Wool Innovators Project with Sentinus - Focus on St Mary's Primary School

St Mary's Primary School, Teemore

At the outset, can I thank you at Ulster Wool, along with Gerard, Bill, all at Sentinus, and The Worshipful Company of Woolmen charity, for enabling us to have this wonderful opportunity to participate in ‘Wool Innovators’. We are truly delighted and privileged to have been one of the schools selected, and we greatly look forward to fully engaging and participating in the project, ahead.

St Mary’s Primary School is situated in Teemore, Co. Fermanagh. We are very much a caring school at the heart of the local community, and a place of education and learning which has been moulded by the many families who have been educated here, alongside the constant and enduring support of the wider community - agricultural, industrial, business, scientific and Shared Education, to name but some. The school educates children from ages 4 - 11 years, and our current pupil enrolment is 142.

Our ethos and ideal is to establish, foster and nurture Christian values in all that we do, and seek to develop in each child a spiritual, moral, cultural, emotional, and physical development, aspiring that every child in our care attains their full potential. We strive to equip our pupils for life, in its broadest sense, and very much encourage and nurture qualities of initiative, independence, resourcefulness, self-confidence, self-discipline, and respect and gentleness for ourselves, for others and for our environment.

And, critically, it is very much within these ideals, that your mission statement of ‘driving sustainable demand for Northern Irish wool’ and your recognition that ‘early learning is key to supporting and developing a solid foundation for the future’ resonates so significantly, with us. Coming from a rural and agricultural area of Co. Fermanagh, and one wherein many of our children have strong associations with farming, both sheep and cattle, it is tremendous to provide a link between farming and science, and we fully support and endorse the aims and objectives of Ulster Wool and Sentinus, in ‘Wool Innovators’. 

Our Primary Seven class of nineteen young people greatly look forward to this unique educational opportunity. We look forward to gaining a greater insight into the many uses of locally produced wool and a better understanding of the sustainable use of wool and its impact on communities and the world. Many of our students are keenly interested in wool properties and benefits and, most importantly, learning about the properties and benefits of wool on the environment. In an age where children are so involved in learning about climate change, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share insights and learn how the exciting use of wool is vital as we move to a more sustainable and eco-friendly environment, with technology, science, and suitability.

The children are also most interested in developing their awareness and knowledge of animal welfare and the importance of shearing in this regard, too. Additionally, and undoubtedly, ‘Wool Innovators’ will also empower our children to have a better understanding of a heritage that has moulded the uses of wool, today, reflecting on the past, present and future of wool. 

We are looking forward very much to the project, the workshop, etc. and have no doubt that your aim to ‘harness and encourage creative thinking in young minds’ will surely bear fruit here in St Mary’s, hopefully.