Our 6th class brilliantly qualified for and participated in the All Ireland VEX Robotics Competition in Cork! Enjoy reading their first hand accounts of a great day:
On Wednesday I woke up at 4:30am I was tired but also excited. We got to fahy’s at 5:15am and the bus came around 5:30.On the bus it was quiet because everyone was tired but it got louder as the bus journey went on. The bus journey was about 3 hours long! We shared the bus with Mountbellew N.S. We stopped at Supermacs in Mallow to stretch our legs.
We got to Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 8:00, the view was amazing onto the pitch. We set up our stand and put up a few pictures with the robot and left our bags in a room. We went to the bathroom and then ate some of our lunch. Our first game was on at 10:33am and Conor and Aisling were driving the robot. When it was my turn I went with Isabella. I went second and got the yellow tower and one of the purple towers. The team that ended up winning was Holy Cross N.S.
We left Páirc Uí Chaoimh around 4:30pm and went to get food in the Corbett Court, Mallow. The 4 options were chicken goujons and chips, lasagne and chips, chicken curry and vegetarian. I got chicken goujons and chips and sat beside Evan and Ethan. After dinner we had jelly and ice cream it was very good. On the way back everyone was singing the day was great craic. We got back to Fahy’s at 8:50pm everyone had a good day.
By Aaron
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On Wednesday I woke up at 4:30 and I was excited. I got dressed and had breakfast. I soon headed down to Fahy’s. We had to be there for 5:15 but the bus didn’t come until 5:30. We then got on the bus. It was a long journey. We shared the bus with Mountbellew NS. Mr. Goldrick and Mrs. Murphy were the teachers that came with us. About two hours into the journey, we stopped at Mallow for a bit of a walk around. We were just an hour away from Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
When we arrived we got off the bus and went in the stadium. We then found our stand and had lunch. Our first game was at 10:33 so we had a while to eat our lunch. A few games passed and it was my game and I was playing with Annabelle. Annabelle started off the game for the first 30 seconds and I finished off the game for the last 30 seconds. We knocked 30 discs down altogether. After a few more games we headed off we got back on the bus. It was very tight coming out of Cork and we were then on the motor way. We then stopped off at Corbett Court. In the restaurant most of us got goujons. After we eat we got back on the bus we were on the home stretch. We only had an hour an half away from home. We did a bit of singing along the way. We got back at 8:40 and we were collected from Fahy’s and headed home for a sleep. That was a day, a long one too.
By Fionn
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The day started off very, very early with most of us waking up at 4:30 to get ready for the long day ahead of us. We had to be at Fahys at 5:15 to get on the bus at twenty past but due to the school we shared the bus with being late our bus was delayed and we didn’t get on till about 5:30. Mountbellew School had a surprising amount of energy even though they had to wake up earlier then us to get on the bus before us. Nearly all of us were almost falling asleep on the way there but as it got brighter we all felt the excitement for the competition that was about to take place. We took a break about two hours in at Mallow to stretch our legs and after that the journey was quite quick.
As we approached Pairc Ui Chaoimh a slight rain began once we pulled into the stadium gates. We were told where to go when we got off the bus and we made our way inside. We went up two flights of stairs to get to the floor that Vex IQ was using for this contest. We were guided over to the far end of the big room that all the games were being hosted in and we sat our robot on the table at our stand while we all put our bags and lunches beside our stand and we immediately took our lunch/breakfast and had a break after that long bus ride. We had our first match at 10:33 but some other schools started playing at 9:30. During long intermissions Nathan and Evan played skills matches to gain us extra points. Our first match of the day went well and gave us an idea of some schools that will be played in other matches. Towards the end we all began to feel the tiredness and decided to call our final score final. Overall, besides our defeat it was a very enjoyable day and an amazing experience.
On our way back home we stopped at Corbett Court for a warm meal. The options on the menu were chicken curry, lasagne, chicken and chip and fish as a vegetarian option. Most of us ordered the chicken and chips but everything looked amazing! As a surprise we got jelly and ice-cream at the end of our meal. We stayed there for around an hour before we set off to finish our journey home.
