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Sustainability is becoming a lot more visible in our area, and it’s a brilliant real-life context for teaching students about environmental responsibility. You can see it in projects like new cycle paths and greenways, which encourage eco-friendly travel, cut down on carbon emissions, and promote healthier lifestyles. Plenty of families now hop on their bikes for the school run or weekend trips, so for students, sustainability isn’t just a lesson—it’s something they experience every day.
Our Tidy Towns committee also makes a big difference, keeping public spaces clean, planting pollinator-friendly flowers, and running community clean-up days that build pride and a sense of care for the local environment. They have also teame d up with our school to come in and teach the kids about gardening. They also go on ‘Picker Pal’ walks with the kids in our school. On top of that, we’ve got good recycling facilities—bottle banks, compost bins, and local campaigns that teach households how to reduce waste and dispose of it properly.
In the local area there is sustainability group that has bought lots of reusable party ware. These can be hired out for a small fee by people in the community to use at partiesI think that the Eco Committee and Eco Warriors is such a great initiative. I saw my own child become so socially aware throughout the year this year in her role on the eco committee in her school. She became much more aware of the fruit we we were buying and the food miles involved. She reminded us constantly of turning off lights and recycling. It really is these little moment and habits in childrens lives that create a lasting effect.
I think you make a really good point here. Children are now being presented with food in the classroom but im not sure (our school have not started yet), how varied the menu is or if there is a seafood option available. Do we expect children to not eat fish. I think its a question that needs to be considered for sure. If we give them more knowledge an more opportunity to eat fish and seafood would there be more of an uptake.
Learning about the nutritional value of seafood has really helped me see just how important it is for a healthy, balanced diet. It’s packed with high-quality protein, essential omega-3s, and nutrients, all of which support heart health, brain development, and overall wellbeing. And for growing children, those benefits are especially valuable. It really is about making fish options accessible to children and presenting them in an appealing way.
In the classroom, you can easily link this knowledge into SPHE, Science, or even Geography, so students start to connect the dots between food, health, and sustainable living. It’s also a great springboard for discussions about where our food comes from, how it’s produced, and why making informed choices matters. This could be done from our younest classes.
By using seafood as a learning context, you reinforce healthy eating messages while sparking curiosity about marine life, local food industries, and environmental responsibility. Hands-on activities—like creating a balanced meal plan or following seafood’s journey from sea to plate—make the learning both engaging and memorable.I love the idea of group and hands on learning through project work too. The cross curricular approach involving maths is a great idea particularly for those in older classes.
The ARC’s lesson plans and resources are a great way to bring local environmental issues into STEM education. They’re especially relevant for Irish students because they let them get hands-on with topics like marine ecosystems, sustainability, food production, and climate challenges. As mentioned before, it is especially important for children that don’t have access to the coast particularly those in city or town schools.
The lessons focus on inquiry-based and project-based learning, which is at the heart of good STEM teaching. Students can ‘dive’ into how fish farms work, how water quality is tested, or how technology supports sustainability in aquaculture.
It also fits perfectly with the STEM Education Policy Statement—offering engaging, real-world content that sparks collaboration, like group data collection projects, while highlighting Ireland’s unique marine environment. From an SSE point of view, ARC can help set a cross-curricular STEM theme, support whole-school CPD using its content, and even provide examples of student feedback and project work as evidence for SSE.I completely agree with Andrea—the ARC’s online lessons are a fantastic, future-focused STEM resource that really tie in with our School Self-Evaluation goals. The modules are cross-curricular and inquiry-based, so they keep students engaged while making the learning relevant. And the addition of VR? That’s going to grab their attention straight away.
It’s such a powerful way to build real-world skills, encourage critical thinking, and promote collaboration right across the school.
Thats a really good point Emily. The knock on effect down to even such basic things as the GAA teams is a really good point to make. You are so right in the importance of Aquaculture keeping all culture alive.
In Ireland, most aquaculture farms are dotted along the west coast and other coastal areas, where the clean, sheltered waters and rich marine life make perfect conditions for growing things like Atlantic salmon, mussels, and oysters. Their locations aren’t chosen at random—it’s all about finding the right balance between the environment, access to infrastructure, and working with local communities.
From a social and economic point of view, aquaculture is a real lifeline for rural coastal areas that often face depopulation and a lack of jobs. These farms offer steady local work, from hatchery technicians and farmhands to logistics and quality control roles, and they also boost other sectors like processing, transport, and even tourism.
On top of that, aquaculture gives younger people a reason to stay in—or come back to—their hometowns, which helps keep cultural traditions alive and communities strong. And with the right environmental safeguards in place, it’s something that can benefit both the economy and the health of our marine environment
Learning about aquaculture in class is a great way for students to see where their food comes from and why keeping our environment healthy matters. Aquaculture is expanding worldwide, and when we use things like videos, virtual farm tours, and class discussions, it becomes much more engaging and easier to grasp. Having access to resources like the Aquaculture Remote Classroom is a huge bonus. It’s not something most teachers can easily recreate, but I can see how kids would be thrilled to step into such a beautiful, modern space. I think it is probably a topic that a lot of teachers would also shy away from so to have these learning aids at your disposal would be great.
My understanding of social licence from this module is an industries ability to operate while making sure different stakeholders are engaged and their opinions are considered on all kinds of issues. So, when we look at social license in aquaculture during class, it’s a great way for students to connect with what’s going on in their local communities and actually feel like they’re part of the conversation.As former teacher in a Deis Band 1 area, I have to say I totally agree with these comments. I think its much easier for children who have access to coastlines to become more enthused and involved with aquaculture. I think the ARC teaching and learning tool would be fantastic in this instance as it would capture the imagination from the get go.
