The journal of the Ulster Teachers’ Unionutu NEWS

AUTUMN 2015

Andrew picks uptop teacher award

Pupils have the world at theirfingertips

SEE FULL STORY ON PAGE 7SEE FULL STORY ON PAGE 6

GREATSCOTT

AUTUMN 2015 3

As I commenced my Presidential year last April, I’ll admit that I felt slightly daunted by the role that lay ahead.

As a Year 5 teacher, it wasn’t easy to leave my class of 31 pupils in the care

of another teacher and step out of my comfort zone and into a new challenge. There were no bells ringing to let me know it was time for break, no lesson planning and marking to carry home at the end of the day, no little faces calling my name or coming up during Snack-time to keep me updated on their latest news.

No, instead there was a very different routine and a steep learning curve as I embraced the workings of our Union and the strategies and skills needed to make our members’ voices heard.

Since taking on the role of President, I have had the privilege of working with other Teach-ers’ Unions and of representing UTU teachers in meetings with the Northern Ireland Teaching Council, the Department of Education, the In-spectorate and at Union conferences through-out the UK, Ireland and beyond.

The more meetings I attend, the more I value the privilege of being a spokesperson to share the concerns, opinions and difficulties of UTU members.

Despite the difficulties our Education system often appears to face, I feel proud of my fellow colleagues who continue to work tirelessly, prioritising what is important in Education – the pupils. This is what motivates us as educators – seeing the positive and lifelong difference which we can make in the lives of the children we teach.

As a Primary School Teacher, I’ll admit that I love a bit of praise. So too, I enjoy giving posi-

tive feedback where praise is deserved. It makes my day to see a smile on a child’s face when I tell them, “Hey, that was brilliant, well done!” and they know I really mean it.

My desk drawer is stuffed full of stickers, stampers and certificates to encourage children when they have worked hard. Likewise, I at times feel like going out into schools just to hand Principals and teachers a sticker (or cakes) and take time to remind them, “You are brilliant. Keep up the good work!”

In addition to attending conferences and negotiating meetings within my first few weeks as President, I also had the very pleasant job of orga-nising our Annual Competition for Schools.

I primarily wanted to cele-brate the wonderful schools we have here in Northern Ireland and, after one of our sub-committee meetings, we came up with the theme: ‘Schools are super places for Superheroes!”

We had a fantastic response to this competition and the en-tries we received reflected the joy that schools generate. As I visited schools to hand out prizes, I continued to be encouraged by the passion, determination and enthusiasm that teachers, Principals and classroom assistants demonstrate daily.

The efforts of all staff members to provide the best education system for the pupils in their care is so immediately obvious, despite the many and increasing pressures that schools are facing.

These are undoubtedly challenging times and, as we continue our industrial action on budget cuts, assessment, workload and the impact on teacher health and well-being, we know that there will be further difficulties ahead. I hope that within the organisation of the UTU, wheth-er Principals, class teachers, student teachers or Union Officials, we will continue to focus on what is important and valuable in Educa-tion, standing united and purposely together to

ensure that our concerns are effectively addressed.

One real privilege of being UTU President is the oppor-tunity to have a closer insight into the excellent work that our UTU Officials, Field Of-ficers and office staff carry out daily on our behalf. It has been very reassuring to know that the UTU continues to negoti-ate tirelessly on the issues that affect us most.

As we settle into a new Academic Year, I return then to the theme of our UTU Com-petition. I know that schools

are indeed ‘Super Places for Superheroes’ and I hope that we as teachers continue to have the self-confidence to hold our heads up high and stick to our professional opinions and beliefs as we face whatever challenges may lie ahead - and don’t forget to give yourself a sticker or a slice of cake every once in a while to say, “Hey, you’re doing great! Keep up the good work!”

Presidential Comment

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

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UTU President, JUlie Orr

Geoffrey Cherry, Principal of Pond Park Primary School and Laura Kerr, choir conductor are both members of the UTU, and last year their Senior Choir were crowned BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year.

The initial County Antrim heats were held in January at the Whitla Hall where Pond Park were placed first. This saw them qualify for the Grand Final held in the prestigious Ulster Hall on Sunday, 19 April.

After all six choirs had performed their two contrasting pieces, the adjudicators chose two choirs to ‘sing off’ for the coveted title. Pond Park had prepared the song ‘When I Grow Up’ from Matilda, the Musical.

After tense deliberation it was announced that they were the overall winners. Since that the 60 strong choir have guested at Radio Ulster’s 40 Years Celebration at the Ulster Hall and the Business Awards Dinner at the Waterfront Hall. This Christmas the choir have been asked to return to the Waterfront Hall to sing at Peter Corry’s MusicBox concert.

Pond Park Primary in good voice

’‘ The more

meetings I attend, the more I value the privilege of being a spokesperson to share the concerns, opinions and difficulties of UTU members

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 20154 5utu NEWS utu NEWS

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POLICY COULD EXCLUDETHOUSANDS OF PUPILS

CONTACT DETAILSUlster Teachers’ Union

94 Malone Road,Belfast, BT9 5HP

T: 028 9066 2216F: 028 9068 3296E: office@utu.eduW: www.utu.edu

Follow us on twitter @UTUBelfast

Find us on Facebook UTU Belfast

Thousands of Northern ireland pupils risk losing out on the benefits of the new gold standard Shared education Policy, according

to the Northern ireland Teachers’ Council.

its members have accused the education Minister John O’Dowd of being disingenuous over how his policy is to be rolled out.

“The Minister’s Shared educa-tion policy is being lauded as the way forward for quality education for our children, yet because of how it is to be implemented the Minister is excluding potentially thousands of pupils from its ben-efits. it is utterly disingenuous,” said Avril Hall Callaghan, Chair of the Northern ireland Teachers’ Council and General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union.

“Under the funding formula for schools signing up to the policy, they are being asked to

produce data from their key stage assessments. However, because of industrial action over excessive testing in schools most teachers are withholding these results from the Department of education and using it only for their own information.

“The upshot is that the thou-sands of children will be denied access to the benefits of Shared education – yet their teachers are taking industrial action in the first place because they regard the current excessive assessment regime in schools as counter-productive for their pupils.”

Dungannon Primary is just one of the schools affected.

“We were hoping to receive £25,000 to implement the Shared education Policy with St Patrick’s Primary in the town – between the schools almost 900 pupils would have benefitted,” said prin-cipal David Thompson, a member

of the Ulster Teachers’ Union.“We were hoping to use the

funding to provide the pupils of St Patrick’s and Dungannon Primary with opportunities to develop life-long friendships, learning together within a shared environment, giving them the opportunity to explore their similarities and celebrate their differences.

