From Monday the 14th of November to Friday the 18th, I was on work experience in Small World Playschool in Lucan. I started work 9 until half 12. The reason I chose to work in the playschool was because I love children. I have always thought about being a primary school teacher or working with younger children because I just love everything about them. They see everything so differently and it's very entertaining! I have three younger siblings anyways so I am very use to younger children so I wasn't surprised by anything when I got there.
The three ladies I was working with were Sinéad, Diane & Barbara (the best auntie ever). Sinéad owns the Play School so I saw her as the 'boss' or 'the lady in charge'. I was very nervous at first to meet her because I had no idea what way the play school worked and I was afraid of doing something wrong or getting in her way but she welcomed me with open arms and was very kind which took all the pressure off me so I felt very comfortable there which was a great relief.
The main thing all my friends and myself were most worried about was what we were going to wear, which is no surprise coming from a bunch of girls! Fortunately the uniform Sinéad, Diane and Barbara wore was black trousers with a blue or white polo top so they suggested I wear my school polo top which I wear to PE & tracksuit bottoms. This was great because it took all the pressure off me to decide what to wear & I was very comfortable going around all morning!
I learned a lot of things during the week which surprised me. They have to record everything, and I mean absolutely EVERYTHING! What they do, what they clean, what the children say, the children's behaviour, any incidents that happen, supplies they used, supplies they need to get and so much more. Health and safety is a big thing in the playschool I was in and I'm sure it is in many other ones. There was a big notice bored in the hall outside the room which contained about all there is a parent needs to know about keeping their child well and healthy. This was a great idea considering how fast germs spread between young children. I was also told a lot of information about the course that one would do to get their degree in child care. Unfortunately I forget most of the words used (long fancy words) but I know what they meant.. there was an assignment you would have to do on one child. This child would be your 'case study child'. You would record everything he/she does and says and comment on it and research it collecting facts and history about it. Very confusing stuff!
Last but not least the children! There were about 15 little dotes in the playschool and I wanted to bring them all home with me! I was seen as 'the new girl' for the week and Barbara warned me that they would be fighting over me and by god she was right! They weren't a bit shy at all and wanted me to play, sing, dance and clean everything with them and I LOVED IT!
In the morning they would come in, hang their jackets up, put their lunches in the fridge, sit in their seat with their hands on the table waiting for the role to be called and once that was done they were off like lightening to choose their favourite toy and play all morning. At 11 we had toilet break and I was in charge of washing their hands with them which was very cute because most of them couldn't reach the sink and got up on the chair to lean across. Then we had lunch until half 11. After lunch we did an activity which was planned that morning before play school started. Monday we made play dough, which was very messy & fun! Tuesday we cut the play dough to make shapes and this made the children practice their 'siccor skills', Wednesday we practised a fire drill, Thursday we coloured pictures to stick on a giant window that we painted & Friday we did 'Friday boxes', this was two giant boxes on the top self waiting until Friday to be used & one was filled with Polly Pockets for the girls and the other with Soldiers for the boys. The children absolutely loved these and I loved looking back at the toys I use to have when I was younger which was an awful lot of them. Many of the Bratz & Barbies & accessories they played with I had & alot of the story books I read to them I remembered from when I was younger such as' The Bear Hunt!' One little boy was terrified of this book when we read it and it was very cute as all the other children would be going crazy with excitement. There were two little girls who were only about 2 years old & we called them 'our babies' but just between Barbara, Sinéad ,Diane and myself because you wouldn't dare say it to them, they were always 'Big girls' .
Over all it was a fantastic week and I enjoyed it very much! I am very grateful to Sinéad for allowing me to work in the play school but it wouldn't have been the same without my auntie Barbara who is just brilliant & who I learned a lot from.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
My personal responce to Juno & the Paycock
All transition year students were given a great opportunity to go to the Abbey Theatre, situated in the heart of Dublin city, to see the production of Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey. For it being my first time to see a play in an actual theatre I was very excited and the performance itself lived up to my expectations. The elements of the play which impressed me the most and got my attention was the acting, the lightening, the set, how the performance reflect the text, the themes, and Casey's overall vision and viewpoint.
