Shared Education
Shared education provides opportunities for the children and young people from St John’s and Killowen Primary School and the wider community, who come from different community/cultural backgrounds, to learn together for better educational and reconciliation outcomes.
Killowen and St John's have created a music video to help you understand what shared education means to them. Enjoy!
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a vibrant, self improving shared education partnership that will deliver social change through the promotion of:
1. improved educational benefits for the pupils
2. high quality teaching and learning experiences
3. equality of opportunity for everyone
4. good relations
5. equality of identity
6. respect for diversity
7. community togetherness
8. the efficient and effective use of resources.
On an annual basis approximately 380 pupils are involved in a variety of projects. It involves input from governors, staff, parents, pupils and the wider community. Both schools are already strongly connected to the local community but these links are now cemented through celebratory events and outcomes are shared, practice is embedded and the way forward is agreed.
We aim to use the shared education signature project in which both schools are now involved in a creative and innovative way to engage and motivate everyone to realise our shared vision.
Update:
We have continued to develop our children’s ability to have informative discussions and use open ended questions to further their learning. Our activities are often based around STEM (Science, Technology, English and Maths) and still heavily feature our learning from previous years on the different stages of questioning. In this way we are using our prior learning to help us in new situations, promoting connected learning throughout the curriculum. We have moved to more online sessions with Teams during the pandemic and intend to us technology to further our joint learning experience with a blended approach.
Our governors have met together again this year to develop a Shared Education Policy. The highlight of the meeting was the children presenting their thoughts on the learning they have shared!
A huge thank you is due to all parents, grandparents and friends of both schools who have turned up faithfully to the great variety of events such tennis fun and our P3 joint performance.
We are so proud of how all our wonderful children and staff embrace these learning opportunities, and we love seeing the friendships develop between us and our partner school, St John’s. We feel we really make a difference in our community, raising money together for local causes close to our hearts and even singing for you to brighten your day!!
Our teachers have also joined forces with Harpur's Hill and St Malachy's Primary schools to share good practice and develop areas within our school development plans.
Killowen Primary School, Shuttlehill, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry
Northern Ireland, BT51 3BZ
Telephone: 028 7034 2483 Email: Contact Form