O’Dowd: St Mary’s is an exemplar in sharing and collaboration

Education Minister, John O’Dowd, today visited St Mary’s High School, Limavady which prides itself on leading the way in Area Based Learning.
~ Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Following the visit, the Minister said: “I welcome the opportunity to see first-hand how successful sharing and collaboration between schools can be. St Mary’s is a prime example of a school working with others to deliver a range of opportunities for children.

“In my September Statement, I highlighted the need to create a strong sustainable network of inter-dependent schools which would deliver for all children. The Roe Valley Partnership is delivering a shared education programme, which has given the schools involved the opportunity to provide a breadth of opportunities that would not normally have been available to children.”

The Sharing Education programme is a collaborative programme co-ordinated by Queen’s University and jointly funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and International Fund for Ireland. The programme supports schools in the formation of cross-sectoral partnerships in order to provide enhanced education opportunities for the students involved. Within the Roe Valley, St Mary’s acts as the lead school for the three-year duration of the Sharing Education Programme.

Concluding the Minister congratulated all those involved and said: “Sharing and collaboration between schools not only promotes reconciliation but enables schools to provide sustained, high quality curricular activities.”

During the visit the Minister also officially opened the newly refurbished sports Hall.

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