Schools: Teachers' Comments 2008/2009

The Schools Across Borders programme has been our longest-running programme from an external source in our Transition Year programme. We're very happy with it and find it very worthwhile and very admirable. The video resource is a very positive experience for our students. The contact with the Israeli and Palestinian students is essential as the students don't really appreciate the issues of conflict immediately.

The Schools Across Borders programme had been very informative. There was a high standard of materials involved and lots of good activities for the students. The facilitators were highly professional and friendly throughout. Overall, the students and I enjoyed the programme.


From a Media Studies perspective, the fact that we were using video resources and referring to news events as they were happening encouraged the students to engage and ensured that the right outcomes. The visit by RTE to make the News2Day clip was a perfect example of using live material for a school event.
By meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian students, our students were encouraged to be more aware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not simply as a school-bound project but as something that connected them to the world outside.


The SAB programme worked well with our 6th Form students. It is very well suited to the Personal Enrichment module. It was important for them to connect with realities in other parts of the world. There is not a lot of space in our RE syllabus on world religions, nor is their much space allotted in the History syllabus to the Troubles in Northern Ireland so this programme afforded the students some valuable space and time to reflect on and discuss these subjects.
The human contact is the most important element in the project. It will mean that the students will maintain interest beyond the end of the present programme.


The Schools Across Borders project was interesting, informative, educational and inspiring for my students. The variety of activities meant that each student found a way of expressing his/her own ideas. It has given students wit low levels of self-esteem a new confidence in their own talents and abilities.
Meeting the Israeli and Palestinian students has opened up a whole new world for them and increased their awareness of the concept of Human Dignity in action.
One student who intended leaving school after the Junior Certificate has now applied for the LCVP programme. This is due to the leadership role of the SAB project afforded her.


As part of the TY Religious Education programme, involvement in the SAB project allows students to become aware of the situations of young teenagers living in Israel and Palestine.
Concepts such as Interdependence and Rights & Responsibilities are explored with students. The hosting of Israeli and Palestinian students by our students and their families has allowed students to feel personally engaged with the lives and experiences of those living in a conflict zone.
I would highly recommend involvement in the SAB project. Under the leadership of Mr. Darran Irvine, it is a highly organised and student-orientated project.


For the RE programme, SAB provides a concrete example of tolerance and attempts at reconciliation which is a major focus of our work. The chance to learn about the lives and situations of teenagers living through very difficult times of conflict is an invaluable opportunity as it deals with “real people” rather than characters from stories.
The opportunity to learn about Israeli and Palestinian teenagers first hand is probably the most valuable part of the experience. The earlier sessions of the programme make sense of the history and geography of political conflict.


Overall, SAB is a very positive experience, the highpoint being the meetings with the Palestinian and Israeli students. It is of great benefit to our TY RE programme which exploredworld religions, especially Islam and Judaism.
We at Oatlands are happy to continue the programme next year.

The material supplied ensured access to the programme in a way that is manageable - and most importantly- flexible. I hope to implement this programme next year.


The SAB project has been present in our school for the past 7 years. It is a project that provides our students with an opportunity to connect with the outside world. It is both enlightening and enjoyable. SAB also allows the boys to choose their own focus and to work towards their own set challenges and objectives. It also engages students who would not always be forthcoming in group discussions on locall or world conflict issues.
The feedback that the boys receive from the Israeli and Palestinian students is very rewarding.


The Schools Across Borders programme works very well with the History and Geography syllabi of the class of Seconde in the French system, with links to “History of Christianity, Judaism and Islam”, “The Mediterranean World”, “Status, Borders and Conflict in Contemporary Geopolitics”, “The Issues surrounding Water in the Near and Middle East”.
This English language programme fits perfectly with our students of French, Spanish and other backgrounds. It also contributes to strengthening the ties with our neighbouring school, St. Kilian's Deutsche Schule, and therefore helps to develop our Eurocampus.
In addition, it awakens each pupil's creativity and sense of responsibility, encouraging them to become conscientious citizens to a broader community, encompassing the Eurocampus, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine. It helps them to acquire a new worldview of interdependence, through an active and dynamic learning proces, in which each student, whether shy or loud finds a time and a place to express him/herself.


The Schools Across Borders project raises awareness of conflict themes in a part of the world where there is seemingly intransigent bloc positions. It gives opportunities to raise hope, particularly through the encounters with the visiting Israeli and Palestinian students, but also through the project action tasks, such s making posters and video presentatiosn and writing letters which are brought directly to their peers in Jerusalem and Hebron.
It is important that our students meet with the visiting students of their own age. The primary task of this project, in my opinion, is to take the students out of their comfort zone and to connect with the issues of the world outside. I believe that the students are just ready at this age to engage with these realities. Our school feels very positive about its continued support for this very worthwhile project.


Thank you very much for working with St Wolstans Community School this year on our Development Education curriculum. The feedback from students is very positive, they rated the workshops involving the Schools Across Borders project as one of the best this year. They enjoyed learning about the Middle East, making the posters and writing the letters for the Palestinian and Israeli students, and especially the fact that they got feedback both from yourself and the students.They were delighted to see the students interacting with the St Wolstans posters and enjoyed receiving letters from the Middle East. They feel they made a connection.
We will be priviledged, and look forward, to work with Schools Across Borders again next year.