St Peter's Bray

Salesforce gives Bray school IT upgrade in the round

Life
Pictured: St Peter’s Primary School pupils Callum O’Sullivan (9) and Caithlin Farrell (11) with Principal Emer Whyte

25 October 2016

St Peter’s Primary School in Bray, Co Wicklow, has become the first school in Ireland to receive funding under Salesforce.org’s Circle the School programme.

Under the scheme – originally developed in the US – St Peter’s will receive $100,000 (€92,000) grant to upgrade its digital literacy and STEM teaching capabilities.

St Peter’s was awarded DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) status in 2005 and in 2014 became a fully vertical co-ed school, resulting in a growth of over 100% in just one year. This meant that St Peter’s had to resign some of its amenities, such as its library and computer room, to allow for classroom space.

A portion of the grant St Peter’s will go towards rebuilding these two resources and also towards introducing a multi-sensory room to allow students a place to aid creativity and support children with complex needs.

St Peter’s Principal Emer Whyte said: “We look forward to developing a shared vision which will result in whole-school improvements in STEM, IT, Special Educational Needs, Literacy and Numeracy. We are very grateful to Salesforce and are fully committed to making this shared vision become a reality for our school.”

“We’re really excited to be supporting these two worthy schools through our Circle the Schools initiative,” said Charlotte Finn, vice president, EMEA rogrammes at Salesforce.org. “School is a place where children’s futures are shaped and we believe that all children should have the same opportunities for their future development. Circle the Schools is an important initiative that gives schools the necessary resources to make significant difference to children’s lives.”

Salesforce employees will also have an important role to play in this partnership. In additional to assisting children with STEM projects and setting up a CoderDojo, Salesforce employees will be rolling out an ICT program to help parents get up to speed with technology, enabling them to support their child’s development in this area.

“At Salesforce, we have long believed that we have a responsibility to help create opportunities for our young people to learn digital skills,” said Dr David Dempsey, executive director and senior vice president at Salesforce. “We have such a vibrant technology sector in this country and the opportunities that exist within it are only going to continue to grow. We need to make sure that we support our young people so that they are in a position to take advantage. We’re delighted to be able to lend our expertise to work holistically with the children, teachers and parents at St. Peter’s Bray to further this cause.”

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