ARC in Athboy C.S.

Athboy Community School was delighted to welcome the Bord Iascaigh Mhara ARC -the Aquaculture Remote Classroom – to the school over a two-week period in September and October. The invitation to the school was organised and co-ordinated by Engineering teacher Mr. Anthony Sheridan.

The Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) is a mobile classroom which has been designed to raise young people’s awareness of aquaculture.  Staff members Katie Hunter, Hugh Boyle and Aine-Lisa Shannon visited Athboy to meet with Transition Year students and deliver a talk in careers and opportunities in the marine sector. The 5th year students were also invited to the ARC.

Aquaculture is the farming of plants and animals in the water. The staff ran four-hour workshops as an introduction to Aquaculture and its importance as an economic, social and environmental activity using Virtual Reality Headsets, puzzles, quizzes and presentations.

In the days that followed, feeder schools in Athboy Community School’s catchment area were invited to the school to visit the ARC and enjoy the workshops.

The workshops cover lessons linking to Secondary and National School learning strands in the likes of History, Geography (e.g. using O.S. Maps in the context of Aquaculture), Health and Nutrition units, Sustainability and Socio-Economics. The classroom is supported by 4 online lessons, regular webinars direct to schools and a range of learning resources. The ARC is available to schools completely free of charge.

The visit of the ARC was a resounding success and the students both of Athboy Community School and the local feeder National Schools got a lot from the visit and enjoyed their workshops.