18th - 22nd September TY Newsletter

A really eventful week has just passed! Well done to all the guys on their exam performances - you should be very proud on such a strong set of results.

All round it was a great day!

The following info can be found in the TY Newsletter this week:

TY Adventure Journey Hike Information with Checklist
STMC School Play Casting Call
STEM Club
Downs Syndrome Ireland Collectors Needed Urgently
TY Exchanges: Spain & Boston
Coffee Morning Photos
TY Activities Expressions of Interests Closed
Blue Run Registration Details
Run in the Dark 2017 Sign Ups!
TY Tuesday Talk Photos
Internet Safety Talk

TY Hike - Gaisce Adventure Journey

This year's Gaisce Adventure Activity will be a 2 day, 31KM hike along the Wicklow Way. This spectacular hike will begin at Crone Woods, pass near Powerscourt, and finish at Glendalough (with an overnight camp at the picturesque Lough Dan Scout Centre). We will be leaving by coach at 8:45am, Tuesday 19th September and arriving back at the school on Wednesday at approximately 1:00pm. As part of the Gaisce Award, participants are required to plan this themselves, as well as source their own equipment (with a little help of course). A planning meeting will take place on the 6th September (Indigo Assessments will be moved forward to accommodate this). All TYs should be in a group by now and be able to confirm with Mark Stanley that they have a place in a tent and have appropriate walking shoes.

You'll find the GAISCE ADVENTURE JOURNEY CHECKLIST HERE

PS I can't stress this enough! Don't forget to pack enough food for the hike, dinner and breakfast!!! (Dried noodles, cooked pasta, nuts, bars etc)

CASTING CALL

Calling all TYs !!

Auditions for the STMC School Play (a mystery thriller) will be held on

Monday

18th September

@ 5:00pm in Room 20

The play will run Thursday 16th & Friday 17th November with a dress rehearsal on Wednesday 15th. Rehearsals will be twice weekly and will not clash with rugby. For more details, please contact Ms Chonfhaola or Ms Walsh.

TYs interested in backstage, lighting, tuck-shop support are also being sought. You will not need to come to auditions but will be contacted at a later date.

IN CONJUNCTION WITH MOUNT ANVILLE

A message from STEM Club coordinator Mr Trehy:

Dear Parents,

I am excited to announce the setting up of a STEM Club (Science Technology Engineering Maths) within the school. It is an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in these exciting areas. It is a chance to explore their interests and develop their skills in critical thinking, problem solving and to work as part of a team.

I hope to make this as exciting and fun as possible and to do this I need students who are reliable and dedicated and who have the same goal as I do, which is to make this club a success.

The club will be run every Tuesday from 4-5pm initially and all students are welcome. There will be various activities planned throughout the year to coincide with Maths Week, Science Week and Engineering Week for the students to demonstrate and showcase their talents. For Transition Year students, they can use their involvement STEM club towards the GAISCE award in the ‘New Skill’ section.

I am also pleased to announce the continuation of the Coding Club. The Department of Education has previously announced that they hope to make Computer Programming a Leaving Cert subject in the very near future. As such, this is an ideal opportunity for the students to experience what may be involved in this new course.

The club will begin in the coming weeks and will be run every Monday and Thursday from 5:30 – 6:30pm. If your son has any interest in either or both of these clubs, can you please ask them to sign up as soon as possible.

Down Syndrome Ireland Volunteers Urgently Needed

Down Syndrome Ireland are urgently seeking reliable people to sell Trolley Discs for their National Flag Days on Friday and Saturday 6th and 7th October in lots of shopping centres in Dublin and around the country. If any TY students can help, it would just be such a huge help and comfort to the not for profit group

It would be wonderful if TY students could volunteer time in the following locations please:

Grafton St on Friday and Saturday 6th and 7th October, they are looking for 8 volunteers per shift:

10AM – 1PM

1PM – 4PM

4PM – 6PM

That is 24 for the day.

Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Friday and Saturday 13th and 14th October, they are looking for 4 volunteers per shift

10AM – 1PM

1PM – 4PM

4PM – 6PM

That is 12 for the day

TY EXCHANGES :

SPAIN

Each year here in St. Michael’s College we facilitate an exchange programme for TransitionYear students to Spain. We link up with two different schools.

