Shared Education - The Next Steps

The Sharing Education Learning Forum (SELF), which consists of the Sharing Education Programmes managed by the School of Education at Queen's University, The Fermanagh Trust and NEELB's PIEE project, held a conference at the Hilton Hotel Belfast on the 28th September.

The SELF Conference was an opportunity for key education stakeholders to hear about the sharing and collaboration currently being carried out between schools in Northern Ireland. Presentations were made by teachers and principals from SELF partnerships as well as by the project teams themselves. SELF is delighted that the Education Minister John O'Dowd spoke on the education challenges and the potential for Sharing Education. We were also delighted that the Assembly Education Committee has diecided to attend the conference.
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The three partners that comprise the Sharing Education Learning Forum (SELF) are as follows:
The Fermanagh Sharing Education Programme develops linkages between schools from different sectors and builds bridges between the two main communities, creating the potential for future joint working, sharing and collaborating. It is hoped that the Sharing Education Programme will contribute to the development of more integrative, cohesive and sustainable communities in Fermanagh.
The Primary Integrating/Enriching Education (PIEE) sharing project is located within the NEELB. The project supports primary schools from different sectors, in close geographical proximity, to collaborate. The project is targeted at primary schools with an enrolment of less than 105 pupils. The schools in each partnership focus on curricular development in the areas of The World Around Us, Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and The Arts as well as providing opportunities for the continuing professional development of staff and opportunities for joint activities between parents and governors.
Queen's University: The School of Education plays a leading role in influencing the development of educational policy and practice in Northern Ireland and has an established reputation for providing challenging and rewarding courses for professionals on both a full-time and part-time basis. The School is a leading research centre with an extensive range of national and international partnerships. The Sharing Education Programme is one of the major research and development projects in the School and is supported by a Masters programme on Collaborative Leadership