Pictured are IFI Board Member Mary Southwell and Andrew Bell, Head of Community Cohesion Team Dept of Education with Ryan Cecil, St Marys PS, Rathlin Island; Eilidh de Buitleir, Gaelscoil an Chaistil; and Danielle Simpson, Ballycastle Integrated PS
Children from Ballycastle Integrated Primary School and Gaelscoil an Chaistil in Ballycastle travelled to St Mary’s Primary School on Rathlin Island today (27 May) as part of a cross-community partnership between the three schools.
The thirteen children are engaged in a range of shared activities over the course of two days, which are designed to promote community relations, while also delivering improved academic and personal development outcomes. These include a nature visit, sport and art as well as outings to the island’s Catholic and Protestant churches. This visit to Rathlin Island is part of a wider partnership between the three schools which includes cross-community activities for pupils, teachers, governors and parents.
In addition, the partnership is providing new and unprecedented opportunities to Rathlin Island’s St Mary’s Primary School, which often faces practical day-to-day challenges due to its isolated location.
Joining the pupils on their trip to Rathlin Island is Mary Southwell, Board Member of the International Fund for Ireland.
The partnership between the three schools is one of 11 schools partnerships in the North Eastern Education and Library Board’s Primary Integrating/Enriching Education (PIEE) Project. The PIEE Project is funded by the International Fund for Ireland’s Sharing in Education Programme and The Atlantic Philanthropies. The International Fund for Ireland’s Sharing in Education Programme is administered by the Department of Education.
Launched in September 2009, PIEE is a three-year initiative that will impact on over 1,900 children at 28 primary schools in the Board’s area, which covers the local government districts of Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Magherafelt, Moyle and Newtownabbey.
A key goal for the Project, which focuses on small schools with less than 105 pupils, is for children and teachers to benefit from access to resources and facilities available at partner schools, joint staff development and support from partners in delivering the revised curriculum.
PIEE will take the pupils in the Ballycastle Integrated/Gaelscoil/St Mary’s Primary Partnership on a journey through shared curricular and extra-curricular educational experiences over the course of the three years. The aim is that by the end of P7, these children will have gained a broad educational experience as well as opportunities to develop new relationships on a cross-community basis, experiences which they will carry into post-primary education.
Attending the event, International Fund for Ireland Board Member Mary Southwell, said: “The Sharing in Education Programme is integral to the International Fund for Ireland’s current strategy to facilitate more sharing and to promote reconciliation and non-sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties.
“I was delighted to see first-hand the opportunity PIEE is bringing to young people of different community backgrounds, who might otherwise not have had the chance to meet. While this partnership is somewhat unique, it is just one example of the kind of cross-community and cross-border work the Fund supports through the Programme. To date ten Sharing in Education projects are being taken forward to the value of over £10 million.”
Education Minister Caitríona Ruane has given her full backing to the initiative. She said: “I welcome the opportunity to work closely with the International Fund for Ireland and the NEELB in promoting good relations and equality in our schools. Projects like this make a significant contribution to breaking down barriers, creating a more diverse society and building a shared and more equal future for our young citizens.
“It is important for schools from all communities to forge and maintain links through participation in activities that all the children can enjoy. These inter-school relationships are especially beneficial to a school such as St Mary’s PS on Rathlin, with its unique geographical location. I am confident all three schools will benefit greatly from their involvement in the PIEE programme and wish everyone involved every success for the future.”
PIEE is managed by the North Eastern Education and Library Board, in partnership with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), Comhairle Na Gaelscolaíochta (CNaG) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).