit, I found this kind of strange because usually people don´t eat alot of fruit in Ireland, especially before their dessert.
On Saturday I went on a walking tour of Madrid, it is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been in and the weather is so gorgeous, today its 20 degrees which is a change from Irelands February weather anyway. There were loads of musicians and performers in the streets and there was just generally a great atmosphere. Yeserday I went to ´"Los Mercados" which are markets set up in Madrid towns and villages on Saturday mornings. I only bought a few bracelets and things for friends, but you can buy everything from clothes to cooking utensils.
Day 1
Today was my first day in the school, I got up at about half 7 and we left the apartment at half 8, arriving at about 10 to 9 when I met the principal, teachers and other English and American students who have been doing work placements in the school, some for 2 years now! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and doing their best to speak slowly considering that my Spanish is hardly brilliant. I was then brought up to my first class where Science was being taught through English to the students. I was really suprised at how good their level of English was, they were able to talk to me and understand what I was saying almost perfectly. They were curious about Ireland and asked me some of the most random questions I have ever heard.. such as ´"What is your favorite amphibian?" and "Do you prefer carnivores or herbivores?" The children were all so lovely though, so welcoming :) In my second class I helped the students with pernounciation of English words and explaining their meanings to them. We then had a small break of a half hour where we got tea and fruit to eat in the cafeteria. After the next two classes the children have a two hour break which is extremely common in Spain. Some of the children go home and eat lunch or some stay here and play in the yard. During this time I sat outside wth two of the American girlsin the sun and I am now usig my spare time in the computer room, so far I am having an excellent experience :D I love work experience!!
I arrived on Friday evening and my Spanish friend, Patricia, brought my mam and I back to her brothers apartment to meet all of the family and have dinner, which was tapas - a traditional set of dishes in Spain. Alot of dishes were set out in the middle of the table and we could just pick as we went. They were delicious but some of them were very strange tasting. After the main food everyone ate fruit, I found this kind of strange because usually people don´t eat alot of fruit in Ireland, especially before their dessert.
On Saturday I went on a walking tour of Madrid, it is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been in and the weather is so gorgeous, today its 20 degrees which is a change from Irelands February weather anyway. There were loads of musicians and performers in the streets and there was just generally a great atmosphere. Yeserday I went to ´"Los Mercados" which are markets set up in Madrid towns and villages on Saturday mornings. I only bought a few bracelets and things for friends, but you can buy everything from clothes to cooking utensils.
Day 1
Today was my first day in the school, I got up at about half 7 and we left the apartment at half 8, arriving at about 10 to 9 when I met the principal, teachers and other English and American students who have been doing work placements in the school, some for 2 years now! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and doing their best to speak slowly considering that my Spanish is hardly brilliant. I was then brought up to my first class where Science was being taught through English to the students. I was really suprised at how good their level of English was, they were able to talk to me and understand what I was saying almost perfectly. They were curious about Ireland and asked me some of the most random questions I have ever heard.. such as ´"What is your favorite amphibian?" and "Do you prefer carnivores or herbivores?" The children were all so lovely though, so welcoming :) In my second class I helped the students with pernounciation of English words and explaining their meanings to them. We then had a small break of a half hour where we got tea and fruit to eat in the cafeteria. After the next two classes the children have a two hour break which is extremely common in Spain. Some of the children go home and eat lunch or some stay here and play in the yard. During this time I sat outside wth two of the American girlsin the sun and I am now usig my spare time in the computer room, so far I am having an excellent experience :D I love work experience!!
