Community Involvement

Students partake in Community Involvement (personal development) over a period of five weeks. They have a choice:
1.      Helping out in the McBride Home for the Elderly in Westport.
2.      Assisting in the Western Care Offices.
3.      Caring for young children in the local Primary Schools and pre-schools where they are often given the chance of teaching lessons as well as enhancing many personal skills along the way.

GAA Coaching Course
All students take part in a two day GAA coaching course. The course is a mixture of classroom and outside activities. The students are trained by Mayo County GAA coaches. Each student will learn skills on coaching, team work, communication and organisation. Each student will get a certificate at the end of the course.

Law Course (Public access to Law)

All Transition Years participate in the Public Access to Law (P.A.L) Programme. The main objective of this course is to de-mystify the law. It gives students an understanding of how law works and thus widens their knowledge of the legal system. The students always find this course very appealing and relevant. All tutors are practising Barristers who have teaching experience. P.A.L places an emphasis on teaching the skill of advocacy. Training in advocacy introduces the student to the art of persuasion, speaking succinctly and the skill of thinking ‘on ones’ feet’. A written exam is also incorporated into the module and successful candidates are certified.

First Aid Course

Students got a chance to take part in a First Aid Course in the school. The course allowed students to learn key skills which would come in useful if an injury were happen.

Young Enterprise Competition

The Young Enterprise Competition is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and is geared towards the aspiring entrepreneurs. All students take part in the Enterprise module in Transition Year and the students that display the best enterprising skills and abilities (innovation, creativity, market research, product development, marketing, sales, customer service and teamwork) go forward to represent the school in the competition at local, regional and national level.

Self-defence and orienteering
Students took part in self-defence on Monday evenings. They took part also in orienteering where they spend an afternoon near Leenane to demonstrate their new skills.

Trip to Glasnevin and Collins Barracks
Transition Year students are taken to Dublin in early April where they get a guided tour of the Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum and Collins Barracks. Students were given an opportunity to visit Ireland’s most historical sites and remember those who took part in an important time in Irish history.

Active Teens

This programme allows students to be trained as leaders to encourage younger students to become active. It is run in conjunction with the Mayo Sports Partnership.

The TY students get to grace the stage again. All TYs get to be involved in the production both front and back stage.

Driving

A recognised School of Motoring offers a two-day intensive driving course to all students. The students learn in class about the safety needed on our roads. They also gain practical driving experience. The course is followed up by a trip to Westport where they sit the Theory test; a prerequisite for applying for a driving licence.

Trip to Barcelona

Each year the Transition Year students are taken on a trip to Barcelona. They have a fun-filled, action packed educational week with lots of planned activities including a tour of the Nou camp stadium, a guided tour of Barcelona City, a trip to Montserrat, and a day out in Portaventura Theme Park which is a highlight for many students.