“Our teachers were also hoping to use the funding towards professional develop-ment in leadership roles.

“However, under the terms of the policy one of the monitor-ing elements would require us to submit the results of the key stage assessments which we are not doing under the terms of our industrial action.

“How can the Minister judge the success of his Shared educa-tion policy – elements such as reconciliation, for instance –

based on the results of key stage assessments? it just doesn’t make sense.

“We want the success of shared education to be measured on qualitative outcomes – for instance, a child’s understanding of what happened in the past – rather than the quantitative outcomes of literacy and numeracy assessment.”

THe UTU iMMeDiATelY SOUGHT A MeeTiNG WiTH THe eDUCATiON MiNiSTer, Mr JOHN O’DOWD, AND HOPeFUllY BY THe TiMe YOU Are reADiNG THiS AN ACCOMODATiON Will HAVe BeeN reACHeD reGArDiNG THe reQUireMeNT TO PrOViDe leVelS OF ATTAiNMeNT. THe UTU reGreTS THAT A PrOGrAMMe WHiCH THe UNiONS WHOle-HeArTeDlY SUPPOrTeD WAS AllOWeD TO Be eNDANGereD iN THiS WAY!

Negotiations have been on-going on the Teachers’ Pay Claim for 2015/16 since the start of the summer and will

continue during the Autumn term.

in August teachers received back-dated salary from the 1% cost of living rise due last September.

in england in Wales salaries are now dealt with on an entirely different basis from Scotland and Northern ireland, with no incremental salary scales and teachers being paid at a salary point at the discre-tion of the Board of Governors.

This is not a system that we want to see introduced here so in an attempt to block its introduction we have engaged with Management Side (the employers and the Depart-ment of education) to consider ways in which government policy of “no automatic salary progression” could be handled.

While negotiations are still taking place we have agreed the retention of automatic sal-ary progression for September 2015 – any teacher who was due an incremental progres-sion this September and who hasn’t received it should con-

tact Headquarters immediately they receive their pay slip at the end of September.

Whilst automatic progres-sion is a contractual right at present, teachers might, in future, find that this is chal-lenged. General Secretary, Avril Hall-Callaghan, right, said: “We are considering the offer that is on the table at the minute and assessing if it would be of benefit to teachers in the long term.”

“One important principle that we have established is that, if we are to use a system other than the present one, there should be a stipulation that no teacher can be denied progression due to a school’s budgetary position.”

“Another important part of the resolution of the salary claim would have to be a CPD strategy – teachers have seen their access to CPD decline drastically in recent years.”

“A properly-funded CPD package would have to be made available to teachers be-fore they would be amenable to any changes to their current conditions of service.”

A further part of the Pay Claim is an improved Mater-nity/Paternity/Adoption leave

Scheme. The current scheme has not been improved in many years and is now the poorest of all the public sector schemes.

Avril added: “if we can get a decent rise – and one that is certainly more than the recent limit of 1% - then teachers will consider whether or not it is in their interests to sign away their right to automatic incremental progression.”

“Manage-ment Side would certainly need to make an attractive offer if they want to persuade them to accept contractual changes of this magnitude.”

The Salaries negotiation team, which is made up of all 5 recognised unions, is sched-uled to meet with Manage-ment Side again in mid-Octo-ber. The UTU General Secretary was recently elected as Salaries Spokesperson for the Teach-ers’ Side of the Negotiating Machinery.

Our new-look website is now up and running at www.utu.edu thanks to the great team at www.schoolwebdesign.net. Members should find this site easy to navigate whilst finding out more about what is happening in the UTU.

We now have quick links to our Twitter and Facebook pages along with a very handy calen-

dar showing you upcom-ing UTU events.

If you are a Branch Secretary, please keep our office informed of your upcoming meetings and we will add them to this calendar. Check our new website out for yourselves and let us know what you think. We’re delighted with it! Thanks again, School-WebDesign.

Have a browse and check out ournew-look website

At its September meeting the Central Executive Committee of the Ulster Teachers’ Union agreed not to escalate its industrial action, but to maintain it at the current level until it is considered again at the October CEC meeting.

The current action is as follows:AS FROM 30TH MARCH 2015 UTU

MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING INDUSTRIAL ACTION:

To continue not to participate in the CCEA defined Assessment requirements

– see the information sheet that was issued earlier in the year.

To work strictly to the terms of the Jordanstown Agreement. See copy of the Workload Agreement and its Appendices on Cover and Time Budgets.

To refuse to participate in any school inspection process, including visits from the District Inspector, ETI scheduled inspec-tions and any ETI survey or other process.

(This does not apply in schools that are currently on formal intervention).

To make no returns of monitoring information to the Department of Educa-tion. Please note that much of this data-gathering is done via C2K returns.

To submit only 6-weekly or termly planners, not daily or weekly lesson notes.

To participate in only one staff meeting per week (including teacher briefings)

To write only one report to parents per academic year.

The UTU will continue to update you monthly by email on any changes to this Industrial action.

INDUSTRIALACTION:

WHAT TO DO

– see the information sheet that

The UTU was recently forced to issue the following statement on ‘Shared Education’

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 20156 7utu NEWS utu NEWS

Erasmus+a WORLDof opportunity

an oPPorTUniTyTo geT invoLvedin yoUr BrancH

Schools across Northern ireland could go global thanks to a new european funding programme.

erasmus+, which is managed in the UK by the British Council and ecorys UK, offers a wide range of opportunities for pupils and teachers to participate and exchange activities across europe.

The programme takes over from Comenius, which previously provided funding for schools, with funding split into two areas: – Key Action 1 mobility projects for teaching or training staff abroad; and Key Action 2 Strategic Part-nerships, to develop innovation and exchange of good practices across schools, local and regional authorities and other sectors.

2014 was the first year of erasmus+, with Northern ireland receiving €6.5m in funding and 50 organisations reaping the benefits — including 15 schools.

St Mary’s Primary in Mullagha-bawn was one of these success stories, receiving €79,725 through the programme.

Working with five countries across europe, St Mary’s aimed to promote iT skills, environmental awareness, a second language and even a happier work environ-ment.

in addition to this, the school also received mobility funding to allow teachers to visit other edu-cational settings across europe and attend international training courses.

According to Ciara Crawley, the erasmus+ Coordinator at the school, this funding will help the pupils and teachers in insurmountable ways. She said: “Through the project we hope to open our pupils’ minds so that they are not afraid to travel in later life, while also helping them acquire a second language. even the younger pupils know what erasmus+ is, and we can see

that they’re already making new friends and connections

“Hopefully erasmus+ will make them feel part of the european community, while also enhancing their career paths and broadening their outlook on the world.”

