Offaly secondary school to feature on new TG4 quiz show

Students from Gallen Community School in Ferbane will feature on a new TG4 quiz show which begins later this month.

Slé Anois go Cúramach is the name of the show, which aims to transform how young people - and the broader Irish audience - experience the Irish language.

Each episode sees two schools go head-to-head in a series of five lively studio-based rounds that test listening skills, vocabulary, cultural knowledge and improvisation.

In the first episode, which will be shown on Tuesday, March 24, at 7.30pm, a team from the Marist College in Athlone will take on Scoil Mhuire Buncrana from Donegal.

Gallen Community School will feature in episode six, airing on April 28, with the Offaly school facing a team from Dublin's Gonzaga College.

TG4 said Slé Anois go Cúramach is "a fast-paced, funny and fearless educational quiz series that proves two simple ideas: effort matters more than perfection, and you have much more Irish than you think you have!"

The show will run for ten weeks and is designed to appeal to "teenagers, families and anyone curious about improving their Irish".

An original format created by Macalla Teoranta for TG4, Slé Anois go Cúramach was created primarily with English-speaking secondary school Junior Cycle students in mind.

The show creates a supportive, high-spirited space where using the Irish you have is celebrated rather than judged.

TG4 said the series "eplaces the pressure often associated with language learning with humour, quick thinking and courage," while still delivering real educational value.

Slé Anois go Cúramach is specifically created so viewers at home and in classrooms can easily play along, making it ideal for shared, intergenerational viewing as well as use as a classroom resource.

The show is hosted by Síomha Ní Ruairc, a well-known face in Irish-language broadcasting.

"It’s so important to me that the language be showcased in natural, everyday settings - and there’s no setting quite so natural as a quick-fire quiz show!" Síomha said.

"Slé gives students an opportunity to engage with the language in a fun and enjoyable way - and it gives me the chance to be a little bit cheeky with it too!"

Each episode is made up of five rounds - “Céard San Fhocal?” is a high-speed word guessing game in the style of Heads Up.

“An Bhabhta Emoji” challenges players to identify jobs, places and seanfhocail from emoji clues. “Éist go Géar” tests listening skills through short, humorous video clips.

A rotating “An Bhabhta Randamach” introduces surprise fun games such as “Cé Thú Féin Anyways?”, “Seanfhocal nó Scamfhocal?” and the hilarious “Kneecap / Ní Cheapaim”.

The final round, “Gaeilge Ghasta”, is a rapid-fire multiple-choice challenge where speed and instinct are key.

Macalla Teoranta, the producers, work alongside experienced language consultants, a creative pedagogy consultant, and an academic team to ensure the show is ‘scaffolded’ educationally in line with the Junior Cycle Learning Framework.

In addition to Gallen Community School in Ferbane and the Marist College in Athlone, the other schools to be featured in the upcoming first series of the show are: Sandymount Park ETSS (Dublin), Our Lady’s College (Drogheda), Ursuline Secondary School (Thurles), St Macartan’s College (Monaghan), Maynooth Post Primary School (Kildare), De La Salle College (Dundalk), Scoil Mhuire Buncrana (Donegal), St Aidan’s CBS (Dublin), St Mark’s Community School (Tallaght), Salesian College (Celbridge), St Louis High School (Dublin), Rockbrook Park School (Rathfarnham, Dublin), Ramsgrange Community School (Wexford), Gonzaga College (Dublin), Chanel College (Coolock), The High School (Rathgar), St Brendan’s College (Killarney) and Holy Faith Clontarf.