International School Award

It was a great honour to be invited to the Houses of Parliament to receive the prestigious British Council International School Award. This award recognises schools from across the UK that have gone above and beyond in helping young people connect with the wider world It is a recognition of the hard work, passion, and dedication of our staff, skilfully led by coordinator Mrs Killough, who provide our children with a rich learning experience that is beyond their classroom and local community It was an honour to see our pupils’ learning celebrated at the Houses of Parliament and to be one of only two schools from Northern Ireland. Thanks to MPs who called by to congratulate our success. Well done again to our entire school community.

Connecting Classrooms 2025

Our Primary 4 class have embarked on an exciting project to connect with their partner school in Kenya. Over the past few weeks the children have explored the features of a letter and planned and written letters to the primary school children at Kindfund. For most of our children this is their introduction to international pen pals and they are eager to learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and their friends in Kenya. We look forward to hearing back from our partner school soon. Stay tuned for updates on our partnership with our friends in Wamba, Kenya as we will continue to collaborate with them through the year!

Modern Languages at Dunclug Primary School

We love learning Modern Languages (Primary Languages) at Dunclug Primary School. We also have several language clubs throughout the school year. For example French, German and Spanish.

Each year we enjoy celebrating European Day of Languages. This is a day that we celebrate the diversity of languages spoken across Europe and their ability to open doors to new cultures, perspectives and opportunities.

Connecting Classrooms Partnership with Kindfund Primary School in Kenya

Our Connecting Classrooms partnership with Kindfund Hope Primary School in Kenya continues to go from strength to strength.

In 2022, we were delighted to be awarded the British Council International School Award for this.

Our older pupils, led by Mrs Spence, are taking the lead with this programme. The partnership programme involves a wide range of activities for pupils of both school to enjoy. Amongst other topics, it looks at the work of UNICEF, the rights of the child and the value of education. It also involves a teacher exchange programme (funded by the British Council) and Mrs Spence ended up teaching (during her summer holidays!) last July in Kindfund Hope PS in remote North Kenya.

Thanks to the British Council for funding this programme - helping our pupils understand the big issues that shape our world and equipping them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to make a positive contribution.

The View from our Window

We completed the British Council's 'The view from our window' activity with our partner school in Kenya. The children took photos and drew pictures of the views from their classroom windows. We then shared these images with our partner school and they shared their classroom views with us. The children really enjoyed this activity and were able to discuss the similarities and differences they could see.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Throughout the year, we have been learning about reducing, reusing and recycling and the importance of playing our part, as global citizens, in supporting this initiative. Children were asked to bring plastic bottles, cartons and cardboard boxes into school so that they could be reused/recycled to make artefacts linked to their class topics.

We also organised a whole school assembly with the Waste Busters to raise further awareness of the plastic problem and remind everyone how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

We now understand how we can make an important impact through simple actions such as reducing, reusing and recycling in our own homes to play our part in addressing the worldwide plastic problem.

Mindfulness

We are committed to supporting our pupils with their mental health and well-being. We have been working on creating time for mindfulness activities within the school day. Our children have enjoyed trying out some new mindfulness techniques in class. Our favourite activities so far have been the breathe bubble, moving with music and finger breathing. We are now ready to share some activities with our partner school in Kenya to support them on their mindfulness journey.

Stories from Around the World

The children have loved hearing new stories from different countries around the world. They have enjoyed learning about different families, traditions and cultures. They have also completed some fantastic work linked to the stories shared in class. We have shared stories and fables from India, Nigeria, China and Pakistan and we can't wait to hear more.

The Language Challenge

We used the British Council resource ‘Let’s talk about languages’ to promote and encourage language learning. Our KS2 classes also completed ‘The great language challenge’. The children enjoyed exploring different languages and having a go at different language activities in their classrooms.

Many of our pupils speak different languages at home so we have been learning how to say hello in their home languages. Children have been trying to greet their friends and answer the register in a different language.

Children shared their cultural traditions- we loved hearing how some of our children leave their clean shoes out on the 5th December for St Nicholas to fill with treats. We also tried some Polish snacks which the children really enjoyed.

Sharing songs with our partner school in Kenya

We have loved sharing songs with our partner school in Kenya. How amazing to hear our friends in Kenya singing in Swahili! We can’t wait to share more and have a go at learning a song in Swahili ourselves.

The pupils at our partner school really appreciated the singing videos that we sent them. They learn English as well as Swahili in school so it was a great opportunity for them to hear English songs.

Harvest

All pupils learned about Harvest, why it is important and how it is celebrated around the world. Each class took part in a whole school assembly for parents/carers to attend, sharing songs and poems linked to our worldwide Harvest learning. We raised awareness of food shortages around the world and the need for food banks to support those in need. Our children and their families supported our food bank drive and we donated a large number of food items to our local food bank.