St Dominic’s Grammar School

For the last two academic years Friends’ have embarked upon a Shared Education Signature Project in collaboration with St Dominic’s Grammar School from West Belfast. The primary focus of the project has been Year 10 History and creating a ‘Shared History’ based around the events of 1916. History Departments in both schools felt that a more ‘joined-up’ approach to the teaching of the Battle of the Somme and the Easter Rising was necessary. As such this has allowed pupils from both schools to develop their knowledge of the period and to make links with each other through a variety of events. These have included residential visits to the Corrymeela Community, talks at the Somme Heritage Centre and planned trips to Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetery this Spring Term.

The project has now expanded beyond its initial remit to take in different subject areas such as Art, English, Drama and Music – all of which present exciting opportunities for our young people to come together to learn.

UPDATE

The Friends’ School Lisburn and St Dominic’s Grammar Shared Education partnership began in January 2016 and has seen great work undertaken so far by pupils from both schools. The partnership has allowed pupils from both schools to come together in order to learn together and hopefully form lasting friendships.

The primary focus of the project is History; in particular the events of 1916 which played such a pivotal role in shaping the society we live in today. Shared Education has allowed an existing link with St Dominic’s to be further developed. The two History Departments had previously collaborated on a Facing History project and the SESP has seen the schools build upon the work previously done with Year 10. To date pupils have participated in a number of residential visits to the Corrymeela Community, looking at topics such as the Holocaust, World War One and the Easter Rising. These projects have been facilitated by staff from both schools and the Facing History project. In June 2016 a class of St. Dominic’s pupils also visited Friends’ and took part in an Art and English workshop. The pupils produced a fantastic number of prints which can be viewed in the entrance hall of school. The History strand of the programme has also seen pupils visit the Somme Heritage Centre with visits to Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetery planned in April 2017.

Pupils have also taken part in a number of smaller projects with St Dominic’s as part of the scheme. In the current academic year Year 14 art classes have made use of the Seacourt print workshop to develop their coursework. In drama, a group of Year 8 pupils will be taking part in a conflict resolution workshop. Not to be outdone, the two traditional groups from both schools will come together to record contemporary music from 1916. June 2017 will also see two Year 10 Citizenship classes visit the Stormont Assembly.

Furthermore, the 20th of March 2017 will see a ‘Peace and Reconciliation’ day in the Long Gallery at Stomont. This will involve a key note speaker on the subject and a roundtable discussion with 6 local MLAs. This promises to be an exciting event and will also involve visiting academics from the USA and pupils from our friends in Sandy Spring Quaker School.