Fun and games on
Inishowen School Tours
03.07.22
SUMMER term in Inishowen is never
complete without a school tour, providing
children with lots of ‘spraoi agus spórt’.
In case your Irish is a bit rusty, this means ‘fun and
games’ in English! But it’s also the name of
award-winning Carndonagh social enterprise, Spraoi agus
Spórt, who’ve been running school tours since lockdown.
“All of our classes did the Spraoi school tours last
year during Covid,” said Mary McGonagle, principal of
Scoil Treasa Naofa in Malin. “It would have been very
difficult to manage any tours at all without them.” |
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Mary added, though the
restrictions are now gone, we opted for Spraoi agus
Sport tours this term. “We picked Spraoi for several
reasons for our infants, first and second classes. The
location was very handy, being so close by, so there was
no long journey to face for younger children.”
“But it was also because they offered such a wide range
of activities – everything from outdoor play, to tech
and crafts. They cater for all the children, whether
they are sporty, arty or have special needs. Also, the
staff are very organised and tailor their activities to
suit your exact needs.” |
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Mary said the children had
a great day, which included a treasure hunt, trip to the
play park, ice cream, and a visit to the Sensory Room.
“In the Digital Creative Lab, they learned how to add
their own individual names to bedroom door signs. So,
they gained some digital skills and each had something
special to take home with them.” |
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Joanne Kelly, Principal of
Glentogher National School, said they have used Spraoi
school tours for the last two years and “really enjoyed
them. We have done surfing for the senior classes and
the younger ones have gone to Spraoi to make teddies and
t-shirts.”
“Spraoi offers schools a different type of tour. It
doesn’t involve going on a bus for over an hour, but it
does have all the fun and adventure. It offers children
the opportunity to do things they haven’t done before,
such as the Digital Creative Lab and surfing. The tours
are very well run and enjoyable, and I look forward to
using Spraoi again in the future.”
Spraoi co-founder and chief executive, Helen Nolan said
they started the tours when schools’ options were
limited by Covid. “We were delighted with the response!
It is testament to our service delivery that a number of
schools returned to Spraoi again this year for their
tour.” |
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