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Drama Queens
Last Tuesday we packed up our costumes, props and scripts and headed off to the Mullingar Arts Centre for the Briery Gap drama competition for TYs. We arrived there at about half 10 and still dreary and sleepy-eyed, we set our eyes on the stage on which we would be performing infront of the judges. Nerves kicked in as we all came to the conclusion that we would have no microphones and would be forced to ''project our voices'' - in other words.. shout. The stage was big but thankfully not as big as we'd been expecting - something like the O2. Our play, based on the poem by Seamus Heaney - Midterm Break - was the first to have a rehearsal on the stage. Interrupting our rehearsal was a woman who seemd to be in charge of the competition, letting us know that the competition was infact about to start! Start? We had bearly finished our first rehearsal on stage.. none of the other groups were going to get a chance to get a feel of the stage or get any last minute practises fitted in. There was a scramble as many of the TYs ran backstage to get in to their costumes and get organised. It was our groups turn first. We awaited nervously in the wings and stepping out on the the bear, black stage realised that all of the spotlights were focused directly on us. You couldn't see anyone in the audience, which at that stage was only our English teachers, the judge and class Folda who didn't participate in the competition, making it alot easier to recite our lines. Our play went as well as it could of, with Elaina giving a really convincing few tears, well done Elaina! Glad that our turn was over, we got changed back in to our uniforms and watched the other plays - Concrete Angel, Titch Miller and 'What Are You Looking At'. I found both watching and performing in the drama competition really enjoyable and in the end was really glad that we took part in the whole thing. The other plays were actually brilliant and all the effort that everyone put in really did pay off in the end, there were some students in our year which I never would have realised were so good at acting - Aoife O'Neill, Vicky Kenna and Grace Darcy especially! After the plays we headed off for a delicious McDonalds and soon after went home.
Overall I had a brilliant day, thanks to the English teacher for organising it. :)
Overall I had a brilliant day, thanks to the English teacher for organising it. :)
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Fighting Words - Creative Writing Workshop :)
Last Monday our English teacher Ms. Brogan brought us, class Eriu, in to Dublin near Croke Park in to 'Fighting Words' where we got a creative writing experience. Sorcha, the girl who was giving us the talk, was very friendly and helped our class write an essay which was about two girls - Charlotte and Katie. They were best friends with very different personalities - Charlotte was a popular and out-going whilst Katie was shy and hid in her shadows. Ms. Brogan has asked us to continue on the story which we started with Sorcha. I found the workshop really interesting and found the experience really enjoyable. If I'd known about Fighting Words before I had my work experience organised I probably would have applied there because I love creative writing and it seemed like a relaxed and welcoming working environment and I'd be interested in going to another workshop there in the future.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
2012
We're only back to school yesterday but it feels like we've been back for way longer than that. The Christmas hols are great because you can lounge around in pyjamas all day and just have a lovely relax, which I did :) If I was in any of the other years I'd be nervous this week, getting Christmas tests results back and awaiting my school report. Even though you still get one in TY, it doesn't have too much significance, to me anyway haha!
This Friday we are going to the Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS to have a look around at all the projects. My friend Niamh has been preparing for it for a good while who is working on an app for surfing and the boards suitable for surfing. I'm looking forward to seeing her at her stall :D good luck Niamh! We just found out that we are going to have Zumba dancing on a Thursday afternoon as well as massage techniques instead of Palates and Photography! I'm looking forward to this Thursday afternoon to see what it's like! :) Next Monday we are going to a creative writing workshop in town, I'm not really sure what to expect but I'm looking forward to it anyway because I love creative writing.
We got our options switched around and I found out that I'm going to have cooking in Home-Ec for BOTH of my options which means I will have them four times a week with the same teacher.. I'm not too sure of the point in that, too bad we couldn't of stayed on in art, I loved double art on a Tuesday morning!
Apparently the world is supposed to end this year, so I better make the most of it, not that I believe in that stuff anyway! This year I hope to make even more new friends, make the most out of the rest of TY and have a great summer :) Bring on 2012!
This Friday we are going to the Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS to have a look around at all the projects. My friend Niamh has been preparing for it for a good while who is working on an app for surfing and the boards suitable for surfing. I'm looking forward to seeing her at her stall :D good luck Niamh! We just found out that we are going to have Zumba dancing on a Thursday afternoon as well as massage techniques instead of Palates and Photography! I'm looking forward to this Thursday afternoon to see what it's like! :) Next Monday we are going to a creative writing workshop in town, I'm not really sure what to expect but I'm looking forward to it anyway because I love creative writing.
We got our options switched around and I found out that I'm going to have cooking in Home-Ec for BOTH of my options which means I will have them four times a week with the same teacher.. I'm not too sure of the point in that, too bad we couldn't of stayed on in art, I loved double art on a Tuesday morning!
Apparently the world is supposed to end this year, so I better make the most of it, not that I believe in that stuff anyway! This year I hope to make even more new friends, make the most out of the rest of TY and have a great summer :) Bring on 2012!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Little Christmas Message.