For Ciara, the benefits of the programme are far-reaching.

She said: “We firmly believe that

a good project impacts on not only the school involved, but also the wider communi-ty, to which each school belongs. Here at St Mary’s we’ve developed a real community spirit — working with parents and

grandparents and others within the local area. it’s really important for us to have their support.”

Also speaking about the pro-gramme was Jonathan Stewart, Deputy Director, British Council Northern ireland, he said: “‘it is encouraging to see primary and post-primary schools from across Northern ireland benefitting from erasmus+ funding and we are hopeful when the new funding calls are opened in the autumn that even more schools will be able to participate and develop new partnerships and opportuni-ties across europe.

“erasmus+ provides many op-portunities for Northern ireland schools to work internationally, which can enhance professional development of staff as well as broaden horizons of pupils.

“This international outlook can only add value to both those directly involved in the school but also the wider community.”

Schools looking to apply to er-asmus+ will find a range of online tools to support them through the process such as the School education Gateway portal (http://www.schooleducationgateway.eu/), which is a partner and opportunities finding tool, and eTwinning (www.britishcouncil.org/etwinning), where you can start, grow or extend your part-nership or erasmus+ project.

There’s a whole world of op-portunities for schools within erasmus+.

Funding for erasmus+ funding should open in November 2015. Keep up to date on www.eras-musplus.org, nireland.britishcoun-cil.org , on Twitter and Facebook.

Belfast Branch and FIT group mem-ber Andrew Scott was awarded the ‘Primary School Teacher of the Year’ award at the 2015 Ni4kids awards.

The Ni4kids Family Awards reward and cel-ebrate the individuals and organisations from across the country who put fami-lies first by going above and beyond the call of duty. The 2015 judging panel received a large number of nominations for award

categories such as ‘Mum of the Year’ and ‘Dad of the Year’. The spectacular

superhero-themed event included performances from Jesse

Jane McParland, the talented nine

year-old martial arts performer from Keady, who shot to fame by making it to the live shows of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent and former winner of The Voice, Andrea Begley.

Andrew Scott, who was cover-ing a maternity leave in Cranmore Integrated Primary School in Belfast, was delighted to have been nominated for the ‘Primary School Teacher of the Year’ award by a number of the parents of children in his P3 class. They commented on his dedication to the teaching profession and his commitment to make learning fun and engaging for each and every child in his class. They also thoroughly enjoyed the parent Zumba class that Andrew led on a weekly basis for both parents and grandparents!

Accompanied by his two grandpar-

ents, Andrew attended the awards cer-emony in Belfast City Hall at the end of June this year. “When I heard my name being called out as the winner, I could not believe it. It was such a special and incredibly proud moment for me. I felt like I’d just won an Oscar!”

On announcing Andrew as the winner of the award, one of the judges announced that they were delighted to have received such a large number of nominations for a young teacher, who was not even at his school in a permanent capacity, but who was still able to make a real difference to the children in his care. Andrew has re-cently been appointed to a permanent post in Markethill Primary School, and we wish him all the best in the future. Congratulations on such an achieve-ment, Andrew!

Want to get more involved with the UTU? Not sure who to contact?The best way is to come along to the next Branch

meeting in your area.This time last year we restructured

the UTU to coincide with the new District Council model. Below are the contact details for each Branch Secretary, who you can contact for

information on when the Branch/ Area Association meets in your area. Dates of meetings will also be advertised on the UTU website (Calendar section) in the near future.

There will be training for Branch/Area Officials later this term. if you are not sure which Branch you belong to, feel free to contact the UTU Office on 028 90662216 or office@utu.edu

TOP MARKS The pupils at St Mary’s are very much behind the international programme at the school – with even the youngest knowing about Erasmus+, which is jointly managed by the British Council and Ecorys UK.

ANDREW IS THE TOP TEACHER

PROUD Andrewwith his ‘PrimarySchool Teacher ofthe Year’ award,and with hisgrandparents, right

In the past few months, the FIT group and the Area Associa-tions have hosted two very successful iPad training events in collaboration with iTeach.

In May, our first event was held at Kilkeel PS while this September we visited DH Christie Memorial PS. All teachers attending the events left feeling empowered to use the iPad in new ways to enhance teaching and learning in their classroom.

We intend to bring more training events to schools all over Northern Ireland to support our members at a time when professional development opportunities are in decline. Please check your emails for information about upcoming events near you and remember to reply early as demand for places has been high.

A special thanks must go to Mrs Sandra Henderson (Kilkeel PS) and Mr Chris Murdock (DH Christie Memorial PS) for their help with hosting the events.

UTU FIT groupi-Teach i-padtraining events

WHO YOU CAN CONTACTBanBrIDge/DrOMOre Mr Ashton Shields, Kings Park Primary, 07732882888BelFaST Mr Stephen McCord, utubelfastbranch@hotmail.com or @UTU_BBMID-UlSTer Mrs rene Johnston, Fivemiletown Nursery 67721930CaUSeWay; Mr Mark Creelman, Bush Valley Primary, utucausewaybranch@hotmail.comFOyle Mrs V Whiteside, 77741784neWry/MOUrne Mrs S Henderson, Kilkeel Primary, 41762411SOUTH-eaSTern Mrs Gillian Dunlop, largymore Primary, 92683024MID-anTrIM Mr lexie Scott, Gracehill Primary, 25862530SOUTH WeST Mrs rosemary Barton, 68631238OrCHarD COUnTy Miss Jan Woods, Dromore Central, jwoods400@c2kni.net

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 20158 9utu NEWS utu NEWS

PUPILS NEED THEIR VOICE TO BE HEARD

WELCOME TO ALL NEWLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS...

UTU always at hand for advice and help

Past President attends International Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress

UTU would like to extend congratulations and a warm welcome to all NQTs embarking on their career at this time. We

wish you a productive 2015/16 year and, indeed, a very reward-ing career to come.

To help you get started we are including the answers to a few questions you might have. This information – and a lot more – can also be found in ‘UTU: The Guidebook’ which you can get from your UTU representa-tive in school. You can also, of course, ring HQ on 90662216 in confidence at any time if you are unsure about anything.

regISTraTIOn aS a TeaCHer

You will already have regis-tered with the General Teaching Council (GTC) (www.gtcni.org.uk) and, for those of you seeking temporary employment, with the Northern ireland Substitute Teacher register (NiSTr) (028 9056 4000).

registration may take some time as police security checks will be carried out.

