Transition Year: Meaning.

I just realized, I've been writing this blog about TY (Transition Year) and many people may not even know what it is or what its about, so let me explain it to you.  TY is the fourth year in secondary school, it is a year without exams such as the junior or leaving cert and a year where we can experience new subjects and try new things that we may have never even thought of doing if it weren't for TY.  In my school TY is optional so this means you don't have to do and many people didn't do it, we only have two classes in our year rather than 5 and we have 30 students in each class.

transition year is basically like a gap year to transition from junior cert to leaving cert, I think its a very good idea because you get to try new things like work experience, workshops, charity work and trips to see different museums and historical things also.  It promotes a physical way of learning, like in history instead of just reading about castle town house we also went to see it and got a tour.  

In work experience we get to experience the working world, you can try many different areas of the working world, we can try things we may not even want to do but may want to try it and see if you end up liking it.  I think its a great opportunity to figure out what kind of working person you are, for example if you would work well in an office or would prefer working in a shop etc. 

We also get to do lots of different workshops, such as etiquette or first aid which teach you very important things you need for life, even to save someones life.  we also get to try every subject, so if we didn't get to do music for the junior cert we cant try it in transition year.

Etiquette workshop

On the same day as our first aid workshop we had an Etiquette workshop also, when I first heard of this I was very very confused because I had no idea what Etiquette was all we were told was to bring in our high heels, so I did.  I asked around to see if anyone knew what it was and as it turned out Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behaviors according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group, which really just means, we had a work shop on how to act correctly or as some people like to say "ladylike" in society.

The first thing we did was play an ice-breaker or two then we were shown a power point and video all about Etiquette and whats right and wrong.  We were told how to were our clothes, what clothes to wear even what underwear to wear.  after that we got up to walk the red carpet, we had to walk with a book on our head to make sure our spine was aligned and then we had to try and do it in our high heels, we were also taught how to sit politely and i found that helpful in an interview.  

First aid Workshop

One of the first workshops we did in TY was the First-aid workshop.  This workshop was so much fun and was so interesting,  we had it before results night so it was very handy in case we ran into a sticky situation on the night.  Our instructor was so funny he was always making jokes and was very punny also (punny = pun+funny).

We learnt how to do CPR, how to help if someone is choking whether it be a baby, child or an adult, we also learned how to wrap up someones arm and what to do if someone is having a seizure.  We went through lots of different scenarios and lots of role plays that could happen in our life time.  Thankfully I didn't have to use any of these techniques on the night but i will remember them in case I ever do have to use them.

At the end of the workshop we had to fill out a report form, so to say how good it was and whether we recommend it for next years TY's.  I gave it five stars as I found it very interesting.  Just as we were leaving we were given a little card which has instructions on CPR tips without the lips, so basically how to give CPR without 'Mouth-to-mouth'. I always have it with me in my purse whenever I go out if I ever need it.