NICIE Newsletter Summer 2015

Integrated education

Summer 2015

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Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education 25 College Gardens, Belfast, BT9 6BS Tel. 02890 972910 Fax. 02890 972919 [email protected]

In This Issue...

NICIE welcomes integrated

status for Loughries PS

The Northern Ireland Council for

Integrated Education (NICIE) is

delighted at the Education Minister,

John O’Dowd’s decision to approve

the transformation to integrated

status of Loughries PS in the greater

Newtownards area.

Demand for an integrated primary

school in the wider Newtownards

area has grown and since the

successful ballot, Loughries PS has

been working closely with NICIE to

develop and implement a

comprehensive transformation

action plan and will continue to do

so now approval has been given.

In order to ensure that the school

becomes a fully integrated

institution, a number of practical

steps will be taken by the staff

and Governors including changes

to the Governing body, a review of

the curriculum programmes

including RE and staff training and

development.Loughries Integrated

Primary School will continue to

serve children of all faiths and

none in Loughries, and will

provide for the first time integrated

provision for those residing within

the Greater Ards area.

In This Issue...

NICIE Welcomes Integrated

Status For Loughries PS

Response to Ministerial

Decision on Mallusk Primary School

NICIE Welcomes Continuing Post

Primary Integrated Education In

Crumlin

NICIE News—Meetings

IIEW 2016

APTIS, VP Forum and ISFA

Both Sides Now

School Trips

Integrated School News

Roundup

Diana Awards

Killyleagh PS Development

Proposal

Dates for your diary

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Integrated Education Summer 2015 2

Response to Ministerial Decision on Mallusk Primary School The Principal and Governors of Mallusk Primary School and The Grange of Mallusk Steering Group welcome the Minister’s decision to allow Mallusk Primary School to transform to Controlled Integrated status. Governors, staff and parents have been working together since April 2014 in a bid to change the status of the school to meet the needs of the community. There has been a great deal of cross community support for Integrated education in this area. Speaking on behalf of the Governors, Acting Principal Susanne Kinsella said: ‘‘ We are delighted with this deci-sion. We can now build on our caring and inclusive ethos and commitment to welcoming pupils from all backgrounds. Our school has been at the heart of the local community for almost 80 years years, and it will reflect the demographics of the area to have our school transform to Integrated Status. We believe strongly that we can provide a quality, inclusive education for the children of this area.” Parents Kathryn McVeigh and Heather Fee echoed these sentiments: “This is a thrilling opportunity to develop the school as an Integrated learning environment. We are excited about the opportunity to provide our children with the right to learn together and to play their part in building a truly shared future.” Mrs Kinsella continued: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated parents, the local community and NICIE for all their hard work and support. We extend an invitation to all parents of primary aged children in the area to come to the events we will have in the summer and autumn terms and to contact the school to register interest in enrolling their child. Our dedicated staff will endeavour to make every child’s time at primary school happy, rewarding and success-ful. We all look forward to welcoming new children into our school family.” For further information on how to be a part of this exciting development contact Mrs Kinsella at Mallusk Primary School on 02890342038.


NICIE Welcomes Continuing Post Primary Integrated Education In Crumlin

NICIE and Crumlin Integrated College have reacted with delight at the Education Minister’s decision to maintain inte-grated post primary provision in Crumlin. The campaign by local parents and the school community has been a long and arduous journey of working together. Recently Crumlin Integrated College celebrated getting a ‘Good’ inspection from ETI. Despite the difficulties the passion for integrated education in the Crumlin area has never diminished. Speaking on behalf of Crumlin Integrated College, Lynda McGarry said “The Minister’s agreement to allow Crumlin Integrated College to continue to deliver integrated education in the Crumlin area is a huge boost to morale for the staff, pupils and parents connected with the school. There has been an immense amount of work carried out over the past few years to raise educational standards and this was acknowledged in the most recent ETI inspection when we were awarded ‘Good’. We are also indebted to the parent steering group. Parental support for an integrated post primary school in the Crumlin area has always been evident. A parent steer-ing group that was formed to fight for integrated education to remain in Crumlin is looking forward to putting the diffi-cult times of the past behind them and begin on their new journey. Very aptly Crumlin Integrated College is currently putting on a play entitled ‘Voyage of Discovery’ next week and this will begin the next stage of the journey for the school. This will be part of the celebrations in the new journey for the school. The steering group will continue their journey to represent parental views within the school. This reflects one of the key elements of the NICIE Statement of Principles, which highlights the importance of parental involvement in inte-grated education. In the past many integrated schools have been opened and developed by parents. The next year will be a very busy and exciting time for the steering group as they work with the College to further em-bed the integrated ethos in partnership with the local community. NICIE looks forward to continuing to work with the school, the steering group and the wider community in developing a school that demonstrates an integrated ethos in every area of school life. Tracy Kennedy, Chairperson of Crumlin Supports Integrated Education Steering Group said: ‘‘We are absolutely thrilled with the Minister’s decision to maintain a post primary school in Crumlin. Local parents have proved conclusively that there is a significant demand for integrated education in the area. We are committed to continuing our work at Crumlin Integrated College and now that the Minister has given us a positive re-sponse. We are looking forward to our celebrations and growing Crumlin Integrated College for the future, and beginning to play our small part in a shared future for Northern Ireland.”


NICIE NEWS

Forgiveness Education Pilot Session Thursday 25 June 2015. 1.30pm-3.30pm. Hazelwood IPS. The purpose of this pilot session is to provide an outline of the Forgiveness Education Pro-gramme for teachers interested in delivering this programme in their school and to look at how it can work and be mainstreamed within integrated school practices. The session also aims to explore how it can be introduced into the NICIE’s Training Support Programme for 2016. If you are interested in participating in

Training for Teachers and Staff New to Integration Thursday 27 August 2015. 9.00am-3.00pm. Parkhall CIC. This one day training is aimed at new teach-ers and staff in integrated schools. This train-ing explores the history of the Integrated Sec-tor and the role of NICIE; it addresses and discusses the meaning of integration in the Northern Ireland context and looks at the teaching practice within integrated schools.

Teacher’s Committee Meetings September 2015 to May 2016 Dates to book in your 2015-2016 school calendar! Wednesday 30 September 2015. 1.30—3.30pm. Forge IPS. Tuesday 17 November 2015. 1.30—3.30pm. Braidside IPS. Thursday 10 March 2016. 1.30—3.30pm. Shimna IC. Thursday 26 May 2016. 1.30—3.30pm. Drumragh IC. The Teacher’s Committee provides a space and a forum for discussion for teachers to address controversial is-sues, share good practice and strengthen connections and relation-ships across the integrated sector. To continue with this important task the teachers committee has agreed on a programme of themes to be covered at the meetings next year. We hope that planning the dates and venues well in advance of the meetings will encourage and help principals to allow one of their teachers to attend. We also want to take this opportunity to thank the principals who kindly ac-cepted hosting the meetings during the next academic year and we are very grateful to the principals from Portadown IPS, Oakgrove IC, Hazel-wood IPS, and Malone IC, who gener-ously hosted the meetings this aca-demic year.

