St James's Primary School and Nursery Unit and Whitehouse Primary School and Nursery Unit have a long existing partnership from the early 90s which has enabled the schools to be involved in a range of shared educational and community relations programmes. This long established partnership has resulted in a a very genuine friendship between the two schools, as well as the wider community. The partnership has been involved in Shared Education from 2015. Throughout the years children from Nursery to Primary 7 have been involved.
What is Shared Education?
The Department of Education are committed to a process of encouraging schools across NI to partner together in the spirit of collaboration and reconciliation. In particular, they want schools that traditionally serve the Catholic and Protestant communities to come together to provide shared educational experiences for their learners.
The goals of developing these partnerships include:
- Improving the standards of achievement of all our pupils;
- Increasing the skills of staff in partnering schools;
- Enhancing the use of resources of the schools involved;
- To help children develop more friendships across the community;
- To empower all stakeholders to be able to embrace diversity;
- To impact community relations now and in the future.
Throughout the years, our pupils have been involved in the following ways:
- An 'Outdoor Learning' project involving all pupils in Nursery and Foundation Stage.
- A STEM programme, involving all pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
- A PDMU programme involving all pupils.
We also want to use our programme to connect with the community as much as possible.
2023 - 2024
This year, we have been excited to deliver an 'Outdoor Learning' programme for our Foundation Stage children in Primary 1 and Primary 2. Children of both schools have enjoyed visiting each others schools and a fun end of programme trip to The Valley Park in Primary 1 and Hazelbank in Primary 2. Please read on to discover all about our Shared Education experiences this year!
