Kildare & Wicklow ETB scoop national education equality award
Judges praise Kildare games for learners with autism
Kildare & Wicklow Education & Training Board (KWETB) scooped a national award for Equality at this year’s ETB Excellence Awards, held in Croke Park on March 27.
The awards were part of ETB Week 2025, which showcases Ireland’s sixteen Education & Training Boards and the services they provide to learners of all ages.
Hosted by former ETB learner and RTE Newsreader Ray Kennedy and featuring a special musical performance by former ETB student and singer-songwriter Tolü Makay, the awards highlighted learner and staff excellence across primary, secondary, further education & training, and youth services.
The winning KWETB entry was a collaboration between a PE department and an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Unit, who came up with the concept of “An Cuan Games”: an opportunity for ASD students to participate in games and provide an equal opportunity for students to represent their schools.
It included 10-pin bowling, balloon volleyball, tag rugby, penalty kicks, hockey, chess and a specially adapted assault course.
The Kildare initiative was extremely complex requiring months of planning involving teachers, SNAs, students and senior management.
More than 80 students across 10 different Kildare schools partook in this momentous occasion supported by over 50 volunteers.
The judges were impressed by the potential for the initiative to be scaled up to a regional or even national event.
Sean McSharry, Owen Fogarty and Joe Price from Maynooth Community College, part of Kildare & Wicklow ETB were presented with a bespoke award and a prize worth €1000.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD officially opened the event and addressed over 200 staff and learners from across Ireland’s ETBs.
Congratulating the winners, Minister Lawless said: “Congratulations to Sean, Owen, Joe and everyone at Maynooth Community College on this fantastic win. Your concept of An Cuan Games, the work you have put into it from the ground up, shows us that education is not just about what we learn, it’s about what we become.
“You gave ASD students an opportunity to represent their school, empowering them to reach their full potential. This initiative has the power to grow and establish itself in other regions and maybe even nationally. True excellence can only be achieved when everyone has an equal chance to succeed.”
The Excellence Awards were the flagship event for ETB Week 2025, which also included
- the launch of a landmark book on ETBs edited by former Education Editor of the Irish Independent Katherine Donnelly: 'Education & Training Boards: Shaping the Future, leaving no one behind';
Muintearas’2: a ground breaking event bringing ETB Irish-medium schools together for the first time to celebrate and commit to inclusive Irish medium education; and
- events across the 16 ETBs to promote their services.
Education Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) also highlighted the sectorial core values of equality, community, respect and care throughout the week.