School visit for rescue helicopter

LESSONS in Scoil na Mainistreach National School in Quin got off to a flying start on Wednesday morning as the pupils arrived to the fanfare of a rescue helicopter.

The Shannon rescue helicopter was deployed to the national school to assist pupils with their SPHE curriculum, giving them an opportunity to learn first hand about the work the helicopter carries out, as well as advice on how to stay safe at the seaside this summer.
School principal Anne Fitzpatrick explained that winchmen Jim O’Neill and Davitt Ward with the Shannon rescue helicopter have children attending the school and offered to drop by to show the school what their work entails.
“It was a wonderful day. Davitt approached me and said that they do, on occasion, visit schools. We pursue a policy here to bring in and make use of local expertise to enhance the curriculum for the children, so it was on that basis that we approached it. Davitt offered their services to go in line with the SPHE curriculum, in particular the water safety aspect of that,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
Senior classes were given an opportunity to view and inspect the helicopter up close after it landed on the school’s playing pitch.
“Jim and Davitt spoke about the work they do and underlined the importance of water safety and taking care at the seaside. They referred to buoyancy toys and how children need to be careful in their use of them. They explained that their work would involve rescuing children on the beach who got into difficulty with these toys,” Ms Fitzpatrick explained.
She said the feeling in the school was one of excitement and the children and the staff were overwhelmed by the visit. For many children, it was a complete surprise.
“The students listened very intently and in hearing it from the people themselves, I think it brought the message of water safety home to them in a very practical way. They enthused children in that career and demonstrated the wonderful work that is being done in our community that we might not otherwise be aware of.
“We were privileged to have them there. Many of the children would have said it was the best day of the lives,” Ms Fitzpatrick concluded.