The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) is delighted to announce a new competition for its 2009/2010 roll out of the “Follow the Fleet” schools programme. The schools essay competition is sponsored by Transas, a world leading Irish based maritime navigation systems company.
www.followthefleet.ie is the IMDO educational website that aims to bring the world of maritime adventure, imagination and education to the class room. The program which is now in its third year is being used by over 400 schools around Ireland and is used in classrooms as a teaching aid for the SESE Curriculum.
The competition will be centred around three key themes that are all interlinked with the lesson chapters and Captain’s logs published on the Follow the Fleet website. The three themes that classes can write about are:
• Maritime History.
• Maritime Trading in Ireland.
• Technology and the Mariner.
The word limit for each themed essay is 500 words and pupils are encouraged to include pictures or photos if choosing this category to support their essay.
Commenting on their Sponsorship of the Follow the Fleet 2009/2010 Competition, Mr Cormac Gebruers, Product Manager of Transas said ‘Transas are proud to support the IMDO to continue the program this year. Ireland is an island nation and we are a people of the sea and the Follow the Fleet program is a unique and important outreach project based on that. This year’s competition encourages children to explore the impact of a hugely important asset all around them – the sea.’
Glenn Murphy, Director of the Irish Maritime Development Office said ‘We are very pleased to have the support of Transas this year. We are encouraging all classes and schools who are registered on the Follow the Fleet programme to enter the essay competition. It is a great opportunity for the teachers and students to bring their experiences with Follow the Fleet from the classroom to life through animation, while also having the chance to experience real life situations on the bridge of a ships simulator.’
Competition Prizes.
We are offering four amazing prizes for the winning entries which will be judged by a panel of maritime experts. The winning class will have their scripted into a narrative, voiced by actor Aidan Dooley of ‘Tom Crean – Arctic Explorer’ fame. This will be hosted on the IMDO Follow the Fleet YouTube Channel.
The winning class will also be given the opportunity to experience of commanding their own ship at sea from the safety of the world class ship simulators at the National Maritime College in Cork.
1st prize
The overall winning class and class teacher as judged by the Follow the Fleet essay panel will receive:
• A laptop for the teacher of the winning class
• 2 handheld plug in and play movie cameras for the winning class.
• Animation and narration of the winning story
• A class visit to the National Maritime College of Ireland in Cork where the class will be shown the facilities and find out what it is like to be on the bridge of a ship in the NMCI state of the art Ship Simulators.
Runner-up Category Prizes
The three runner up schools from each themed category will receive a handheld plug in and play movie camera and their essay will be animated and narrated by actor Aidan Dooley of ‘Tom Crean – Arctic Explorer’ fame and hosted on our Follow the Fleet You Tube Channel.
Home Schools Prize.
There will also be a prize for registered home school users of the Follow the Fleet programme. The prize is a handheld plug in and play movie camera and their essay will be narrated by actor Aidan Dooley of ‘Tom Crean – Arctic Explorer’ fame and hosted on our Follow the Fleet You Tube Channel.
Entries
The deadline for the competition is the 29th of January 2010.
All details of the competition are available here
Entry forms are available here
Prize Details are available here
Find out more on how you can integrate Follow the Fleet into your classroom SESE lessons by logging onto the FTF You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/FollowTheFleetIRL
For more details contact marketing@imdo.ie or call the IMDO on 01 476 6500, marketing@imdo.ie for more information on joining the Follow the Fleet programme.
Ends…..
For more information please contact Mairéad Ní Cheóinín on 087 410 7880 or John Joyce 087 2250871
Notes to Editor
The Irish Maritime Development Office
The Irish Maritime Development Office is the national agency responsible for undertaking the following activities through its statutory remit:
- To promote and assist the development of Irish shipping and Irish shipping services and seafarer training,
- To liaise with, support and market the shipping and shipping services sector,
- To advise the Minister on the development and co-ordination of policy in the shipping and shipping services sector so as to protect and create employment,
- To carry out policy as may be specified by the Minister relating to the shipping and shipping services sector and seafarer training,
- To promote the registration of ships in the State by any person entitled to so register
The Department of Transport assumed responsibility for the IMDO in January 2006.
For more information please contact:
Mr Glenn Murphy, Director, Irish Maritime Development Office, Tel: 00 353 (0)1 476 6500
Dr. John Joyce – Communications Manager, Marine Institute. Tel: 087 2250871
Or Miss Mairéad Ní Cheóinín - Marketing & Business Programme Coordinator, Tel: 087 410 7880.
E-mail: marketing@imdo.ie
