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2022/23

 

  

Congratulations to Mikey Donelon in Transition Year for winning the Social Media Award for his enterprise MD’s Car Valeting at the recent Student Enterprise Awards in association with the Local Enterprise Office in the Clayton Hotel, Galway. We wish to thank P.J. Mullin our Schools Enterprise Co-Ordinator for his classroom guidance during this academic year.

 

The Student Enterprise Programme is a programme that run by the Network of Local Enterprise Office of Ireland (LEOs). It is the largest and most successful student enterprise programme with over 25,000 students taking part each year. It runs from September to May each year. Our students get to set up their own business and do everything a real life entrepreneur would do….. from coming up with the business idea to marketing & writing a business plan. The County Finals take place in February/March each year in each county and one student team goes forward to take part in the National Final in May to be named Student Enterprise of the Year.

We entered in the senior category with our two teams Chirpy Window Boxes and MD’s Car Valeting. Chirpy Window Boxes set up a company selling bird houses & window boxes. Although successful as an enterprise, they didn’t receive any award on the day.  We wish both enterprises the very best of luck in the future.

 

 

European Money Quiz

Our 3rd Years entered this national quiz online via Kahoot and You Tube in real time on March 14th last. Unfortunately, we had no success. It was organised by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (B.P.F.I.). We will try our luck again next year. It is Europe’s biggest financial literacy competition for 13-15 year olds.

 

 

 

Generation €uro Students Award

A competition that is run by the Central Bank of Ireland in conjunction with the European Central Bank. A group of 5th Year students entered this competition and got through the first two rounds. Unfortunately, we didn’t reach the final round. The competition is primarily based on economics. Well done to Kerri, Rafaela, Ella, Oleksandr and Rachael.

 

Team Hope Shoe Box Appeal

Our Transition Year class and Ms. Griffin we would like to thank everyone who donated a shoe box to the Team Hope Appeal. In total we collected 53 shoe boxes which were collected by the volunteers who were extremely grateful for them. 

 

 

Trade Union Visit

On the 24th of January last we had two guest speakers – Anne and Rebecca into us from S.I.P.T.U. The students engaged well with this visit in. They learnt the importance of trade unions in the working world. The speakers linked into real life and our business syllabus. 

 

  

 

 

 

2016/17

 

BSTAI Awards 2016

On Thursday evening October 20th last three Business Studies students Lauren Griffin from Glinsk, David Flanagan from Williamstown and David Madden from Clonberne, Co. Galway received certificates for having achieved an A in their Junior Certificate Business Studies papers last June.  They were one of 9.2% of students who received the grade nationally.  The BSTAI are involved with the ceremony and both Seamus Robinson (Past President of the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland) and Prof John McHale - Dean of Economics in NUIG gave an address to the large crowd present.  They congratulated all recipients of the award and the fact that it is hard to achieve an A in the Business Studies exam as it is the only non core subject at Junior Certificate level that has two papers with total exam time lasting 4 and a half hours.

 

Business trip to Guinness Brewery

By Seamus Collins

Earlier this year, Ms. Griffin's 6th Year Business class went to Dublin on a visit to a highly successful, well-known and globally recogniseable business: Guinness.

We had been looking forward to the day for weeks and it did not disappoint.  As Business students, we were excited to see and understand the underlying success of this major international business.

We were warmly welcomed into the impressive building and soon discovered the history of Guinness.  However, we were more concerned with the business side. We learned that the idea for the Guinness Storehouse tourist attraction originated from a brainstorming session.  It makes one realise throwing ideas around can work.

We were shown how Guinness is made and how they make effective use of advertising to attract their target market.  They have clearly identified their customer needs and utilised their resources to satisfy them profitably.

We were truly happy with our very enjoyable day to Guinness and Dublin.  We topped it off  by having a great meal on Grafton Street.

