Kilkenny school wins top prize at the Inaugural AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards

Colaiste Abhainn Ri, Kilkenny has won a top prize at the Inaugural AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards: Celebrating Community Contribution and Excellence in Education.

The school’s fifth year LCVP students organised a 5km run, raising €8,845 for Oscars Kids Club, supporting childhood cancer awareness. This unified the school post-amalgamation, aiding a fellow student’s family.

They learned event organisation, communication, and teamwork, improving community support and wellbeing. The group is planning an immersion project to Kenya to build a well and provide resources.

The inaugural AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards, celebrating schools that give back to the community, received 123 submissions from 103 schools across the country.

Schools across Ireland showcased their work to contribute to the betterment of their communities at the Gala Awards in Croke Park. The event was hosted by digital creator, presenter, and actor muinteoir John Sharpson.

The AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards centre on three key pillars of activity: Environmental, Social, and Financial.

These pillars encompass a wide range of activities that contribute to the betterment of communities, including volunteering, fundraising, awareness campaigns, mentoring, peer education, skills-sharing, and environmental conservation.

The AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards recognise and reward schools’ contributions to the social, financial, and environmental success of their community.

The AIB Future Sparks Programme is a skills-based interdisciplinary programme for post primary schools. Underpinned by rich education resources, this programme joins the dots for young people and their teachers as they navigate major transitions and key life moments by providing rich educational resources across multiple subject areas, such as guidance related learning, wellbeing, business, economics, accounting, TY, financial education, and home economics.

“We are delighted to celebrate the outstanding contributions made by schools across Ireland through the AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards,” said Ann Marie Freyne, Head of Retail Distribution AIB Mid East at AIB.

“These awards enable students to leverage the skills they have acquired to make a positive impact in the community all the while fostering continuous learning and skill development.”