Fingal School Wins National Competition
Skerries Community School wins Business Game competition.
The students at Skerries Community School in Fingal have won a national business game competition, scooping a Smart Technologies Interactive Whiteboard for their school.
Organised by the County and City Enterprise Boards and sponsored by Smart Technologies, the competition was run through the BusinessGame.ie on-line business website, where students have to manage their own virtual G.A.A. sports store.
Oisin Geoghegan, CEO of the Fingal County Enterprise Board and Greg Tierney from Smart Technologies visited Skerries Community School today (Friday, December 1st) to officially present the SMARTboard interactive whiteboard, which is valued at €4,500.
The Principal at Skerries Community College, Kevin O’ Riordan, was clearly delighted with the prize saying: "We're thrilled to have won this very valuable prize and we have put the new interactive whiteboard in the teaching area for the business department. This new addition to our teaching resources will enhance the learning experience for all our students at Skerries Community College.”
Speaking at the prize announcement in Skerries, Greg Tierney from Smart Technologies said: "We believe the use of ICT in education is an imperative to national prosperity. The ability of our future workforce to be able to harness and use ICT as at tool will ensure Ireland’s competitiveness in the future connected economies of the world. The SMARTboard is unique in its ability to integrate the delivery of ICT into every subject. The students at Skerries Community College have shown clear ability and ambition and I think this is a very fitting home for a prize of this nature."
In the twelve months since BusinessGame.ie was launched by the County and City Enterprise Boards, Microsoft, Ulster Bank and Smart Technologies, 8,876 students from 212 schools from around the country, including Skerries Community College, have been busy managing their own virtual business, making day-to-day decisions around ordering, sales, merchandising, insurance, human resources and finance.
The concept for the business simulation game originally came from New Zealand and Scotland and was adapted for Irish schools last year. The game is free for students and schools until at least May 2011, when the local Enterprise Boards hope to secure a further three year licence.
The Fingal County Enterprise Board will be running a free demonstration of the BusinessGame.ie in January for secondary school teachers and principals in Fingal and further information is available by e-mailing schools@fingalceb.ie