Here is a Christmas song to get everyone in the festive mood <3 This time next week we'll all be off school and itl be Christmas' eves eve eve ! Hope everyone has a great Christmas & New Year.. cyas :) xo
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Tis the season to be snowing
Well, something exciting happened today :) When I was in the car on the way to school this morning I heard on the radio that there was snow in 'Ashbourne'. I then looked up at the dull sky and decided that we probably wouldn't get snow for a while.. even though this morning was absolutely freezing. Then when I got in to school, we could hear people screaming so we looked outside and there it was - white snow-flakes (big ones) falling from the sky :D yay! It finally feels really Christmassy, its kind of sunny now though and the snow didn't stick but still, at least we know theres loads of the white stuff on the way. Exciting.
The Friday before last, all of the TYs were brought to see a ballet in O'Reilly's Theatre in Dublin - The Nutcracker. Laura from our class was in the ballet, as well as two other girls from our school, who were all great. Afterwards we were brought to McDonald's and it was absolutely delicious.. yum. On the Tuesday of the week before that (22nd of November) we were brought in to Dublin again to go and see an opera - 'Don Giovanni' which was played in the cinema. I actually did enjoy the first half of the opera - which was about an hour and a half long - but the second half really dragged, but it was still an experience! The characters were all very elaborate and great actors and actresses and singers.. but they tended to repeat the same line about 7 times before they would move on.. Still good though.
This is our last week in school before the Christmas tests, which we have about 5 of I think.. Then on the Wednesday of next week we are going bowling! :D I'm excited for that.. Then we are off on the Thursday for our Christmas holidays.. <3 Cannot wait.
The Friday before last, all of the TYs were brought to see a ballet in O'Reilly's Theatre in Dublin - The Nutcracker. Laura from our class was in the ballet, as well as two other girls from our school, who were all great. Afterwards we were brought to McDonald's and it was absolutely delicious.. yum. On the Tuesday of the week before that (22nd of November) we were brought in to Dublin again to go and see an opera - 'Don Giovanni' which was played in the cinema. I actually did enjoy the first half of the opera - which was about an hour and a half long - but the second half really dragged, but it was still an experience! The characters were all very elaborate and great actors and actresses and singers.. but they tended to repeat the same line about 7 times before they would move on.. Still good though.
This is our last week in school before the Christmas tests, which we have about 5 of I think.. Then on the Wednesday of next week we are going bowling! :D I'm excited for that.. Then we are off on the Thursday for our Christmas holidays.. <3 Cannot wait.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Book Review - English Assignment
The book which I've chosen to do for my book review is a favourite of mine - 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas' written by John Boyne set during World War II.
The story is told through the eyes of nine year old Bruno, who lives in a quiet area of Berlin with his father, mother and sister Gretal. This viewpoint allows the reader to experience what living during World War II must of been like for a child such as Bruno, who is unaware of the on-goings of the war and is an innocent victim in the story. Bruno sometimes doesn't understand what goes on in his home and often mis hears things, allowing the reader to gradually piece together what is actually going on.
At the beginning of the novel, Bruno discovers his maid Maria packing away his things and learns that he will have to leave his home in Berlin as well as what he calls his 'three Best Friends for life' to move away to a new home named 'Out-With' due to his fathers work. This is the first example of Bruno's mis understanding of the circumstance and his incorrect pronunciation of the word 'Ausch-witz' which the reader will recognise as being the concentration camp in Poland. Bruno doesn't like his new home and describes it as being smaller, full with soldiers and having no one to play with.
The novel becomes interesting when Bruno looks out his bedroom window and sees people in the distance dressed in striped pyjamas, separated from him by a wired fence. When Bruno asks his father who those people are, he is told that they are 'not really people at all'. Bruno's window is soon boarded up and he spends his days inside, with only his sister to contend with, who he refers to as 'the Hopeless Case'. Bruno is told by his father that certain places are 'Out Of Bounds At All Times and No Exceptions' such as his office, making him curious and tempted to explore his new environment. One day Bruno decides that he has had enough of staying inside and decides to venture in to the unknown to go 'exploring'.
Bruno comes upon the same fence which he had seen out of his bedroom window where he meets a boy named Shmuel, a boy living on the other side of the fence who is also Bruno's age. Bruno notices how thin and pale Shmuel is and wonders why he is trapped behind the fence and is so sad looking, showing Bruno's complete obliviousness to the circumstance. He even tells Shmuel that he wishes he could also be on his side of the fence as he would love to have the company. The pair develop a loving friendship and Bruno begins visiting Shmuel at the fence of the concentration camp everyday, sometimes bringing him some food as he is always hungry.
