I had the absolute pleasure to work with the leaving cert – junior cert and Tranisition year students at Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada Aranmore today. 

“There was a time when island parents might have thought sending their child to an island post-primary might put them at a disadvantage, in terms of subjects or extra-curricular activities, but in fact the island schools are thriving. ”These schools are central to support for the Irish language and Irish heritage, and the incredible positivity i witnessed & experienced today both from the students and teaching staff was incredible , honest, hard working & fun. An important dynamic that’s ever present in today’s schooling & a welcomed change from the ancient dinosaurs past. 

We shared the good bad and challenging aspects of real life, dealing with stress & taking ownership of it, dealing with the pressures of society’s exceptions, having to conform & pressured exams, do they really & truely model & shape our future.   We focused discussions on the importance around brain training and protecting the mind from external & times internal negative energy and the importantance of maintaining the maintance of self belief above all taking ownership that your driving & simply not a passenger. 

I shared learning from my adventure life drawing parallels that failure dosnt exist it’s merely a set back, allowing time to upskill, reset & go again simply stronger.  Setting goals, training hard, preparing well & that it’s a continuous life learning in that its not whether you get knocked down instead its whether you get back up. 

I left the school energised with a deep feeling that our education system is working better than ever that the teachers are in tune with the students & vice a versa & that our future as a community is in the right & powerful & creative youthful hands. 

Thank you Aranmore your a leading example. 

Jason