For both of the above a Teacher register Number is required but this will not be issued until your first salary has been received. However it is recommended that both are contacted as soon as you graduate.

Graduates who have attended a University/College outside Northern ireland will also have to register with GTCNi even if already registered in england, Scotland or Wales. Sometimes a Teacher register Number will have been allocated if trained outside Northern ireland but this may not be used when employed locally.

geTTIng PaID

For teachers on permanent contracts salary is paid into bank/building society monthly on the last banking day of the month with special arrangements for the Christmas period.

For teachers in temporary employment salary is paid into bank/building society in the middle of the month following employment.

You will receive a pay advice slip giving notification that salary has been lodged.

With your first salary a National insurance Number will be al-

located unless you have been in previous employment when this number will remain the same. Na-tional insurance will be deducted from your gross salary.

A Tax Code (possibly an interim one) will also be allocated. in-come Tax will be deducted from gross salary. Also deducted from salary will be

contributions to Northern ire-land Teachers’ Pensions Scheme (superannuation). You may opt out of the scheme but you must provide for payments to be made to an alternative pension. Ulster Teachers’ Union does not recom-mend opting out. retirement age may seem a long way ahead but, in the event of being forced

to retire early through ill health, it is important that you are in a scheme which will provide a lump sum and regular income.

WHere DO I FIT In?

Whether you are in the school for one day, a term, a year or have been lucky enough to be appointed permanently, the fol-lowing will relate to your position in the school.

The Board of Governors is your employer.

The Principal is responsible for day-to-day running of the school and should have ensured that ap-propriate policies and procedures are in place.

Vice Principals, Heads of De-partments and Key Stage leaders will assist the Principal and may be your first port of call if/when a problem occurs.

You are responsible for the well-being, discipline and educa-tion of the pupils in the class/es assigned to you and you must be aware of the policies and proce-dures which should be available for your perusal preferably before you are introduced to the pupils. it is particularly important to be fully aware of Child Protection procedures and policies, the school’s Disciplinary Procedure and any systems which are in place to seek permission from/keep parents informed.

it is always a good idea to know more than the pupils so ensure that you are aware of the meaning of bells (end of classes, fire warning etc); what happens at break/lunch time; where to find school resources; procedure for collection of money; who is responsible for dealing with pupils who have had an accident or have taken ill; what should happen if an adult (parent or other) requests that a child leaves school early.

WHaT IS reQUIreD OF Me aS an nQT In SCHOOl?

induction and early Profes-sional Development

All Newly-Qualified Teachers are required to participate in an induction programme to help them consolidate their skills in the classroom. The programme is provided in partnership with the Curriculum Advisory and Support Service (CASS) of the education Authority and CCMS. The induc-tion process is integral to

the professional development of beginning teachers within the school context. The overall aim of induction is to continue to address competences which it is recognized will not be fully developed during initial teacher education. The Career entry Pro-file (CeP) is an important bridge between the initial and induction stages. it offers not only a record of the assessment of the Newly Qualified Teacher’s competences, but also an indication of the strengths and development needs of the beginning teacher which should influence continu-ing professional development during induction and early pro-fessional development (ePD).

effective use of the CeP means that the Newly Qualified Teacher will be able to build a strong and coherent framework for personal and professional development. The CeP is the responsibility of the beginning teacher and its use is intended to promote career development. it will be used in the induction phase in order to

identify targets for the induc-

tion action plan and hence will need to be seen by the Principal and the Board of Governors. Based upon the career-entry profile, an induction action plan will be drawn up jointly by the Newly Qualified Teacher and the teacher-tutor in the school where induction is taking place. it should be reviewed and updated at regular intervals throughout the school year.

We would advise that, where you get a temporary position of any significant length in a school, you raise the subject of induction and ePD and use the opportunity to complete at least part of it while you are there.

UnIOn MeMBerSHIP

it is important that you are a member of a union to get support, advice and protection. Unforeseen circumstances can arise and it is important that you can access answers to questions or contact someone to work on your behalf.

Membership of UTU is free for the first year and costs only £10 for the second year. You can, however, return your authorisa-tion deduction card and £10 as early in your first year as you wish to secure your full membership for two years. Many NQTs prefer to do this as, when we receive your card and payment, you in turn will receive your Member-ship Plus card which gives you access to a range of savings and discounts in travel, shops and restaurants. An authorisation deduction card will have been sent to you in May 2015 but, if it has gone astray, you can obtain another from Annette on 90662216.

We also have an active young teachers’ group known as FiT (Future in Teaching) which holds social events and conferences to give you the opportunity not only to have your questions an-swered, but also to network and relax. Details of events will be posted on the UTU Website, on Facebook or Twitter and will also be sent to your email, so keep an eye out for that!!

We hope this answers some of the initial questions which you may have on starting out. remember, if you have any prob-lems at all, just ring 90662216 and we will give you any help and support that you need.

A former teacher of Hilden Primary School, Miss Margaret Hawthorne, is looking for help in gathering ‘memories’ about this small school near Lisburn which sadly closed in 2008.

Working together with a former pupil and school governor, Mrs Ann Ferguson, Margaret is hoping to put

together a book about this school and its place in the community. She is inviting anyone who was a former teacher, pupil or ancillary staff member to provide their memories of their time at Hilden.

In particular, Margaret would love to find some photographs and to have the owners’ permission to

have them printed if a book is pub-lished. If you think you can help with this, please contact either Margaret or Ann using the details below:

Mrs Ann Ferguson, 7 East Down-view, Low Road, Lisburn, BT27 4UW

Miss M Hawthorne, 12 Fairview Park, BT17 9HL Email: margare-thawthorne@gmail.com

Memoriesof HildenPrimary

Diane Nugent, Past-Presi-dent of the UTU and the National Association of Special education Needs Nothern ireland (NASeN),

attended the international inclusive and Supportive education Congress (iSeC) in lisbon from 26-29 July as Ni Ambassador.

She stated that it was a real honour to represent Northern ireland within this global arena of education.

The conference focused on developing international policies and practices which challenge educators who seek to overcome barriers, which often leaves many children marginalised.

Diane met and had educational exchanges with many prolific educationalists such as Prof. David rodigues (Portugal) and Prof. Mel Ainscow (U.K).

During the congress it was very clear that schools across the globe who embrace an inclusive agenda are those who provide the best chances for our children in terms of abolishing discriminatory at-titudes and build a society which embraces inclusion.

it was also very clear that teach-ers have a vital role in promoting an inclusive agenda to achieve a system of shared beliefs, passion and commitment to enable our pupils to succeed in life.