The rest of the story revolves around the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel, which develops in to a strong bond, despite the fact that they both live on different sides of the fence and live in completely different worlds to each other. The story has a bitter end, which I found extremely powerful yet upsetting to read.
Boyne's choice of characters added to my enjoyment of the novel, as they were interesting, non-ordinary and contrasting. The fact that Bruno's mother was unaware of what happened to the people at the concentration camp showed that women in that time were kept in the dark about things, even though she was the wife of an officer who worked there. I sympathised with her character as she seemed too afraid to speak out against what was going on in her own back garden and was in a deep depression by the end of the novel, with Bruno describing her as having her 'medicinal drink' every day. The character of the Jew, Pavel, who was working in the family's home was a kind, loving man who didn't deserve what he got. The character of Bruno's father, Ralf, in my opinion was a loving father but yet a terrible one at the same time. He brought his family to live right outside a concentration camp and got them involved in the terrible on-goings of World War II. He seemed to care more about his job than he did them, which made the ending of the novel even more ironic.
The fact that the story was told through Bruno's open and non judgemental eyes made the story more moving and realistic. It showed how clueless Bruno was to the fact that he was living beside a concentration camp where people were murdered everyday because of their race, yet he secretly became friends with one of those people, Shmuel. His perception of his surroundings and the other characters showed how innocent and young his character was and how he didn't see a difference between himself and Shmuel. Boynes use of simple language and Bruno's mis pronunciation of words such as the Fury (Fuhrer) was extremely effective, it was almost like reading extracts of Bruno's diary.
I enjoyed this book so much because of its simpleness yet effectiveness. It is a story of two boys who become friends whilst living on different sides of a wired fence, which I think represents racism. The fact that the boys bonded so well and didn't care about each others backgrounds or race shows how all of the hatred and violence associated with World War II has nothing to do with the youth, but old perceptions and judgements of each other, yet affects innocent children such as Shmuel and Bruno. My favourite line in the book is - “We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?"
The book kept me going from start to finish, left a strong impact on me afterwards and truly is a story of innocence. I would recommend it to anyone who interested in reading a heart-breaking story told through the eyes of an innocent child. Boyne's use of fantastic characters, an eery setting and a heart-warming and at times wrenching plot left me not wanting the story to end.
Saoirse McCloskey.
The story is told through the eyes of nine year old Bruno, who lives in a quiet area of Berlin with his father, mother and sister Gretal. This viewpoint allows the reader to experience what living during World War II must of been like for a child such as Bruno, who is unaware of the on-goings of the war and is an innocent victim in the story. Bruno sometimes doesn't understand what goes on in his home and often mis hears things, allowing the reader to gradually piece together what is actually going on.
At the beginning of the novel, Bruno discovers his maid Maria packing away his things and learns that he will have to leave his home in Berlin as well as what he calls his 'three Best Friends for life' to move away to a new home named 'Out-With' due to his fathers work. This is the first example of Bruno's mis understanding of the circumstance and his incorrect pronunciation of the word 'Ausch-witz' which the reader will recognise as being the concentration camp in Poland. Bruno doesn't like his new home and describes it as being smaller, full with soldiers and having no one to play with.
The novel becomes interesting when Bruno looks out his bedroom window and sees people in the distance dressed in striped pyjamas, separated from him by a wired fence. When Bruno asks his father who those people are, he is told that they are 'not really people at all'. Bruno's window is soon boarded up and he spends his days inside, with only his sister to contend with, who he refers to as 'the Hopeless Case'. Bruno is told by his father that certain places are 'Out Of Bounds At All Times and No Exceptions' such as his office, making him curious and tempted to explore his new environment. One day Bruno decides that he has had enough of staying inside and decides to venture in to the unknown to go 'exploring'.
Bruno comes upon the same fence which he had seen out of his bedroom window where he meets a boy named Shmuel, a boy living on the other side of the fence who is also Bruno's age. Bruno notices how thin and pale Shmuel is and wonders why he is trapped behind the fence and is so sad looking, showing Bruno's complete obliviousness to the circumstance. He even tells Shmuel that he wishes he could also be on his side of the fence as he would love to have the company. The pair develop a loving friendship and Bruno begins visiting Shmuel at the fence of the concentration camp everyday, sometimes bringing him some food as he is always hungry.
