In June 2017, 6th Class pupils in Glór na Mara Primary School, Tramore, Co. Waterford became the recipients of the Our World Irish Aid National Award.
The 6th Class pupils from Glór na Mara travelled to Dublin in June 2017 to attend the National Final of the Our World Irish Aid Awards. They were accompanied by the Principal and teachers from the school. Having successfully reached the regional finals earlier in the year, under the guidance of their Class Teacher Ms. Hearne, they were thrilled to reach the national final!
The words of the judges speak for themselves:
‘6th class pupils from Glór na Mara Primary School in Tramore created a detailed project called ‘Be the change for People and Planet’.
They engaged with the community to organise beach clean ups, grew their own food, asked local coffee shops to go Fair Trade and encouraged other students to cut down on waste.
This is the second time in two years that the school has received an Our World Irish Aid Award, as last year teacher Ms. Hearne was named 2016 Teacher of the Year. The school’s project, which was entitled ‘Be the Change for People and Planet’, was one of the most comprehensive ever seen in 
the 12-year history of the Our World Irish Aid Awards. Comprising a host of activities that engaged not just the whole school community, but also local residents and traders, the 6th Class group focused on each of the 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development in a practical and thought -provoking manner.’
Congratulating Glór Na Mara on winning the overall title, Minister for the Diaspora and International Development, Joe McHugh, TD, said that the judges had a particularly challenging task this year due to the extremely high standard of entry across the board.
“The range of activities and the depth of pupil understanding & engagement with both the Glór na Mara school and local community blew the judges away,” he said.
“It is evident that the learning from the Our World Irish Aid Awards activities this year has had a significant impact on the school and beyond. This is not something that happens by accident and I would, therefore, like to applaud teacher Ms. Hearne and her 6th Class pupils for all of the time and energy they invested not just in their Awards entry, but also in raising awareness of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development amongst local residents and traders for the good of all.”
The Principal, Staff and pupils in the school are all very proud of this achievement. It was great for the whole school to become engaged in this project.Everyone took part enthusiastically in the activities such as: helping the compost monitors to fill the classroom compost bins after lunch, using reusable lunch containers instead of paper & plastics bags. Parents helped us in this task! Pupils as young as 4 years of age can tell you what goes into the compost bin! Learning about the Sustainable Development Goals was good for the whole school and the wider community, too. We know now that we can make a difference and help to ‘Be the change for People and Planet’.
