Olivia Heagney is a third-year liberal arts degree student at St Mary’s with history as her main subject. Olivia's Work Related Learning placement this year turned into an uplifting art project for the children at St Joseph’s Primary School Kileenan.

Here is her short report on an innovative project:

As part of my Work Related Learning programme at St Mary’s this year, I completed a placement at St Joseph’s Primary School Kileenan.

Due to Covid-19, my school-based placement involved key worker provision—that is, looking after students whose parents were key workers—on certain days. In the afternoons, I was allowed to facilitate fun activities with the children. These activities varied from sports and music to drama and art. I soon learned that the children’s interests rested on practical, hands-on tasks, such as football or art, so I became better at planning tasks that would be engaging and enjoyable for them.

I decided to use their interests, the good weather, and resources I had available at home—as I live on a farm—to my advantage. With the assistance of my dad, we delivered ten pallets to the school, one for each of the key worker children, and I created an outdoor art project for spring. Each child painted his or her own pallet as a part of creating a colourful wall for the school’s eco-garden.

The weather was brilliant, and the principal was delighted with the project. The children absolutely loved it: upon the reopening of regular school classes the following week, it was rewarding to watch these children reunite with their friends and proudly show their work to them.

Olivia Heagney, LA3 History

of their eco-garden.