We arrived back to Fahys at about 8;30 where our parents were waiting for us. It was a very long day but one we’ll never forget!
By Isabella
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We got on the bus at 5:30AM. It was a big bus and there was another school, Mountbellew. I was excited. We got there at around 8:30AM.When we left it was dark but when we arrived it was bright outside. It was in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Cork. It was packed inside!
There were twenty-four schools competing in the All Ireland robotics VEX competition. We had a stand with our name on it ‘St. Vincent’s NS. We got t-shirts from our sponsor, Thermo King. I played in the third match with Ronan. When playing each match, we had to wear navy baseball hats. I scored one tower, the blue one. We played around seven matches. We had lunch and headed for more matches. There was a big awards ceremony. We came in 15th place .We didn’t win trophies.
We got on the bus and headed for dinner .We were all tired .We had dinner in Corbett Court .We each had our dinner and jelly and ice cream. After we finished our food it was around 7pm.We got back on the bus .We arrived home at around 8:40pm. We had a great time and it was all worth it.
BY CAOIMHE
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I woke up on Wednesday morning very excited. I got up and dressed and went down stairs. I was already tired because I hadn’t got much sleep that night. Also that I had woken up at half four that morning. I decided that I didn’t want breakfast so I went and got my bag packed instead. Once I was ready we got in the car and headed to Fahy’s.
My dad was dropping me at Fahy’s so he drove me there. We arrived at Fahy’s at quarter to five. And we were waiting for a while because the bus arrived at half five. When the bus arrived I said bye to my dad and got on the bus. Another school was on the bus with us because they were on our team. I sat beside my friends on the bus. We stopped half way because we had to go outside some fresh air. After that we went back on the bus and continued our journey. In total our bus ride was around three hours. Once the bus drive was over we got to go inside. It was so cool. I was very excited. We were in Pairc Uí Choaimh. We went over to our corner in the stadium and had something to eat. Our first match was at half ten. We had six qualification matches after that and I was playing in one.
We had a different team for each match. For my match I was partnered with Nathan. I started and I knocked over two of the blue towers. I had thirty seconds to play and so did my partner. In total our match lasted for one minute. All of the other teams of two in my class had all played and Nathan and I were the last to play. We got a very good score in total. While I was playing I had to wear a grey hat so that everyone knew who was playing. We also had to wear purple t-shirts that had the word VEX on them and we got to keep them afterwards. We had to wear them from when we got there until we left. We wore our uniform so we put the tops on over our polo shirts.
After each match we would go back to our corner and wait for our next match to start. It was very crowded in there. There were so many people and so many schools all in the same room. We had our first lunch between half ten and eleven o’clock. Then we did more and more matches until our next break around half twelve/one o’Clock. We left the stadium at four and got on the bus. I was sitting beside my friends and we were having fun. We were on the bus for an hour and we stopped to get some food at Corbett Court. I walked in and sat down at the table with my friends. I ordered chicken goujons and chips and orange juice. Everyone was in the same room eating their dinners, even the other school that were sharing the bus with us. After our dinner we got back on to the bus to head home. We had so much fun on the bus. It took one hour and thirty minutes. We were then dropped at Fahy’s to go home with our parents. I said bye to my friends and got in my car. I had a great day in cork!
By Natasha
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On Wednesday I woke up at 5.00. I was really tired and sleepy. It was pitch black. When I got up I had my breakfast straight away. We got into the car at around 5.20 up at Fahy’s shop. We were waiting in the car for a good five minutes. The roads were quiet. Finally the bus came and we departed from Fahy’s.
When I got on the bus I was wrecked. I sunk into my seat. The other school were at the back of the bus and loud. I wasn’t tired after five minutes and chatted away to the lads. The motorway was quiet. It got bright very quickly. We stopped at Mallow. We were in the bus for two hours at this stage. We got back in the bus and had an hour until we were at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
We finally arrived at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. It was a massive and lovely stadium. There were lots of buses. We walked to the entrance and went up the stairs. When we went up the stairs we could see the pitch, it was class. We walked into the conference area. It was packed with people too and we walked to the back of the room. There was a balcony and a lovely view of the astro outside the stadium. I was in the first match at 10.33 with Aisling. I knocked over the blue tower and some of the purple. After that game we did the skills. After that we had a bit to eat. After all our games we had our lunch. When all the matches were over we went out on the balcony.