The rest of the story revolves around the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel, which develops in to a strong bond, despite the fact that they both live on different sides of the fence and live in completely different worlds to each other. The story has a bitter end, which I found extremely powerful yet upsetting to read.
Boyne's choice of characters added to my enjoyment of the novel, as they were interesting, non-ordinary and contrasting. The fact that Bruno's mother was unaware of what happened to the people at the concentration camp showed that women in that time were kept in the dark about things, even though she was the wife of an officer who worked there. I sympathised with her character as she seemed too afraid to speak out against what was going on in her own back garden and was in a deep depression by the end of the novel, with Bruno describing her as having her 'medicinal drink' every day. The character of the Jew, Pavel, who was working in the family's home was a kind, loving man who didn't deserve what he got. The character of Bruno's father, Ralf, in my opinion was a loving father but yet a terrible one at the same time. He brought his family to live right outside a concentration camp and got them involved in the terrible on-goings of World War II. He seemed to care more about his job than he did them, which made the ending of the novel even more ironic.
The fact that the story was told through Bruno's open and non judgemental eyes made the story more moving and realistic. It showed how clueless Bruno was to the fact that he was living beside a concentration camp where people were murdered everyday because of their race, yet he secretly became friends with one of those people, Shmuel. His perception of his surroundings and the other characters showed how innocent and young his character was and how he didn't see a difference between himself and Shmuel. Boynes use of simple language and Bruno's mis pronunciation of words such as the Fury (Fuhrer) was extremely effective, it was almost like reading extracts of Bruno's diary.
I enjoyed this book so much because of its simpleness yet effectiveness. It is a story of two boys who become friends whilst living on different sides of a wired fence, which I think represents racism. The fact that the boys bonded so well and didn't care about each others backgrounds or race shows how all of the hatred and violence associated with World War II has nothing to do with the youth, but old perceptions and judgements of each other, yet affects innocent children such as Shmuel and Bruno. My favourite line in the book is - “We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?"
The book kept me going from start to finish, left a strong impact on me afterwards and truly is a story of innocence. I would recommend it to anyone who interested in reading a heart-breaking story told through the eyes of an innocent child. Boyne's use of fantastic characters, an eery setting and a heart-warming and at times wrenching plot left me not wanting the story to end.
Saoirse McCloskey.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
My First Work Experience :)
The morning of work experience was really nerve-racking but I was still excited, though I was worried that I wouldn't find my way in such a big place - Trinity College. I'd only been there once before, in 3rd year for a Maths lecture, and it had seemed massive then. I got the bus in to town about an hour before I my first lecture was even supposed to start - 11am. I walked nervously around Grafton St.(<3) for a while before deciding to head in. When I eventually found the music secretary - Grainne, she showed to the lecture room and introduced me to the lecturer Orla who was lovely. There was only 8 music students in the class and they were all really friendly and they talked me through the work we had to do, which I actually didn't find that hard. After that I made my way to the music shop - Opus II - and introduced myself. The manager Darren and assistant manager Joanna were both very welcoming and seemed keen for me to enjoy working there. On the first day they had me sorting out different music scores between Sonatas and Preludes and choosing different Christmas products from a catalogue which they were going to order in. I was so tired after my first day but looked forward to the week ahead.
The rest of the week in Trinity went great, I learnt loads about what a music degree actually entails and I've realised that it's something I definitely want to do. I fitted in with the other students well, one lecturer even gave out to me for not having my music score even though it was '8 weeks in' only to find I was only a TY student sitting in. The other students were friendly and all were amazing at music, all of them could play piano which is considered mandatory which I didn't realise and there was some really good singers who I got the chance to listen to. I'm grateful that they were all so welcoming and willing for me to see what they do everyday.
The rest of my week in Opus II was equally good. I got the chance to work on the till for two of the days which was pretty scary at first, especially typing in laser and credit cards and all that, but I got used to it after a few goes :) On my lunch break they let me play the different pianos and try them out as well as the electric keyboards which people from the street could come in and sit and play on during the day which was really nice to listen to when I was working. Another one of the days I was sorting through invoices and receipts which wasn't so fun, but it helped me to learn that alot goes on behind the scenes in a shop and that the manager has a difficult job keeping up with all the orders and whatnot, so confusing! There were so many and they all have to be kept in alphabetical order and by date incase a customer needs one, such a pain.. I'd hate to have that job. At the end Damien gave me my report back and also three music books and a guitar capo, yay :)!
