Learning team skills in Kippure

Here is a short video of our recent trip to Kippure to learn and use some team skills. Well done to 5th LCVP who planned and organised the whole trip.

Enjoy :)

Learning lots from selling Lollipops

On the 22nd February 2013, the 5th Year LCVP class participated in Lollipop Day in aid of Oesophageal Cancer. We had to complete an Action Plan after our trip out because as part of LCVP we had to plan the whole day for ourselves and the Transition Year classes.

We met in the hall and gave out T-shirts and caps to the students and then we got on the bus. We had great craic on the bus with our class and when we got to town we went to collect our buckets and stickers and lollipops in Powerscourt Centre. We went to our designated areas around the city center and started to collect and try to raise awareness for the charity.

We took turns on going for lunch and really enjoyed getting to talk to people and experience their generosity and willingness to support.

Some of the girls even bumped into Bressie and James Sheridan from The Voice of Ireland! His guitar playing and singing really entertained the girls who were on Grafton Street selling Lollipops!

After we were finished collecting, we returned our buckets to the Center and went home on the bus. The ladies in charge of the Organisation of Collection were very happy with our contribution to the organisation.

Overall we really enjoyed our day and hope that we will be able to volunteer for a Voluntary Organisation again during our time in LCVP! For more information on Oesophageal Cancer visit: www.lollipopday.ie or www.facebook.com/lollipopday

By Louise and Rebecca

Planning to swim a mile .....smiling!

Orlaith is part of a group working on planning a trip to the National Aquatic Centre in March. Read what she has to say about the project so far.

"As part of our L.C.V.P we are planning to go on a trip to the National Aquatic Centre in Blachardstown to take part in the Ian Daly Swim a Mile With a Smile event. This is organised by a local voluntary organisation; it is an annual event that is aimed at supporting children who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families.

This activity fits in with our L.C.V.P as it is a local voluntary organisation, and we will be able to complete an action plan about the project. At the moment we are busy planning the trip. The first thing we had to was ask our principal if we could participate in the swim and if the co-ordinator of the event, Mr Brian Daly, could come in and give us information about it and why it was set up. We also want to know where the money we will be raising will be going.

We wrote a letter to our principal asking for permission and she said yes. Next we had to write up parental permission slips to get signed. Then we had to sort transport to Blachardstown so we e-mailed two bus companies to get quotes. We will probably book the cheapest one.

We still have a lot more to plan for and next we need to write up our Action Plans for the trip.

To find out more about the Ian Daly Swim a Mile With a Smile go to their website here. Why not take part in the swim yourself, or sponsor one of the LCVP class?"

Swim A Mile on Facebook

Swim A Mile on Twitter

Thanks to Orlaith for submitting this report.

Mrs L :)

Celbridge GAA

Eleana sent in this profile on a local voluntary organisation - Celbridge GAA Club.

Thanks Eleana

Skills

Did you use any of these skills in your LCVP projects?

Organisational Skills

• Deciding on who does what
• Organising meetings
• How to come to making decisions
• Contacting people and organisations
• Setting up rooms for meetings
• Obtaining permissions etc
• Following up activities or events
• Preparing materials
• Making appointments

Research Skills

• Selecting topics and key issues
• Identifying sources of information and accessing them
• Reading and summarising information
• Organising material

Debating Skills

• Speaking
• Arranging your materials
• Identifying key arguments and points
• Being able to back up an argument
• Seeing many sides to an argument
• Being skilful with language

Communication Skills

• Oral communication
• Contacting and making arrangements with speakers and organisations
• Introducing and chairing meetings
• Summarising discussions
• Meeting and greeting people
• Briefing speakers
• Preparing and sending letters
• Presentation Skills for small and large groups

Team-working Skills

• Working in groups
• Allocating and agreeing tasks
• Group discussion skills
• Listening to and talking with others
• Dealing with debate and even disagreement
• Accountability to the group
• Taking responsibility and getting things done

Skills of Analysis

• Reading and understanding materials and arguments
• Thinking about arguments and viewpoints
• Identifying other views and judging them
• Finding and gathering as well as presenting facts and figures
• Preparing graphs and diagrams

Presentation Skills

• Public speaking to large or small groups
• Deciding on what to present and which arguments to use
• Structuring what you want to say
• Using visual materials to present your facts or arguments or those of others

Administrative Skills

• Writing
• Typing
• Filing
• Telephoning
• Making bookings
• Accounting for funds
• Keeping records

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility at Pricewaterhouse Cooper




Test yourself.................

Identify four ways a business can be more socially responsible.

Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR at Intel

Problem Solving ideas

Teams

Describe what makes a person a good team worker?

1.       Willing to work with everyone on the team.

2.       Finding good qualities in everyone in the group and using them to accomplish the goal.

A good team member should:

1.       Never gossip and always represent yourself as a group not as (I) or (me).

2.       Ask questions for everyone’s input.

3.       If someone is struggling in the group jump in and help them out.

4.       Give encouragement and thanks.

5.       Never ridicule someone in front of others.

6.       Not talk about a member to another member.

7.       Pass out bulletins to everyone so no one feels left out.

A good team consist of:

1.       People who are communicative, co-operative, problem solvers and respectable individuals.

2.       People who are good listeners. This helps achieve a solution faster, and with less stress. You have to care about other people views are. If you want to work as a team you have to be able to listen and understand.

Participation in Action Plan

Outline four ways your participation in an Action Plan activity will benefit you in the future.

Ways participation will benefit you:

1.      It forces you to think out the steps and to look at all aspects/planning.

2.      Critical thinking is improved as ideas have to be evaluated and the best option chosen.

3.      Participation in teamwork is good as you learn from others and appreciate others viewpoint.

4.      New skills are learned and qualities are developed.

Arranging a visit in

What steps should be taken to ensure that a visit-in is organised properly and run efficiently?

1 Allow adequate time for planning, set up a committee to co-ordinate the planning.

2 Draw up list of jobs to be done.

3 Assign planning tasks to different people

a.       Seeking permission of the principal

b.      Arranging a date

c.       Organising the room

4 Contact speaker; arrange date/time; note special requests such as projector

5 Research the speaker/organisation so that questions can be prepared.

6 Make arrangements for day of visit;

a.       Who does what on the day,

b.      Make sure each class member has a role.

c.       Arranging for water/ meet and greet/thank you at the end.

Team work

Identify and explain three benefits of working as a team when undertaking any activity. 

We think the answer could include any of the following:

1. Work is shared, individual workload is lessened/job gets done quicker/better quality work/more ideas come forward.
2. You have people with different skills which make the project more successful/easier to solve problems/better decisions made.
3. You can learn from other team members, new skills.
4. Creates sense of bonding, workers happier.
5. You have greater appreciation of what is involved in job areas other than your own. 
6. Different opinions and ideas are encouraged.
7. Responsibility is shared; no one is under too much pressure/better decisions.
8. Communication and interpersonal skills are improved.

Teams

What is a team?

"A team is a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose...for which they hold themselves mutually accountable"
The Wisdom of Teams, Katzelbach & Smith

Teamwork SLO's

Link Module II Unit 1-Enterprise skills

Specific Learning Outcomes

1.5   work co-operatively with others as part of a team

1.6   appreciate the value of teamwork in generating ideas, assessing risks, solving problems and completing tasks

1.7   undertake leadership of a group in an appropriate activity

1.8   plan and organise a meeting

1.9   make a presentation to peers and to adults