Education

Overall: St Clare's Primary School

Overall: St Clare's Primary School.PRIMARY WINNER:  SINCE 1999, St Clare's Primary School in Harold's Cross has been working towards becoming a Green School, with four "green flags" to its name, testifying to its environmental credentials.

Given the success of its Green School project, St Clare's has now extended the work.

It now includes a Green Home project, which involves getting parents of the school's students to sign up to the environmental theme.

Parents must register with An Taisce and complete surveys regarding their habits in the home.

READ MORE

The overall aim is to raise environmental awareness in the community, extending the work being done in the school.

The result is that more parents walk their children to the school, which supplies all its pupils with high-visibility jackets.

In addition. An Taisce has also provided St Clare's with shelters for 30 bicycles as a result of their cycling programme.

With the ongoing aim of raising environmental awareness and cutting back on waste, the project is lead by the Green-Schools co-ordinator Teresa McGinley.

She is assisted by the school's pupils and staff.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

PALS Pre-School (Blanchardstown)

Tallaght Feast (Tallaght)

POST-PRIMARY WINNER: Citywise Jobstown

Citywise Education in Jobstown is a not-for-profit organisation that began in Jobstown in 2001, providing education and personal development programmes for eight to 16-year-olds in the area.

The brainchild of teacher Mark Hamilton, the project's aim is to ensure young people involved stay in the education system until completion of the Junior Cert.

The Citywise project provides programmes for some 300 young people, including after-school programmes, full-time educational programmes during the summer, and the mid-school programme providing full-time education for those who have dropped out of school.

Through mid-school, as many as 18 young people each and every year receive something in excess of 22 hours per week of education and social supports. Funding comes from charities, businesses and individuals, with support from South Dublin County Council.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

The Green Machine (Baldoyle); Belvedere College Students Teaching English

Park West Business

THIRD-LEVEL WINNER

Gateway Intergenerational Learning Pilot

A Dublin City University (DCU)-based project that began in February this year, the Gateway Intergenerational Learning Pilot Study was created to give older people who had never attended university an opportunity to learn with third-level students.

The initiative involves university students mentoring older people in information communication technology (ICT) skills. In return, the students get to learn from the expertise and experience of older people.

The exchange is also intended to break down the generational divide.

A media module introduced as part of the study also examined representations of ageing in the media, with the aim of raising awareness among the students of the positive aspects of ageing.

The project, the brainchild of a member of staff in DCU's school of education studies, was funded by Age and Opportunity through Atlantic Philanthropies.

There are plans to develop a Centre for Intergenerational Learning, where older people can meet and learn with third-level students in a variety of learning opportunities.