Case Studies
St. Mary’s CBS Enniscorthy, Wexford and the Queen of the Rosary School, Bo, Sierra Leone
Background
CBS Enniscorthy had long been keen to establish a link with a partner school, as they felt it was important to give their students a different view of life, and to examine issues from different perspectives. Establishing a partnership seemed to be an effective way of doing this, and therefore contact was made with the Christian Brothers to look into potential partner schools. The school already had a connection with Sierra Leone through a past pupil, Br. Kerrigan, and therefore contact was made with Queen of the Rosary School (QRS) in Bo, Sierra Leone, in 2007. The partnership was established at this point, and received its first WorldWise project and teacher visit grants in 2008.
Project Aims
- To understand the causes of poverty and other development issues and to find out how CBS and QRS can work together on these issues.
- For pupils and staff in both schools to get to know each other on a personal level and to learn about each other’s cultures.
- To support the education of our young people.
- To do joint projects on agreed themes in both schools.
The partnership agreement which was signed in February 2009 outlines the vision, ethos, educational objectives, mutual trust and respect, sustainability and equality inherent in the project (see link below).
Teacher Visits
An initial Irish teacher visit took place from CBS Enniscorthy to QRS, Bo, with WorldWise funding in 2008. This laid the foundations for the future of the partnership, and an initial draft of the partnership agreement was drawn up. The return teacher visit by staff from QRS in March 2010 solidified the relationship between the two schools. QRS teachers had the opportunity to learn about Irish culture, to experience what life is like in CBS Enniscorthy and in the wider community, and to interact directly with Irish students. CBS students and staff were further enlightened about the lives, customs and approach to education in QRS, and the visit succeeded in making the whole linking project more real for a greater number of teachers and pupils in both schools. Engaging with partner teachers in the classroom, staffroom, school corridors, socially outside school in the wider community through visits (to schools, hospital, town council office, church) also raised awareness of and gathered support for the linking project locally in Enniscorthy.
The three QRS teachers who visited Ireland - Ms. Mary Bockarie, Sr. Ngozi and Mr. Mohammed Sannoh - gave an account of their visit to staff, pupils, the board, and the local teaching community on their return to Bo, which also gained further support for the project in their own area.
Progress
Project coordinators in both schools feel that the partnership is now a more two-way process, with input from and benefits for both schools involved. Students from CBS visited their partners in Bo in February 2009, and it is hoped that there will be a return visit by partner students to Enniscorthy in 2011.
The decision to take key areas of focus for project work each year has proved to be successful, with students concentrating on the issue of health in year 1, sharing ideas on the issues of global citizenship and peace and conflict in year 2, and this year embarking on a joint project on the environment and litter. In Ireland, the input in the school from development education organisations such as the Waterford One World Centre has proved very valuable and is set to continue in 2011.
Good Practice Elements from this partnership:
- Partnership Agreement [PDF, 100KB]
