On Friday 10th May we said goodbye to our Further Education students.  Mark Ward, the Mayor of South Dublin, came in to talk to them, congratulating them on their achievement and giving them some inspiring ideas.

On behalf of all their tutors Kathleen Campbell, the Head of Further Education,  wished the students well in the future whether that be a return to us for another year, further study or going into the world of work.

On Tuesday 30th April a group of TY students led by Andrew Byrne Cullen organised a very successful table quiz for all Transition Year students.  The questions covered a wide range of topics to suit every taste, from make-up to sport, while also including music history and TV to test a wide area of general knowledge.  There was close competition right up to the end with the winning and second-placed team only separated by a tie-break question.  The student team planned and organised the event along with setting and marking the questions.  A great achievement by all involved.

On Thursday the 28th of March four Transition Year students got the privilege of visiting the Microsoft Datacentre in Grange Castle and also their impressive building in Sandyford.

From February this year our Fourth Year Accounting class had been availing of a fantastic programme from Junior Achievement Ireland. Students had different sessions about financing their future. This was delivered by Justin Trehy who is the Due Diligence Project Manager in Microsoft Datacentre at Grange Castle. Justin did a fantastic job teaching the class how important it is to stay in school and plan for their futures. We were very grateful for all the hard work that Justin put into each class and for helping us understand the importance of planning for their financial future.

As a reward for their hard work and involvement in the programme Justin arranged for four students to visit the Datacentre in Grange Castle and also the Microsoft offices in Sandyford. Students got a first-hand experience of the type of security that is in place in Grange Castle and the type of work that they do there. We were then whisked away to Sandyford where we got to see the other side of Microsoft filled with 2,000 employees working hard. We also got to see how much Microsoft look after the well being of their staff with an onsite hair dressers and nail salon! We were then given a tour by a Microsoft Intern who explained what she did and how she came to work in Microsoft

Students walked away from this visit knowing what hard work and dedication can get them!

I would love to work in Microsoft as it’s nice to see that for all the hard work the employees put in, I know that they are treated very well. I am sure there are a lot of jobs in Dublin and in America where the other big Microsoft place is.                Jodie O’Reily

Overall I thought the trip was really good because it was something that not a lot of people know about and it was interesting to learn about. In the future I’d love to work there.                          Emily Conway

Justin showed us some machines that can be found in ships and we were all surprised when he told us the price of them; there were 15 and all together they were worth 15 million euro. After the tour we met with some workers in Microsoft and they told us how they got where they are today. For example, one girl got to Microsoft even though in her early life she had no interest in IT; she actually was a beauty therapist before she came to Microsoft.

Ben Palmer

We got to meet three employees from Microsoft. Their stories of how they came to work in Microsoft were very interesting. They all came from different backgrounds and had different qualifications.                             Emmanuel Bankole

On Thursday evening 4^th  April 2019 Collinstown Park hosted an information evening covering energy efficiency in the home, renewable energy generation and other available supports. Representatives on the night included SSE Airtricity, SEAI and Microsoft. This event was attended by students of the college together with their parents and guardians and members of the local community.

Exhibitors on the night included home energy saving techniques in addition to interactive resources including solar PV panels and remote control home heating applications. Representatives from SSE Airtricity and SEAI were on hand to give expert advice in energy efficiency in the home.

Victory Luke spoke on behalf of the TY ‘Energy Five Day Challenge’ leaders. Victory gave an insightful account of Generation Green and their wonderful work to date.

There was a presentation on the night to all competition winners and spot prizes were awarded to members of the public.

On Thursday morning 11th April 2019, 183 students from First to Sixth Year were awarded for their success in the Microsoft Awards for Excellence January initiative. To date, over five hundred students have received this award. Representatives from Microsoft were on hand to present students with their certificates and prizes.

That Thursday evening, fifty-nine students together with their parents and guardians, teachers, representatives from Microsoft and DDLETB and our Board of Management celebrated the Citizenship awards. All written pieces and posters were displayed on the night and extracts from each application were shared. Twenty-four special prizes were awarded.

