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Posted in News Mayo Education Centre.

Explorers Education Programme™ 2024-2025

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Applications to book your class on the Explorers Education Programme™ 2024-2025 are now open to teachers and their classes.

The award-winning Explorers Education Programme™ brings our oceans to life for primary level students through participation in a variety of specially designed modules. Each module usually involves two class visits by an Explorers Officer, who will introduce students to the topic, provide teaching guides and fun, engaging cross-curricular lesson plans that support the NCCA curriculum through thematic learning. On completion of the module and presentation of the project, students will be awarded a Certificate of Participation.

Teachers may apply for one of the following exciting interactive modules:

The Explorers Education Programme™ is supported by the Marine Institute, and is funded under the Marine Research Programme by the Irish Government.

APPLYING FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE EXPLORERS EDUCATION PROGRAMME™:

  • Teachers must complete the Explorers Education Programme™ application form below.
  • Teachers should indicate their preference of modules and term time. While the Explorers team aspires to visit all classes, spaces are limited and there is no guarantee that the teacher’s first preference will be successful – alternatives may be offered where possible.
  • Where multiple applications are received from one school, the Explorers team may not be able to accommodate all classes. If you are in a larger school, and would like more of your students to participate in the Explorers Education Programme™, be sure to select the Explorers Ocean Champions School Project.
  • Teachers participating in the programme will be required to take part in an information session prior to the commencement of the programme to assist with preparing for the modules in class. Teachers will be asked to partake and assist with an evaluation of the Explorers Education Programme™ including pre- and post-evaluations of the student’s ocean literacy knowledge, collecting images of work samples and providing feedback.
  • Explorers Education Programme™ social media channels @Explorersedu on Twitter and @ExplorersMarineEducation on Facebook are used to like and share Explorers activities and events. Teachers and schools are encouraged to like and share where possible.
We are currently gathering Expressions of Interest (EOI) from primary schools who wish to participate in our 2024/25 programme. In Mayo, there are three different types of modules available to schools:  
  • Marine Class Project - one of our Explorers Officers will facilitate two 1.5 hour classroom sessions with your class on a particular ocean-themed topic, e.g. the deep sea, sharks, squid, turtles and more.
  • Seashore Safari - one of our Explorers Officers will deliver two 1.5 hour sessions with your class, one of which will be shore-based, giving students the opportunity to learn more about the biodiversity of their home shore.
  • Ocean Champions School Project - this is designed for larger schools who want more than one class to avail of our programme. The Explorers Officer would spend 6 hours facilitating sessions among a number of classes with the aim of inspiring those classes to carry out a project that they would showcase to the wider school community.
If you would like to register your school's interest in participating in this year's programme, please complete Pages 2+3 and return them to me by Sunday 29th September. Due to high demand, I would recommend doing this at your earliest convenience as modules are assigned on a first come first served basis. Schools will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of September.

If you have any queries relating to the Explorers Education Programme™, please do not hesitate to contact Sorsha Kennedy, Explorers Officer, by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or David McCann, Project Manager Explorers Education Programme I can be contacted via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone (0892581270).

 

APPLICATION FORM 

TO BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED BY THE 29TH OF SEPTEMBER