Our First Years are enjoying their first month in Donabate Community College…
To welcome them into the school we held a 1st Year Breakfast Morning for the students and their parents.This gave the students a chance to show their parents what they’ve been doing in school and gave the parents an insight into the school. They got to meet the teachers and see how their children are getting along.
Last week, we spoke to some new first year students to find out how secondary school has been for them so far. Jessica Hannigan and Sean McClean were past pupils of DPETNS, Rory O’Mahony previously attended St Pat’s BNS, and Ava Lawlor comes to us from Scoil Phadraic Cailíní.
We started by asking the four students the same questions about the school and how they were adjusting to this new environment.
First we asked them general questions about school work, homework, iPad’s, and lockers. Every student had similar answers: the iPad’s made their bags lighter, but they were still getting used to having so many hardbacks.
When asking about moving from class to class, they all agreed it was better, and they enjoyed getting a break before the next class.They all agreed that it was easier to learn each subject as every teacher focused on one subject rather than having one teacher for all subjects.
We asked all four of the students about their favorite subjects and the options they chose. Jessica said her favorite subject is Art, which she found different from Art in primary school. She explained how in secondary school you learn more artistic skills.
Sean’s favorite subject is English. He said it was more interesting in secondary school than in primary school because you go more in depth. He also found it better because he likes to write stories.
When Ava was asked, she answered that Music is her favourite subject, because she plays the violin. She likes learning new instruments and learning more about music theory.
Two students Jessica and Sean who went to DPETNS, previously had not worn a uniform, talked about how it was easier because they didn’t have to decide what to wear in the morning. Rory and Ava who had gone to an all-boys and all-girls schools respectively, answered questions about being in a mixed school. Rory felt a mixed class was a lot calmer, but from Ava’s perspective it was a lot louder due to the mix.
We would like to thank Ms Lindsay, Mr Creevey, Mrs Flynn, Mr Doyle for hosting the Breakfast Morning.
Thanks to the first year tutors Ms Chaloner, Mr Weafer, Mr Clarke, Mr O’Briain, Ms Peat for looking after our First Years so well. A special thanks to the Transition Year students Gemma Roche, Aimee Newman and Conor McClean for helping out at the breakfast morning.
For more photos from the Breakfast Morning, please click here
Written by Alison Branigan, Ciara Grace and Sarah Diggin, TY Journalism.