I learned loads over the week. Firstly commuting in and out of town every day is a pain. One morning iI got the 20 to 8 bus (so early) for a lecture which started at 9, and I barely made it on time, so much stress haha. And on the Thursday the students protest was on, resulting in an hour and a half delay for my bus. I also learned that college is really different to school, you get to study and learn what you're interested in and the lecturers are so knowlegable in the subject and you can ask them anything, I can't wait to go :) Working in a shop is stressful, you have to learn to deal with rude customers and difficult situations, but it's also really enjoyable. I cannot wait to get a part-time job and get paid, <3 Over-all it was a brilliant week, can't wait for the next, bring on Madrid :)
The rest of the week in Trinity went great, I learnt loads about what a music degree actually entails and I've realised that it's something I definitely want to do. I fitted in with the other students well, one lecturer even gave out to me for not having my music score even though it was '8 weeks in' only to find I was only a TY student sitting in. The other students were friendly and all were amazing at music, all of them could play piano which is considered mandatory which I didn't realise and there was some really good singers who I got the chance to listen to. I'm grateful that they were all so welcoming and willing for me to see what they do everyday.
The rest of my week in Opus II was equally good. I got the chance to work on the till for two of the days which was pretty scary at first, especially typing in laser and credit cards and all that, but I got used to it after a few goes :) On my lunch break they let me play the different pianos and try them out as well as the electric keyboards which people from the street could come in and sit and play on during the day which was really nice to listen to when I was working. Another one of the days I was sorting through invoices and receipts which wasn't so fun, but it helped me to learn that alot goes on behind the scenes in a shop and that the manager has a difficult job keeping up with all the orders and whatnot, so confusing! There were so many and they all have to be kept in alphabetical order and by date incase a customer needs one, such a pain.. I'd hate to have that job. At the end Damien gave me my report back and also three music books and a guitar capo, yay :)!
I learned loads over the week. Firstly commuting in and out of town every day is a pain. One morning iI got the 20 to 8 bus (so early) for a lecture which started at 9, and I barely made it on time, so much stress haha. And on the Thursday the students protest was on, resulting in an hour and a half delay for my bus. I also learned that college is really different to school, you get to study and learn what you're interested in and the lecturers are so knowlegable in the subject and you can ask them anything, I can't wait to go :) Working in a shop is stressful, you have to learn to deal with rude customers and difficult situations, but it's also really enjoyable. I cannot wait to get a part-time job and get paid, <3 Over-all it was a brilliant week, can't wait for the next, bring on Madrid :)
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
1 week to go..
Only back to school a day but it feels like I never even left. We've only this week though and then we have work experience :D The weeks have flown since September.. I remember thinking 'Work Experience is ages away' but now it is definitely not. Im kind of excited but nervous at the same time, incase I get lost or something! I'm sitting in on music lectures every morning but the times vary each day as do the lectures so I won't have one day the same as the other :) Whenever I'm finished there I get to go eat my lunch somewhere and then walk 5 minutes up the road to Opus II music shop where I'll be working for two hours or something. Going to have to get up really early on my first day to get the bus in to town and make sure I find everything okay.. not looking forward to that so much.
I've finished up most of my projects now - Spanish , History and Geography - so don't have them to worry about. I've a piano exam soon though and need to spend loads of time on that, so its good I got them out of the way over the midterm I suppose. Not much else to say, blog soon.
I've finished up most of my projects now - Spanish , History and Geography - so don't have them to worry about. I've a piano exam soon though and need to spend loads of time on that, so its good I got them out of the way over the midterm I suppose. Not much else to say, blog soon.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Livin' for the Midterm (L)
Aah only 1 more day in school and then we're free for a week, can't wait :) This term has gone by so fast though, it hard to believe that we're going to be getting ready for Christmas when we come back. I won't really be free for a week though, 'cause I've two English essays due and I've to finish/start on two countries for my geography project.. oh well i'll just fit them in on a rainy day :) I'm eeexcited for Halloween aswell, though hopefully I don't get any fireworks thrown at me?
