This article is from page 81 of the 2008-10-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 81 JPG
ENNIS Community College has launched an innovative teaching project that could have a major influ- ence on the Irish education system.
Outdoor Resources Brought into Teaching (ORBITAL) was adapted from a programme initiated by Kerry VEC but developed in Clare by the Ennis college in association with the Burren Outdoor Education Centre.
A pilot programme was tested in Ennis on just one class of the new student intake and so successful as to be broadened to the entire school enrolment this year.
Aine Meehan, co-ordinator of En- nis Schools Completion Programme operating from the Community Col- lege, said the project makes use of local resources to supplement what is going on in the classroom.
That way learning becomes more real, especially for students who have special needs or are second- language learners.
She gives the example of how his- tory is taught in the new scheme. Students learning about castles,
monks and knights are taken to the ancient buildings and the milieu of the people they are studying. Anoth- er instance is going to a goat cheese farm to mark Organic Food Week.
Doing time and distance on ULs running track back up maths studies. The completion programme aims to retain students at college through in- ter-agency working.
College principal Matt Power said students are offered the opportunity to experience the curriculum in ac- tion. Archaeological digs in the Bur- ren, visits to UL science week and to the flaggy shores of the Burren are other learning experiences through the academic year. He is so im- pressed by the project as to be hope- ful of expanding it to the rest of the college.
“A wonderful collaboration has emerged between the college and the outside agencies. Basically, it is an extension of the old idea of learning by doing. What may have seemed less interesting and abstract in the classroom becomes exciting and alive when experienced for real during the day trips.