SENCo Committee Meeting The next meeting of the SENCo Committee is on 23 June at 10am in Strangford IC. Paul and Roisin from the Equality Commission are coming to deliv-er a Train the Trainer style session for schools on discrimination. This will be a valuable session for schools in keeping up to date with best practice in relation to working with pupils with additional learning needs. Please email [email protected] if interested in attending.

mailto:[email protected]


International Integrated Education Week IIEW-2016 From Friday 26 February to Thursday 3 March For next year’s celebration of IIEW-2016 please see below a series of activities agreed by the Teachers’ Committee. These activities will be coordinated by NICIE for your school to engage with and play an active part in this important celebration for the integrated family. Please send an email to [email protected] to register for one or several of these activities.

Theme IIEW-2016: “Harmony” During IIEW 2016 your school will be having a series of events to celebrate integrated education and it is open for your school to decide how it will represent through school activities the theme of “Harmony”. As in previous years we would like to receive photos of your school events at any time during the week for us to showcase your pupils and teachers work in a presentation display at the Celebration Event in Stormont on 3 March.

Launch of IIEW-2016 The launch of the IIEW-2016 will take place on Friday 26 February and will be hosted by Portadown Integrated Primary School which received this year’s Excellence in Integrated Education Award (EIEA) in recognition of the hard work of the school in infusing management, governance, teaching, and learning with an excellent and exempla-ry integrated ethos. Logo Competition IIEW-2016 Every year NICIE produces a series of promotional materials to broadcast IIEW nationally and internationally. This year we are organizing a competition between integrated schools to choose the logo that will be used to advertise IIEW-2016. If your school has a student or a group of students who are talented in graphic design and would like to take part of the competition, please register your school at the Logo Competition IIEW2016 before 30 September 2015 by sending an email to [email protected]

Call for IE schools to bring arts, drama and music performances to the celebration event in Stormont on the 3

March

If you would like your school to showcase your pupil’s talents and bring to the event in Stormont your choir, drama group or an art display representing the theme of IIEW2016 “Harmony” please register your school for the Arts, Drama and Music Showcase before 30 October 2015 by sending an email to [email protected]

The young voice: Speech Competition IIEW-2016 Every year at the Celebration Event in Stormont pupils remind us through their inspiring speeches the meaning of integration and the power of educating children together. Their words can also express the challenges but also the rewards of Integrated Education in a society still emerging from conflict. For this reason a group of teachers have suggested a speech competition among pupils from different IE schools. The best three speeches will be presented at the event at Stormont and will be broadcast in our social media links and website. If you would like your school to be involved in the Speech Competition IIEW-2016, register your school before 30 October 2015 by sending an email to [email protected]

Joint School Debate During the IIEW-2016 Oakgrove IC and Hazelwood IPS will be hosting a one day debate engaging primary and post primary pupils, and NICIE has been asked to email and inform all IE schools about the initiative. If there are four or more schools interested in joining the initiative we will be posting on our Facebook the dates for the debates and the names of the teachers coordinating them in their schools. Please contact us before the 30 October 2015 if you would like some of your students to be part of the Joint the School Debate by sending an email to [email protected]

Sing along with the choir of the year If your school has a choir willing to join other choirs from integrated schools in preparing one song to be jointly per-formed in an agreed and suitable venue during IIEW-2016 please contact us by sending an email to [email protected] before 30 October 2015. We will connect the schools to work together in this initiative. The leading school for this initiative is Hazelwood IPS. Meet your local council and politicians As part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland, 26 district councils have been replaced for 11 new lo-

cal councils. The first election to these new councils was on 22 May 2014 and the new councils started to function

on the 1 April 2015. These 11 councils are given more power at a local level as they will lead and facilitate commu-

nity planning process which include support and engagement with local schools. During IIEW 2016, your school

could take this as an opportunity to meet the new councillors and local politicians and let them know about the provi-

sion of Integrated Education in your council area.








APTIS It has been a busy few months for the APTIS Steering group. They planned and hosted a very successful conference in Derry/ Londonderry and are now planning for their AGM and seminar which will take place on the 13

November

2015 (venue to be confirmed). There are also plans afoot to hold a one day seminar on Integrated Education & Shared Education – this will be held in Lagan College early in the first term – information will be sent through to schools once the date and speakers have been confirmed. As always the steering group would like to invite any prin-cipals who would like to join the group. For further information on the meetings contact Cliodhna Scott-Wills [email protected]

Vice-Principal’s Forum Over the past two terms the VP forum has met several times. Crumlin IPS, Malone IC and Brownlow IC all hosted a meeting. We were delighted to welcome guest speakers such as Dr Paddy Shevlin (ETI), Archways (Dublin) who presented on their Mentoring for Achievement Programme (MAPs) and Damian Harvey (c2kni). We have already planned for next terms’ meetings (details below) and will send through agendas at that the start of next term. In the meantime have a lovely summer and if you wish to find out more about the VP Forum please contact Cliodhna Scott-Wills: [email protected]

2 October Lagan College 10.00am – 2.30pm Presentation from Hope4Life and IEF

Integrated Schools Finance Association (ISFA) The ISFA held its recent meeting in June 2015 which was kindly hosted by Cranmore IPS and we were delighted to welcome Ruth Benson from NILGOSC who discussed the new Local Pension Scheme 2015—Discretionary Poli-cies and a proposed template. ISFA in partnership with NICIE are also in discussions to ensure that there is a HR provision for relevant schools similar to Joint Legal Services. If you would be interested in this proposal please contact [email protected] The next meeting of the ISFA will be held at Oakgrove IPS at 10.30am on 6 October 2015.




