Chess is a growing pastime in Irish primary schools with many schools now joined to the Ficheall network, promoting chess in primary schools. It is an excellent hobby for students (and teachers) for rainy days and promotes a variety of social and cognitive skills such as respect, forward planning, problem solving, decision making, accepting defeat, understanding resilience and developing a productive disposition to problem solving.

Comments from previous participants

'Excellent course delivered by an excellent facilitator with buckets of passion and knowledge.'

“I came to the course as a total beginner! I loved how practical the course was. The week flew and we didn’t miss the time. The course was laid out excellently with short lessons, videos and mini games. I would highly recommend this course.”

“You are winning with chess: social skills, patience, resilience, teamwork, it has it all.”

The course will teach all participants:

• how to play chess (from zero prior knowledge) and the best methods of teaching primary school children as young as first class the rules using a fun, games-based approach
• how to utilise chess as an additional resource in teaching social skills in the mainstream and special education classroom
• how to organise a school chess club, school chess team and in-school chess competitions

Feel free to email cpd@ficheall.ie to ask any questions of the course.

Tutor: Noel O’Connell

Noel graduated with a Grad Dip from Mary I in 2015 and has been working as a primary school teacher since. Noel has been teaching 6th class for the last six years in Scoil Dean Cussen in Bruff, Co. Limerick and has been involved with Ficheall for the last five years. He has always been interested in chess and has found the game to be invaluable as a tool in his classroom from a social and cognitive perspective. Noel has spent the last year as Limerick area coordinator for Ficheall and acted as host for a number of tournaments.

Important:

Before you finalise payment for your course, please note the following: 

Our summer courses are booked on the condition that:

• The course fee is non-refundable.
• The course fee is not transferable to another teacher.

In the event that this course does not reach the minimum number of participants, the Centre will be obliged to cancel the course. You may be offered a place on another course or given a refund.