Shared Education Coordinators, Nuala O'Connor from Holy Trinity College and Andrew McGeown from Cookstown High School, presenting to the local Cookstown Churches Forum Group in Gortalowry House. Nuala and Andrew provided an overview of the shared education partnership between their two schools outlining the shared pupil activity around subject areas such as Art, Maths, English, History, Careers, Public Speaking and shared staff development opportunities. The group were extremely impressed by the volume of work and progress in terms of having a positive impact on relationships in the local community. Having now formed this community connection, there were discussions about how to continue with this cross-community, intergenerational link with plans to invite members to attend some of the shared education events later in the year.

P3/4 from Straidbilly PS, Armoy PS and St Olcan’s PS enjoyed a fantastic day at Portballintrea beach.  Together they collected litter, learnt about crustaceans and made a pledge to the seaside.  Fun times were had by all!

Year 4 pupils from St Columba’s PS and Kilrea PS came together for a morning of shared learning.  Throughout the morning pupils reconnected with their friends from their partner school and got to explore and have fun in the outdoor learning environment together.

Primary 3/4 from Seaview IPS, Larne and Inver and St Anthony’s enjoyed the sunshine in the outdoors for one of their many outdoor ‘Friendship First’ sessions.  They visited the forest, where they build dens and nests with lots of different materials.  At the beach they enjoyed collecting pebbles and creating friendships collages and art inspired pieces.  Finished off at the marina where they used oil pastels to create still life pictures of boats.  A fun day had by all!

P1 from Acorn IPS and Oakfield PS shared a wonderful experience together at Steamvale Farm where they had the opportunity to meet lots of new and friendly farm animals as well as learning how to care and feed the animals. 

On Thursday 20th April, 120 primary 7 pupils from St Aloysius and Ballymacash Primary Schools participated in their Shared Education ‘Sports around the world & team building day’  

P6 children from Holy Family P.S and Currie P.S enjoyed a trip to the @Duncairn Arts. They were treated to a matinee performance from the "Makey Uppers" and were successful in helping to solve the curious case of the 'Mystery Bag'! 

The Art Exhibition was held over two evenings and was well attended by pupils, parents, grandparents and siblings too! Members of the local community and community groups also visited, and the proceeds of the exhibition went to the local Southern Area Hospice raising a fantastic amount of £1316.13. Well done to all involved! 

Click on the video to see the amazing work of all the pupils.

@St_Malachys and @BelfastRoyalAc hosted their first Shared Education Orchestra Day this term.  Musicians from both schools joined to create a 100+ strong orchestra, coached and directed by visiting professionals from the Ulster Orchestra (including Ioana Petcu-Colan, violinist). 

450 Primary 5-7 pupils across St Bernard’s Ps, Cregagh Ps and Lisnasharragh PS reconnected this week to begin their 2022/23 Shared Education project. 

This year’s focus is PDMU. Pupils began their programme of joint learning by focussing on what makes ME unique. Who am I? Myself and My Personal Attributes. Pupils used a cut out Polaroid camera and several photos to show elements of their personality, family life and interests. 

An exciting day for 70 year 9 pupils and 14 year 13 pupils from 7 schools within the MRLP who met to discuss the Pros and Cons of social media.  Guest speakers included David and Charlene from Tobermore Concrete, Kerry McClintoch (Workspace) and Stephen Barker from Derry GAA.  The day included team building and communication workshops to support pupils present their ideas to a panel of judges. 

Primary 6 from Mossgrove Primary and Glengormely Integrated PS had great fun completing joint numeracy activities together as part of their Shared Education sessions.  The pupils used their estimating, measuring, comparing, ordering and logic skills to complete various mathematical tasks…. in a FUN way!

Miss Colhoun's P1/2 from Fountain Primary School took part in shared learning with Miss Guy's P2 class from Long Tower Primary School. The children from Fountain Primary School travelled to Long Tower Primary to continue their pupil activity around the theme ‘Learning through the Landscape’.  

The children were able to wear the name badges they had made on their first visit together. After having snack together, they took part in outdoor activities exploring the play park. They made bark rubbings and went on a scavenger hunt collecting leaves to create hedgehogs and squirrels. Working together they tried to identify the trees in the play park from their leaves, as well as playing in the mud kitchen and on the climbing frame. Everyone involved had a great time! 

On Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th Oct 2022 De La Salle and Blackwater IC held a 'Science and Conservation in our Community' Shared Education Field Trip to Strangford Lough, Castleward.

This involved seashore foraging with flora and fauna identification, tree identification treasure hunt , bird identification, 'Grow your own project' and team building.

Rodney McBride the Ground Maintenance Officer with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council supplied the 'Grow your own Veg' materials, Community Coordinator Katrina Hynds supplied the litter kits and Biodiversity officer Danielle Begley supported the field trip.

The Strule Shared Student Council comprising of students from Arvalee School and Resource Centre, Christian Brothers Grammar School, Loreto Grammar School, Omagh Academy, Omagh High School and Sacred Heart College visited the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies (MCMS) and the Ulster American Folk Park on Tuesday 21st June 2022. Pupils and staff enjoyed a tour of the park exploring the experiences of the old world and new world as encountered by migrants. Dr Patrick Fitzgerald from MCMS led a ‘Thinking about Migration’ workshop looking at aspects of identity, heritage and culture whilst making links to the impending move to the Strule Shared Education Campus. Students made historical and contemporary links to Omagh landmarks, reflected on their experiences of being away from home and considered how migration is analysed using 3 stages: ‘Leaving-Crossing-Arriving’.