Clearly, the process of inclusion is not an easy battle, and efforts to eliminate barriers across the globe have been fraught with difficul-ties, both financial and political. Therefore, it is imperative that educational leaders need to step above the parapet to place inclu-sive and supportive education at the top of their agendas.

UNeSCO’s ‘incheon Declaration’, education 2030- ‘Towards inclu-sive and equitable quality and lifelong learning for all’ is a vital step in focusing the basic human right for all communities to have access to education.

The declaration’s vision pro-poses that inclusive and support-ive education seeks to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all children, ‘leaving no child behind’.

This transformational view of education attends to facilitating our children’s basic human rights to access quality education de-spite global and social barriers.

As schools continue to develop their educational capacity, this must support the needs of chil-dren with a wide range of special needs. Pupil voice needs to play a larger part in shaping school cur-riculums, pathways and ieP’s.

Curriculum planning needs to address diversity and accept that there is not “one size that fits all”. Planning needs to be flexible and involve the input from pupils, families and local communities. So too, professional dialogue will go far to facilitating inclusive teaching and learning.

Teachers need to work together as a community to provide sup-

port for pupils and each other and, as was identified at congress, are the “superheroes” instru-mental in changing the future of education.

Furthermore, congress claimed that teacher unions play an im-portant role, providing a voice for transformational change.

Cultural values, morals and prin-ciples form an important part of this change process which should reflect basic human rights, an inclusive agenda and refreshment of national policy. importantly, funding needs to be adequate to reflect the needs of pupils and facilitate parallel support amongst staff.

To conclude, iSeC 2015 raised vital awareness of how inclusive and supportive education is being researched, developed and imple-mented in many countries across the globe.

A common definition must be further developed to meet the demands of cultural contexts and stakeholders, enabling the 2030 vision for education to be achieved.

Diane stated that she wishes to use her recent experience at iSeC 2015 to advance the work of NASeN in Northern ireland and in her role as Chairperson of the NASeN UK Special Provision Advi-sory Group.

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 201510 11utu NEWS utu NEWS

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STARTING OUT Members of the UTU Future in Teaching Group (FIT) enjoying the conference dinner

SCHOOL OUTING Teachers from Ballydown Primary School with Principal, Wilson McMullan and incoming President, Julie Orr

AT WORK UTU officials and guests at the top table at the 2015 Conference in the Slieve Donard Hotel

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS UTU members, Steff Shaw, Sarah Rea and Stephanie Alexander

A LADIES NIGHT Members of Foyle Branch – Ann Cartwright, Vi Whiteside, Lara Nutt, outgoing President Sandra Brown, Maureen Nutt and Valerie Hylands

FAMILY AFFAIR Incoming President, Julie Orr with her father Alistair, mother Ann and brother Richard

SUITS YOU UTU members Steven Savage, Aaron Davidson, Ashton Shields and Greg Savage

GOOD COMPANY UTU members from Dromara Primary School enjoying Conference

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 201512 13utu NEWS utu NEWS

A TEAM EFFORT BRINGS REWARD

Ballymena’s Gracehill Primary Principal, Lexie Scott explains how ‘old uniforms’ led them to the Aberdare mountains in Kenya

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A journey to Africa can start in many places but i did not expect it to start from the question, ‘What do you do with your old uniforms?’

This question was put to me some six years ago and of course we didn’t do anything with old uniforms. From that summer on we began to collect old uniforms which with the help of the elim Church in Ballymena and a very charismatic couple from Ahoghill, Bobbie and David Tinnion made their way to the Aberdare mountains in Kenya.

Thus Gracehill School Ke-nya was born. located in a very rural part of the country and comprising of some 60 pupils the school serves a very poor community.

What started as a very simple recycling idea has developed into an ongoing link which has seen Gracehill School Ballymena provide help to build new classrooms and the UTU to provide resources for desks and books.

Fast forwarding to 2014 i applied for a Connecting Class-rooms grant to allow a teacher ex-change between the two schools. This bid was successful and after some initial teething problems it was agreed that i would travel to Kenya over the easter holidays and Jerioth, my African counter-part, would come to Northern ireland in June.

We were met at Nairobi airport by Bobbie and David and the local chairman of the school, Pastor James, and these three provided invaluable advice and help during

our time in Aberdare. The school is a five-hour drive

away from Nairobi and having left the road behind we completed our journey across a very rough country track.

The countryside was beautiful and as we neared the school, a small cluster of tin sheds, we were astonished to hear these won-derful voices singing a song of welcome.

The whole school and many of the parents came out to meet us and together we paraded to the school enclosure. it was really amazing to see our old uniforms being worn again and to see the joy with which we were welcomed by both children and adults.

That first day was really special as the whole community came together to welcome the visitors. We had traditional singing, native dances and then a feast of local produce. it was truly humbling.

Over the next few days we were treated to class visits, to visiting local homes and to meeting many of the local community. i was

struck over and over again by the sheer lack of the sorts of things we take for granted.

The playground toys consisted of two worn motorcycle tires and the excitement which greeted the introduction of a couple of the footballs which we taken out was incredible.

local homes are very basic structures mainly comprising

corrugated metal sheeting and wooden posts. Kitchens are located separately to cut down on the heat in hotter months and to try to avoid the risk of fire because all the cooking is done over an open fire.

Gracehill School in Aberd-

are is an incredible place, totally different from anything i had ever experienced before – the lack of basic facilities was eye open-ing. They have neither running water nor electricity. They have few classroom resources apart from the desks and books which the UTU have provided and yet the children are making terrific progress with the school being recognised as in the top three in the area.

The children are well looked af-

ter with the school providing two hot meals each day – a bowl of porridge at the equivalent of our breaktime and a bowl of rice and beans at lunch time. There was no need to worry about healthy eat-ing policies here..

The school is supported by the charitable collection which Bobbie and David arrange and we in Gracehill have recently held a sponsored walk – A Walk to School in a Onesie – to collect the money to connect the school to the electrical grid and we are hopeful that the lights will soon be switched on.

Meanwhile, David and Bobbie have managed to collect enough money to pay for water to be piped into the school and this was switched on in early September.

Jerioth visited Northern ireland in June and was as amazed by her experiences here as i was in Kenya. She couldn’t believe how cold it was. She was sure my garden would provide enough grazing for at least two goats and wasn’t sure why people walked dogs.

i would encourage other schools to contact the British Council to see which programmes might fit in with what you are do-ing in school. Our link with Aber-dare grew from a very simple idea and i have no doubt that there are many schools in the developing world which would enjoy a link with schools in Northern ireland.

i was asked to bring very special thanks to the Ulster Teachers Union for the generous sponsor-ship which the union has provided and i can certainly confirm that we are getting tremendous value for money from our donations.