Yesterday we had a talk from my former principal of Scoil Mochua, Tony Doohan.. I love that man :) In primary school he used to teach 5th and 6th class history and would always let us read from his book, which he is now selling. He even brought us all (3 6th classes) on bikes down the Maynooth road to visit The Obelisk which was on our school crest. Yesterday he told us some old facts about Celbridge like how the bridge was blown up my someone living in St.Patrick's park.. and that everyone on the main street used to live in little mud cabins! He was eager to answer anyones questions & I'm really glad he came in because he made a really interesting presentation and I love history <3
When we come back after the midterm we only have a week of school and then we're going off on work experience! :D Ah im really excited! I'm going in to Trinity College to sit in on music lectures in the mornings and then in the afternoons I'll be working for a few hours in Opus II music shop.. I've a feeling I'm going to be wrecked after it all.. haha :) I probally won't be blogging until after the midterm.. bye til then :) x
Yesterday we had a talk from my former principal of Scoil Mochua, Tony Doohan.. I love that man :) In primary school he used to teach 5th and 6th class history and would always let us read from his book, which he is now selling. He even brought us all (3 6th classes) on bikes down the Maynooth road to visit The Obelisk which was on our school crest. Yesterday he told us some old facts about Celbridge like how the bridge was blown up my someone living in St.Patrick's park.. and that everyone on the main street used to live in little mud cabins! He was eager to answer anyones questions & I'm really glad he came in because he made a really interesting presentation and I love history <3
When we come back after the midterm we only have a week of school and then we're going off on work experience! :D Ah im really excited! I'm going in to Trinity College to sit in on music lectures in the mornings and then in the afternoons I'll be working for a few hours in Opus II music shop.. I've a feeling I'm going to be wrecked after it all.. haha :) I probally won't be blogging until after the midterm.. bye til then :) x
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Sound of Music (L)
I felt kind of bad that I wasn't getting at all involved in the musical which everyone is talking about in our school, 'The Sound Of Music' which I actually really like, so me and Courtney decided that we'd ask Ms.Ward if we could take part, so now we're getting involved with Ms.Leonard and doing peoples makeup! Haha gonna be great <3
Day Out in Dublin :)
Yesterday all the TYs headed off on our bus and mini bus in to town for our 'daaay out'. Firstly we went in to the W.B Yeats exhibition, and our class was shown around the place by Ms.Brogan who knew alot on information about it as she'd been there a few times before.We were all given worksheets and paired up to help focus us and so that we'd gather facts about Yeats and his history by looking around the place. This exhibition was actually my favourite because it was really pretty to look around and was generally super interesting, like who'd have known Yeats scored 69% in English in Year 5? There was loads of his original writing in glass cases which you could look at aswell as pictures of his family and the 'love of his life' - Maud Gonne, who inspired my favourite poem 'He Wishes For The Cloths of Heaven'.. soo nice:) There was this little circle at the beginning of the exhibition where you could sit and listen to some of his poems being read out and watch a slide show, it was a pretty relaxing start to the morning :)
Next we went to the nli (national library of Ireland) which had a few different artifacts placed in glass cases which were covered with blankets which you could lift up, to protect them from the light. We saw what ads looked like back then aswell, there was a poster of a missing cat and an ad showing that Germany were playing Ireland in football, really cool to see. The last of the exhibitions was a trip to see what were described as 'Bog Bodies' in the National Museum. The bodies were hidden by a circular wall which you had to walk around to see them, I got a fright at first as I didn't actually expect to see it straight away.. haha. The bodies were really interesting but kind of scary to look at. One of the skulls still had red hair attatched to it, making it seem so much more real. It was weird to think that those people were alive and walking some time, especially as all that was left were the yellow rotting bones :/
We were then free for 45 minutes and me and my friends got the long -awaited McDonalds.. yum! So nice, then Me and Niamh went up to the Disney shop and had a look around, best shop ever!<3 After lunch then we all met up at River Island(love that shop too) and walked down to the Abbey Theatre to see the play 'Juno and the Paycock' which we had all just read in class. The play was much better than I expected and had some really funny parts aswell, I actually understood what was happening because I got pretty confused when reading it in class.. Overall it was a really fun, interesting day out and another highlight of TY, bring on the rest :)
Next we went to the nli (national library of Ireland) which had a few different artifacts placed in glass cases which were covered with blankets which you could lift up, to protect them from the light. We saw what ads looked like back then aswell, there was a poster of a missing cat and an ad showing that Germany were playing Ireland in football, really cool to see. The last of the exhibitions was a trip to see what were described as 'Bog Bodies' in the National Museum. The bodies were hidden by a circular wall which you had to walk around to see them, I got a fright at first as I didn't actually expect to see it straight away.. haha. The bodies were really interesting but kind of scary to look at. One of the skulls still had red hair attatched to it, making it seem so much more real. It was weird to think that those people were alive and walking some time, especially as all that was left were the yellow rotting bones :/
We were then free for 45 minutes and me and my friends got the long -awaited McDonalds.. yum! So nice, then Me and Niamh went up to the Disney shop and had a look around, best shop ever!<3 After lunch then we all met up at River Island(love that shop too) and walked down to the Abbey Theatre to see the play 'Juno and the Paycock' which we had all just read in class. The play was much better than I expected and had some really funny parts aswell, I actually understood what was happening because I got pretty confused when reading it in class.. Overall it was a really fun, interesting day out and another highlight of TY, bring on the rest :)
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Week 9.. what?!