Both Sides Now NICIE’s association with the Northern Ireland Mixed Marriage Association (NIMMA) continues. NIMMA’s first book ‘Mixed Emotions’ about the experiences of mixed marriage couples was dramatised by both the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and The Theatre of Witness group. The drama proved a success, particularly with young people, and it became an integral part of NICIE’s “Sharing Classrooms: Deepening Learning” project, which had been funded by the IFI. Now the sequel, ‘Both Sides Now’, gives 11 local people the chance to tell for the first time how they were affected as the children of parents who married ‘across the divide’ These very person-al stories are told by the children of eleven of those marriages, ranging in ages from 16 to 60. Aimed specifically at teenagers in integrated secondary schools, NICIE is delighted to accept NIMMA’s offer to provide copies to integrated schools and to all teachers who experienced the original drama. This will be a relevant and highly valuable resource, at no cost to schools, at a time when many schools face challenging reductions to their budgets. “Both Sides Now” was launched by Professor Pete Shirlow, Deputy Director of the Institute for Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University. He described it as ‘very emo-tive’ and added; “I am in a mixed marriage and have children of my own and I had a lump in my throat reading this. “These individual stories, real life experiences in the words of the people themselves, speak of hope and courage, compromise and determination. They tell of good times and bad, of love and prejudice, of difference and division, but they also speak of family as a force for good, often against all the odds. And yes, there are bad times and sad times and bits of bigotry that would bite your hand off, but there is also a great deal of love and the ‘L’ word speaks louder than all the cat-calling across three generations”. NIMMA Chairman Ken Dunn described the book as ‘the ultimate cross-community project. It’s printed on Belfast’s Falls Road and bound on the Shankill. It shines a light on the mixed marriage experience from the perspective of the children involved with stories about real people, with real life experiences that speak of courage and compromise, times of misunderstanding and preju-dice, but mostly of love and how it can help bridge division.”

For more information or additional copies of “Both Sides Now” contact: Mrs Bernie Kells [email protected] Telephone 02890972910


Glengormley IPS Trip to Poland 2015

Pupils from P6 and P7 went on a trip to the Malo-

polska region of Poland from 19th - 23rd April

2015. 30 children and 6 adults arrived at Belfast

International Airport at 5am to head off on what

proved to be, once again, a very successful trip,

incorporating visits to Krakow, Auschwitz &

Birkeneau, Wieliczka and rafting on the Dunajec

river bordering Poland with Slovakia, in the South-

ern Tatra Mountains. Everyone thoroughly en-

joyed all aspects of the trip, energetic, educational,

moving, scenic and historic. There was something

for everyone to remember. Proving as popular as

ever, the teachers are preparing for another trip back in

2017!

Ulidia Senior Prefect Team Accept Invite To Germany

Over half term Mr Dunlop and 3 senior pupils travelled to Bochum in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The trip came about after an invitation given by the Alice Salomon School after 2 of their teachers along with a Hungarian teacher visited Ulidia in October to view Integrated Educa-tion in practice. Their staff were so impressed by the great work done at the College that they invited us over to Ger-many to look at partnering the three schools up together in an Erasmus+ funded project looking at conflict resolution. The 3 pupils consisted of our head prefect Thomas Adams

and his two deputies Katie McNally and Rachel Morrow. On the first day we visited the school itself and were able to compare how German education differed to our own. We also spoke to staff and pupils about Integrated Education and how the College was formed. The following days were spent working hard on our European application as well as visiting a lo-cal coal mine and looking around the City of Bochum. A definite highlight was a day trip to the beautiful university city of Munster. A must see for anyone visiting this part of Germany. Other day trips included the old West German capital of Bonn and the amazing city of Cologne which was gearing up for its annual festival. On Monday the pupils and staff went to Düsseldorf by train for the annual Rosenmontag Festival. 1.5 million people lined the streets and watched a huge parade with everyone dressed in fancy dress! A wonderful trip and a massive thank you must go to our hosts. We look forward to many more trips to our partner schools and also welcoming them to Ulidia Integrated College again in the near future.

School Trips 2015


North Coast Integrated College Hosts Cycle Against Suicide On Monday 27 April North Coast Integrated College was delighted to receive over 300 cyclists from the charity ‘Cycle Against Suicide’. The cyclists arrived at the school at 6.30 in the evening where they were welcomed by Principal, Mr Paul Mullan to a reception organised by staff and students. The guests enjoyed refreshments and some tradi-tional music in the school canteen before continuing on to their over-night accommodation in the local area. The following morning the cyclists reconvened once more at NCIC to meet the entire college community. Jim Breen, founder of the charity delivered a whole school assembly promoting the charity’s core mes-sage, “it’s ok not to feel ok and it’s absolutely ok to ask for help”. The staff and students were greatly moved by the words of support, en-couragement and positivity in relation to what is a serious issue which faces so many people across the island of Ireland. The cyclists left the school amidst applause, cheerleading and waving banners. Two teachers at NCIC Mr Johnny Strong and Mr Gary Greene, joined the cyclists on the next leg of their journey. It was a wonderful sight to see so many people standing in solidarity in sup-port of a message of hope. North Coast Integrated College wishes the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’

cyclists the best of luck on their onward journey around the island of

Ireland. We look forward to meeting them again in the future.

INTEGRATED SCHOOLS NEWS ROUNDUP

Prestigious Prize for NCIC Gardening Club Congratulations to the Gardening Club at North Coast Integrated College who won ‘Most Imaginative Design’, at The Garden Show Ireland event which took place from 8-10 May at Antrim Castle Gardens. Judging was carried out by Cherrie McIlwaine (BBC Radio Ulster, Gardeners’ Corner). The students brief was to design and create a 3x3m show garden based on the theme a “Colourful Garden” The students decided to create a healthy picnic area for the micro farm in school, which has a garden plot, 5 guinea pigs, two rabbits, 6 hens, two lambs, two ponds with 10 fish and a lot of tadpoles. Lots of pupils enjoy visit-ing the micro farm but there is nowhere to sit, eat and chat. With this in mind the students created a garden to facilitate this. Around the table they planted lots of fruit plants, strawberries, black currants, redcurrants and raspberries with a view to promoting the message of healthy eating. The students used egg shells from the school hens as a natural pest barrier, added to this, most of the materials used in the show garden were recycled materials.

North Coast Integrated College


Fort Hill Integrated Primary School Fort Hill’s 50th Celebrations P7 pupils at Fort Hill Integrated Primary School enjoyed a visit recently from a very special person. Dame Mary Peters, Northern Ireland's own 'golden girl' came along to talk to the pupils about her winning her gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games. This was part of the class's topic of the 1970's as all pupils in the school explored the past 50 years since Fort Hill IPS was built. Dame Mary answered questions and got to look at some of the work the pupils had done to link in with the school's own special "golden' anniversary celebrations. The 50th celebrations included the release of a CD featuring the school choir and pupils from Nursery to P7 and a 'Strictly Come Fort Hill ' Concert celebrating the news events , fashion and dance of the past 50 years, as well as each class performing dances from the decades choreographed by Jazz McClure...local well known choreog-rapher, dancer and actress who works with the Lyric Theatre, Island Arts and all over Ireland in a variety of Arts projects.

