All things science was celebrated between the 12th and 16th of November in the Bower. Various activities and workshops were enjoyed inside and outside school.
Coding with Ericsson
Each of our 1st year classes visited the Ericsson campus throughout the week to participate in a coding workshop. The days began with a tour of the campus, which our students were very impressed by. After which, our girls were 
broken into working groups and taught to code by their Ericsson mentors. They built their own websites in the morning and presented their creations to their classmates and Ericsson staff in the afternoon. A delicious lunch and a spot of pool was enjoyed by the students before the judges announced the daily coding winners, who received some lovely prizes. Each of our students received a goodie bag to take away, along with a wealth of knowledge thanks to the days’ activities. Thank you to Ms Barbara Quinn and the Ericsson team for this fantastic experience.
TY Talks
The Transition Years received a presentation from Dr. Enda Fallon from AIT, on emerging trends in ICT technology; Internet of Things, Self-Driving Cars, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality. He indicated that the nature of the rapidly changing technical environment requires graduates who are innovative, communicative problem solvers. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a rapidly evolving area. This year’s transition year students may graduate in the academic year 2024/2025. Previous experience has shown that ICT technologies which do not exist today will dominate in the mid 2020’s
Astronomy
During an hour long slide show Kevin Sweeney, Astronomer, introduced 2nd years and TY students to the world around us, answering the most frequently asked questions about the stars and planets. Why is the sky blue? Why can’t Venus sustain human life? And could the sun explode? During the presentation, Kevin discussed the very real possibility of landing on Mars in the near future, typical temperatures on Mercury and Venus and the effects of weightlessness on the human body. All accompanied by beautiful shots of the galaxies taken through powerful telescopes.
STEM For Fun
Ms Greaney and her TY class were thrilled to welcome local primary students to the school on Wed. 14th, for a fun 
and active workshop on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The students enjoyed finding out the science behind ice-cream….and tasting the finished product once the experiment was completed! They took part in “Cloud Shape” Technology workshops, tried their hands at Engineering by building marshmallow and spaghetti towers and playing ring and lift games. They also flexed their maths muscles with tarsia puzzle races. Thank you to the staff and management from St Mary’s, Scoil na gCeithre Máistrí, Cornamaddy, Ballybay and St Peter’s for allowing your students to attend the event. We hope they enjoyed the day.