Since its inception (with the exception of 2005/2006) the programme has supported 60 new schools each year. Meanwhile many experienced schools remain associated with the programme either maintaining the link with their first partner school or embarking on a new link or links. Now in its eighth year of existence the Dissolving Boundaries community continues to provide opportunities for the development of mutual understanding through collaborative curricular work using virtual and real contact between children in the different school sectors in the north and south of Ireland
Our partnered school is St Mary’s Primary school in Bellaghy, Magherafelt, Co Derry. Our class is twinned with Mr O Kane’s P7 class, while Ms Flanagan’s class are twinned with Ms Fagan’s P6 class. We have thoroughly enjoyed this programme so far. We use moodle to communicate with them. We have exchanged letters, e-mails and powerpoints with St Mary’s, and have regular Videoconferences with them. We can speak to them live with a webcam and we love seeing what they are up to. On World Book Day, all of the children in St Mary’s were dressed as their favourite book characters. We had a great Videoconference on that day, guessing who they were dressed as.
In February, Mr O Kane and school Principal Ms Mc Mullan visited our school as part of the programme. They spent two days in our school, getting to know the teachers and children. They made presentations about school life in Bellaghy, and spoke of the differences and similarities between our schools. We really enjoyed their visit and look forward to our visit to Bellaghy in the near future. Before they retuned to Derry, we made sure that they were wearing the right colours! Many Thanks to Mícheál Quirke who presented them with Kerry jerseys on our behalf.
