Mallow Science and Maths Fair

The Teaching and Learning Dept. of University of Limerick will host Mallow Science and Maths Fair this Sunday 16th October from 12 noon to 3.30pm.

And what is the Mallow Science and Maths Fair?
An action-packed fun day for all the family, with many attractions:
Chemistry Magic Show
Planetarium
Live demonstrations and interactive displays
Stars and Planets Show
Superheroes Talk…
Who wants to be a Maths Millionaire/..
Balloon Rocket Car...
Give-away items, entertainment and lots, lots more ….

This event is free of charge and booking is not necessary
For further information contact: the NCE-MSTL at 061 234786

Check out the poster for the event here (pdf).

Well done Mallow, but what about the rest of the country?

It's great news for Mallow, Co. Cork that it is to become a national centre of excellence for the teaching of maths and science. However, this news, reported by the Irish Examiner this morning, begs the question as to why just Mallow puts the spotlight on science and maths when everyone now accepts that an increase in science literacy is urgently needed as part of our economic recovery?

The town is to benefit from a range of technologies being developed at University College Corkwww.ucc.ie, Cork Institute of Technology and the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) at University of Limerick.

A four-year project in Mallow's schools will see staff from the national centre work to increase the uptake of science and maths subjects, improve student achievement at all levels, up-skill science and maths teachers in the town and foster collaborative teaching between the schools.

All this is excellent, of course, but I would have presumed this was happening anyway. All interested parties should be increasing student engagement and achievements with science subjects. All schools should be working together on such initiatives and all teachers should be receiving the appropriate training to do their jobs to the highest level.

What is interesting about this project is the involvement of so many agencies and bodies all focused on the same goals. Intel Investor Director and Chair of the Advisory Board of Innovation Fund Ireland Damien Callaghan has explained that Mallow is now to become a "lead school district nationally for researching and piloting initiatives and developments in the teaching of maths and science" saying that "the problem-solving skills inherent in excelling at these subjects are the core competencies of entrepreneurs and employees of the future".