Scoil Mhuire, Magherarney shortlisted for eircom Junior Spider Award 2014 for ' Best School Website'
The eircom Junior Spider Awards were established in 2009 for students at primary and post primary school level. The idea was originated by Business & Finance, working closely with main sponsors eircom. The aim of these awards is to:
Acknowledge the innovation amongst web creators in schools.
Provide an exciting programme that will encourage teachers/students to further develop their technology skills in web design.
Encourage the use of the internet to teach subjects on our curriculum.
Act as a catalyst for those students who wish to pursue a career in this sector by providing access to influential business executives
It was indeed a great honour to have our school website shortlisted for this National Award. With an increase of 45% in entries this year we were delighted to be shortlisted to the final 7 in the 'Best School Website' category. We were even more delighted with this achievement given that our school website is not yet a year old!
The awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, April 29th in Google headquarters, Dublin. Below is a report on how the day unfolded and a selection of our photographs from this very enjoyable day.
Our trip to The Foundry in Google Headquarters, Dublin
On Tuesday, 29 of April we went to the Junior Spider's Awards Ceremony at The Foundry in Google Headquarters, Dublin. We were invited to the awards because our school website was shortlisted to the final seven in Ireland in the 'Best School Website' category. Ciara McCaffrey, Dylan Corley, Niall Smith and James Hughes were the lucky pupils selected to represent the school at the awards.
First we travelled to Dublin. We got to the Port Tunnel and we helped Ms Payne with directions towards The National Conference centre where we parked for the day. We then walked our way towards The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and followed the map to Google Headquarters. It was a great, sunny day and Dublin looked beautiful in the sunshine.
When we got into the Google building we had to collect our name tags. We walked up some colourful stairs that changed their colour with each footstep. There was lots of entertainment for the pupils before the official ceremony. First we visited the reptile area. In glass cases there were snakes, toads, two types of lizard and a tarantula. On a table there was a giant Boa Constrictor. James and Ciara were brave enough to hold this massive creature. .
Next we looked at the interactive wardrobe. Here you could try on different outfits without ever having to go into a changing room. You stood in front of a screen and with your hands pulled down the clothes you wished to try on and they would appear over your reflection. We then went around the corner to the IT section. There were tablets and laptops and much more. We could play on them. There were lots of different games on them. We even found our school website!
Beside the IT quarter there was an area called the 'Study Hub'. People volunteered to go into what looked like an old telephone box. The floor of the box had vents through which air could blow. Also on the floor were lots of pieces of paper with various numbers written on them. Once the person was in the box and the air started they had to catch as many pieces of paper as possible. There was a competition for the highest number.
Close to the 'Study Hub' there was a table set up by the IRFU. It had lots of free goodies like pens and key rings. They man at this table explained to us how each Irish Rugby player's jersey had a special devise in its collar which was tracked by a satellite. It was then able to give information at the end of a match such as how fast the player ran during the match, how many tackles they were involved in and so on. It was very interesting.
There was also a magician walking around performing amazing tricks. He was also very, very funny and we helped him with one of his tricks using a mug to make things appear. He also did a card trick on teacher, she was baffled!!!
At lunch delicious food was passed around on platters. There were things like fish and chips, mini pizza burgers and nuggets.
Before the award ceremony was about to begin there was a bit of drama! The fire alarm went off and every person in the Google building had to be evacuated. We all left the building safely and the people who worked there were very organised indeed and got us out quickly. We were very glad that teacher had made sure we all stuck together at all times as it meant we could quickly leave together and not worry about anyone missing from our group. Before long it was safe to go back inside and we made our way to Google's very own auditorium for the awards ceremony.
After taking out seats we were welcomed by the host Mr Aidan Power. He welcomed the magician back on stage who did some amazing tricks like swallowing a sword. The audience was amazed. He even got a teacher up on stage who had to wear a funny mask and the magician did the talking for the teacher. He made the teacher dance and sing, it was hilarious!
Soon after, the presentation of awards started. Lots of schools won awards for some great work. Some schools also won a Microsoft tablet for their schools with their awards. Unfortunately we didn't win our category but we really didn't mind because this was our very first time in the competition and we were just so happy to be shortlisted.
On our way out we got a goodie bag. We walked back to Ms Payne's car but she made us give all the directions to test our memories from the walk earlier in the morning! We proved to be great explorers finding our way back without any problems. We passed the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and walked across the lovely Samuel Beckett bridge over to the National Conference centre. We had a great day and would love to do it again.