Time in TY is actually going ridiculously fast.. I don't know what I'l do when all of this is over and we're meshed in with the third years and are put in to 5th year! nooo. The highlights of TY for me so far have been making friends with some of the girls in my class who I never really knew before but I get along great with now:D. Also going on the mini-co trips, junior cert results night, pilates on thursdays & the funwalk :) I heard people are saying that the gov. might cut TY really soon, so I'm really glad I got to do it! The stress of finding work experience is really annoying me, some people are so rude and don't write back to the nicest e-mails, haha :/ I have my second one though, so hopefully I'll find my first one pretty soon.. considering its in like four weeks. We got another project from Mr.O'Callaghan the other day, which is to research and present a piece on a woman in history who we admire. I think I'm doing Rosa Parks, who was a coloured women who refused to be told to get off a bus which was for 'white people'.. I think shes great :) probaly my fave project so far, i love history <3
Thursday, 13 October 2011
naaas
Yesterday we went to Naas to meet again with Orla to talk more about marketing our product and getting it ready before the Christmas time.. yay that makes Christmas feel so soon!:) There was another school there.. St.Marys i think, with basically exactly the same uniform as us.. abit confusing at times. They had some really good ideas like cosies for your tea mug, i love that one:) We didnt get to talk to her personally but she told us the last day that she really liked our idea, so hopefully it works out how we want it to. we had to have our surveys and stuff done, which we did on tuesday.. was abit busy but we got them done in the end. We didnt get to go to mcdonalds:(, but its grand cause I got sausage rolls in centra and they were deeelish (L) yummy. Anyways gotta go.. lunch time yay <3
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Newbridge :)
So the funwalk is all over, our class was a great buzz:D We did our banana dance with hardly any mistakes and must of shouted 'GO BANANAS' i dont know how many times last week, haha<3 catriona and martha looked greeeat. The other class were good too, especially Banba, so we didnt really mind that they won:) me, aoife, hel and claire were assigned to the traffic lights beside the boys school where we basically just stood there and watched all the classes go by, wasnt too hard I must say. Tomorrow we're going to Newbridge for another mini-co talk, mcdonalds yay!:D Our group is gettin abit stressed out cause we dont have much marketing done, but we'll just do some surveys today at lunch probs. Next week we're going in to town (more McDonalds) to see juno and the paycock which is the play we've done as well as going to the Yeats museum.. sounds good, I like how we get to get out of school and do things a good bit in TY. I've decided today that I don't dislike Tuesdays as much as I used to.. double art in the mornings just make my day <3 love it.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
GO BANANAS.. GOGO BANANAS
We have our funwalk tomorrow and our class has decided to do a banana theme..yay:) we're not really competitive and not dying to win.. so I'm just taking part for the fun.. haha. We're trying to do these gymnastic stunts atm.. and everyone is getting pretty stressed out.. but I know that we'll all pull it off in the end:D My favourite colour is yellow, so thats a bonus:)
''GO BANANAS, GO GO BANANAS!'' <3
''GO BANANAS, GO GO BANANAS!'' <3
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