Web award nomination for violin blog

The fledgling violin tuition project at Ennis National School was given a major boost this week when the online blog that accompanies the programme was nominated for two awards in the Irish Blog Awards.

The project was launched last September and aims to deliver violin tuition to over 90 pupils from fourth class in Ennis National School.
Since last September, a dedicated online website tracks the activities of the classes with photographs, revision notes and YouTube clips of the artists, whose music the pupils are learning to play.
“The website has proven to be a real winner, as the pupils can log on and recap what happened in class and also parents can track the progression of the project,” said Cathy Desmond, the director of the Swinging Strings project.
The online diary, or blog, was nominated in both the music and education categories in the Irish Blog Awards and the winner will be announced in March.
Ennis National School’s principal Ray McInerney, who commissioned the project, said that he believed the online blog extended the reach and it was wonderful to see the large amount of usage, including some examples of grandparents who monitored progress of their grandchildren on the internet. “The nomination in two Irish Blog Awards was a great endorsement of the Swinging Strings project,” he said. “The school is drawing up further plans to incorporate the Swinging Strings website into a Europe-wide initiative that utilises the web in teaching.”
The violin tuition is delivered on an inclusive basis to all pupils in fourth class at the school. It is believed that the programme is one of the largest inclusive music initiatives in the country and it is compatible with the national music curriculum. The programme of music incorporates all genres ranging from classical to traditional. A unique feature of the project is that the class teachers have also signed up to the programme and are gaining violin skills with their students.
Visit www.swingingstrings.blogspot.com.