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Learn about of some of the inspirational schools that have achieved ten Awards of Science and Maths Excellence and read their top tips for successful science.
Bishop Murphy Memorial School, Fermoy, Co. Cork
Bishop Murphy Memorial School students have been participating in the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence since 2004. Staff at the school were originally inspired to get involved because they felt that the awards would provide recognition for the great work already being done in the area of mathematics and science. Since then, the school has continued to excel in these areas, even creating custom-made science resource kits which are labelled and catalogued in line with the DPSM activities.
Pupils at Bishop Murphy Memorial School are particular fans of the ‘Design a catapult’, ‘Design a bridge’ and ‘Volcano’ experiments. Over the years they have undertaken many exciting trips to DPSM Discover Centres including Blackrock Observatory in Cork, Lismore Heritage Centre and Fota Wildlife Park. Guest speakers have ranged from a Teagasc representative, to microbiologists to wildlife rangers, to name but a few!
James O’Donoghue, DPSM School Coordinator, believes that all of these activities open up the world of science and maths to children in a fun and engaging way: “To see the children teaching their families and friends about science and maths is a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience!” he says.
Bishop Murphy Memorial School’s top tips for success with the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence are:
- Have a stock of resources that enables teachers to create hands-on lessons for their students. This means prioritising maths and science and investing in them.
- Include the entire school community. Events like open days give parents the opportunity to get involved in their child’s learning. The pupils love to explain to their parents about their science and maths experiments.
- Don’t forget to celebrate your successes!
To see the school in action, visit their website at www.bishopmurphyschool.com.
Scoil Naomh Bríd, Culleens, Ballina, Co. Mayo
Staff at Scoil Naomh Bríd are keenly aware of the importance of fostering children’s natural curiosity for science and maths and believe that the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence offer the perfect opportunity to do just that. While one class originally registered for an award in 2004, in more recent years every class in the school undertakes an element of the DPSM programme and contributes to the awards logbook.
DPSM School Coordinator, Mary Melvin, notes how the DPSM workshops for teachers helped them to develop a hands-on approach to the teaching of science and maths: “The lesson plans provided are user-friendly and structured. The use of everyday materials makes experiments more accessible to all.”
As part of the guest speaker programme, Scoil Naomh Bríd makes the most of parents and past pupils of the school. Some of their speakers to date have included engineers, IT experts and a nurse, but probably the most popular of them all is the ‘mad scientist’ who pops in to fascinate and amuse the pupils from time to time!
Scoil Naomh Bríd’s top tips for success with the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence are:
- Get everyone involved. Science is about evoking curiosity, not always answering questions; it is important for teachers to know they do not have to be an expert.
- With a busy curriculum, resources and information have to be easily accessible.
- Have a good leader to encourage people to get involved.
To see some of Scoil Naomh Bríd’s work, check out the school’s blog.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Girls National School, Drimnagh, Dublin
Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS in Drimnagh have seen how their approach to science and maths has become even more hands-on a result of their participation in the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence, with active exploration and investigation now to the fore at all times in both of these subject areas. As the years have progressed, more and more classes have got involved and now the school’s annual science and maths days are a whole school event with parents and friends attending too.
Pupils at Our Lady of Good Counsel are particular fans of experiments that require a little detective work: “The chromatography (creeping colours) experiments always go down a treat. They set up a Crime Scene Investigation area where the children have to guess who committed the crime based on the creeping colours of the criminal’s pen!” says DSPM School Coordinator, Eleanor Howard.
The school has had a wide variety of speakers visit as part of the DPSM programme. This year Dale Treadwell from the Heritage Council was on hand to set up a bat box, teach the children all about flower planting and even introduce them to his pet hedgehog – an instant hit of course!
Our Lady of Good Counsel Girls National School’s recommend having the whole school involved in the DPSM programme to ensure success in the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence. They also believe that the Science and Maths open day is vital to foster a real community spirit and inspire everyone to explore these areas. In fact, of all of the events on their calendar during the year, Eleanor Howard says that this is by far the busiest and the most fun!
Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh, Roxborough, Co. Limerick
Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh have adopted a more integrated approach to the teaching of science, maths and ICT as result of their involvement in the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence. Teachers at the school now have a greater awareness of outside events such as Science Week and Engineering Week and have learned to draw on guest speakers to add depth to the curriculum and bring science and maths to life for their pupils.
Ann Kilby, Coordinator of the DPSM programme at the schools says: “We have had guest speakers from Limerick Institute of Technology, University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and Heritage Ireland. Our parents with scientific, engineering and medical backgrounds are always willing to come and talk to the children.”
The school has visited Seed Savers, Dublin Zoo, Foto Island, the wetlands in Westfields (on the banks of the Shannon) and The Aillwee Caves as part of the DPSM programme.
At the school’s science open day, senior children are invited to display their science experiments and project work. External assessors then assess the projects while parents and other students are invited to view and interact with them. In-school science awards are then presented at the school’s assembly.
Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh’s top tips for success with the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence are:
- Delegate different tasks to different classes.
- Keep staff informed of upcoming science and maths related events.
- Keep ongoing records and photographs of work covered.
- Integrate the teaching of science and maths with as many areas of the curriculum as possible.
See Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh’s work at www.scoilanspioraidnaoimhrox.ie.
Scoil an Fheirtéaraigh, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Scoil an Fheirtéaraigh is a three teacher school which has a fantastic track record with the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence. DPSM School Coordinator Noirín Ní Chrualaoich hadn’t studied science in school so was happy to avail of the DPSM teacher training workshop when she heard about it. The training equipped her and the other teachers at the school to teach science and maths in a hands-on, investigative and fun manner.
Pupils at Scoil an Fheirtéaraigh particularly enjoy the Rocket, Volcano and Lava Lamp activities. At their annual science day, classes demonstrate these experiments to parents and other pupils at the school.
There is no shortage of beautiful beaches in the Tralee area and the school makes the most of these with regular ‘coast watch’ trips. Other popular destinations for their DPSM visits include Killarney National Park and Oceanworld Aquarium in Dingle.
Noirín Ní Chrualaoich has seen how the children’s interest in science and maths and general sense of curiosity has increased through their involvement in the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence and teachers and pupils at the school are looking forward to continued success in the coming years!
St. Edward’s National School, Ballytivnan, Co. Sligo
St. Edward’s National School first registered for an Award of Science and Maths Excellence in 2004 as they wanted to make science and maths more relevant and accessible to pupils. Continued participation in the DPSM programme over the years has affirmed both teachers and pupils that science and maths are not just ‘out there’ but are very much part and parcel of our daily lives and accessible to children of all abilities.
DPSM School Coordinator, Michael Maye, says: “Since we started taking part in the awards, the focus has changed from seeking affirmation to engagement and enjoyment of science. Science is now embedded in all classroom practice. Throughout the years our lessons have become more activity orientated and there has been a reduction on the reliance of textbooks. In recent years, the children are taking more of a leading role in deciding on the focus of the topic based on their interest. Teachers now have the confidence to facilitate this process and the link with literacy and numeracy is integrated.”
For pupils at the school, they particularly enjoy messy experiments like ‘Making Slime’. Teachers have found the activities from the energy & forces strand especially useful as it was considered a difficult concept to teach initially. The Greenwave project is also a bit hit as children become observant of the changing seasons and celebrate the coming of spring after a long winter!
St. Edward’s National School’s top tips for success with the Awards of Science and Maths Excellence are:
- Put AOSME on the agenda for staff meetings.
- Have a working folder where teachers/classes can submit their work throughout the year.
- Allocate specific areas to be covered for the award to certain classes to avoid repetition.
To see some of St. Edward’s work, visit their blog at www.stedwards.scoilnet.ie/blog.
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