St Mary’s NS is a proud member of the TEAL project in conjunction with Mary Immaculate College. Launched in September 2019, the TEAL Project (TED EAL) is an initiative of the TED (Transforming Education through Dialogue) Project located within the Curriculum Development Unit at MIC. As the first of its kind in Ireland, the project was developed in response to an urgent need to accommodate the diverse language and literacy needs of students in primary and post-primary schools. It aims to assist the children of migrant families in their language learning journey by fostering culturally and linguistically responsive teaching approaches. It celebrates linguistic diversity in the classroom and is designed to increase teacher knowledge and confidence in the teaching of children whose first language is not English. It has been recognised by the European Commission. The project prides itself on SHARING information and resources amongst its members and also external agencies. Together we can make a difference.
We were delighted to welcome Margaret Grace from St John the Baptist NS in Pennywell. Mr. O’Byrne and Ms Kennedy shared our portfolio and ideas to help them with their journey to become a School of Sanctuary. Margaret’s energy and enthusiasm for the project was amazing. We discussed a collaborative music project in conjunction with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. This will be based around the Schools of Sanctuary theme. We even managed to get a selfie in front of our School of Sanctuary Welcome Board. We are looking to meet with Margaret and her principal David Nicholas in the not too distant future to further develop this solid relationship. Sharing is core to the ethos of both schools.
Staff watched the introductory webinar and afterwards, they were emailed the ‘School of Sanctuary’ booklet to inform their own teaching and the powerpoint which can be shown to all our pupils.
