Students from Doonaha National School celebrate their prize with teachers, staff from Clare Libraries and Michael Barrett from Microsoft Dream Space.
STUDENTS from Doonaha National School (NS) have received the Global Goal award for their project ‘Communication For All’ at the Microsoft Dream Space Showcase.
More than 1,000 students gathered in Dublin last month for Microsoft’s annual national STEM and AI showcase, as the company announced its Dream Space programme has now reached over 550,000 students across the island of Ireland. The Global Goal Award, which Doonaha NS won, is given when the project clearly incorporates one of the Sustainable Development Goals as a theme in the project.
Their project used ‘micro:bits’ to support children who do not speak English by displaying basic commands and helping to improve communication. A ‘micro:bit’ is a tiny, pocket-sized, programmable computer designed to make learning coding and electronics easy and fun. Developed by the BBC, it is widely used by students and beginners to bring software and hardware together.
Students from Kilbaha National School also attended on the day. The school based their project on Sustainable Development Goal 9, which emphasises the critical role of infrastructure, industrialisation and innovation in achieving sustainable development. The students’ project, named ‘Park Buddy’, focused on making cities and public spaces more accessible for all people.
At the event, over 170 student-led projects were showcased with a strong focus on sustainability, inclusion and wellbeing. Ideas included a smart polytunnel to support sustainable food growing, an inclusive communication tool for non-verbal students, and a road safety system designed to improve safety on narrow country roads.
Clare Libraries and Clare County Council piloted the Microsoft Dream Space Project in Kilkee Library in 2025 with a coding workshop hosted by Microsoft. Six schools attended on the day to learn about coding and applying it to real life situations. The children and teachers then followed the Microsoft programme over six months which culminated in the submission of their projects for the showcase event.
Acting County Librarian with Clare Libraries, Cora Gunter said, “The Microsoft Dream Space programme offers students and teachers the opportunity to fully engage with STEM in practical ways. Students learn to work together to create their projects and then also have the opportunity to showcase their work at a national event. Libraries have long included digital literacy as part of their offering, so we in Clare Libraries are especially delighted to be the link between Microsoft and local primary schools in this area”.
Head of Information Systems with Clare County Council, Alfie Jones said, “I’m delighted to support this fantastic initiative. It is especially important for students in isolated rural communities to have equal access to digital opportunities as others have. Students will learn so much from this and some of them may even go on to have careers in science and technology”.
Clare Libraries and Clare County Council hope to continue their involvement with Microsoft Dream Space in the next academic year.