We left straight away. We were headed for the Corbett Court restaurant. It took about an hour and a half to get there. I got the chicken tenders and chips they were lovely. After, we got jelly and ice-cream for desert. It was nice. When everyone was done eating we went back into the bus
By Conor
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Firstly we all arrived at Fahys Daybreak shop. We were waiting on the bus to come for about twenty minutes because it got delayed. When it finally came, all the boys went together. I already knew it was going to be a long day after hearing how loud the other school was. After a while we were just talking. On the way over Connor and I sat together and Fionn was on the other side with Aaron behind us, and Ronan was behind Fionn. Evan and Nathan were behind Ronan. Mountbellew was the name of the other school. After a bit we arrived at Mallow at half seven. We stretched and we just talked for a bit. We got back on and hoped we would be there soon. After another hour and a half we finally got there at half eight. We walked around the side of the building and met a man at the door who told us to go to the third floor. That’s where we got to see the pitch and the other schools while Mr.Goldrick registered us.
After we walked down the corridor and went down to our place for lunch. We had to wait until ten past ten for our first match. After the wait Conor and Aisling were up. They did well then we waited for our next match at five past eleven. Caoimhe and Ronan were up and they did well too. After a few more games, the skills games came up. Nathan and Evan were doing that while we watched. After the skills game then came the awards. We left for the bus and we went down the stairs. It was parked in a different spot and after we got on we had to wait around ten minutes for the other school to come.
After they came on we waited half an hour then we got asked what we wanted from the restaurant. Some asked for goujons and chips and others got lasagne and chips or the vegetarian meal. The name of the restaurant was Corbett Court. We got in and talked about the VEX tournament and waited. After eating our meals they brought us ice cream and jelly as well. We then got back on the bus and it was a pretty boring drive back to Fahys. When we got off I went in the shop and got a lot of things.
By Ethan
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I woke up at 4 O’clock on Wednesday morning. I got ready and left the house at 5:00. We drove to Fahys and waited until the bus came. We got on the bus and we were sharing it with Mountbellew N.S.
About two hours in, we stopped at Mallow to walk around for a few minutes. We got back on the bus for around an hour. We arrived at Pairc Ui Chaoimh at 8:30. When we got in there was a lot of people there. We found our stand and had a drink. After a while the matches started. We were all nervous for our first match. Aisling and Conor played the first match. After that we went back to our stand and waited for the next one
We didn’t do too well in the end but then we did skills on the robot and that brought us up a lot. By the time all of our matches were over it was about 4 O’clock. We left and got on the bus with Mountbellew again.
We stopped for food at Corbett Court. Once we were finished it was around 7 O’clock. We drove home and had a great day.
By Annabelle
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I got up at twenty to five on Wednesday morning. I ate my breakfast and I left the house at five past five and arrived at Fahy’s at quarter past five. We had to wait another fifteen minutes for the bus to come and the other school from Mountbellew were already on the bus. I sat beside Evan on the way to Cork. The bus journey lasted around three hours but, we stopped for a few minutes on the way to Cork in Mallow.
We arrived at Páirc Uí Chaoimh at half past eight. As we went through the stadium we got to look out onto the pitch. The pitch was in very good condition and looked brand new. Our school’s section was at the back of the room where the competition was being held. Luckily, we were able to put our bags down at the very back of the room so we had more space. Our first game was at half past ten and Conor and Aisling were playing. In each match we were paired with another school and we had six qualification matches altogether. Evan and I played the driving skills and programming matches. In the sixth qualification match I was playing with Natasha. We didn’t do very well in the qualification rounds but we did better in the finals. By the end of the day I was very tired. We got back on the bus at half past three and we had to wait for the school from Mountbellew before we could leave. After about ten minutes they arrived and we left Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The streets in Cork were very steep and narrow so the bus driver had trouble getting around the city, we almost got stuck turning a corner and going down one road. It took us two hours to get to the restaurant. We had four different choices for dinner, lasagne, chicken curry, chicken goujons and a vegetarian option. I had lasagne and chips and everyone got jelly and ice-cream after their dinner. We were in the restaurant for about an hour and we left at seven o’clock. The bus journey home was lots of fun and I got home at twenty to nine. I really enjoyed my trip to Cork and the robot competition.