A TEAM EFFORT

‘old uniforms’ led them to the Aberdare mountains in Kenya

Held every four years, the ei World Congress is the supreme body of the educational inter-national. The World Congress determines the policies,

principles of action and programmes of the organisation. it elects the Officers (President, Vice Presidents and General Secretary) and other members of the organisation.

it is an opportunity for delegates from education Unions from across the world to come together, to reflect and recommit to the aims of educational international, to develop policies and, above all, to celebrate the teaching professions and those who work in education, to provide quality education for all.

Where was the eI World Congress held this year?

every four years the ei World Con-gress in held in a different continent across the globe. This year the ei World Congress was held in the Shaw Confer-ence Centre in the beautiful Canadian capital city of Ottawa.

Who can take part in the eI World Congress?

Participants are nominated by the ei’s member organisations. The number of delegates and votes are al-located on the basis dues paid (size of organisation). Delegates are the official representatives of member organisa-tions. They are entitled to participate in the formal debates and to vote.

Who represented the UTU at this 7th World Congress?

Julie Orr, UTU President and Sandra Brown, ex-President attended this year’s ei World Congress on behalf of the UTU. in Ottawa they not only met with colleagues from other Unions within BiGTU (British and irish Group of Teaching Unions) but with Union Officials from across the globe.

How can I find out more about the work of eI and the resolutions debated at this World Congress?

For more information on the work of education international, or to read more about the outcomes of the 7th World Congress in Ottawa, visit http://ei-ie.org/ or follow ei on Twitter @unite4ed

The

wooden posts. Kitchens are located separately to cut down on the heat in hotter months and to try to avoid the risk of fire because all the cooking is done over an open fire.

A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT A TEAM EFFORT

What isthe EIWorldCongress?

LISTENING IN UTU PresidentJulie Orr at the World Congress

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 201514 15utu NEWS utu NEWS

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The UTU is indebted to a former President of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, Senator gerard Craughwell, for his invitation to his colleagues in UTU to visit leinster House, Dublin, home of the Irish government chambers – Dail eirann and the Seanad.

Senator Craughwell – or gerry as we know him better – welcomed Past Presidents, Stephen McCord and Diane nugent, ex-President, Sandra Brown, President, Julie Orr and general Secretary, avril Hall-Callaghan to leinster House on 17th august where he, in the company of TUI general Secretary John Macgabhan, provided a guided tour of the building including not only some very interest-ing historical references but also an explanation of how the government in the republic of Ireland operates.

Following this fascinating insight into the democratic process south of the border, we were treated to a fabulous lunch in the company of Trinity College Professor, Patrick geoghegan who answered our questions on the history of Ireland and the emergence of the Irish state.

He also offered to host us on a tour of Trinity College with an opportunity to view the Book of Kells. The general Secretary availed of this opportunity a couple of days later.

The UTU wishes to place on record its sincere thanks for the hospitality offered to us by the TUI and by Professor geoghegan – this was certainly a trip to remember and one which contributed positively to north/South relation-ships!

I had heard of TeachMeet through colleagues on Facebook and i was lucky enough to spend a weekend at a conference in June with 2 of

those who helped to organise it, Barry & Daithi.

They convinced me to attend the next and advised me to follow @niedchat on Twitter and to join in weekly chats with other local educators using the hashtag #niedchat.

Following these two on Twitter (@MrMalcontent & @Daithi) led me to connect with so many other teachers across Northern ireland and beyond. i had heard another educator describe Twitter as “like the staff room but without the negativity.” and this is a per-fect way to put it. By using Twitter professionally, i have been able to connect with like-minded col-leagues across the globe who are willing to share ideas and solve problems.

i decided to attend my first TeachMeet in October 2012 in Stranmillis. Since then i have attended six more & managed to

present at four. it has been such a great way for me, as a nursery teacher, to share outdoor practice from my setting with a wider audience.

So what’s it all about?The idea of a TeachMeet is that

teachers put their names down to deliver either two or seven minute presentations on some-thing innovative they are doing in their classroom or school.

Names are picked out random-ly by an app, so no one knows

they are presenting in advance and you may never get picked if there are lots of presenters on the list.

everyone attending has to reg-ister for a ticket, but there is no entry fee and your ticket ensures your name goes into another random draw for prizes. refresh-ments are also provided.

The pace of the evening is very fast and fun, loads of laughter but most importantly lots and lots of enthusiasm and passion from all

those involved, both presenters and organisers.

The latter make it all seem so effortless and yet it must take a lot of organisation to sort out a venue, catering, tickets, present-ers and, most importantly, prizes.

The usual type of prizes runs from vouchers for shops or on-line sites to six months free trials of new educational apps and top of the range tablets.

Why do you recommend it?From my first TeachMeet what

struck me the most was that those who present are still very much in love with what they do.

They have been the teachers who care about each and every pupil and want them to be chal-lenged and excited to learn. As a nursery teacher i am used to seeing that kind of passion in colleagues but it is so amazing to see it in primary and secondary colleagues too.

How can I get involved?So my advice to any teacher

is, get yourself a Twitter account, put up a profile picture and short biography to identify your-self to fellow teachers and start to follow a few key people to start build-ing up your own PlN – Professional learning Network.

Watch out for educational chats like #nied-chat #kinderchat #sltchat. Find out when the next TeachMeet is on and persuade a few colleagues to come along with you for a great night. i promise you will come away totally enthused and with at least one new idea to try in your own classroom.

Kierna Corr, Head of nursery at Windmill Integrated Primary School, @CiarnaC.

Some of the TeachMeet teach-ers to connect with on Twitter:

@MrMalcontent @Daithi @cur-riculumni @bcripps078 @he4ther-w4t5on @amandasalt @mapsmap @pamelalamela

How I gotinvolved inTeachMeet MEETING OF MINDS Organisers of the TeachMeet come together

VISIT TO LEINSTER HOUSE APRIVILEGE

Wellbeing Support Service schools programme is FREE and can be tailored to meet the needs and timetable of your classes. If you are interested in the programme coming to your school please contact, Sarah Morrow on 02890 313163 or sarahmorrow@macsni.org.

MACS Supporting Children and Young People is a local charity established 25 years ago to help meet the needs of young people who were making the transition from care to independent living.

