The City of Dublin Education and Training Board Sports and Cultural Council (SCC) is a unique body in the Irish Vocational Educational system. Founded 88 years ago, in 1935, the Sports and Cultural Council promotes and co-ordinates inter-school sporting and cultural events for the students in the City of Dublin ETB's 11 schools and 12 colleges of Further Education and Training. Membership of the council is open to all students, including adults, enrolled in whole time day courses. Students are provided with an extensive programme of activities that range from Athletics to Songwriting, with various competitions, performances and exhibitions organised by the SCC Link Teacher and Event organisers.
The aims of the SCC are to educate, organise, promote and encourage our students to develop their abilities through participating in a wide range of sporting and cultural events. In its own unique way, the SCC meets the needs of our City of Dublin ETB students, by encouraging participation for all. It is a model that works well having adapted and changed throughout its long history, to meet the ever changing and diverse needs of our students.
The SCC has a Central Executive Committee of four officers who have overall responsibility for the running of the council. Each event and activity has a team staffed by volunteer teachers. School management, too, plays its part in releasing teachers to organise events or to prepare and look after school teams. However, at the heart of the SCC are a core of volunteer teachers who always have given freely of their time to organise our events. As a result, we are constantly on the look-out for new volunteers to join our ranks and help out. The City of Dublin ETB is also fully supportive of our council and has assisted us in numerous ways.
As regards facilities to run our events, we have extensive sports grounds at Whitehall and Terenure which are used for events and activities. All City of Dublin ETB schools have either a gymnasium or sports hall which is available to the SCC. Venues such as the National Athletics Stadium and the National Basketball Arena are used to enhance the sense of occasion and prestige for competition finals. Through the good offices of our City of Dublin ETB committee, we have, on occasion, used the Mansion House and the Dublin City Council offices for a number of our cultural events.
As part of the philosophy of the SCC, we see our programmes of activity not only complimenting the curriculum, but also enhancing what goes on in our classrooms. The provision of extra curricular activities can greatly enhance the postiive relationship between teacher and student. By helping to develop a sense of commitment, discipline and team spirit among our students, we believe that it will have a positive effect on their own lives, their school and society as a whole.