Ski Trip 2011

A group of pupils are preparing to travel to Pamporova in Bulgaria for a week of skiing and cultural education. A group of 20 young people fly out to Plovdiv on 13th February and return on 20th February. They will spend the week skiing with other pupils from Ballee High School. During the week they will have the opportunity to visit the Bulgarian orphanages  in Chepelare where they will give up their time to play with the children and help around the orphanage. Money raised from bag packing at Tescos will be presented to the manager of the orhanage to purchase essential items.

Pupils travelling are  Craig Carson, Stuart Crawford, Gary Neilly, Curtis Marshall, Kyle Hope, William McCartney, Dean Topping, Tommy Lowry, Beverly Mitchell, Caprice Flanagan, Danielle Conville and Sarah Kidd.  Some past pupils and friends also accompanying the group are James Conville, David Matthews, Anna Matthews,  Andrew Lee, Natasha McQuade, Ashleigh Wright and Jordan Woolway.
 

  

---

Careers Events

Year 10 STEM Awareness

The Newtownabbey Learning Community have arranged a drama presentation for all Year 10 pupils. The event will take place on Monday 7^th February; we will leave school at 9.15am.  

Dynamic and motivational, the presentation will use current media and popular cultural references to convey positive messages to young people based around STEM subjects.  The presentation will follow the lives of a group of young friends and their experiences when discovering the vast array of careers available to them through science, engineering, technology and mathematics.  It will dispel the myths around certain industry sectors and promote learning pathways and career progression routes. Ultimately, it will encourage young people to think positively about their future and promote life-long learning and skills development.

 Year 12 Careers Conference

The Newtownabbey Learning Community has organised a fantastic careers conference at The University of Ulster, Jordanstown. The opening speaker is the director of the European Space Agency. This is a very unique opportunity for pupils to explore various career options, further education options and talk one to one with leading employers in various fields as well as university professionals. All Our year 12 pupils will be travelling to UUJ on Thursday 10^th February to participate in this very rewarding day.

Careers - Interview Skills Day

Year 12 pupils had the opportunity to participate in an interview skills programme on Tuesday 2^nd November. This was a one day event designed to help pupils market themselves effectively in an interview situation. Pupils had the opportunity to address important employment issues such as completion of job applications, verbal and non verbal communication, preparation for interview (including CV) and personal appearance. The programme concluded with a mock interview with local employers. All pupils received verbal and written feedback on their individual performance at interview.

Thank you to Pat from Sentinus for leading the event. Also a big thank you to Daphne from NIHE, Billy and Meta from DHL, Dan from MOD, and Annie from ETCNI for volunteering their time and conducting the mock interviews! A final thank you to all the teaching staff who assisted by supervising during the event!

Careers and LLW - The Big Idea Workshop

Year 12 pupils were involved in The Big Idea workshop lead by Advantage NI and supported by the Newtownabbey Borough Council. This workshop ran during Enterprise Week; the main aim of the workshop was to build on pupil’s knowledge of enterprising skills and qualities as well as opportunities for employment through enterprise and entrepreneurship. Pupils had an exciting day looking at and trying products that were invented in Northern Ireland by local people. Pupils were given a group task to design or develop one product, service or idea which would make Newtownabbey a better place for them to be. The winning team received a big box of chocolates, which they graciously shared with the whole group.

Thank you to Gerry and the staff at Advantage NI for delivering the event and to the teaching staff who supervised during the event! 

STEM – Year 10

Year 10 pupils had the opportunity to participate in a range of activities on Tuesday 14^th December. These activities were designed to raise awareness of STEM related subjects and STEM related careers. Pupils built their own generators, built and raced their own cars and made rockets which they fired across the play ground. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed this day and improved their science, technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge. Thank you to Pat from Sentinus for leading the event and to all staff who supervised during the day.

---

Bag Pack at Tescos

Tescos at Newtownabbey regularly support their local community and their local school and again invited us to fund raise at our local store. On Tuesday 21^st December pupils accompanied by Miss Mornin and Mr Matthews spent an 8 hour day packing bags for customers. Pupils once again were commended by the staff and management at Tesco for their attitude and conduct during the day. Congratulations and a huge thank you to all the pupils who demonstrated maturity, commitment and loyalty by turning up as agreed even though school was shut due to the adverse weather conditions. Thank you also to Miss McNaghten for volunteering to help for a few hours which turned out to be the whole day!

---

Woodhall Trip

Annually year 8 pupils at Newtownabbey Community High School have the opportunity to extend their learning through a residential at Woodhall in Kilrea. Pupils spend 3 days participating in various activities including archery, kayaking and climbing. The focus is on improving thinking skills and personal capabilities. In addition to outdoor activities pupils have responsibilities within the centre and have to make their own bed, clear tables at meal times as well as participate in the evening programme which involved a cinema trip and Dutch auction. Once again this year was an extremely successful trip, pupils and staff would like to thank Gerry and his team of instructors at Woodhall, Kilrea, for a fantastic and educational experience.