Whilst we still provide supported housing, our services have expanded to include young people who are homeless or who have mental health and other issues. MACS aims to help young people aged 11-25 fulfil their potential through a range of projects and initiatives.

In 2015 the Wellbeing Support service, funded by Children in Need, undertook a pilot programme in schools to increase young people’s awareness of mental health and wellbeing.

The programme was delivered in three Belfast post-primary schools to 169 young people. The programme, which was tailored to the needs of each school, focused on general wellbeing, body image, coping with exam stress, self esteem and confidence.

We were also able to offer more specific one-to-one work for young people who were experiencing particular issues, specifically those around self harm. We work closely with the pastoral care teams and ensure any

concerns we have are passed on line with MACS’ and the school’s Child Protection Policies, ensuring the safety of the young people we encounter.

Our goal for the next two years is to expand and develop this programme. We aim to deliver it in at least six post- primary schools per year in order to continue promoting and increasing awareness of mental health and wellbeing. We would also be keen to deliver the programme outside the Belfast area to offer particular support to those in more rural locations, with an additional focus on online safety.

Research and recent news reports show that more and more schools are struggling to deal with the rising numbers of young people self-harming. Representatives from two major teaching unions, National Association of Head Teachers and Association of

Teachers and Lecturers, have highlighted the impact of spending cuts within schools, leaving them without as much expert help as in the past. We have also seen a rise in the number of young people aged 19 and under who are presenting to Accident and Emergency Departments for incidences of self-harm.

The Northern Ireland Registry of Self Harm 2013-2014, showed that there were 1,465 presentations for young people under the age of 19. We are keen there-fore to offer a FREE, accessible pro-gramme of support to pupils in Northern Ireland.

Feedback from young people who completed the programme included; “I learned how to stay positive and be happier especially in stressful situations like revision.”

Another young person said, “The sessions increased my awareness of how many things in society can affect mental health. The facilitators were very friendly, engaging, really seemed to care and have an interest. She was relatable and informative.”

One teacher said, “We have greatly appreciated your support and would be keen to continue our relationship next year.”

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 201516 17utu NEWS utu NEWS

Once again, i am very thankful for the support of UTU for my work in in CCAP Synod of livingstonia in Mzuzu, Malawi!

The past year has been challenging in many ways. Some of our volunteer trainers have left us for various rea-sons and so training our caregivers and committees has been difficult. Coupled with this, it is difficult to find financial support in Malawi, where many people are struggling just to survive.

The programme is still continuing however with volunteers, and i am

at present doing interviews to find new trainers. We are training Committees of our early Childhood Centres to ensure that they run smoothly. We are also sensitizing local commu-nity and church leaders on the importance of eCD and sending children to eCD centres.

right now, only 40% of our children have access

to any form of eCD – this means that many will drop out of primary school as early as standard four, because they do not have the basic skills necessary for primary school.

So with your assistance, we have been able to train adults to try to help our young children with the skills they need before they begin formal schooling at the age of 6.

On a personal note, i am leav-ing Malawi after working here for 20 years. i am moving to lusaka in Zambia where i will be setting up a teacher training programme for early Childhood educators for one of the local churches there.

They have 30 community pri-mary schools and are anxious to set up eCD centres as feeders for the primary school. i hope that UTU will continue to support my work in Zambia as to empower our eCD edu-cators to assist our young children in preparation for primary school.

Wishing you every blessing, Diane Cusick

at present doing interviews to find new trainers.are training Committees of our Centres to ensure that they run smoothly.sensitizing local community and church leaders on the importance of sending children to centres.

our children have access

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children, in practice the implementa-tion of the UNCrPDs provisions on inclusive education has been difficult to achieve.

This can be easily understood when looking at the teacher/pupil ratios ex-isting in many classrooms in Tanzania. At many of the training sessions some teachers reported that they had class sizes of 132 and 150 pupils! So there is little scope, at present, in the practical advancement of inclusive education for disabled children.

However, the Tanzanian Teachers Union (TTU) who has been the national partner in the training programmes has reported that the raising awareness of the educational rights of disabled children and the subsequent empower-ment of national disability organisa-tions has resulted in the Tanzanian Department of education engaging with them in developing further disability programmes.

The latest training took place in June of this year when Carey Ann Clark, a Disability equality Trainer from Disability Action and a volunteer with Disability Aid Abroad, travelled to Tanzania and delivered a one week training seminar with 29 primary school teachers from the Morogorro.

The training took place in the Mehayo Centre for disabled children which provide residential care and education for over 60 disabled orphans, many of whom had been abandoned at the gates of the Centre.

An added feature of this training is that Carey Ann used the opportunity to train a local teacher Samuel Ngago to carry on the training in the future. Samuel is already planning a series of disability workshops for teachers in 2017.

Disability Aid Abroad is a completely volunteer charity and raising funds to run the training programmes is particu-larly difficult and they are looking for Ni schools to co-operate with Tanzanian schools in promoting inclusive education.

For further information contact: John Coghlan - johncoghlan@disabil-ityaction.org

In recent years UTU has partnered with Disability Aid Abroad, a Ni based disability charity, in developing and delivering a series of disability awareness and equality

training to school teachers in Tanzania. The trainings were aimed at promot-ing the rights of disabled children in accessing education particularly at primary school level.

While the primary focus for the training was for school teachers, the training also included local govern-ment education officials and other educational decision makers.

The statistics for the percentage of disabled children accessing education in developing countries is depressingly low – a UN report puts the numbers as low as eight %, and this figure would be reflected in our experience in Tanzania.

Although the Tanzanian government has ratified the UN Convention on the rights of Persons with a Disability which specifies special provisions in-cluding inclusive education for disabled

HELPING HANDUTU partnership in Tanzaniais developing educational rights for disabled children

CHALLENGE Children at the Mayhao Centre

ACHIEVEMENT Pupil Anna presents a teacher with his certificate

AWARE Teachers identify physical barriers to inclusion GREETINGS Carey Ann Clarke and the local teachers

COMMITTED Diane Cusick has been selfless in giving her time to train local adults over the past 20 years

STARTING OUT Children and teachers at an Early Childhood Centre

Diane’s Malawi 20-year mission comes to an end

Share Discovery Village, a popular School Residential destination due to its range of over 30 land, water and arts based activities that teachers can choose from. This spring SHARE introduced an Environmental Work book for visiting pupils. The work book introduces pupils to SHARE ENERGY highlighting renewable energies used by SHARE – their solar panels, wind turbines and wood pellet heating system. Pupils also got to use SHARE’s Food Composter and learned about the centre’s Reed Bed Sewage System.

