TY students get to work on new skills
THE Transition Year students of
St Mary’s Macroom recently held several workshops, including: Etiquette, Interview Skills, Beauty Therapy, Self-Defence, Candle Making and Sign Language. Below, the students explain just what was involved.
Monday morning began with Etiquette with Mrs Kate Lynch, a former Home Manager and Home Economics teacher. During this workshop, we learned a variety of skills that included how to set a formal place setting at a table, cutlery to use when eating out, napkin use among other things. The information received will prove to be helpful, when socialising with adults in the future.
After break, we attended Interview Skills with Dr Margaret Linehan. We found this useful as we are all going on work experience and looking for part time jobs this year. She gave us tips in relation to our curriculum vitae which we found very helpful. She also spoke to us about appropriate interview attire and how to conduct ourselves in an interview situation.This workshop will be very beneficial to us in the future.
Later in the day, we went to Ms. Ann Marie Healy from Ann Marie’s Beauty Salon, who demonstrated a full facial routine on her volunteer Rachel and advised us on what products to use for our skin types. Along with skincare, she gave us some makeup tips, as well as pointers on how to apply fake tan properly and how to avoid patchiness (which we are all too familiar with).
After Beauty Therapy, we went to our school hall to do Self-Defence with Ms de la Cour, 2016 World Kickboxing Champion, West Cork Sports Star of the Year 2015 and our English teacher. She taught us that the main aim of self-defence is to stay safe and demonstrated different break-away moves that we would need, if we were ever being attacked. We all got a chance to practice these moves in a controlled and safe environment.
On Tuesday morning we did Candle Making with another teacher from St Mary’s, Ms. Gray. All the materials were given to us at the workshop. We got to make two different types of candles: one bee wax candle and a candle in a glass jar that we had previously decorated with ribbons and glitter. This was a very interesting experience, and again, something new.
Later that day, we had a workshop on Sign Language with Richie O’Mahony. He talked firstly about his own experience of growing up with parents who were deaf. Irish Sign Language is now seen as a native and independent language in Ireland since December 2016. He also taught us how to sign the alphabet and gave us some phrases for conversation with a person who is deaf. This was an extremely interesting and worthwhile workshop, as not many people in the group had previous knowledge of Sign Language.
Many thanks to all the facilitators of our workshops. While they were all very informative, it was also a fun way to end our first term in Transition Year.