Every character played their part extremely well but the character which stood out most for me was Mrs. Boyle, Juno who is played by Sinéad Cusack. After reading the text I imagined Mrs. Boyle to be a larger, younger women with a hugh personality and a lot of energy. This image of Mrs. Boyle in my head was very different to how she was in the play and yet I was still drawn to her performance. She was an older woman in the play, thin and not as lady like as I imagined. She always seemed to be upset or angry over something and I could tell this by her husband Mr. Boyle, he seemed to constantly be letting her down. She also came across to me as a very powerful ,lady at times and cared very much about her family.
Many things had upset Juno. Her husband drank everyday and wouldn't work, they had everything taken from them from being in a hugh amount of debt and her daughter, Mary, got pregnant. As Juno tried to keep her family together through these difficult times I could see how some of them were hurting her even more.
The part of the play when Juno got back to her spirited self was when their family came into some money and she decorated her house with expensive furniture and furnishings. I could see this was something Juno had imagined for a long time as it put her whole family in a good mood which put a smile on Juno's face.
The powerful Juno was seen when Mr. Boyle's friend, Joxer, was over drinking with him. Juno sees Joxer as a bad influence on her husband and they do not get on. This is shown in a particular scene when Mr. Boyle and Joxer hear somebody walking up the stairs so Joxer jumps out the window to avoid being told off by Mrs. Boyle. This shows me how Juno can be strict and bossy, if she causes a man to hide from her but it tells me that she only puts on this powerful, scary side of her because she cares for her family.
Another caring side of Juno is shown when she finds out her daughter, Mary, is pregnant. She knows how scared Mary is to raise the baby without a father and to face her own father and yet sticks by her daughter all the time. "Your baby doesn't need a father because it'll have two mothers which is far better", this is my favourite part of Juno's performance as is shows me the type of caring person which Juno is, under all the hurt and anger she has she would do anything for her children.
The set was another thing which interested me a lot. I was amazed at how realistic the stage looked with all the set and props. The kitchen was to the right hand side and very small with two narrow doors showing two bedrooms. The left hand side was completely bare as they did not own much furniture and the bed was to the left background of the stage. Their table and chairs was in the middle of the stage so the whole stage was used and showed their apartment off well. The scene when Mrs. Boyle was frying sausages had the audience very intrigued as it was very real and performed perfectly.
The lightening used was also impressive as I will never forget the image of Juno in the apartment, when it was completely bare and dark, just staring out the window with the light of the moon shining on her, reflecting her shadow onto the ground of the apartment behind her. It was a very emotional and breath taking image as I began to feel sorry for her then. Without the lightening used, this image would not have been successful and therefore would not have been an impact on the audience so fortunately it was.
The main themes in the play were conflict and poverty.
The character which seemed to cause the most conflict was Mr. Boyle. He is very irresponsible and has a poor attitude to work. Mrs. Boyle seems to constantly be getting upset and angry with him because he wont work and just wants to drink everyday with his friend Joxer. Juno knows this is wrong for her family because they need money and she does her best to get him work but he always lets her down by coming up with excuses. This causes many rows between them. Mr. Boyle also lets his family down by not supporting his daughter when she gets pregnant. At first he is furious and wants nothing to do with her but then cant even help her when he looses out on a lot of money which leads the family in a lot of debt and this is when Juno is very disappointed and can no longer try to hold her family together.
At the beginning of the play it was very clear of the poverty they were in by their apartment. It was very small and bare. This got even worse by the end when they had their new furniture and furnishings were taken away. All they had left was the bed in the left hand corner. I felt very sorry for the family at this time and especially for Juno because it caused her to leave her husband and live with her sister. It just shows how the poverty they were stuck in tore their family apart.
Personally I enjoyed the production of Juno and the Paycock a lot more then the text. I found it a lot more interesting and better to understand. I imagined each character different so the production of the play really helped me to understand and become aware of life in the 1920's.
Sean O'Casey's overall vision and view point on the world was the problems and situations people come across. He takes a simple Irish family from Dublin and describes their family problems, such as conflicts and poverty, to show people today how much better it has gotten since the 1920's. In my opinion, Sean O'Casey saw 1920's Dublin as a time when people were struggling to cope, it was during the war of independence which made things more difficult for people as their was a lot of conflict and violence going on outside their own homes so therefore work became harder to get and families were then lead to poverty.
This play was very enjoyable, not only to read but to see the play itself in the theatre and I recommend you to read it or see the production as it was very interesting, well performed and very enjoyable.
