It is not in every primary school classroom you meet pupils who are eager to show you a rat-tailed maggot under microscope and on computer screen. Or who want to show you their organic vegetable garden or give you a tour of the grounds which they helped to landscape during many hours outdoors in class time.
But then Carnaun, near Athenry, Co Galway, is no ordinary school. Recently its principal, Finbarr O'Regan, hosted an organic lunch for a group of teachers from all parts of Europe. The occasion was a meeting of co-ordinators for a leading European schools project, entitled (after Descartes) "I eat, therefore I am".
Teachers and pupils from Italy, Sweden, Wales, Finland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, Greece, Malta and Germany travelled to Athenry last month to discuss the project, which is focused on a website, www.eat-online.net
It is one of many on-line activities in which Carnaun pupils are involved. The school has its own home page and links with schools abroad. It also uses the Internet for its research on the locality, including the history of Castle Ellen House and the influence of the Lambert family in this part of east Galway.
The Internet link allows the small country school to communicate with a much larger world outside. Three of its pupils have written a wonderful description on its home page: "Our little rural school is surrounded by small fields with stone wall boundaries in which cattle, sheep and horses graze. Many of the children live on farms. The countryside is dotted with small patches of woodland and long wild hedgerows of whitethorn and blackthorn, which are used as stockproof fencing on the farms.
"There are 30 pupils in the school and two teachers, Finbarr and Anita, a remedial teacher, Des, a secretary, Vera, and a caretaker, Francie. We have about three acres of school grounds in which we have a playing area, wildlife areas, flower and vegetable gardens all sown by the pupils.
"We do much of our schoolwork through projects and include most of the school subjects in them. Our main project for the past few years was on environmental awareness. For this we have won many prizes and were awarded the European Green Flag last year. We did a lovely project on butterflies with our friends in Glade Creek School, North Carolina, USA."
Next month the principal is working with Mr Martin Kelly of Newcastle NS on a course for primary teachers, entitled "Local heritage and the primary school" - specifically, the use of the classroom as a centre for interpreting the local natural and managed environments. The course will take place from July 1st to 5th from 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and cost is €40. Mr O'Regan can be contacted at 091- 844668.
Carnaun primary school's home page is http://homepage.eircom.net/~foregan and its e-mail address is carnaun.ias@eircom.net
Mr Leo Hallissey, principal of Letterfrack National School in Connemara, is an environmentalist after Mr O'Regan's heart. Host of several highly popular environmental weekends for adults throughout the year, Mr Hallissey is "committed to sowing seeds for future achievement", as the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, described it when he presented him with a cheque last month.
The cheque for €5,000 is to be used by the pupils to protect and develop their local Dowrus river. The project will monitor water quality, restoration and enhancement of the fish habitat and river banks. Funding comes through the Western Regional Fisheries Board.
The Minister also congratulated the pupils of fifth and sixth class on a significant "sale", that of the first harvest of the season from their own oyster farm. In 1997 Mr Hallissey established the farm, and his pupils grew oysters from seed. They harvested, cleaned, graded and sold them, with Roly's Restaurant in Ballsbridge, Dublin, being one of the keen customers. Assisted by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the project has involved 130 pupils over the last five years, and 70,000 oysters have been grown to date.
The school is due to visit the Lough Agency's new Lough Foyle Interpretative Centre in Derry next September, and a school from Derry will visit Letterfrack in return.