The whole sixth year Business class would like to thank Ms. Griffin and Ms. Cunniffe who brought her Art class to the Art Museum and National Gallery for organising the day out.  We would also like to thank Ms. Griffin for all she has done for us over the past five/six years of Business class.  We wish to thank Ms.McGann who looked after us when Ms. Griffin was on her maternity leave.  It has always been a very happy learning environment for us. 

 

 

 

TY – Young Enterprise Competition

By John Croghan

In March, our Transition Year students made the annual trip to Galway, to take part in a Local Enterprise competition. This competition which is open to schools all over the county was based around the creation of a product or service by TY students to sell to the public. The team that had the best idea would then go on to the next stage of the competition in Croke Park in May.

After being told about the competition back in September, our TYs were very eager to take part in it, and hopeful that they could win. Garry Lowe, who works for the Local Enterprise Office visited our class on two occasions to see what progress the teams were making.

Six months later, and the final day arrived. The four groups from our school headed to Galway, each of them hoping that their idea would win.  Two of the teams designed websites as their ideas, with the others producing medal holders and school pens respectively.

There were schools from all over the county in attendance the event, with many fantastic and intuitive ideas on display.  A judging panel made up of business experts interviewed each team about their product, and the overall process of the competition.

After much debating, the judges announced the winners of each category, with one group from Glenamaddy TY scooping up an award. They created a local news website - 'Glenamaddy Today', which won the 'Innovation and Problem - Solving' section.  The team and school were very proud of their success.

The overall winner came from Cairn College in Athenry, with four of their students setting up a barbershop. They will go on to represent County Galway at the national final in Croke Park.

Overall it was a very enjoyable and successful day for all at the event, with each group proud of what they had created and achieved over the past few months.  Before the year is over, as a group we wish to make donations to various local associations that helped us throughout the year from our mini company. 

 

 

 

West Bake

By Lauren Griffin

On two Fridays our Fifth Year Business class and 5C LCVP Link Modules class visited 'West Bake' a muffin, cookies and cakes manufacturer in Glenamaddy.  West Bake operates on a state of the art 44,000 sq. foot bakery located on the Kilkerrin Road in Glenamaddy.  The bakery was founded in 2007 and produces over 200 million muffins, cookies and muffins annually.  Previous to that it was called Brogans Bakery owned by a local family.

As a class group we decided to visit this company as we are studying marketing and production and we would liketo discover more about how a large business works.  We wanted to learn more about the marketing of a well known company and what marketing strategies this company have used to convey a perfect product for consumers.

When we visited the bakery we were informed about hygiene and safety in the bakery.  Since West Bake is a company producing products to be consumed by consumers appropriate hygiene practices are essential.  We were given hair nets, plastic aprons and plastic shoe covers to prevent any cross contamination in the premises.  We were also given forms to fill out to ensure nobody was ill or had been ill during the last week. 

Our class was split into two groups and we were all given a guided tour of the factory.  On the day we visited 'the production line' was making chocolate chip muffins, the tour guide informed us they make on average about 14,000 muffins per hour.  Most of the work carried out by robotic machinery so little labour is required.  However people are employed to carry out manual labour that cannot be carried out by machinery and also oversee the work carried out to make sure no faults occur.  There is also a 'test batch' put through a metal detector every hour to ensure the machinery is working correctly and that the machine has the ability to pick up any traces of metal from the metal equipment used in the bakery.

We also learned about the marketing technique used by the bakery. The firm is consistently improving its products and introducing new products to entice consumers to purchase its products.  At the moment the bakery is introducing iced muffins to their collection.  This luxurious item will encourage people to purchase their goods and retain customer interest. This in turn creates a good market image for their business. 

Due to the fact that West Bake has mass production, they have the ability to facilitate a wide range leading supermarkets in Ireland and the U.K.  Some of their clients include Tesco, ASDA, LIDL, ALDI, and Dunnes Stores.  Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting this bakery as I now have the ability to decipher how a commercial business operates.  On behalf of our class I thank Ms. Griffin & Mr. Conroy for taking us there and for West Bake – in particular Bernie Gallagher and Louise Gibbons for accommodating us.