Every character played their part extremely well but the character which stood out most for me was Mrs. Boyle, Juno who is played by Sinéad Cusack. After reading the text I imagined Mrs. Boyle to be a larger, younger women with a hugh personality and a lot of energy. This image of Mrs. Boyle in my head was very different to how she was in the play and yet I was still drawn to her performance. She was an older woman in the play, thin and not as lady like as I imagined. She always seemed to be upset or angry over something and I could tell this by her husband Mr. Boyle, he seemed to constantly be letting her down. She also came across to me as a very powerful ,lady at times and cared very much about her family.
Many things had upset Juno. Her husband drank everyday and wouldn't work, they had everything taken from them from being in a hugh amount of debt and her daughter, Mary, got pregnant. As Juno tried to keep her family together through these difficult times I could see how some of them were hurting her even more.
The part of the play when Juno got back to her spirited self was when their family came into some money and she decorated her house with expensive furniture and furnishings. I could see this was something Juno had imagined for a long time as it put her whole family in a good mood which put a smile on Juno's face.
The powerful Juno was seen when Mr. Boyle's friend, Joxer, was over drinking with him. Juno sees Joxer as a bad influence on her husband and they do not get on. This is shown in a particular scene when Mr. Boyle and Joxer hear somebody walking up the stairs so Joxer jumps out the window to avoid being told off by Mrs. Boyle. This shows me how Juno can be strict and bossy, if she causes a man to hide from her but it tells me that she only puts on this powerful, scary side of her because she cares for her family.
Another caring side of Juno is shown when she finds out her daughter, Mary, is pregnant. She knows how scared Mary is to raise the baby without a father and to face her own father and yet sticks by her daughter all the time. "Your baby doesn't need a father because it'll have two mothers which is far better", this is my favourite part of Juno's performance as is shows me the type of caring person which Juno is, under all the hurt and anger she has she would do anything for her children.
The set was another thing which interested me a lot. I was amazed at how realistic the stage looked with all the set and props. The kitchen was to the right hand side and very small with two narrow doors showing two bedrooms. The left hand side was completely bare as they did not own much furniture and the bed was to the left background of the stage. Their table and chairs was in the middle of the stage so the whole stage was used and showed their apartment off well. The scene when Mrs. Boyle was frying sausages had the audience very intrigued as it was very real and performed perfectly.
The lightening used was also impressive as I will never forget the image of Juno in the apartment, when it was completely bare and dark, just staring out the window with the light of the moon shining on her, reflecting her shadow onto the ground of the apartment behind her. It was a very emotional and breath taking image as I began to feel sorry for her then. Without the lightening used, this image would not have been successful and therefore would not have been an impact on the audience so fortunately it was.
The main themes in the play were conflict and poverty.
The character which seemed to cause the most conflict was Mr. Boyle. He is very irresponsible and has a poor attitude to work. Mrs. Boyle seems to constantly be getting upset and angry with him because he wont work and just wants to drink everyday with his friend Joxer. Juno knows this is wrong for her family because they need money and she does her best to get him work but he always lets her down by coming up with excuses. This causes many rows between them. Mr. Boyle also lets his family down by not supporting his daughter when she gets pregnant. At first he is furious and wants nothing to do with her but then cant even help her when he looses out on a lot of money which leads the family in a lot of debt and this is when Juno is very disappointed and can no longer try to hold her family together.
At the beginning of the play it was very clear of the poverty they were in by their apartment. It was very small and bare. This got even worse by the end when they had their new furniture and furnishings were taken away. All they had left was the bed in the left hand corner. I felt very sorry for the family at this time and especially for Juno because it caused her to leave her husband and live with her sister. It just shows how the poverty they were stuck in tore their family apart.
Personally I enjoyed the production of Juno and the Paycock a lot more then the text. I found it a lot more interesting and better to understand. I imagined each character different so the production of the play really helped me to understand and become aware of life in the 1920's.
Sean O'Casey's overall vision and view point on the world was the problems and situations people come across. He takes a simple Irish family from Dublin and describes their family problems, such as conflicts and poverty, to show people today how much better it has gotten since the 1920's. In my opinion, Sean O'Casey saw 1920's Dublin as a time when people were struggling to cope, it was during the war of independence which made things more difficult for people as their was a lot of conflict and violence going on outside their own homes so therefore work became harder to get and families were then lead to poverty.
This play was very enjoyable, not only to read but to see the play itself in the theatre and I recommend you to read it or see the production as it was very interesting, well performed and very enjoyable.
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