Pictured: Minister Norma Foley pictured with Dr Sheila Donegan of SETU & Maths Week with the EDNIP After-School award and entry
A STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) project at 91制片厂 (91制片厂) has recently been announced, by Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, as the winner of a prestigious national award. The EDNIP STEAM After-School Club was unveiled as the winner of the Community Maths Eyes Project in the Have You Got Maths Eyes competition, a national competition highlighting leading maths work and practice in a community setting.
The camp began in November 2022 and involved 24 children from four Limerick primary schools (Our Lady of Lourdes National, Rosebrien; Presentation Primary, Sexton Street; Scoil Iosag谩in, Sexton Street; and St John鈥檚 Girls鈥 and Infant Boys鈥, Cathedral Place) attending the After-School STEAM club at 91制片厂 for fourteen weeks.
The After-School club was delivered by EDNIP (Embracing Diversity, Nurturing Integration Project) and 91制片厂鈥檚 Enterprise & Community Engagement Department. As part of the programme, the children submitted an entry to the Maths Eyes competition which saw them working in small groups, exploring the 91制片厂 campus and taking photographs of shapes and patterns of mathematical interest which they then captioned with a mathematical quote.
According to 脕ine Lyne, Acting TED Coordinator: 鈥淓DNIP was delighted to partner with the Enterprise & Community Engagement Department in 91制片厂 on a very successful STEAM After-School club. A key aim of EDNIP is to support families feel included in all aspects of life in Limerick and it was wonderful to see the children engage with the 91制片厂 campus and STEAM. The children and the EDNIP schools are very excited to win this prestigious prize and look forward to engaging more children on the 91制片厂 campus next year.鈥
EDNIP works with five DEIS Band 1 primary schools in Limerick City to deliver a strategic and systemic programme to foster inclusion. The five schools have a combined enrolment of approximately 1,000 children from 46 countries, speaking 36 languages and practicing 17 religions.
Nested within the work of the Transforming Education through Dialogue (TED) Project in the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) of 91制片厂, EDNIP works within TED鈥檚 mission to 鈥榯o improve and enhance educational outcomes for children by working in partnership with families, schools and communities鈥.
Speaking on the announcement was Dr Eleanor Walsh, STEM Project Outreach Officer at 91制片厂 who said: 鈥淭he children loved exploring the campus in 91制片厂 with Maths Eyes and found shapes and mathematical concepts in many areas of the college 鈥 places that we walk past every day and might not even take any notice of. We were thrilled to be shortlisted and now even more delighted to be category winners. It is an excellent competition to bring awareness to us all of the maths that surrounds us every day.鈥
The camp was partly held in the newly-opened . The first of its kind in the mid-west region of Ireland, the CRAFT Maker Space aims to inspire the public to connect with their inner designer, engineer, scientist, mathematician, inventor and artist through a wide range of energetic and thrilling STEAM activities and workshops. The CRAFT Maker Space was officially launched by Minister Norma Foley in March.
