Heritage in Schools 2015

Heritage in Schools 2015

The Heritage in Schools Scheme is now open again for bookings for 2015. The scheme makes available to primary schools a panel of 175 Heritage Experts who will visit primary schools to work directly with the students. The visit by the heritage expert is part-funded by the school and the remaining costs are funded by the Heritage Council.

The primary aim of the scheme is to encourage awareness of the genius of the natural and cultural world that surrounds us in our daily lives and engage children in a direct experience of their heritage, preferably outside the classroom where possible and appropriate. The scheme supports the stated aims and objectives of the SESE curriculum and provides an additional educational tool and resource for teachers. The ‘investigations’ provided on this website relate directly to the SESE subjects of science, history and geography.

The scheme has a panel of over 175 Heritage Experts with a range of expertise

The nature of the visits is as varied as the range of topics offered. The flexible and informal nature of the scheme facilitates a wide range of approaches to practical heritage education. The exact content of the visit is planned by the Teacher and the Expert together. While many visits include a field-trip, weather permitting, some are exclusively classroom-based as they may involve art, appearances of characters from history, or slide shows. Some Experts conduct a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities.

All visits aim to give children and teachers a first-hand experience of their heritage.

Nature School are please to have been part of the scheme since 2014 and to daye have visited schools in Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo and are looking forward in 2015 to visiting schools in Galway, Leitrim, Clare, Westmeath and Cavan.

The visits which have taken place in the schools itsel, the school grounds or in a local forest or woodland have give teachers and students ideas for outdoor nature related activities that they can do during the year.

Find out more about the Heritage in Schools Scheme HERE