A School Excellence Fund (ESF), being co-ordinated by St Joseph’s Community College, Kilkee, and which includes Scoil Réalt na Mara National School, was officially launched on Friday, 15 November 2019. The launch commenced with a Science Fair in St Joseph’s Community College involving students from primary and post-primary. The project is a unique and significant development for partnership between schools in the area. Students from both schools presented projects on the day. Anne Fitzpatrick, Department of Education and Skills Inspectorate, was in attendance for the official launch of the project.
The School Excellence Fund is an initiative by the Department of Education and Skills to encourage and recognise excellence and innovation in our schools. The SEF encourages schools to work together at a local level and develop a project that is unique to them while receiving support and funding from the Department of Education and Skills. The schools applied for the project in May 2018 and were delighted with the outcome that the cluster had been chosen as one of ten schools across Ireland. The schools wanted to focus on their local area as part of the project and the aim is to develop the students’ scientific skills through the study of their local habitat. The schools will benefit from their close proximity to the beach and the unique local environment to enrich the learning for all involved.
The cluster, which is made up of the Science Department of St Joseph’s Community College and Scoil Réalt na Mara National School will receive up to €38,000 in funding to develop the project. This funding will be used for training, equipment and rollout of the project between the two schools. To date, the schools have already purchased a class set of iPads to capture the learning in the study. Donncha Ó Treasaigh, Director of Schools at Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, praised all involved in making the successful application to the Department of Education and Skills for inclusion in the project. He said: “Students from across the region will benefit enormously from the learning that will emerge from the study. I wish to congratulate school principal, Theresa O’ Donnellan, and Deputy Principal, Agnes Hehir, for their leadership in applying and securing the funding for this project.”
To learn more about the project, follow this link for an information video.
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