Working with Mona has been an absolute pleasure. When the Covid-19 lockdown meant we couldn’t conduct the workshops in the classroom, Mona quickly adapted to Zoom based workshops. She went to extraordinary lengths to provide the children in my class with an experience closest to the physical field trips originally planned. She filmed herself conducting seashore investigations to show them, and these were fascinating. Her enthusiasm rubbed off on the children and they learned so much from her. She showed them real life artifacts, PowerPoint presentations and she created a fun Kahoot quiz for them. She inspired them to create wonderful projects and creative writing on the Irish seashore and motivated them to investigate the seashore themselves. They loved the workshops and we are all very grateful to Mona for all she did for us.
~Susan Crammond, 4th Class Teacher, Rathmichael School, 2020.
Mona has such passion for what she does that it was infectious not just to the children but the teachers too. She was very well prepared and organised and has a fantastic way of explaining the information to the children. Every session was hugely engaging and Mona went out of her way to assist the children with the presentation. We will definitely be taking part in her workshops again in the future.
~ Aoife Cartwright, 5th Class Teacher, St Mary’s Boys National School, Booterstown, 2019.
The children loved the activities. They embraced the tasks with great enthusiasm, loved getting wet and were excited each time they found a new plant or animal. We would recommend the workshop to other schools.
~Jacinta McCarthy 4th class teacher, Scoil Mhuire, Shankill, 2018.
Having had several recommendations about Seashorekids I contacted Mona seeking her service for my 4th class of 29 pupils. Mona was very professional and a pleasure to deal with. The children had an amazing fun and educational day out. Mona was so well resourced, knowledgeable, had a great rapport with the children and opened a whole new world to them. I would not hesitate in recommending Seashorekids to any teacher who wants their children to have a real active learning experience.
~Tom Hayes, 4th class teacher, Greystones Educate Together National School, 2017.
Last year while I was teaching 4th class in Greystones ETNS, Mona McCrea kindly offered to bring my class on a marine biology field trip to a nearby beach in South Dublin. This trip was a great success and the children, parent helpers and I all had a fantastic time. Mona is a wealth of knowledge in everything related to marine biology and the children gained a fantastic amount of knowledge during this hands on action packed day. Any class who takes part in any marine field trip with Mona can expect to explore, identify, contrast and compare the diverse range of wildlife in our marine habitats in an active and hands on approach. A great day out for any class of any age group.
~Luke Lennon 4th class teacher, Greystones Educate Together National School, 2015.
Our students thoroughly enjoyed the field trip. They really got an opportunity to embrace hands-on learning outside the classroom environment. I can confidently say that they have learned a lot about all the common plants and animals present on a rocky shore and they now have a good understanding of how the tide works and its effect on the plants and animals. It was also a great opportunity to raise their awareness and appreciation of the biodiversity present in an ecosystem. I would highly recommend this trip to other teachers.
~Darina Morin, 1st Year Science Teacher,Woodlands Academy, Co Wicklow, 2018.
I just wanted to say thank you for the marine biology talk and trip. The girls had a fantastic time and learnt a lot along the way. They came back to the school in great spirits; the timing of the talk and the trip was great for morale. I’ve just finished reading the feedback forms and they are really positive too. Thanks again and I hope we can book you for next year.
~Trisha McKinney, Studies Coordinator, Woodlands Academy, Co Wicklow, 2016.
Many thanks Mona for an excellent field trip. We were blessed with the weather! All of us really enjoyed that. We have that small book from Sherkin Island Marine Station on marine plants and animals. It was incredible all we had seen from the book. What a difference it makes to see everything in real life. Hope to meet “seashore kids” again in the future. I will recommend to all our school friends.
~Frances Colreavy, 2020.
Having a party with SEASHOREKIDS was the best decision, not only was it something the children hadn’t done before but they all loved it, learnt loads and still talk about 2 years later. This is even cooler because it poured down for 2 hours but they didn’t care, they had marine treasure to find and they didn’t even notice! as for the parents we drank hot drinks and watched them scoot about the rocks. The kind of day you wish your children have lots of.
~Hana, Wicklow, 2018.
I just wanted to say thank you for yesterday, the kids all had a great time. It was such a different and lovely way to celebrate Ruán’s birthday, helped by the fab weather!day you wish your children have lots of.
~Angela Kenny, Mum of Ruán celebrating his 6th Birthday Party, 2018.
Mona thanks for a totally smashing afternoon, kids certainly had a great time, as did I. And I know I learnt loads, the most amazing was defo the sea star.
~Nicky Scudds, Parent and participant of private group, 2016.