 

 

 

2014/15

 

Thrid Year Business Quiz Team 2014

Our 3rd Year Business Studies Students recently attend the annual table quiz organised by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Business Studies Teachers Association. The quiz was held on 8th October in the Athlone Institute of Technology. Over 25  schools from Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly and Tipperary took part. Questions were based on the syllabus and on general knowledge. A very enjoyable evening was enjoyed by all the participants and their teachers.

Trip to Bank of Ireland, Roscommon

On the 17th of April last Ms. Griffin and her 1st & 5th Year Business classes along with Ms.  McGann travelled to Bank of Ireland Roscommon to see how a bank operates on a day to day basis.  We arrived at Bank of Ireland at 9:30a.m. and we were split into groups.  We were given a tour of all the different departments within the bank.  First we went behind the counter where the teller receives and distributes the customers’ money.  She showed where she puts the money after she receives it and how she counts it.

Afterwards we went into a small room where large amounts of money are counted especially with regards to money received from large businesses. This is a very important room and there are no cameras within this room.  We observed where the money from the ATMs goes and how it is carefully managed.   Afterwards we were brought into a large secure safe where all documents and folders of all the customers in that branch were stored.   For all of the safes in the bank there is a least two codes and no one employee in the bank knows all of those codes.  To open a safe within the bank you would need at least two people. Then we spotted a computer screen which had full view of the whole bank using the large amount of security cameras onsite.  At the end of the visit any students wishing to open bank accounts were brought into an office where a bank employee showed us all how they set up a bank account.  It was a very enjoyable trip and the bank employees were very welcoming towards us.  On behalf of all the students I wish to thank the staff of the Roscommon branch for their time and also Ms. Griffin & Ms. McGann for taking us. It was a whole new learning experience.

By Ciara Coyne

  • 10
Trip to I-Radio

This year our 5th Year & 1st Year Business classes visited the iRadio station in Athlone on the 17th of April with Ms. Griffin and Ms. McGann.  We got a tour of the station; we visited the various studios within the building and saw the radio presenters at work.  We met with Fergal Darcy and Una O’Connor, presenters at the station.  We learned how the radio station was set up, how it works, and how they manage their finances within the station.  We were informed on how to follow a career in the area of radio presenting or other various jobs within the media sector by doing a variety of courses available in different colleges.  It was an excellent trip as we learned many new things about the station and it was a very informative and enjoyable day. On behalf of all students I would like to thank Ms. Griffin and Ms. McGann for taking us.

By Cathal Hynes

  • 15
Business as a Career

Accountants from various bodies were in to inform us about accounting as a career and subject choice for Leaving Certificate.  We had representatives from the following accounting bodies in to speak to us on accountancy as a career: ACCA represented by Maria Fallon, CIMA represented by Karen Greene, Chartered Accountants of Ireland represented by Louise McNamara, CPA represented by Ciara Murphy & IIPA represented by Cath Matthews.

Barry O’Loughlinn from Athlone I.T. spoke to us about college life in general and 3rd level education. Here are some photos from the day.

  • 1
Business Quiz

On Tuesday the 23rd October last, four 3rd Year Business Studies students entered the CIMA/BSTAI quiz in Athlone Institute of Technology.  The girls scored a total of 46 points, well done girls.

Left to Right:

Emma Smyth, Sarah Smyth, Emma Kenny & Rachel Keaveney.

 

On Thursday 18th October last, Ms. Griffin & Mr. Tiernan organised a school trip to Dublin for the 2nd & 3rd Year Business Studies students.

We visited Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park & the Chocolate Warehouse in Walkinstown. We stopped off on the way home at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.  A great day was had by all. 

  • clare 2012 and school trip 2012 035

 

 

Glenamaddy Community School, Church Street, Glenamaddy, Via Castlerea, Co. Galway, F45KF50 

 

Telephone +353(0)94 9659315 | Fax +353(0)94 9659354 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

RCN: 20149543