St. Angela's launch fundraising drive
THE Parents’ Committee of St. Angela’s National School in Castlebar have embarked on a massive fundraising campaign to raise vital funds for IT equipment at the all-girls primary school.
Due to a lack of government funding the school is in serious need of the support of the wider community to ensure the students can avail of the necessary Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment that has become essential in modern teaching.
The fundraising drive will kick off with a table quiz in Bosh Bar, Linenhall Street, Castlebar, this Thursday, May 26, at 9 p.m. Tables of four cost €40 and the money raised is going towards a very worthwhile cause. This table quiz is open to the general public and promises to be a fun and entertaining night.
Speaking of the importance of ICT, newly appointed principal Nessa Maloney explained: “In line with the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 we regard the importance of ICT in education as something which greatly enhances the learning experience and lifelong learning skills of our 350 students. Modernising our resources to enable our highly skilled teachers to embed ICT in the curriculum is of paramount importance to us here.”
Recently a group of 50 students from St. Angela’s visited the offices of Google in Dublin and a survey of the girls found that 20 are interested in a career in computers as a direct result of the educational trip.
While there they learned about ‘Googlers Give’, a Google workplace initiative where employees are encouraged to raise money and offer their expertise and time for the benefit of their own preferred charities. Google then commits to match the funding raised by their employees which ensures that many charities benefit rather than just one or two selected by the organisation.
The students also heard from one of Google’s engineers and their head of security who impressed on them the importance of internet safety.
Aoife Hennessy described the impact the trip had on their class: “Working in such a creative environment and working with such creative people brings out the creativity in you too. The trip to Google motivated me to work hard in school so I can achieve whatever I want when I leave school. The people who spoke to us in Google were so passionate about their jobs, they loved working there.”
St. Angela’s school has shown great commitment to ICT in the past with the provision of a laptop and interactive whiteboard in each classroom. Over 10 years ago the school community fundraised to provide a purpose built ICT room with 30 computers and a teaching station.
Staff members have great experience and expertise in the use of ICT and three members of staff have been involved in the training of other primary teachers throughout the county in the optimum use of ICT in schools.
Stated Ms. Maloney: “Due to the fast evolutionary nature of ICT and a lack of government funding, we find ourselves in the precarious position once again of needing to embark on a fundraising project to enable us to continue to develop this good work.
“We yearn to enhance the learning experiences and outcomes for our students who are indeed the future of Castlebar and Mayo and we ask that you support our first fundraising initiative, the table quiz.”
Ms. Maloney was recently appointed as principal of St. Angela’s NS having served as principal of Balla NS. She is also a PDST Technology in Education tutor since 2000.