Student learning at the beating heart of Ireland’s Digital Town
Two second-level schools in Gorey have positioned themselves to be leaders in the area of digital engagement through partnerships with local technology hubs that have contributed to the north Wexford town being named as Ireland’s 2018 Digital Town.
Links between Gorey Community School and Creagh College and local tech companies have allowed students to accelerate their interest in IT.
One example is the ‘Educate To Innovate’ fund established by tech company Innovate. It has assisted in setting up the computer science lab in Creagh College while, across town, it is supporting a unique IT Student Hub in Gorey Community School (CS), modelled on Microsoft’s Dreamspace in Sandyford.
Creagh College is a fully iPadbased school where students create new ideas in the world of IT. So far, pupils have produced timed reaction games, made weather stations, GAA score counters and mock-up traffic light systems for the town, and more.
Creagh is in the first wave of schools nationally to teach computer science as a subject. It also offers an Embedded Systems module to Transition Year students, which is also being phased in from first year on.
“This involves programming Raspberry Pi and BBC Microbit and comprises programming, technology, robotics and artificial intelligence,” said computer science teacher Tony McGrath.
After-school coding and technology clubs build on students’ interests and skill sets.
Gorey CS’s enthusiasm to lead change is evident in its participation in the pilot for the Department of Education Digital Learning Framework Programme.
Brendan O’Sullivan, who is IT Coordinator and Digital Technology Leader at Gorey Community School, describes the ‘Educate To Innovate’ Student Hub as an “amazing” student-only space where small groups of students can meet, collaborate, create and learn. Gorey is a big commuter town, with many residents travelling to Dublin for work, and he said Innovate’s investment in the school feeds into the vision of connecting local business, schools and community organisations to provide for a growing technology-based town where people can opt to work in their own area. The school also receives advice and support in the Hatch Lab, a tech incubator space in the town, while IT Tallaght runs coding programmes for their students.
O’Sullivan is attending the Erasmus eTwinning Conference in Poland this week, which will provide an opportunity for Gorey CS to work with schools throughout Europe on eProjects in language, culture, history, geography and IT.
There has been a big rise in interest in third-level STEM courses as a result of the digital transformation in both schools. Gorey Chamber is closely involved in the tie-up between the town’s schools and its digital infrastructure: “We have set out a 30-year strategy for Gorey with education at its heart,” said CEO Diarmuid Devereux.
Tomorrow, Gorey will host a series of high-profile events for Ireland’s Internet Day, celebrating the digital transformation of the town.