Crumlin Integrated College‘ Voyage of Discovery’ The pupils of Crumlin Integrated College are performing an exciting new play as a result of a Connected Learning Project, called ‘The Voyage of Discovery’ on Thursday 25 June at 7.00pm in the school Assembly Hall. This play, which explores the voyage of Crumlin Integrated College from its recent past to the much anticipated new school “Camlin College”, was specially commissioned for the school by NICIE. The cast is made up of all the Year 8 pupils and is part of a connected learning project throughout the school. The play touches on the themes of com-munity spirit, local history, folklore and working together and shows us how we can learn from the past and how these lessons can impact on a positive future. The outreach aspect of this unique production also involves pupils from four local primary schools who make up the Chorus and The Choir and have all learnt a sea shanty in Irish. The focal point of the set is a real boat ‘Myrtle’ and the beautiful props and costumes made by our pupils assisted by a visiting artist working in the Art Department. The local history and cul-tural heritage of The Lough has been fully explored by the pu-pils and incorporated into the play and all production elements, such as props and the costumes and set, have been designed and made by the young people.


Cranmore Intergrated Primary School Promoting Inter-Culturalism at Cranmore IPS

Staff and pupils at Cranmore Integrated Primary School recently en-joyed the opportunity to promote inter-culturalism in our school. We enjoyed ‘One World Day’, an interactive series of cultural workshops delivered through the arts. Artists from Chinese, Japanese, Hungari-an, Polish, Indian, African, Ukrainian and Pakistani communities de-livered each of the sessions, sharing their own culture with us. Staff and pupils moved around the workshops throughout the day, enjoy-ing music, drama, art and dressing up in traditional costumes. The workshops, delivered by Artsekta, through their Cultural Coach programme were well planned and the quality of the content deliv-ered was high. The pupils were all engaged and attentive and ex-tremely respectful of all cultures. It was a fabulous day for all involved and a wonderful opportunity to explore other cultures in a fun and engaging way. The staff and pupils of Cranmore are grateful to the IEF for the sup-

port of a small grant which allowed the event to take place.

Clintyclay Primary School

Parents and pupils of Clintyclay PS were rejoicing early this year to hear Justice Treacy quash two Ministerial decisions relating to the school, the rejection of a pro-posal for transformation to integrated status from Sep-tember 2015 and the approval of its closure from the same date. Clintyclay’s transformation would have represented the first ever move of a Catholic Maintained school to be-come a formally integrated school. As such Justice Treacy acknowledged that it would have been a "ground-breaking boost for integrated education” which could have had "a galvanising impact" on the integrated sector. However, later there was a further twist to the tail when the Department of Education appealed this decision. Obviously this is a very difficult time for the school as they are waiting to hear the outcome of this appeal. NICIE is providing ongoing support to the school and is working with the parents and BoG to help them contin-ue on the journey of becoming an integrated school.

New Bridge Integrated College ‘New Beginnings’ for Talented New-Bridge Composer Alana Gifted and Talented New-Bridge student Alanna McCourt has been awarded a £1,000 Carson Bursary. Alanna has used the Bursary to compose a song to celebrate Integrated Education in Northern Ireland called ‘New Beginnings’. Alana is a very talented musician and has been composing her own music for several years. Alana is currently studying for her GCSE examinations and makes a huge contribution to the Col-lege, in particular the Music and Drama Department. Mrs An-derson, Principal and Mrs McLean, Head of Music are extremely proud of Alana’s achievement and look forward to the official launch of ‘New Beginnings’ to mark the 20

th Celebration of New-

Bridge integrated College later this year.


Gay Straight Whatever

In the first term of the 2013/14 school year a pupil spoke to me about organising a support group for LGBT students. By January 2014 Gay Straight Whatever was born. After some discussion it was decided that instead of being simply a support group, the group would be open to all staff and students inter-ested in making Hazelwood Integrated College a homophobia free zone. They have already spoken to whole year groups during assembly time and have taken part in the Day of Silence to highlight the silencing effect that homophobic bullying can have on young people. In August 2014 the group attended the Belfast Pride Parade for the first time. At Christmas they raised money at the Hazelwood craft fair and donated it to GLYNI, a local charity and in January GSW along with other Hazelwood students and staff attended the demonstration against the Conscience Clause in Belfast. This gave them an opportunity to express their views to a number of our local politicians. In April two members of the group delivered a staff training session on how to tackle homophobic language within the school. This was a huge success and will hopefully be followed up by further staff training in the new school year. I have been delighted to see their work recognised on a number of occasions. The group was awarded the College Community Award at this year’s Prize Evening, Wynter Telford was a runner up in The Credit Union Awards for her leadership qualities. Most recently The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council presented the group with an award for Out-standing Support For LGBT Equality. We would like to thank Shimna Integrated College for inspiring us to set up the group. They have been running a Gay

Straight Alliance for a number of years. If any other schools are interested in setting up a similar group we would be

delighted to work with them.

Hazelwood Students ‘drone on’ To Reach Technology Final

A Newtownabbey school is celebrating after reaching the final of the Deloitte TMT Predictions Student Chal-

lenge.

The competition for schools across the UK challenges them to create and pitch their ideas on the latest trends in technology, media and telecommunications.

Competing against pupils from schools in London and Liverpool, the team of students from Hazelwood Integrated College, were asked by Deloitte to design and develop a business-to-business purpose for drones.

The students then presented their idea to an expert judging panel and their fellow competitors via video link at the Deloitte Technology Centre.

Proposing the deployment of drones as flexible speed cameras, the Hazelwood team were commended for their in-novation and compelling comparisons between road deaths and speed control.

They went on to the final of the competition, which was be held at Deloitte’s London offices on 12th March.

Dr Danny McConnell, technology partner at Deloitte in Belfast said: “It’s fantastic to see these young minds come together to consider some of the most important developments on our technological landscape.

“The pupils from Hazelwood Integrated College have shown great enthusiasm and ingenuity in creating their con-cept, and we hope that the experience has allowed them to develop their understanding of both the technology, and of working as part of a creative team.

Hazelwood Integrated College


Memories of Hazelwood —A Tribute to Integrated Education by Amy Garner

When the time came to choose what school I wanted to go to I had never heard of Hazelwood In-tegrated College never mind knowing what the word Integration actually meant. In my primary school you either went to a grammar school or your local secondary school. Different schools would come in and give a presentation of why you should go to their school. I can still remember to this day when Hazelwood came. I had never heard of Integration and I enjoyed listening to all the different things the teacher was saying about the school. I went home that day and asked my mum could I go to the Hazelwood opening evening. My mum had heard of the school and hadn’t planned to take me until I mentioned it to her. The opening evening had been my favourite out of all the schools I had seen and I was overjoyed with tears the day my letter came to tell me I would be attending Hazelwood Integrated College in September 2008.

