A LIMERICK school has been shortlisted for the Ocean Champion Awards as part of the Marine Institute Ireland’s Explorers Education Programme.
Le Chéile National School in Roxboro is shortlisted in the Ocean Literacy Creative School Project for its ‘Under the Sea’ project.
The awards aim to teach primary school children about the sea and promote understanding around how important seas and oceans are for the planet.
This year’s awards mark 20 years since the term ‘ocean literacy’ was first coined in the United States by teachers and marine scientists, recognising the lack of understanding about the ocean and a need to teach marine sciences in a formal education setting.
Corporate Services Director of the Marine Institute, Patricia Orme, said that “the projects completed by the teachers and children this year really highlight the value of ocean literacy themes being taught in schools, along with the importance of community collaboration in changing how we care for our marine environment”.
Ms Orme added that the last two decades have seen the concept of ocean literacy grow in Ireland through the influence of the Explorers Education Programme working with schools and also its participation in World Oceans Day to celebrate our ocean planet collectively within local communities.
“It has been fantastic to see over 70 per cent of the healthy ocean project applications this year focus on ocean literacy and the arts in the Ocean Champions School submissions,” she concluded.
Awards will be announced during the month of June.
