Waterford school receives worldwide global school passport
Pictured are TY students Chloe Webster and Thuynga Donovan with Ashlee Hally and Mr. Cahill, Vice Principal. Photo: John Power
A County Waterford school has been recognised for its work in global citizenship education.
The students and teachers at Ardscoil na Mara, Tramore, earned the national Global Passport award for their work towards creating a better world.
The school was presented with the award from WorldWise Global Schools, at a conference in Dublin’s, Iveagh House.
The event was attended by Minister Sean Fleming (TD), Minister of State with responsibility for Overseas Development and Diaspora.
The Global Passport recognised the school’s work exploring global issues such as: migration and refugees; peace; conflict and stability; water and sanitation; identity and diversity, and sustainable development just to name a few.
To earn the passport, students and teachers studied the root causes of global injustices, raised awareness and took action as global citizens to create a better future.
As part of their work they organised an ERST Water for Life Campaign to raise money for UNICEF, to help supply clean water to children in Gaza. The school recently got awarded the status of Champion School of Sanctuary - a programme of learning, action and sharing, where welcome and inclusion is placed at the heart of the school’s identity.
Leading the work, Religion and English teacher Ashlee Hally along with Religion teacher Kealan McLaughlin, said: “Global Citizenship Education is about really getting to the root of inequality and injustice in the world today and doing something about it. When teaching and learning about Global Citizenship the root causes of how the world works are essential.” Commenting on the achievement of the school, Sixth Year student and Deputy Head Girl, Charlotte Balfe, said: “It was really interesting to make connections between the local community and the world. We have been doing so much in school and outside school initiatives with the Peace and Justice Group and School of Sanctuary group.” “It was really fun to engage with other committees,” said Charlotte. Those committees included The Sustainability Committee and Outdoor classroom.
“Teachers in school to get a feel of the whole school approach to GCE,” commented Charlotte.
“We really enjoyed the project,” she added.
School Principal, Pádraig Cawley and Vice-Principals, Aoife Denton and Brendan Cahill were among management representatives from schools across Ireland who attended the conference. A total of 54 schools received WorldWise Global Passports for their commitment to building a better future for all.
The Programme Director of WorldWise Global Schools, Katie Chapple, said: “Congratulations to all on a successful year of wonderful events.”