Last year I myself was given the opportunity of going back to my old primary school and giving them the same talk that was given to me. One thing that I had to explain was what was integration? And what does integration mean to me? I could finally answer these questions. Integration is being accepted for who you are. Whether you are a Protestant, Catholic, Polish, Muslim, Hindi any religion or no religion, but it’s not only that. It doesn’t matter what Reli-gion, race, culture you come from, It doesn’t matter what height you are what colour you hair is, you physical ability or even you mental ability. Hazelwood is a school which expects everyone with open arms. It’s a school which provides support for every pupil no matter what their circumstances, it is a school which gives equal opportunities and it’s a school which I love. I am now upper sixth in Hazelwood and I can happily say that time I have spent in Hazelwood has been some of the best years of my life. Hazelwood helped me achieve 10 GCSEs the highest grades for a girl in my year. Each teacher had pushed me beyond the expectations of what I thought or anyone thought I was capable of. The school has provid-ed the best the education for me. I put my whole heart and soul into to Hazelwood and this year being chosen as Head Girl has given me the opportunity to give back to the school everything they gave to me. Over my time in Hazel-wood I have done unbelievable things. I’ve spoken in the EU in Brussels, met the First and Deputy First ministers and also on their resent trip to Northern Ireland I met The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. All these things I never thought were even possible but Hazelwood has provided me with this. Integrated Education is the best experience I have ever had. The whole ethos of the school is incredible, we treat

each other equally in all aspects of school life but we learn to respect and embrace other cultures as well as our own.

My parents have said “Sending Amy to Hazelwood Integrated College was one of the best decisions we ever made.

This has given us and Amy a better understanding of different cultures in Northern Ireland. “Integrated education is

the way forward to a better future for the whole of Northern Ireland. I know that when I leave Hazelwood ill have the

same tears as when I got my letter to tell me I was going to the school. Only this time it will be not only tears of joy but

tears of gratitude for what an integrated school has given to me, and the memories will stay with me forever.

“It’s an excellent opportunity, and by considering the use of drones they have been able to contribute to a highly relevant and current topic in modern technology, as our 2015 TMT predictions suggest that for the first time there will be over one million commercial drones in operation this year.”

The TMT Challenge is the latest in a series of programmes launched by Deloitte to support schools and school leavers across Northern Ireland.

Dr McConnell added: “Through initiatives such as the Micro Tyco enterprise challenge, the BrightStart Scheme and tar-geted maths revision classes, we are working to support the professional development of our young people.

“For Northern Ireland to maintain a strong, home-grown talent pool it’s vital that we are able to draw upon the huge po-tential in our school system.

“Identifying and supporting this young talent now will bring benefits to not only our education system and our economy, but to our wider communities as well.”

The group came second out of a total of four teams in London. To get to this stage they had to compete in Belfast. This involved competing against teams from London and Liverpool and at that stage they came first. The students were excellent in Lon-don and spoke very well to an audience of 90 people. The students are to deliver the same presentation at a Woman in Business in Deloitte Belfast.


Glengormley IPS Pupils Attend First Holy Communion at St Mary's on the Hill Parish Church

On Saturday 23 May 2015, 16 Primary 4 pupils took their first Holy Communion, in a service led by Father Damian McCaughan. The children had been prepared for this sacrament by Mrs Denise McCann and Mr Chris Denvir. On the day, the P4 and P5 junior choir had supported the sacramental group by singing and also providing instrumental interludes on flute, led by Mrs Lorraine Mallon. All musi-cians were confidently and beautifully accompanied by Mrs Joanne Griffith. The day was a great success and everyone even had time to enjoy some cake and refreshments in the sun back at school after the service.

Glengormley Integrated Primary School St Enda’s Development with Hurling/Gaelic football We have established links with local Gaelscoil, Naomh Éanna to provide our children with the opportunity to experience Irish Gaelic Games in a structured, enjoyable and engaging environment. On Friday 22 May 2015 Primary 6 and 7 children from Glengormley IPS went to St Enda’s GAC, along with children from Park Lodge and Gaelscoil Naomh Éanna to participate in a Hurling Development Day. The children were coached in the basic skills of the game, shown how to effectively protect themselves and introduced to the ‘physcial’ nature of hurling too. All children thoroughly enjoyed the day and future opportunities to link up with our local Gaelscoil again are being planned, including a Gaelic Football development day on

RNLI Lifeboat Games with Glenann PS

On the 15 May, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution attended Glengormley IPS to lead a full day's activities for the

P7 pupils of GIPS and Glenann PS (sister CRED school) based on the themes of maritime safety and RNLI purpose.

The pupils started with a very informative presentation including video, images and content delivered by members of

the Redbay Lifeboat crew, based in Cushendall. Following this, the schools were mixed up into teams who then com-

peted in a series of mini-events all based on the same theme. It was a physical fun day of learning. They even made

our Principal, Mr Arnold, compete with a pupil to see who could get into a drysuit and equipment ready for sea in less

than 45 seconds. Needless to say, he failed, but he was a good sport for trying!


Intergrated School Dungannon ICD Art Work on Display in Ranfurly House Students from Integrated College Dungannon had the fantastic opportunity to have their work displayed at Ranfurly House during the month of March. The exhibition focused on work by sixth form students but included a selection of works by GCSE students. Speaking of the exhibition Mr Ryan Coyle, Head of Art & Design said; “This exhibition celebrates all of the hard work put in by our fantastically talented art students. It is a great opportunity for each of them to have their work dis-

READATHON 2015 at Integrated College Dunganon Year 8, 9 & 10 students from Integrated College recently participated in the annual sponsored reading event - Reada-thon. Over a 3 week period, the students read as many books as they could and were sponsored by family and friends for doing so.

Readathon supports two exceptional children’s charities: CLIC Sargent, giving support to children and young people with cancer and their families; and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, which helps seriously ill and disabled chil-dren. All the money raised by the students at Integrated College Dungannon was recently presented to the local branch of CLIC Sargent. CLIC Sargent representative, Nadine Campbell spoke to the students and ex-plained to them that the money they had raised would enable a family to be ac-commodated in a ‘home from home’ house so that they could be close to their sick child when they are in hospital receiving treatment.

