In pictures: Donegal schools form ‘inspiring’ link - and have plenty of fun too!

Magherabeg NS, Drumoghill NS, and Ray NS participated in a range of fun, educational, and collaborative activities at in each other’s schools as part of the Aspire Peace Plus Project. Please click on the arrows to go through the gallery

The project is designed to build peaceful, inclusive, and cohesive communities by fostering sustained partnerships between children, teachers, and leaders from different backgrounds. Through regular shared activities, the project helps promote friendship, understanding, teamwork, and cultural exchange among young students across different schools in their local community.

At Drumoghill FC on Friday, the schools gathered for a sports day, where Donegal footballers Shane O’Donnell and Peadar Mogan arrived with the Anglo-Celt Cup, which Donegal won following their dramatic 2-23 to 0-28 win over Armagh. Local councillors were also in attendance, as was Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Charlie McConalogue. The students even took on their guests in a tug of war. 

“Welcome here today as we gather to celebrate our wonderful journey through the Aspire Peace Plus Project—a journey marked by friendship, discovery and collaboration,” Barry Meehan, principal of Magherabeg NS, said.

“The relationships formed through the Aspire Peace Plus Project—between students, teachers, and schools—are just the beginning. Our three schools have established a strong, ongoing partnership. We’ve shared ideas, resources, and teaching methods, and we look forward to continuing this cooperation well into the future.

“On behalf of everyone involved, I would to say thank you to Mrs Kerrie Roulston, Mrs Maelíosa McAteer and Mrs Fiona McDaid for their hard work and dedication leading the project and to the support provided by all teachers, staff, and, most importantly, to the pupils. You are the heart of this project. Your openness, enthusiasm, and kindness have been truly inspiring.”

The primary focus was on well-being among pupils in all three primary schools. The curriculum areas explored were PE, Science, STEM, Art and History. Pupils experienced peacebuilding and reconciliation through wellbeing while forming connections and building relationships with schools in the local community.

Over multiple sessions, children from the three schools participated in a range of fun, educational, and collaborative activities at in each others’ schools. These included Arena 7  and Extreme jump: Ice-breaking activities that encouraged social interaction and new friendships in a relaxed, fun setting.

Based in the three schools there were cross curricular activities taking place that promoted Creative expression: messy play, dance workshops, speech and drama classes; cultural learning: Irish dancing, African drumming; teamwork and cooperation: STEM challenges, board games, Coding Lego; Creativity: Children built marshmallow and spaghetti structures, created clay monsters, and decorated cupcakes, as well an art work shop; Drumboe woods and Glenveagh NS Park Trips: The children explored local nature and history, learning about local wildlife and the Ice Age, deepening their sense of place and environmental awareness.

The shared experiences created strong cross-school friendships, improved collaboration skills, and offered our children a chance to learn from diverse perspectives in inclusive, joyful environments. 

By encouraging the children to interact, cooperate, and understand each other, the Aspire Peace Plus project is successfully contributing to its goal of building a more peaceful and integrated society through education. 

There was bonding for students transitioning to secondary school while developing new skills and confidence. The three schools develop and will continue to develop a strong working relationship, sharing ideas, resources and teaching methodologies as a result of the Aspire Peace Plus project