Safety at School, Home and at Play’ National School 2011 Project

There was great excitement in Mullingar Arts Centre on Thursday last, 12th May for the presentation of the Shay Murtagh (Precast) Ltd sponsored Mullingar Lions Club’s awards to local schools for a safety project entitled ‘Safety at School, Home and at Play’.

Children and teachers from eleven local national schools, representing approximately 2,400 school children from Mullingar and its environs, gathered in great anticipation of the presentation of awards.

The project was organised by Mullingar Lions Club and was sponsored by local company Shay Murtagh (Precast) Ltd., who themselves are a multi award winner for safety in the workplace. Liam McGovern, Director, was on hand to present the awards to the schools and Vivienne Murtagh, Safety Officer, assisted with the judging of the boards as well as providing safety literature that explained to the school children their company’s approach to safety.

The overall winner of the project was Presentation Convent Junior School, followed by The Downs National School (1st Runner Up) and Mullingar Educate Together (2nd Runner Up). The winning schools were presented with a substantial award of art supplies.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to the following National Schools:- All Saints, Dysart, Gaelscoil an Mhuilinn, Scoil Mhuire Taghmon, St. Brigid’s, St. Colmans, St. Colmcilles Gainstown and St. Mary’s CBS.

The purpose of these projects is to encourage children to discuss and express their ideas on topics that affect their daily lives.

The schools were provided with a work board (dimensions 6ft x 4ft) as a blank canvas. The children, with the encouragement of their teachers, interpreted the safety theme and used the space on the board to express their ideas. The standard of the entries was excellent and is a tribute to the research, creativity and hard work of each participating school.

The boards have been on public display in Mullingar Arts Centre for a number of weeks. The Lions Club and Mullingar Arts Centre have received tremendous positive feedback on the boards and the project. The boards will be on display in the Arts Centre for the next few weeks, so we would encourage everyone to drop in and view the high quality of art on display.

Provided by Michael Moloney – Lions Club Mullingar