East West Link

The East West Project is a schools-based programme initiated under the Good Friday Agreement, to strengthen school Partnerships and to encourage friendship and understanding between young people in Ireland, North and South, and the United Kingdom.
The aims of the programme are to:

• Promote school partnerships and opportunities for transnational co-operation and mobility
• Focus on young people and their teachers
• Contribute to the professional development of teachers
• Enrich the learning experience
• Include the school community in the widest sense

 

A contact seminar is organised to allow schools the opportunity to find partner schools. The schools work together to devise a “Joint Curriculum Project”. This project of common interest is delivered over one academic year with objectives carried out monthly. 

On the 30th January, Ms.Arthur,  travelled on behalf of our school to the Contact Seminar in Cardiff, Wales. Schools from the Republic and North of Ireland and England were represented. After a successful partner finding seminar, our school is part of a tri-lateral partnership.

St.Benet’s Roman Catholic Primary School Durham and St.Comgall’s Primary, Bangor along with Scoil na Maighdine Muire complete the partnership.

Over the weekend Ms.Arthur, Ms.Birney and Mr.Noble worked on a Joint Curriculum Project to suit all three schools.  Ms.O’Connell and Ms.McMahon are now part of the School East/West Committee The project entitled “Playing with Traditions” has to be submitted to Léargas  by May 1st for funding.
If approved, it will start in September 2009. The children will be asked to make a dvd of our school, and teach a traditional song to our partner schools as well as teaching them some hurling skills. A trip to Durham is a possibility along with a return visit to Newmarket-on-Fergus by the partner schools. This will be an exciting project so we wait and hope to be sanctioned for funding. We will be notified in June ’09.