The first is Colegio El Armelarin Valencia and the other is Colegio Santa Teresa in Alicante. These are both mixed schools who similarly organise exchanges for their female pupils to the Teresian School. We invite a number of their students to spend three weeks here in St. Michael’s and they in turn inviteour students to spend three weeks in their respective schools in Spain.

There are no fees attached to this exchange programme. The only costs incurred by each family are the return flights to Spain and spending money for your son. There will also be costs associated with hosting the Spanish exchange student (food etc).It is important to note that the role of St. Michael’s College is to facilitate the exchange programme. It is the role of the host families, both here and in Spain, to organise all extracurricular activities and weekend trips. The host family is acting in loco parentis.Numbers on both exchange programmes are limited. We usually send no more than 6 students to each school but this number may be lower, depending on what suits each school.

Demand for the programme varies each year.We ask students who are interested to fill out an application form which must be signed bya parent/guardian. Students will later be informed if they have been selected or not.

It is important to highlight that students are not selected based on academic ability, rather their attitude to their studying of Spanish and their overall behaviour and conduct in St. Michael’sCollege.The dates for this year’s programme are as follows:

Valencia – Colegio el Armelar Spanish students come to Ireland on the 25th November until the 16th December 2017.Irish students go to Spain on the 3 rd March until the 24th March 2018.

Alicante – Colegio Santa TeresaSpanish students come to Ireland on the 4th November until the 25th November 2017.Irish students go to Spain on the 14th April until the 5th May 2018.

If your son is interested, please advise him to fill out an application form and return it to me before Friday 22nd September. Hard or soft copies will be accepted. Late applications will not be considered.

Ms Orlagh McKay will be able to go through furhter queries with you if you need any more information.

& BOSTON

Our Boston Exchange Programme with St Sebastian's is an incredible cultural experience and has been the high point of many TY in the past.

All TYs that take part in this exchange will be sure to have an action packed time!

The Boston Exchange 2017 has 6 places available this year. All TYs interested can collect a form from my office from Monday.

The first critical condition is a willingness to accept one of the St.Seb's boys into your home from March 10, through to departure on March 18 2017. (St Michael's TYs arrive in Boston on March 31 and depart on the April) He will need to have his own room, be provided with all family meals and we would expect all of our host families to join together in providing entertainment for our visitors.

In return, our own boys will have a fantastic opportunity to attend school in St.Seb's and see the wonderful city of Boston.

So those details again! ...

Boston boys to arrive in Dublin on the morning of March 10 and fly home Sunday March 18. STMC TYs will travel March 31-April 8

STMC Coffee Morning Photos

Well done to al TYs who were such a massive help with our Hospice Coffee Morning 2017. Things were a little different this year as we had to move activities to the Assembly Hall and all TYs involved made this a much easier transition. So, thanks to all involved (especially to Cathy Boyle and all parents who were able to drop by a lend their support!).

STMC BLUE RUN

Our Health Promoting School's team has been busy planning this year's Blue Run which will take place on Sunday September 24th on Sandymount beach.

The event is for staff, students, parents/guardians, family and friends of the school community!

Make sure to register for the event or register to help out if you didn't want to take part, everyone who runs or helps out will get this year's tshirt and a pack goodie bag!

See the attached poster for details.

Last year's video is here: https://vimeo.com/186165443

Make sure to register online to guarantee entry as places are limited for the event.

Run in the Dark 2017 Sign Ups

10k and 5k Dublin Run in the Dark - Tuesday 14th November 2017 8pm

Join thousands of fellow runners in Dublin to Run in the Dark on Tuesday 14th November and support ongoing research to find a cure for paralysis. For the first time, Dublin will lead the way of this global event, followed by runs in 40 cities around the world the following night. Take part in this unique multi location event and run in the dark for 5k or 10k. If your trainers are a little dusty you can even walk the route. Everyone who takes part on the night will be playing a big part in finding a cure for paralysis. The Dublin event will leave from Dublin City Centre at 8.00pm on Tuesday 14th November.

Any TYs interested in signing up for Run in the Dark 2017 can do so HERE