Discover how the START Competition makes learning fun and engaging for children. The START Competition offers an interesting, relevant, and appropriately challenging experience for senior primary school children. It encourages active engagement with key areas of the Irish Primary School Curriculum while empowering students to enjoy and take ownership of their learning. By clicking on each subject below, you will discover how the START Competition can help meet essential aspects of the Curriculum in an exciting and engaging way.
Example of how the START Competition can facilitate cross-disciplinary learning.
3rd Place Winners in 2016 School: St. Cuana’s Kilcoona, Co. Galway
Teacher: Tracey Langan
Year: 5th & 6th class
Trial Question: Does homework make children feel stressed?
Activity Breakdown:
Monday: Creative Writing Both the control group (6th class with no homework) and the test group (5th class with homework) engaged in a piece of creative writing about their feelings at the prospect of having or not having homework for the night.
Tuesday: Visual Arts Students expressed their emotions through artwork. They used various mediums like collage and pastels to create visual representations of their feelings towards homework.
Wednesday: Drama Both groups wrote and performed a drama about the prospect of homework. This activity helped students explore their feelings and experiences in a creative and collaborative way.
Thursday: Survey Creation The control and test groups worked together to design a survey based on their trial question. This involved learning about data collection methods and designing effective survey questions.
Friday: Data Analysis and Reporting Both groups took the survey, and the results were graphed. Students analyzed the data and reported their findings. They concluded that homework does indeed make children feel stressed.
Cross-Disciplinary Integration:
- Language: Creative writing and drama scripts.
- Visual Arts: Collages and pastel drawings.
- Drama: Writing and performing a play.
- ICT and Mathematics: Designing and analyzing surveys, graphing results.
- Reporting: Summarising findings and drawing conclusions.
This project demonstrates how the START Competition can integrate various subjects, providing a comprehensive learning experience. It encourages creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills among students.
