It was an absolute pleasure to visit Ms. Costigan’s 4th class in Duleek G.N.S yesterday to hear about a project they’re working on which has them so excited that they’ve written to President Michael D. Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Education Minister Norma Foley to tell them about it.
The girls in Ms Costigan’s class are taking part in a competition called Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials which is a bit of a mouthful but it is abbreviated to START which is at least easier to say.
I have to confess though, I had no idea what it means so I asked the girls what it’s all about. The responses were so enthusiastic and well informed I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Since January the girls, all 27 of them, have been investigating various lifestyle choices and the effect they have on their lives. The aim of START is to help children to develop critical thinking skills, to separate the “fake news” from the credible information that we are bombarded with daily.
The girls in Duleek G.N.S. decided to investigate what effects ten minutes of daily exercise, (they referred to it by its scientific name of “ambulatory activity”), would have on their fitness and mood as 10 year olds.
This entailed much team work among the class members with different tasks being tackled by different groups.
They designed every aspect of the trial themselves, from consent forms to posters and a banner raising awareness of the importance of ambulatory activity. Others collected the data in graphs and specially designed scrap books.
Their creativity and imagination in designing, conducting, analysing and reporting the details of the trial are obvious but it was their excitement and pride about what they have achieved that really struck me the most.
The compassionate way that they went about their investigation was also very impressive. Early on in the project they decided that while everyone would take part in different exercises, all of the resulting data would be anonymous to avoid embarrassment for any girl that might not be into running or walking.
“The project not only raised awareness of randomised trials but capitalised on children’s innate ability to explain difficult concepts clearly and in a fun way” MS (Ellen) Costigan, who is obviously very proud of her class, told me.
“The pandemic of 2020 taught us all about the need to be critical when we read about health claims, and that we need to explore where claims are coming from. START helps students to become the scientists of tomorrow and critical thinkers of today.
“This project encompasses key aspects of the school curriculum in several subjects including Maths, Science, Social Personal Health Education and ICT and offers a hands- on approach to learning, using real life experiences.
“The competition is run by the Health Research Board-Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TRMN), which is a collaborative network across five university partners- NUI Galway, University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and the University of Limerick.
“The top three schools nationally are invited to a special event at NUI Galway, as part of the Health Research Board- Trials Methodology Research Network, and Duleek G.N.S. hope to be amongst those school this year.”