Easter Raffle At ICD ICD Sixth Form students wish to thank all those who supported their 2015 Easter Raffle. The grand total raised was £137 which was recently presented to Marie Donnelly from Cancer Research UK.. Congratulations to Ronan, Year 12 student, who won the raffle for the Easter Hamper. Ronan is pictured with Mrs Yvonne Beggs and some of the organising team.


All Star Success for ICD Students

ICD students, Ryan and Scott, picked up awards at the Annual Tyrone Post Primary Schools ‘All Star Awards’. The event was held in Quinn’s Corner and sponsored by O’Neills. Both students were presented their award by Tyrone All-Ireland U-21 winning captain Kieran McGeary.

These ICD students were deserving winners in a year that saw the college win both the league and the Championship at under 16 level. Ryan had a terrific year playing at full-back. He put in sterling performances in all his games and throughout the year he became one of the leaders of the team. Scott played full forward throughout the year and he made a valuable contribution in every game, with the highlight being his goal and 2 points tally in the Championship Final against St John’s, Dromore.

Head of PE, Mr Rice, highlighted the success this year: “Both boys are deserving winners and they played their roles in bringing the first Tyrone Vocational Schools title to the College this year. Overall, it has been a very successful year for Gaelic Football in the college. We hope we can build on this and challenge for hon-ours next year.”

As well as success in gaelic football, the school rugby team are also achieving great things… The rugby teams in Integrated College Dungannon received a welcome boost from Frew Business Machines, who kindly agreed to sponsor new kits. Under the guidance of coach Gary Benson, rugby is a developing sport in the college with teams now entered in the High School Cup. In recent weeks 3 students have been selected for the Under 17 Ulster Rugby squad. Additionally, students from ICD are now reg-ularly turning out for local clubs in Dungannon and Armagh.

The college was recently presented with the new rugby kits by Robin Frew, proprietor of Frew Business Ma-chines. After the presentation Mr Andrew Sleeth, Principal said “I would like to thank Robin, on behalf of the college, for the generosity that he has shown in offering this sponsorship. I can assure him that the team members, under the excellent coaching of Mr Gary Benson, will make us all proud.”

Sponsorship by local businesses continues…

The netball teams at Integrated College Dungannon recently received a new netball kit which has been generously sponsored by Davison’s Coaches. Netball in the col-lege is very popular with five teams competing in all age groups at local schools competitions. The teams train weekly in the college and all the players are looking forward to wearing the new it in next year’s competitions.

PE teacher and netball coach Mrs Deirdre McCarroll: “This is the second netball kit Davison Coaches have sponsored for our netball teams. We are very grateful for their ongoing support and generosity. This sponsorship helps to promote netball across all year groups in the college and is greatly appreciated by both students and staff.


Enniskillen Integrated Primary School Setting Sights On PRO12 Trophy Pupils at Enniskillen Integrated Primary School were delighted when the Guinness PRO12 Rugby Trophy came to their school. Specsavers Enniskillen store manager Martin Carty brought the trophy to a special stop-off at Enniskillen Integrated Primary School which caused great excitement.

Congratulations to Fred Mason, Year 7 pupil at Enniskillen IPS whose flag design was picked to fly in parliament Square to represent Fermanagh. 2015 marks the 750th anniversary of the Montfort Parliament, where elected rep-resentatives of the shires and boroughs came together for the first time. To mark this important year, the 2015 Flag Project invited Primary school students (ages 7-11) across the UK to design a flag to represent their constitu-ency. Fred’s design included a rainbow to represent both sides of community in Fermanagh with hope as his theme. Devenish Tower was also included to represent Fermanagh.

Enniskillen IPS ECO Flag Award


Malone Integrated College Retirement of Mr Stephen Mitchell

We are sad to be saying goodbye this year to Mr Stephen Mitchell, who has taught Science in the integrated sector since 1985. Stephen joined Hazelwood in its opening year of 1985. As Head of Science and Senior teacher, he built up a strong department while making a great contribu-tion to school life. Since moving to Malone College in 1998, Stephen again has run a very successful Science department as well as raising significant funds for a variety of charities in his role as Charity co-ordinator.

A unique, inspirational character, described by the pupils as 'a legend', Stephen has always been at the heart of school activities. His priority has always been to ensure the pupils reach their potential through a fun and creative environment. He is held in high esteem by all his colleagues and pupils past and present.

Derrytrasna Pastoral Care Award Malone College has celebrated great success in recent months. The College was awarded the prestigious Derrytrasna Pastoral Care Award in April. This is an award for school communities who show exceptional pastoral care for the emotional health and wellbe-ing of pupils and their families.

The Art department and class 10L were winners in two competitions, the Carson Award and Hu-man Eyes, for their work with local artist Brendan McKinley to create a peace sculp-ture representing a bet-ter future for young people at Malone Col-lege

In April Malone College welcomed politicians from all the local political parties to a pre-election continental breakfast. This was a great opportunity for students to gain an insight into party politics and offer their sugges-tions for the local area.

Year 14 student Joseph Jones was accepted to study at New York's 'Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre'. This is a great achievement and Jo-seph will be following in the steps of actors like Steve McQueen, Gregory Peck, and Jeff Goldblum.

There was sporting success for Year 13 student Gerard Walker who represented Northern Ireland Under 18 football team in the Centenary Shield Internationals. The College Under 15 and Under 13 Table Tennis teams were crowned Ulster Champions and 15 year old twins, Zak and Thomas Earley, represented Ulster Under 18.


Oakwood Integrated Primary School Amazing news! It has just been announced the P5 class at Oakwood Integrated Primary School have won the Carson Award 2015 (Primary) for their creative music video "All about that peace". The competition was open to schools from across Northern Ireland and our school has won the top prize of £500! Earlier in the year, during International Integrated Edu-cation Week, the entire P5 class wrote, sang, filmed and produced a music video parody using the class iPAD. We based our song on the hit "All about that bass" by Meghan Traynor. The theme of the Carson awards is to create a piece based on the theme "What Integration Means to me". Please see the words of our entry. Hopefully we will be able to add the entire music video online soon!

“You know we’re all about that peace All about that peace That peace No trouble

We’re bringing talking back Go ahead and tell the politicians that We play together and you know we’re glad Coz every one of us is perfect from the bottom to the top.

My momma she said don’t worry about your ‘side’ That’s silly silly! She said that working together is a thing of great pride That’s awesome awesome!

You know we’re all about that peace All about that peace That peace. No trouble.”

F1 School Challenge

This year Primary 5 and 6 from Oakwood Integrated Primary school took

part in the F1 in Schools challenge. F1 in Schools is a global competition

which challenges teams of students to design, manufacture and race

miniature gas powered balsa wood F1 cars. The children began by

choosing a team name and designing a logo. The incredible ICT talent of

some children quickly became apparent as they used complicated com-

puter programmes to create professional looking logos!

