Drumree school’s grant from Intel to install a new playground

Image 1 of 3
Intel’s Joan Moran is pictured at Culmullen NS where she has been a volunteer for a number of years

Image 2 of 3
Joan Whelan with a group of Intel volunteers at Culmullen School.

Image 3 of 3
Intel staff volunteering at Culmullen NS.

Ann Casey

Published: Thu 2 Jun 2022, 8:42 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Jun 2022, 8:43 PM

Culmullen National School is to receive Intel seed grant to install a new playground. The Intel Foundation has a special Seed Grant programme that helps employees with funding to bring community projects to life.

Employees are invited each year to apply for the grants which can be used to support projects in their local area that have a benefit to the wider community.

Employee Joan Moran, who has children attending Culmullen, recently had her project idea selected to receive a seed grant. The project will receive $10,000 from the Intel Foundation.

Joan works in the Calibration Lab in Leixlip and has been a volunteer with Culmullen National School for a number of years.

Her own four children have attended or are currently attending the school and she explains how the impact of the Intel Seed Grant award will benefit the school.

“Culmullen National School is situated in a beautiful rural setting beside Culmullen Church in the parish of Dunshaughlin-Drumree," she says.

“Some 109 pupils attend the school with four SNAs and five mainstream classroom teachers. This year, an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) class was opened. After an old playground was removed earlier this year to build a dedicated classroom for children with autism, the school will use the seed grant funds to install a new playground on their property.

“This new facility will include STEM elements to encourage exploration and scientific thinking while having fun.

It will bring enjoyment for the children attending this school, and for the community at large. In addition, the whole project aims to create autism awareness through the integration of all children in a safe and fun environment.

“The STEM installations will provide a new and exciting addition for the pupils at Culmullen NS. As we know in Intel, and personally in my role within the Intel Ireland Calibration Lab, STEM is very important as it teaches critical thinking skills and instils a passion for innovation,"Joan adds.

“Beyond the benefit of learning science, technology, engineering, and maths, STEM assists in problem-solving and exploratory learning that fuel success across a variety of tasks and disciplines."

The playground will also provide an all-weather surface for pupils to play on, all year round. The school was established in 1946 as a rural two-teacher school and was extended in the 1970s. It was further extended and completely refurbished in 2011.

Intel Ireland employees have a longstanding history with the school where teams of company volunteers have visited the school to take part in painting and clean-up projects.

These projects added colour and vibrancy to the school grounds, making them more inviting and enjoyable for the pupils, staff and community.