Modelling and self-defence

ANOTHER busy week lies ahead of the Presentation College girls in Transition Year. We are settling back to our daily classes and we're continuing our preparation for our many projects. This comes as a shock as we dive back into work after a relaxing weekend but, as usual, we will meet head on all this week has to offer us. [private] We have various fashion-show activities scheduled s this week. We will be welcoming an annual guest to our school as Mandy Maher will be coming to guide us in the art of fashion modelling. Her lessons will illustrate the importance of perfect posture on the catwalk and straighten out our sloppy struts. No books necessary â€â€ they will be exchanged for six-inch heels and platforms. As you can imagine, a class of teenage girls has a plentiful supply of high heels, and we TYs are no exception. The styles, sizes and colours of shoes in our classroom are endless and we all know that a girl can never have too many shoes. We will all be well prepared to grace the stage for our show in March. From one extreme to another, our next activity is the self-defence course. We are currently on week three of a six-week, certified course. We launch each session with a gentle warm-up and some light stretches. As the class builds, the exercises become more intense and we begin to dread the excruciating push-ups. We move on to act out various scenarios in which self-defence comes into play. We learn basic but effective moves, punches and blocks. These classes prepare us for life, but hopefully, we will never need to put the actions learned into practice.  I personally find the sessions very practical because they are informative and active. Last week we held a cake sale in aid of the TY fund. As usual, the school's students and staff got behind us. We raised a decent €106, which will go towards future outings and events. Despite a last-minute change of dates and short notice for the bakers in our class, the cake sale was definitely a success. We will have to squeeze in another cake sale before Lent begins. With this season approaching quickly, we are guaranteed a roaring success in our future fundraisers. We now have only two weeks remaining until our school tour to Amsterdam. Final meetings are being held and our itinerary will be sent home in the next few days. We have yet to pack our bags and purchase essentials. It won't be long now until the students from TY and fifth-year will be jetting off to the Netherlands from Dublin airport for four fun-filled days. We look forward to the adventure of a lifetime. â€â€ Emma Fahy [/private]