Have to rush off to work.. ttyl.

We just had our first week of transition year work experience and may I just say I didnt want to leave mine.. it was just so AMAZING! :D I was in Private 3 Ward in St. James Hospital and I have to say all the staff were just so lovely! They knew they had to get all there work done but they took out there precious time to talk me through the procedures they were doing and explaining at tims the very confusing equipment!

It was an *observe only* work experience so I didnt expect to be doing any jobs, but at multiple times I was running up and down the ward! I had to wash and make beds of the out-going patients, wash the patients, help change the patients, I manually took the pulse of the patients, assisted with changing the dressing of wounds post-surgery, and just did general little jobs for the patients who couldnt move. These are little jobs that the nurses do many times daily, along with much more important jobs. During hand-over I was given the task to answer the phones and wirte down important messages! That was pretty scary at first but then I got into it! The doctor of the ward brought me around and I witnessed a lung and stomach drain being pulled out after surgery, which was pretty cool!  I witnessed a cardiac echo graph, stapled stiches being removed, a blood transfusion, and witnessed the procedure a patient goes through to go to surgery! On one of the days, I was taken with the student nurses and sat through two lectures one on the kindney and the other on cardiac arrest!

At  lunch while talking to the other staff you could notice how hard the life of a nurse really is. They were saying when working an 13 hour shift, you are given a half an hour break and a hour for lunch. But most days they are extremely lucky to get those essential minutes of rest. When the ward is really busy and your patients are extremely sick, you dont have the time to sit down for a cup of tea! Also one thing that struck with me is when they were talking about patients dying. If one of your patients that you have really been close to dies, they say in college not to cry, but sometimes its just too hard to try not to. One nurse told me "I cant even count the number of times I've drived home crying because of a pateint"

Since starting secondary school I've always wanted to be a Nurse but now I'm not too sure. I never knew it was so intense and completely hands on with the patient.

Only time will tell I guess..


-Aoife xoxo

and the winner of the Edublogs competition goes to..... :)

I just want to dedicate this short blog to a gorgeous classmate ;) I would like to nominate Caitriona for the edublogs competition! Her blog is so amazing just like herself ;) Like who else would blog in rhyme?! Its just so unique! :O So thats why everone who is reading this should spend 5 minutes of there time to make sure the right person wins! :) GO CAITRIONA! :D Love you! <3 x


http://www.tienies.blogspot.com/2011/11/neven-heaven.html

Countdown has begun...

Our school musical "The Sound of Music" has officially been launched and tickets are on sale NOW! On Thursday local newspapers and members of the parents association were invited to come and watch us in our school! They were blown away by Leah's (Maria) singing! We were all in costume and the photographers took pictures of us! :) Cant wait for the actual week of the shows! It has come around so fast! :O

Lets hope it all comes together in the end!

- Aoife xoxo

Only a few days?! :O

I cant believe it is only a few days until our WORK EXPERIENCE! :D Honestly, it seems like the other day when Ms. Leahy gave us our work experience dates which was actually last March! It has come around so fast and I just cant wait for it!! I'm going to a surgery ward in St. James Hospital! I'm really excited but so nervous! Hopefully everything will turn out ok and I wont make a fool out of myself! :/ Like faint in the middle of a surgery or something! :P

Wish me luck! I'll tell you all about it ;)

- Aoife xoxo

WERE GOING TO BUILD A BANK!! :D

After my first ever interview which was pretty nerve wrecking.. :/ It was a success YAAY! :D This year in Transition year we have the opportunity to apply for the A.I.B Build a Bank Challenge! It's a competition with other schools to find out basically who can build the best bank! :P Lots of girls wanted to do it and only six were chosen! I couldn't believe I was given the role of Assistant Manager! :O :D I'll be working with the most AMAZING manager Caitríona ;) I have to say I kinda love our team! :) Cant wait to get it all started!!



-Aoife xoxo

English Review on "Juno and the Paycock" by Sean O'Casey

On the 19^th of October all the Transition Year students were brought on a English Trip to see the play “Juno and the Paycock” by Seán O’Casey in the Abbey Theatre. Some students had high expectations for the play, unfortunately others didn’t. I have to admit I was one of those students. I didn’t particularly enjoy studying the play in class. I found it very difficult to sit down and read a play without it being dramatised and therefore didn’t understand the messages the other students comprehended. However after seeing the play I know why the other students enjoyed studying the play so much.

The acting contributed greatly to the effectiveness of the play. I give all my gratitude to Alastair Coomer and Kelly Phelan the (Casting Directors) because it was such a highly talented cast. Each member of the cast captured the uniqueness of each character and managed to stay true to the character throughout the play. When each character had a line to deliver they managed to deliver it clearly prenonciated to the audience but remained true to the accent of the character.  While many characters stood out, it would be unfair not to mention the extremely talented Ciarán Hinds who portrayed “Captain Jack Boyle” brilliantly. You may have recognised this actor from the movies “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “The Debt” which are both currently in the cinemas.

I enjoyed the way in which all the scenes of the play, the set and the two-roomed tenancy of the Boyle Family remained the same. Whatever issues or messages were brought up were dealt within the same setting. Therefore sadness, humour, violence and joy filled the atmosphere of the Boyle residence. What added to the dramatic effect of the setting was the lighting. Thanks to James Farncombe (lighting designer), from the audience perspective it was clearly evident to point out the mood of each scene. For example the last scene in Act One where Bentham arrives into the Boyle Residence announcing the news of Mr Ellison of Santry’s death and the will he proclaimed he wrote, the lighting was very bright and mellow capturing the happiness of the Boyle Family. I found this feature to the play very effective.

I feel the theme of poverty dominates the play. The play highlights the irony that while many people were fighting for various principles, there was those who were also suffering from the effects of the poverty. When it becomes clear that the Boyles will not inherit Mr Ellison of Santry’s legacy, the cruel effects of poverty begin to have a dramatic effect on each of the characters, for example, Bentham disappears leaving Mary all alone to have her baby.

Seán O’Casey gave us a true insight into the life of 1920’s Dublin. Did you know that in the 1900’s one third of population lived in single rooms in tenement houses? Also the typical family size in a room of a Dublin tenement was 8-12. Now the average Irish family has 1.4 children. From this play I can truly understand the difficulties of Irish life in 1920’s Ireland.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see this play being dramatised because my previous attitude towards it would not have changed.