To learn more abouT SHare’S environmenTal ProgrammeS log onTowww.sharevillage.org or contact Cat on 028 67722122 or catherine@sharevillage.org

IRELAND’S LARGESTRESIDENTIAL OUTDOOR ACTIVITY

AND ADVENTURE CENTRE

SHARE EnviRonmEntAl liSnaSKea, CounTY FermanagH

EXCELLENT RESPONSETO UTU COMPETITION

AUTUMN 2015 AUTUMN 201518 19utu NEWS utu NEWS

The President’s Cup (sponsored by School Web Design) continued to grow with even more competitors in both the Men’s and Women’s tournaments this year. The competition was once again held at Down royal Golf Club and there was some great golf on show (and some not so great!). However, a fantastic day was had by all.

THe reSUlTS OF THe PreSiDeNT’S CUP: 1st place - Steven Savage, 2nd place - Neil McAllister, 3rd place -

George McVeigh, Gross prize winner - David Clarke, while the President’s Vase winner was Joan reid

All completed entries should be returned to ‘UTU Competition’, 94 Malone Road, Belfast, BT9 5HP by Friday 11th December, and should include a contact name and an email address

ACCROSS1 _____ Hall-Callaghan, General Secretary (5)4 Copy (5)8 Correct, accurate (5)9 Allegation, formal charge of wrong-doing (7)10 Strike, deal a blow to (3)11 Not busy, obtainable (9)14 Young goat (3)16 Defender, guardian (6)19 Popular number puzzle 6)20 Location in Canada for the EI 2015 Congress (6)23 Encountered (3)24 Intend, signify (4)25 For the reason that; on account of (2)26 Number in a pair (3)27 Motor that converts energy into mechanical work (6)28 Internal to, not outside (2)29 Send via the postal service (4)30 A series of connected underground tunnels occupied by rabbits (6)32 Something that happens at a given place and time; a special set of circumstances (6)

DOWN1 Nocturnal burrowing animal of the grasslands of Africa (8)2 Fix or adjust the time, amount, degree or rate of (8)3 Deadly (6)4 Ditch dug as a fortification (4)5 Ridicule (4) 6 Diane ______, Teacher trainer in Malawi and Zambia, Africa-Online (6)7 Lacking in intensity or brightness (4)12 A mixture of gases required for breathing (3)13 Give an education to (7)15 Unlikely, open to suspicion (8)17 Celestial, heavenly (8)18 Innovator or colonist (7)21 North African spiced stew cooked in an earthen-ware pot (6)22 The 7th month of the Hindu calendar (4)23 Lessons, meanings in a story (6)31 Objective form of ‘I’ (2)

UTU Crossword No.1 Who will be our lucky winner of a £25 voucher for Marks & Spencer?

Name:............................................Email..............................................................................................

This year’s UTU Competiton for schools was aimed at celebrating schools in Northern ireland and all the hard-work-ing superheroes within them.

The Global Solidarity and internation-al relations Sub-committee had a fantastic response to this competition from across the Key-Stages and it was extremely difficult to choose just one or two winners within each category.

Prize-winners were announced through Facebook and Twitter in the Summer term and our President, Julie Orr, very much enjoyed visiting some of the winning schools to pres-ent the prizes in School Assemblies.

A big thank-you once again to all schools who took part! We look forward to organis-ing our next UTU Competition which we will announce in the Spring edition 2016 of the UTU News.

Overall winnersNursery: Ann-louise Kerr (Cooley Nursery

Unit), Foundation/KS1: izzy McKinstry (Bush Primary), Grace McFarland (Cooley Pri-mary School), KS2: lucy Burns (Bush Primary School), KS3/4: Zara Davis (Ballyclare Second-ary School, Special Schools: lisanally Special School – Classes 4 and 5

runners-upNursery: Charlie Kerr (Cooley Nursery Unit),

Foundation/KS1: Adam (rathenraw integrated Primary), Hannah McBride (longstone Pri-mary), ella McFarland (Cooley Primary School) KS2: lucy-rain Symington, (rathenraw integrated Primary), Sarah Thompson (Bush Primary), Cheryl Watson (Penryhn-Strathearn Prep), Claire Dobson (Donaghmore Primary), Hollie Hughes (Ballydown Primary) KS3/4: Sarah Nokes (Victoria College)

Highly CommendedFoundation/KS1: reece edgar

(rathenraw integrated), emilija rukaite (Cooley Primary), David Kerr (Cooley PS), Grace (Bush Primary), lacey (rathenraw inte-grated), KS2: Jenny Skerrat (Car-rowdore PS), Beth (Carrowdore

PS), Jack Thompson (Carrowdore PS), James Moan (Bush Primary), Cherise Bates (Donaghmore Primary), Samara radcliffe (Bal-lydown Primary), KS3/4: rebecca Moore (Ballyclare Secondary), ethan Dows (Ballyclare Second-ary).

WINNER – Ann-Louise Kerr, Cooley Nursery Unit

WINNER – Class 5, Lisanally Special School WINNER – Class 4, Lisanally Special School

WINNER – Grace McFarland, Cooley PS

WINNER – Lucy Burns, Bush PS

iNTO and UTU continued to develop their partnership with the Belfast Primary Schools’ Football Association through the sponsorship of the prestigious Bryson Cup.

The tournament took place in May, with the visit of Arklow Schools. The two teams pro-vided the crowd with a fabulous display of footballing talent at Crusaders FC (Seaview).

On the Friday evening the Belfast squad came from behind to record a fantastic 3-2 victory. This outcome still left everything in the balance for the final game on Saturday.

The Belfast boys kicked off and looked the brighter in the

opening spells. However, it was Arklow who scored first with a well taken goal. Despite their domination and the efforts of every player, the ball would just not go into the net for the Belfast Primary Schools team.

Arklow took their chances in the second half when they came along and went on to win comfortably by a 4-0 score line – a result that definitely didn’t reflect the performance from the local side.

Arklow celebrated as they lifted the Bryson Cup for 2015. The Belfast squad will look forward to trying to regain the coveted trophy next year when they visit Arklow in 2016.

Arklow boys are on a high after theirBryson Cup win over unlucky BelfastHERE WE GO – Belfast Primary Schools’ FA captain Jake Cowan receiving the presenta-tion tracksuits from INTO representatives Mark McTaggart and Seamus Hanna, along with our UTU President, Julie Orr

PRESIDENT’SCUP OUTINGIS A SAVAGETOURNAMENT

PRODUCED ON BEHALF OF THE ULSTER TEACHERS’ UNION – TEL: 07816359301