Island of Culture’s legacy is set to be strengthened after Braddan School pioneered a geocaching project for the Island’s primary schools.

The project is the work of Lisa Nelson, a teacher at the school, in collaboration with David Reeder from Ballacottier School’s Rainbow Room

Mrs Nelson explained: ‘I wanted to get children engaged with Island of Culture in a practical way that would get them involved in an outdoor pursuit that was fun, educational and would help them develop new skills. Geocaching combines all those elements. At its heart this geocaching project is about discovering culture on your doorstep.’

Best described as a real-world high-tech treasure hunt where, with a GPS device, you explore the outdoors in search of hidden ‘treasure’ or geocaches, geocaching sees participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates then attempt to find the geocache hidden at that location.

In her presentation to the island’s primary schools Mrs Nelson, a keen geocacher, emphasised the educational benefits. ‘Children develop IT skills as they have to log their caches online, learn how navigate using lines of longitude and latitude and discover something of the Island’s geography. They also learn about the Island’s history and heritage.’

Mrs Nelson explained that the caches she had prepared and hidden took the form of a quiz, solutions to which had historical and cultural connections to each school’s location. Devised by the children, the questions test children’s knowledge on subjects as diverse as the origins of the word ‘Tynwald’ to the life of Captain John Quilliam.

Children log onto the geocaching site then fill in an answer sheet. Correctly completed sheets reveal a code number, the combination to the safe lodged in Manx Museum which holds a cache of 100 geocoins and a log book for the geocachers to sign.

The geocoins are etched with a unique code that can be used to log their movements on geocaching.com as they travel in the real world. Every school has its own geocoin with a unique code and mission, most often travel-related, set by the children. Geocachers move the coins from cache to cache, and their movements can be located on a map on geocaching.com.

The geocoins have been designed by Castle Rushen High School students Mary Podmore and Savannah Gunnell and sponsored by Friends Provident International, which also funded the purchase of seven GPS tracking devices.

The company’s general manager Caroline Cornish said: ‘I am delighted that Friends Provident International has sponsored the geocoins and GPS trackers for the Island of Culture geotrail; it is a great initiative that I am proud to be a part of. Mary Podmore and Savannah Gunnell of Castle Rushen High School have done a fantastic job designing the coins, incorporating everything that makes the Isle of Man so special. I am looking forward to taking part in the geotrail and discovering the hidden treasures that the Island has to offer. As the general manager of an international company I know how important culture is, not only on the Isle of Man but all around the world, so I am even more excited about where the coins will travel with the help of geocachers and will I definitely be tracking them online to see where each school’s geocoin reaches on its journey.’

The project was launched by Mrs Nelson at the Manx Museum to teachers, pupils and parents, including Andrea Brockbanks and her children Amelia, 10 and Lucas 6, who attend Kewaigue School. Mrs Brockbanks said: ‘We’re all fans of geocaching; it’s really good fun and it’s a great activity for the family to do together. It gets you out and about, and we’ve walked down streets we’d never visited before and found out things about the Isle of Man we never knew. Geocaching’s like another community; we’ve introduced a few friends to it, so now we’re finding we’re becoming quite competitive.’

The audience at the Manx Museum heard Mrs Nelson explain: ‘Geocaching gives a purpose for a walk, teaches children about problem-solving and working collaboratively, sparks their imagination and connects young people with others in the world.’ 

Photo - Toby Craig and Ronan Santanatolgia, both 10 with Harvey Lowe, 11 check out the geocoin and safe in the Manx Museum. Picture Steve Babb.