Lero News
ALL IRELAND SCRATCH NATIONAL FINALS 2012 Finalists from primary and secondary schools from across the country attended the Irish Scratch Competition National Finals on Saturday May 19th in IT Tallaght. The nineteen projects, involving 30 students, were selected from 194 Scratch projects submissions, involving over 300 students and 53 schools – double last year’s entry tally. The annual competition, run by Lero, sponsored by the Irish Computer Society and supported by IT Tallaght and IT Sligo, gives students the chance to learn computer programming in a fun and interactive way. The finals were held on Scratch Day, a worldwide network of gatherings, when people come together to meet other Scratch programmers, share projects and experiences, and learn more about Scratch. Lero members Anne Meade and Oisín Cawley, along with Brendan Smith - DERI, Kevin Sullivan – Bridge21, Anne White – NCCA and Eithne Esmonde – NCI had the difficult job of judging the Scratch projects on the day. Lero, IT Tallaght and IT Sligo completed the regional judging to select the national finalists. We are grateful to Niamh Meade and Scott O’Malley for their presentations on the day and for inspiring students and parents about the world of IT. Second year students Eleana Skelly and Kate Campbell from Alexandra College, Dublin, were declared winners in the animation category for their project Learn Spanish, an interactive tutorial for improving Spanish. Returning winner Abdullah Mohammed from Carrigaline Community School, Cork, was declared winner in the Senior Games category for his multi-level maths tutorial game. Ruairi McMahon from Parteen National School Co Clare won the primary school category with his project, Tadpole. The Outside School project winners were South Galway Education Centre Computer Club from Gort, with their project Bottle Breaker
1st Prize €300: “Bottlebreaker” Evin Coughlan, David Neilan, Niall Cunningham, South Galway Education Center, Gort, Co. Galway
Kate Campbell and Eleana Skelly from Alexandra College Dublin, winners of the animation category with their parents and Brendan O’Malley from Lero.
1st Prize €300: “Armageddon 2012” - Abdullah Mohammad, Carrigaline Community School, Co. Cork
1st Prize €300: “Learn Spanish” - Eleana Skelly and Kate Campbell, Alexandra College Dublin
1st Prize €300: “Tadpole” Ruairi McMahon, Parteen National School, Co. Clare
Send comments, questions or contributions to info@lero.ie
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