Week Ended Friday 18th November 2011 (Please click to view all items)
Trinity College Transition Year Physics Experience
Adrain Whelan and Conor Bain went to Trinity College from the 7th to the 11th November for the Trinity College Transition Year Physics Experience. They attended lectures, visited the observatory and completed a project during the week. Students from around the country attended and our students found it to be extremely informative and enjoyable. Thanks to Ms. Seery for organising.
GAELTACHT
11th-13th November. Chuaigh an idirbhlian agus 5A blian go dti an gaeltacht Rathcairn i gCo. Mhi. Thanks to Ms. King and Ms. Kinsella for organising.
JAVA CLASSES
Java computer courses are currently running for Junior and Senior students after school. This course will be of particular value to students wishing to study computer games development at college. The course is free of charge and is already proving to be extremely popular amongst students. Thanks to Mr. Somers for organising.
GUEST SPEAKERS
This last week has been a most unusual week for us in Arklow CBS because two prestigious guest speakers were in fact past pupils of our school!
On Friday, November 11, former past pupil Captain Bill Kavanagh, President of the Irish Institute of Master Mariners, addressed a packed classroom of 57 students who were there to learn all about matters maritime. Bill briefly reminisced about the happy days he spent in Arklow CBS under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers before launching into his presentation on the National Maritime College where he lectures.
The boys listened in awe as Bill told them of the variety of courses available - Nautical Science degree, Bachelor of Engineering in Marine and Plant Engineering,and a Bachelor of Engineering in Marine Electrotechnology and a certificate in Navigational Studies (seamanship).
Finally, there was more good news on the horizon for those interested in pursuing a career at sea - as graduates of the NMCI are in demand around the world and salaries are breathtakingly high.
On Tuesday afternoon, fifth year students were delighted to welcome another past pupil to our school. Padraig Loughlin, recalled some happy moments spent in Arklow CBS. A group of more than forty fifth year students assembled in the school's computer room to listen to Padraig's presentation on Computer Games Development. Padraig is a lecturer in IT Carlow and he quickly dispelled any false ideas students had about the course. Students were amazed to learn that maths and physics are an integral part of the course. The games industry is a multi-billion euro industry and it is expected to increase even more over the next few years . There are excellent employment opportunities for computer game programmers with game publishers or game development at home and abroad. Graduates are qualified to work as software engineers if they so wish.
Drug Awareness Week
For more than two hours on Tuesday, 15th November first year students of Arklow CBS got the chance to flex their muscles. It was all part of the initiative of Drug Awareness Week and our students played basketball, hockey, they cycled and they did a step aerobic workout which was exhausting even for the onlookers. At midday, the session ended and the boys thanked their coaches and climbed into the bus for the short journey back to school, a ten minute break and then Mr Somers, the principal shepherded them back into class!
Padraig's talk was very interesting as it was laced with interesting facts and statistics. 'Modern Warfare 3 ', the latest video game cost 300 million dollars to make but it made 400 million dollars within the first three days of being on sale!. The boys shook their heads in disbelief when they learned that 29% of gamers are over the age of 50, with many playing online games! Padraig concluded his talk by giving advice to would-be games development students - he told them to start now, they can download free packages of Java etc and they can just start programming. There are a lot of opportunities for games developers in the area of smartphone apps - he mentioned an app called Doodle Jump which was made very cheaply and now has been downloaded more than 10 million times.
When he finished the students gave Padraig a warm round of applause.