From Donal Mannion .. 

“After the Halloween midterm, I restarted our School Chess Club, taking over from two other teachers who had left the school over the Summer.  Not having much experience, I attended April Cronin’s excellent workshop in the Cork Education Support Centre in September by way of preparation and had enlisted the help of another teacher on the staff to assist with the older children.  The Chess Club is open to children from Rang 2 to Rang 6. We’re busy solving puzzles, playing mini-games and playing often tense full games for an hour on a Tuesday after school !  Since children in Rang 1 don’t have a chance to join the club just yet, I have facilitated the Rang 1 teachers to teach mini-games to the children in their classrooms for 20 minutes per week. Hopefully this will grow over the coming years.”

Seána from the Central Model School in Marlborogh St Dublin writes: After the Halloween midterm, I began teaching chess to my own class (4th) and the other 4th class in my school – Central Model Senior School, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.

Last spring, I attended April Cronin’s chess training in Drumcondra EC. I have now implemented what I have learned from both April and her book, into my own class.

We began by playing capture the counters/treasure hunt with the rook, then moving onto the bishop and the queen. The children also couldn’t believe when I told them they’d learn the 64 names for each square on the board in less than a minute. Needless to say, they informed me afterwards that it only took them 30 seconds.

For schools looking for a well structured and great chess experience for your students,  have a listen to what teachers led group ficheall.ie  are organising each year.

Click for Podcast link .. Inside-Education !

ETNS Knocknacarra hosted a jamboree on Tuesday 19th Nov.  Most students who played are still learning the basics .. plans are to extend this event to more schools next year.   The next step for these young players is most likely the ficheall.ie regional matches in February 2020.