The children were required to gain sponsorship to pay for uniforms and materials to paint and

prepare the cars. Montupet, a local engineering firm sponsored us £100 and a P5 parent who owns a garage

sponsored us £50! The pupils gained an amazing amount of insight into the business world. As every F1 team

needs a sharp looking uniform, the team secretary and design manager quickly got to work on pricing and sourcing

the most cost effective way of ensuring their team looked good. McCalls of Lisburn were kind enough

to offer to print the team names on colourful polo shirts.

We made a great contact in the manager of Brown Bean,

a local coffee shop who had a huge interest in F1 cars!

He helped us mould the cars into swift, aerodynamic ma-

chines…..

After an exciting morning at the Ballymena North Business

Complex, The Oakwood Racers won the award for Best

Verbal Presentation!


Minister rejects expansion at Drumragh Integrated College In March this year Drumragh Integrated College in Omagh received bitterly disappointing news from the Department of Education after the Minister rejected a proposal for expansion at the popular and oversubscribed school. This was the second rejection that the college has experienced in the last 3 years. On the first occasion a judicial review on the matter was taken by the school and in his findings Justice Treacy reminded the Department of Education DE of its duty under legislation to ‘encourage and facilitate integrated education’ and stated the need for the Department ‘to be alive to this duty at all levels in-cluding the strategic level.’

Stormont MLAS at Drumragh Integrated College As part of their enquiry into integrated and shared education, Stormont’s Education Committee recently left its usual home and instead held its meeting at Drumragh Integrated College. During the meeting two presentations were given, one by the Speedwell Trust and the other by members of Drumragh. The main purpose of Drumragh’s session was to present the views of young people, so the key speakers were Caen Fahy, Drumragh’s Head Boy, Cara Monaghan, Drumragh’s Head Girl, and Zara Hemphill, who is already developing her political career. All three spoke brilliantly about their experiences of integrated education and the positive impact of it on them as well-rounded young people. They also highlighted the importance of integration for the communities we live in and our need to move forward as a society. Their presentation was followed by questions and discussion with the MLAs who were present, and who were very impressed by the students who had spoken with them. Commenting on the event, Principal Nigel Frith offers these thoughts; ‘It is impressive that MLAs are willing to engage with young people over an

issue that so clearly affects them and upon which they are experts. The benefits and importance of integrated education were clearly highlighted to the Education Committee, and I am extremely proud of those who took part. If the progress of our society rests with young people such as these, then the future looks bright for all of us.’

The Drumragh Gruffalo Scares P4s At Omagh IPS When Sixth form Performing Arts students from the Drumragh Integrated College began planning their summer performance task, they knew it was time to take their talents off site and entertain in the local community; and who better than the pupils of our sister school Omagh Integrated Primary. Plans were made, ideas were floated, and the study of Theatre for Children and Storytelling led the ‘Page to Stage Theatre Group’ to set up a lunchtime storytelling corner for Key Stage Three pupils in Drumragh. Gaining new performance skills and experience they quickly identified ‘The Gruffalo’, one of the 21

st Contrary’s most popular children’s stories loved

by all ages, as ideal to be turned into an interactive drama performance. Two groups began rehearsing for the June performance. On Monday 1

st June Page to Stage travelled to the P.4. Classroom, set up

their Theatre-in-the-round performance and lay in wait for the audience arrival. The P4 class were a credit to Omagh Integrated Primary School as they all participated in the action and followed the journey of the fox, owl and mouse and other forest animals including the very scary and loud, but in the end friendly, Drumragh Gruffalo. Mrs Bell, Head of Drama at Drumragh College said afterwards “I am delighted and proud of what the Page to Stage group have achieved today, their performance was energetic, creative and full of imaginative flair. I enjoyed watching them just as much as the P4 students and I was thoroughly impressed with the young audience and their drama skills” Mrs Young P4 teacher in Omagh Integrated Primary school said “I would like to thank the Drumragh Drama Department for their superb performance of 'The Gruffalo' at our school on Monday. The pupils in year4 have enjoyed the colouring and mask making activities that the students left as a follow on to the performance – the play should be on the professional stage!”

Drumragh Integrated College


Annsborough Integrated Primary School Congratulations to Annsborough Integrated Primary School which is celebrating its 180 th anniversary with a week long series of events. The school opened in 1835 as a mill school where pupils attended school and also worked in the local mill half time. This community school served the local area throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries becoming an integrated school in 1997. This makes Annsborough the oldest school in the integrated family. Past pupils, staff and parents were invited to an open evening to view an exhibition spanning the schools long history and all pupils were involved in a production of Snow White.

.

180 balloons were released at Annsborough Inte-grated PS after the Sports And Awards Ceremony to mark 180 years of integration.


We officially bid farewell to our principal Mrs Anne Quinn we thank her and acknowledge the commitment and achievement over the past ten years. Mrs Quinn established our school in 2004 and over the years with the commitment of wonderful pupils, staff, governors and parents has turned Roe Valley IPS into a school which is visionary, one which celebrates a diverse education, has excellence in pastoral care and sporting and creative talents which are endless. We are proud to belong to our school and proud that we have had Anne Quinn as our principal. She has served our school well and has always been there to support and encourage. Every decision made in this school was made with the pupils at the forefront of her mind. Pupils who have been privileged to pass through Roe Valley Integrated Primary School are enriched and well educated because of Anne Quinn’s influence. This is a time for reflection and also a happy time because Anne can leave Roe Valley IPS

safe in the knowledge that those who remain here love and care for the school, and are looking towards an excit-ing future. Anne, we thank you for your commitment to Integrated Education and to Roe Valley Integrated Primary school. We wish you a very happy, healthy and active retirement.

Roe Valley Integrated Primary School

All Children’s Integrated Primary School

Joyce McMeekin is retiring after 16 years of valued service as Principal of Children’s Integrated Primary School! P7 pupil Rory Corrigan said: “Miss McMeekin is our Principal. She is very creative and always kind to us. We always have good fun with her. Art was always her favourite subject. She championed the environment and she helped us achieve Green Flag Eco status. I wish her every luck and happiness in her well-deserved retirement, from our school and on a personal note from myself.” Sarah O’Neill, also P7 added: “I would like to say how kind, loving, happy and inspirational Miss McMeekin has been since I started All Children’s Integrated Primary School. If anyone was ever sad she would cheer them up. Miss McMeekin is the best principal ever and I wish her luck in her future retirement.” Miss McMeekin thanks the pupils, staff and parents at the school and wishes P7’s all the best for starting their new schools in September.

