Notice Board

Blanchardstown Institute of Technology will hold an open day on November 19th for students who are interested in courses in computing, engineering, business studies and languages. Staff will be present to advise in areas such as career prospects, course content, facilities and application procedures. There will be five sessions, each comprising a tour of the premises, presentations on the courses available and an opportunity to put questions to course tutors. The sessions start at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Nutty science professors will be out in force next week checking out events in and around Limerick city where National Science Week from November 7th to the 14th is being taken seriously. A series of events has been organised to highlight science in our lives. For example, visiting the Limerick Science Fair next Sunday. This is both a showcase for industry and an opportunity to promote science and technology. It is "expected to be a fun-filled yet educational day for all the family", starting at noon and running until 5 p.m. All the students from primary and post primary schools in the mid-West region have been invited to submit a poster incorporating the theme Science in our life. All entries will be on view during the fair and the winner will be announced too.

A touring opera company could be winging its way to your school shortly following the opening night in Tallaght Civic Theatre last Thursday. They will run workshops in second-level schools over the coming month providing students with an opportunity to learn the basics of composition and ultimately perform their piece with a professional singer.

The Opera Theatre Company, in association with the ESB, will perform The Four Note Opera by Tom Johnson, a comic opera, which is "absurd, minimal, satirical . . . and very funny". It will be going to Gorey, Co Wexford; Waterford; Cork; Portlaoise, Co Laois; Tuam, Co Galway; Ballyshannon and Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Coleraine, Co Derry; Monaghan; Virginia, Co Cavan; and Mullingar, Co Westmeath. For more information its website is www.imn.ie/otc

The annual open day at Dublin City University will take place on Saturday 20th from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. The aim of the event is to give students, parents and teachers a chance to meet members of the staff and to ask questions about any of the 35 degree programmes, to tour the campus

A handy publication about careers in computing should be in your schools now. A total of 33 copies of the guide have been sent to each second-level school in the country. The guide is produced by the national software directorate at Enterprise Ireland and aims to answers all the questions you ever had about computing - such as "will I have to spend all day in front of a computer" or "what kind of skills are necessary or useful"? Seamus Gallen, of the National Software Directorate, hopes it will help students to discover if they are cut out to work in this field or not, mentioning in particular the section entitled Sheep and Goats.