As the SLEs project delves into its final year, successful testimonials from our learning ecologies keep on coming. A 6th class from St. Nicholas’ Parochial School in Galway, Ireland, has made waves with their inspiring Positivity Campaign, which recently won the Explorers Education Programme’s prestigious Ocean Champion Award. The initiative sought to highlight the great things happening around ocean conservation, offering a refreshing counterbalance to the often anxiety-inducing news about the challenges facing our planet.
A Campaign Born from Hope
The Positivity Campaign was driven by the students’ desire to celebrate the beauty and resilience of our oceans while fostering hope for their future. Partnering with the Marine Institute, Galway Atlantaquaria, and CÚRAM Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices, the school embarked on a mission to engage their community in ocean literacy and promote a deeper connection with marine life.
The campaign drew inspiration from the Jane Goodall Institute’s philosophy of promoting hopeful and positive actions around climate change. This approach resonated deeply with the students, encouraging them to focus on constructive, community-driven solutions.
Bringing the Ocean to Life
Over two weeks, the students dived into the project, creating detailed reports on sea creatures and vibrant art pieces that celebrated the diversity of marine life in Irish waters. These were displayed in the window of Galway Atlantaquaria, captivating the attention of passersby and sparking conversations about ocean conservation.
The students also contributed to the Aquarium’s blog with their “Waves of Positivity” series, which garnered 57 interactions in just one week. This success led to a social media takeover of both Galway Atlantaquaria’s and CÚRAM’s platforms. During the takeover, positive news stories and ocean-focused content reached an impressive 44,000 people on Facebook and 5,525 on Instagram.
Judges’ Praise for an Outstanding Effort
The project’s innovative approach and wide-reaching impact earned high praise from the Ocean Champion Award judges, who commented:
“We are genuinely in awe of the hard work completed with the children and teachers throughout this project. Your engagement with the broader community was impressive, as you exhibited your artwork at Galway Atlantaquaria and used social media to share positive messages about the ocean. The judges loved the slogan: Waves of Positivity.”
They also commended the students for their unique integration of marine biodiversity with medtech research, showcasing how the ocean inspires advances in science, technology, and engineering—particularly in medical devices and biomaterials.
Building Blue Literacy
The campaign offered students an opportunity to develop key “blue” competencies, including:
- Expanding their knowledge of marine ecosystems and deep-sea species.
- Hands-on learning experiences, such as dissecting squid under the guidance of Sibéal.
- Communicating their findings and positive messages through creative and digital mediums.
A Model for Future Generations
The “Waves of Positivity” campaign stands out as an example of how young minds, with the right support, can make a profound impact on their communities and we, as SLEs project and part of the Open Schooling Together Network, can’t be more enthusiastic about it.
Our aim of developing engaging open schooling-enabled science learning paths for all in learning continuums of formal and informal education settings focusing on inclusiveness keeps on getting ever more concrete and we look forward to seeing other exciting results from our SLEs around Europe paving the way for a more open and inclusive learning future.
Congratulations to St. Nicholas’ Parochial School for their extraordinary achievement and their role in fostering a brighter, bluer future for us all!
Stay connected for more updates on our Steam Learning Ecologies, all working to foster inclusive and effective STE(A)M education!
