Senior Girls Football
The senior girls football team were in action on Tuesday in the Senior A Wicklow football blitz. We had a huge number players on the squad with 32 students on the panel, all of whom got a run on the day. The team was captained by Charlotte Nagle. They had three games on the day and there were strong performances from Maeve Bulter, Sadhbh Furlong and Eva Doyle. As a result of the blitz the girls have now qualified for the Senior A Shield. Well done to all involved!
Junior Mentoring
This year we are very excited to announce the launch of our Junior Mentoring programme for 2nd and 3rd Year students at CCA! It is fitting that the programme kicks off during our “Roots 4 Learning Week”, a time when we are focusing on the importance of good homework and study habits for all students. Now more than ever, our teachers will be in a position to pass on their invaluable advice and guidance to our younger students so that they are well set for their current academic path and their future as Senior Cycle students.
Science and Criminology Workshop
On Wednesday 12th October, 24 TY students took part in a Science and Criminology workshop organised by Ms Horgan. They were first shown how to use a micropipette and they learned all about the different kind of measurements that are used when testing DNA. They practiced setting the micropipettes to the correct measurements and practiced pouring them out. Next they used their knowledge about how the micropipettes work to create pictures with the liquids. After learning how to use the equipment they got to start the real experiment. Someone had stolen Ms Horgan’s iPad and they had to find the culprit! They were given the original ‘DNA’ found at the scene of the crime, and 6 different teachers ‘DNA’ samples. The suspects were Ms Wright, Ms Webster, Ms Nolan, Mr Maher, Mr Ryan and Mr Stack. They were given a jelly-like substance with 9 tiny wells where the DNA could show and placed it into a tray and covered it with buffer liquid. They set the micropipettes to 20ul and collected each one of the suspects DNA, taking care to replace the tip each time to avoid cross contamination, and deposited the samples into the wells in the jell. After a few minutes they came back to check on the samples and came to the conclusion that Mr Maher was the iPad thief!! Thanks to student Lena Rose Fennell for the report and to Ms. Horgan for facilitating.
Study Skills
This week was our Roots4Learning Week, organised by Ms. Wright. The aim of the week was to open up the conversation around studying, goal setting and working for future success. Teachers took time out during the week to talk about the ideal study environment providing the students with hints, tips and tricks that have worked for them and may be of benefit for our students and also the various supports that are available to them within the school.
Throughout the week, students from different years group featured in videos where they gave tips and advice about study techniques and what works best for them. The videos were shown to all tutor classes each morning.
On Wednesday and Thursday a number of 4th Year students and 5th Year Peer Mentors visited 1st and 2nd Year classes to share their knowledge on study skills and to provide them with various supports around organization and planning. The first area that was focused on was ensuring that the students had a realistic study timetable that could be used throughout the week so that all subjects were covered, helping them to prioritise areas they would like to improve. They were then given a checklist for their study folder to make sure that their folder would be as organised and possible. Students were asked to design and draw their ideal study area and they went through various study methods that they use such as mind maps, flash cards and note reviewers. We hope the session was beneficial to all students and a big thank you to the 4th and 5th Year students for facilitating the workshops.
On Friday we rapped up the week with an interactive study tracker, a video explaining the best of use of the tracker and an interactive PowerPoint for teachers to deliver as to how to use the tracker in their own classrooms.
6th Year Parent Teacher Student Meeting
This week we were delighted to welcome our 6th Year students and parents to our first face to face Parent Teacher Student Meeting in the last few years. Students had the opportunity to reflect on their subjects and to get feedback from their teachers on how to improve in each of their subjects.
RCSI Workshop
On Monday, our Transition Year students travelled into Dublin for a debunking the myths live workshop run by RCSI and the Rotunda Hospital. Students received a talk from world renowned gynaecological experts around the area of sexual health, consent and contraception. Students participated in a hands-on workshop getting to know various types of contraceptive methods available to them and informed them of the free contraception and STI testing available from this year. It was an excellent an excellent and informative workshop.
Photographs
Criminology Workshop - CCA TY students taking part in a Science and Criminology Workshop.
Study Skills 1 - CCA TY students facilitating a study skills workshop with 2nd Year students.
Study Skills 2 - CCA TY students facilitating a study skills workshop with 2nd Year students.