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Throston Primary School, Hartlepool has 304 pupils on roll plus a 39 place nursery.
The school serves an area of quite severe social deprivation. It is outstanding in its provision of care, support, guidance and is committed to the development of the Arts and International links.
St. Thomas’ Junior Primary School. Esker, County Dublin is a co-educational school catering for 4 to 9 year olds and is located in a rapidly expanding suburb in the west of Dublin city. The school has 465 pupils with 25% of them from international backgrounds. We have a staff of 24 teachers and 7 special needs assistants. The intake is quite mixed.
The third school in the partnership is St. Luke’s School, Belfast. This is also a primary school and although committed to the project staff were unable to attend the World Links conference.
The project started with St Luke’s School 2 years ago from a meeting arranged by the British Council for interested schools in Ennis. This was part of the East-West programme which links schools in Northern Ireland with partners both in the Republic and in England. Unfortunately the original Irish school partner was not able to proceed so St. Thomas’s in County Dublin joined the partnership in 2005.
This involves Year 3 pupils in literacy, geography and ICT work. Each school has fulfilled their part in the project leading to valuable learning experiences about similarities and differences in culture. We evaluated the project by looking at the quality of work produced, the children’s interest and the willingness of parents to allow their children to visit Belfast.
Extra funding from the British Council alongside our own fundraising made a flight to Belfast possible. St. Thomas’ school pupils came by bus to Belfast so the three schools could meet together. Pupil mobility was one reason why I expressed interest in East West Programme. Our previous experience in the first Comenius projects was only of teacher mobility. (I am delighted that primary children can now travel within a Comenius project.)
Common ground covered in the curriculum:
- Healthy lunches and healthy lifestyle (including Greenschools)
- Playground games - contemporary and traditional
- Common literature – book reviews exchanged
The outcomes were artefacts, DVDs and outcomes from the day spent together (28th March). Pupil profiles and school profiles were also exchanged.
Staff enjoyed the project because it was not extra work, it was part of our curriculum. They also learned from visiting the other schools and talking with other colleagues. The Head Teachers have been wholly supportive of the project and have been important points of contact. From visiting Belfast I brought back the idea of the outside covered classroom for the nursery and little roads across the grass. St. Thomas’ reminded me of the benefits of dedicated support teachers.
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