By Nathan
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We started our day off early, with most of us getting up between four and five O’ clock in the morning. The bus was due to leave Fahy’s at five twenty, so we had to be at Fahy’s at five fifteen. However the bus didn’t leave Fahy’s until five thirty, because it had been delayed. We shared the bus with Mountbellew School, so there would be less buses going to Cork. No one slept on the bus even though it was very early.
The journey to Cork took about three hours. We stopped on the way outside a petrol station in Mallow to stretch our legs for about five minutes or so. We arrived at Páirc Uí Chaoimh at about half past eight.
We went up two flights of stairs and then we went into a large room, packed with so many other schools. We were shown to a stand with our schools name and we were given VEX, purple t-shirts to wear and keep. We played six matches with teams of two and we wore grey hats when it was our turn to control the robot.
We all tried our best to knock the discs from the towers, and we were very successful. We had lunches and breaks in between the matches. It was a long day so we all brought big lunches. When we had finished all our matches there was one final match and then an awards ceremony at the end.
In the end we came about fifteenth place out of twenty four. We left Páirc Uí Chaoimh at about four in the afternoon.
We stopped at Corbett Court restaurant at about six o’clock. We could choose between having chicken goujons, lasagne, vegetarian, fish or chicken curry. Most people chose chicken nuggets. After the diner we all got jelly and ice-cream. We left Corbett Court at seven o’clock, and the journey back was very loud.
We were all wrecked by the time we got back to Fahy’s at about half eight. We all enjoyed the day out and had great fun.
By Ella
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I woke up at 4:30 am and got ready. I ate my breakfast and got in the car. My Mom drove me down to Fahy’s and we waited for the bus. The bus arrived at 5:30. We were on the bus with Mountbellew. It was a long bus ride but we stopped in Mallow on the way there. It was about another hour until we were there. The VEX competition was held in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
When we got into the stadium we had to get the robot checked out. When that was done we got shown our stand. Every school got a stand, they had to stay there unless their team was playing. We had six games in total. Our first game was at 10:33am,our second game was on at 11:06am, our third game was on at 11:36am, our fourth game was on at 11:54am, our fifth game was on at 13:00 and our last game was on at 13:33pm. We left Pairc Ui Chaoimh, at 14:45.
On the way out of Cork city the roads were very tight and a lot of traffic it was hard to get out of it, we were stuck on a number of occasions but eventually got out. We stopped at a restaurant called “Corbett Court”. We got a menu on the way there. We could pick between chicken goujons, lasagne, chicken curry or a vegetarian option. When we were finished eating we got jelly and strawberry ice cream. It was about 19:00 when we left the restaurant. It was then another hour and a half until we got back to Fahy’s. We were over 15 hours gone and got back at 20:40. All in all it was an interesting and exciting day.
By Ronan
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The bus left at around 5:30.There was a toilet on the bus but it was a death trap because there was no railing. This means if the bus stopped suddenly you would get flung into the door. We were sharing the bus with a school from Mountbellew. We stopped in Mallow on the way there to stretch our legs.
We arrived at Páirc Uí Chaoimh at around 8:30. All 24 schools were in the one room so it was quite stuffy. There were only 3 arenas so there was a bit of a wait between matches. We had to wear purple Thermo King t-shirts since they sponsored the bus. Our first match was at 10:33. Conor and I played in the first match. Evan and Nathan played in the finals. We didn’t win anything but we got to keep the t-shirts. Holy Cross NS won the competition.
On the way back we stopped for food at The Corbett Court. The options were fish, chicken curry, lasagne, and chicken nuggets. Most people got the chicken nuggets. The food was good and after we got jelly and ice cream. We stayed in the Corbett Court for about an hour. Most of us were very tired but the Mountbellew kids were singing. We arrived back at Fahy’s at around 8:30.
By Aisling