Transition Year – Some of the Highlights!!

Transition Year has been reintroduced back into CCS after an absence of a number of years and the students are looking forward to an exciting and challenging year where they will cover a range of activities from golf to First
Aid as well as their regular school work.
The transition year students were excited and anticipated good fun on Wednesday 31^st of August as they began their first golf lesson of the year. The Deputy Principal Mr. Anto McCormack, School Chaplain Ms Mary Colleary
and other kind members of the Castlerea Golf Club including Mr. Joe McElhone and Mr. Liam Walsh coached them for their first session. All the students enjoyed learning the basics of golf and they continued their lessons for the
month of September and hope to pick it up again in May.
On Friday 2^nd September the T.Y students left for Petersburg Outdoor Education Centre, Co. Galway for an Induction Day. They arrived at 10 O’clock and began their first activity. With the help of their mentors they built  rafts and made their way across a lake. They were all very wet but they really enjoyed themselves. Their final activity was an obstacle course. All in all a fantastic day was had by all. This really boosted the class chemistry and teamwork and they were very grateful to their  mentors for the day.

They also  began work on their entries for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition. All of them are working very hard on  different projects. They  are divided  into eight groups of three and their  projects involve Physics, Biology Chemistry and Technology.

On Wednesday 5^th of October the class was split into two groups. One group did Hip – Hop dancing and the other group began learning sign language. After four weeks the groups switched lessons. They all enjoyed their lessons.

Also, as part of their Geography Field Study they went down to the river in the Demesne with Ms Gormally where they gathered information about the river e.g. depth, speed. They will then use this information to conclude their field study.

On Friday 23^rd October Transition Year students attended the performance of a play at the Roscommon Arts Centre. The play was entitled ‘Chatroom’ and was staged by the Roscommon Youth Theatre. It was a
very entertaining and thought-provoking drama and the students thoroughly enjoyed it. Congratulations to 5^th Year student Holly McHugh on her wonderful performance in the play! The students were accompanied by their English teacher Ms Aine Mullarkey.

On the 6th and 7th of October, the Transition Year students participated in a First Aid course. The course in Emergency First Aid was presented by the Red Cross and two representatives from the Red Cross came to the school to conduct the course. Over the course of the two days, the Transition Years learned the basic skills of emergency first aid including CPR and how to dress different types of wounds. They learned how to recognise various symptoms and signs of different casualties and how to react in difficult situations. The students were given a workbook to complete and there was also practical element to the course which the students enjoyed as they could put the new skills they had learned into practice. Overall the course was an enjoyable experience and the skills that they learnt are valuable skills for life. All the students who participated in the course have qualified in Emergency First Aid and will receive a certificate from the Red Cross.

Before Christmas the students completed a Get Safe-Work Safe -Safety and Health for Senior Cycle Students course. This course which is equivalent to FETAC Level 5 introduced the students to the principles of workplace safety, health and welfare. It aims to prepare young people for the world of work. This course is approved by the HSA and is certified

They also organised a cake sale and a non –uniform day for Haiti.

They are now busy organising a concert which will take place in the school on the 19^th March.

This is just a flavour of some of the extra activities the students have been up as well as their regular subjects and they are looking forward to a very rewarding and worthwhile year.