Winners:

First Year: Grace Shelley, Ammar Syed Shah, Codie Brennan, Jayne Higgins & Tracey Ijezie.

Second Year: Holly Dooley, Cian Somers, Alex Kennedy & Courtney Whelan McManus.

Third Year: Emma Nangle, Rhianna Higgins & Aoife O’Connor.

Fourth Year: Leah Byrne, Shane Murray Lavelle & Emmanuel Bankole.

Fifth Year: Luke Murphy, Chloe O’Flaherty, Grace McCormack, Lee McDonagh and Luke Nolan.

Sixth Year: David Reddin, Nadine Church, Sonia Khan & Aoife Hanley.

Well done to all students involved in the Microsoft drive.

As part of the school’s Green Flag program,  water experiments were conducted by Transition Year students.  Their findings were collated by the students.  These Fourth Year students then presented the experiments to our First Year students. The First Years learned about Pollution and Climate Change in a fun interactive way. Well done to all.

Join us for an interactive evening , where we  will be covering energy efficiency in the home, renewable energy generation and available supports. Representatives from SSE Airtricity, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and Microsoft will be attending and giving expert advice.

Prizes and Refreshments will be available on the night.

More than 200 Students from Collinstown Park Community College have been embracing energy efficiency. The budding energy enthusiasts completed a workshop that was run by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and a five-day energy efficiency challenge that was organised by Microsoft and SSE Airtricity.

Students from First and Fourth Year took part in SEAI workshops, which focused on climate change, sustainability, addressing the causes and global impacts of climate change, and renewable and non-renewable technologies.

 The students also took part in a five-day energy efficiency challenge as part of Microsoft’s community engagement programme. SSE Airtricity, Ireland’s largest generator of 100 percent green energy, provided the learning materials and practical advice to help drive discussion among the learners.

Each day, Transition Year students acted as leaders and led discussions on various sustainability topics including: recycling, water conservation, home, technology, and food. The discussions focused on ways the efficiency-enthusiasts could bring energy-efficient tips and tricks into their home and daily lives.

Students were invited to take part in energy challenges, this included a ‘Power Down Day’ – a 24-hour period where children where challenged to avoid using all technology and social media. Students were also invited to take part in a competition showcasing how they used the tips they learnt during the week to make their lives more energy-efficient. Winners of the competition will be announced at an Energy Efficiency Evening which will be held at 7pm on Thursday 4 April at Collinstown Park Community College.

Microsoft, who have a strong relationship with the school through their community engagement programme, recently funded a deep retrofit of the school’s energy infrastructure. The project, which was carried out by SSE Airtricity and granted funding by the SEAI, involved installing 30 solar panels on the roof and upgrading all lighting throughout the campus to high efficiency LED lights. The retrofit resulted in 110,000 kWH of energy savings per year and will cut the school’s annual electricity bill by more than 50 percent.

Cliona Mohan who is the  Transition Year Head stated that ‘the Generation Green leaders in Transition Year really rose to the challenge and managed to engage students from both year groups in the debate about the environmental issues facing us all.  Awareness of sustainability and eco issues were reinforced in both Geography and Science classes during the week.  Many students participated enthusiastically in the competition, combining their artistic skills with their now deeper knowledge of how they could be part of the change rather than part of the problem’.

The Music Department will host an Open Night this Thursday 28th March. Students from all year groups will showcase their skills. Many students will be performing songs they plan to do for their Leaving or Junior Cert practical in a couple of weeks. As such, the night provides a great opportunity for them to develop their performance skills. Students and parents are welcome to come along to what will be a very enjoyable evening. 

Performances start at 7pm and tea and coffee will be available on the night. 

The Transition Years went go-karting on Wednesday 20th March. We got beautiful weather for our great day of racing and fun. Everyone enjoyed the day and looked well in their racing gear!