More success for Nenagh class!
Fifth Class pupils from Ms Ann Marie O’Sullivan’s class at St Mary's Convent Primary School, Nenagh, have made it to the national final of the 2018 Our World Irish Aid Awards.
They, along with pupils and teachers from 11 other primary schools across Ireland, will travel to Dublin Castle on Wednesday June 20th to showcase their projects as they compete for the overall ‘Our World Irish Aid Awards’ trophy.
On May 16th, Ms O'Sullivan and three of her pupils attended the regional award ceremony at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, which saw 15 primary schools from the region compete for three of 12 places at the national final. As well as exhibiting their work and taking part in a number of activities, pupils and teachers heard from special speaker Arran Towers from Gorta Self-Help Africa, who shared his own first-hand experience of the developing world.
Congratulating the teachers and pupils at St Mary’s Convent Primary School, Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development Ciarán Cannon TD said that this year’s award entries had shown exceptional creativity and understanding of the Awards’ theme ‘Transforming Our World’.
“I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the pupils and staff of St Mary’s Convent Primary School on their success at the regional final,” Minister Cannon said. “This year primary school pupils across the country have not only discovered how they, as global citizens, can help transform our world, but they have also presented their learnings, ideas and the ways in which they have already started effecting change as part of their projects.
“As the Minister of State responsible for International Development, I am enormously encouraged by the level of engagement in the Our World Irish Aid Awards and by the willingness of our young people to play an active part in the international effort to transform our world. The Our World Irish Aid Awards bring Irish Aid’s work to build better futures for some of the world’s poorest communities directly into the classroom, challenging the next generation to ensure that it is made an ongoing priority.”
Now in their 13th year, the Our World Irish Aid Awards help primary school pupils learn about the lives of children and their families in developing countries, and how Ireland and 192 other countries are working together to create a safer and fairer world and a better future for all the world’s children through the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Each entry was assessed on its creativity, understanding of the theme and its impact. All 15 schools present at the Limerick regional final were presented with an ‘Our World Irish Aid Award’ plaque.
St Mary’s Convent Primary will go on to compete in the national final with their entry ‘Children’s Voices on our Climate Choices’ and will contend not just for the overall Our World Irish Aid Awards trophy, but also the title of Teacher of the Year, having won Best Newcomer School in the 2017 awards.