Oakgrove Integrated Primary School After 23 years of dedicated service to Oakgrove Integrated Primary School, Larraine Coulter is setting her sights on a well-deserved retirement.

Larraine taught at St Alban’s in England before moving to Ireland. She began her teaching career at Oakgrove IPSN as a classroom teacher in 1992. Larraine taught in Primary 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and was also SENCO at Oakgrove IPSN before becoming Key Stage 1 Co-ordinator 10 years ago. Larraine moved on to work for the Western Education and Library Board within the Inclusion and Diversity Service, returning to Oakgrove as Vice-Principal in 2007. She is much loved and well respected by everyone in the school community. It is befitting of her vision and dedication that she is finishing her career as Oakgrove’s Principal at the end of June. She has been an inspiration to all! Larraine’s incredible leadership and passion for learning and teaching has ensured that every child achieved success in a nurturing school environment. The smooth functioning of the school day at Oakgrove is evidence that Larraine made it a priority to give generously of her time and experience

to make Oakgrove an exceptional primary school. Oakgrove benefitted from her strong belief in the school community. Larraine is a wonderful advocate of Integrated Education, she has made it her goal to equip young children with the knowledge, attitudes and skills to contribute positively within our naturally integrated society. All of us here at Oakgrove will miss Larraine, and we will never forget her contributions to our school. We wish Larraine all the best in her retirement.


Diana Awards Parkhall Integrated College showcased as an Anti-Bullying school of good practice

On Tuesday 28

April Parkhall Integrated College pupils were invited to a star-studded showcase in the European

headquarters of Facebook in Dublin, to be presented with the prestigious Diana Anti-Bullying Champion Award as an anti-bullying school of good practice. At the beginning of the school year, Mentors of Parkhall received training to become Anti-Bullying Ambassadors within the school. With their training they created a ‘Stand Up, Speak Out!’ Programme, which explores the effects of bullying, the different forms of bullying and aims to equip young people in supporting their peers in bullying prevention, through interactive sessions including drama, quizzes and video presentations. The activities are similar to those taught at the Diana awards training, everything from ice breakers to time capsules, so this is a sustainable programme in Parkhall which happens each year. This programme was then facilitated by the Mentors, to the Year 8 pupils at the beginning of the school year. Mentors were assigned a year 8 class, who they met in June before the school year and worked with throughout the year. They attended registration class two mornings a week to help pupils settled into new school life, and to helped throughout the year with any issues or problems that they had, whether it be initially finding a the right classroom, or helping with difficult issues such as bullying and friendships. The mentors are a 'buddy' who they can turn to, or can seek advice from if they are worried about someone being bullied or worried about issues in school. Mentors were also assigned assembly duty helped year 8s during this time to settle and get used to new routine in Parkhall. The anti-bullying ambassadors take anti-bullying assemblies and make pupils aware of whom to go to if they have problems. We also have an anti-bullying awareness corridor where pupil’s posters are displayed. Mentors worked through the year with year 8 pupils with various events, participated in Anti-Bullying assemblies to raise awareness, and even had a ‘Smile Day’, where pupils simply had to smile at each other throughout the day – all to make others feel happy and good about themselves. Pupils were awarded the Anti-Bullying Ambassador title, and entered to receive the Diana Anti-Bullying Champion Award, for their efforts in going above and beyond to stamp out bullying. In March, pupils were notified that they were one of only three schools across Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland to achieve this prestigious award. As part of this award, a film crew came into Parkhall Integrated College to create a short film on the work that the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors undertake as part of their everyday school life. Britain’s Got Talent finalists Bars and Melody came along on the day to meet the award winners and to help create the film in Parkhall! The short film was then showcased in Facebook headquarters in Dublin, as a school of national good practice in tackling Bullying. The day showcased Anti-Bullying Ambassadors from three schools from across both Northern and Southern Ireland and demonstrate the hard work they are doing to combat bullying online and offline within their schools and communities through visual films of their work. There were lots of special guests, ministers and celebrities, including Nadine Coyle, Bars and Melody, Ronan Keaton and Marcus Butler. During the showcase, Parkhall’s Anti-Bullying Ambassadors were presented with the Princess Diana Anti-Bullying Award.


Dates For Your Diary

23 June 15 SENCo Committee Meeting at Strangford IC 25 June 15 Forgiveness Education Pilot Session 27 August 15 Training For Teachers And Staff New To Integration

30 September 15 Teacher’s Committee meeting at Forge IPS 2 October 15 VP Forum at Lagan IC 6 October 15 ISFA Meeting at Oakgrove IPS 13 November 15 APTIS Steering Group venue to be confirmed 17 November 15 Teacher’s Committee meeting at Braidside IPS 27 November 15 VP Forum at Drumragh IC 26 February 16 Launch of IIEW 2016 at Portadown IPS 03 March 16 IIEW 2016 Celebration at Stormont Buildings 10 March 16 Teacher’s Committee meeting at Shimna IC 26 May 16 Teacher’s Committee meeting at Drumragh IC

Killyleagh Primary School

Submitted a Development Proposal for transformation

Since December 2014 the community of Killyleagh Primary School led by its principal Jason Milligan has embarked on an exciting journey towards integration. After a successful parental ballot supporting transformation, a steering group was established to provide a space for parents, governors, teachers and other school staff to engage with the process and put forward the Killyleagh PS Transformation Action Plan. During February, March and April the steering group met on several occasions during the evenings to discuss and come to an agreement on a marketing and community engagement strategy to support the transformation process. Teachers from the school welcomed Nigel Arnold, principal of Glengormley CIPS, who talked about the challenges and opportunities of the process ahead. Then six teachers and one teaching assistant went to Glengormley to: see the schools premises; talk to the teachers; and exchange ideas and discuss good practice to enhance the integrated ethos in the school. Recently the school community agreed on a Development Proposal which was submitted with the Killyleagh Transformation Action Plan to the South Eastern Education Authority. Currently a consultation about Killyleagh transformation is being carried out with local schools.

For NICIE it has been a pleasure to support the school community in Killyleagh and we

are looking forward to assisting them in the development and implementation of their

Transformation Action Plan.

Please keep your articles and photographs coming for inclusion in the NICIE Newsletter.

Items should be sent to [email protected]

The Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum (NIABF) is pleased to announce that reg-istration for Anti-Bullying Week 2015 (ABW15) is now open! This year, Anti-Bullying Week will take place between Monday 16 and Friday 20 November. The focus of the campaign will be on our understanding of bullying behaviour, under the title:

What Bullying Means To Me


NICIE Newsletter Summer 2015

Documents

Transcript of NICIE Newsletter Summer 2015