Report on the
mobility to Northern Ireland
As part of the
Erasmus+ Project Getting to Know Us, we attended the second mobility to Northern
Ireland. Activities in Northern Ireland took place from the 27th of March to the
1st of April, 2022, with participants from Austria (Vienna), Croatia
(Varaždin), Germany (Heide), Ireland (Galway), Northern Ireland (Belfast), and
Slovenia (Ptuj). The locations of the second mobility were Belfast and
Jordanstown.
The next day upon arriving in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, the participants from all the countries met at the Royal
Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI) in the town center. After the welcome
event the main coordinator of the project Mr. Colm Burns gave us a detailed
presentation of the work of his school. Later
on, the group discussed the first meeting, which took place in Varažin, Croatia
and all the work done on the project so far. In the course of the second mobility,
we visited Thornfield House School, N. Ireland, a regional school
accepting pupils from far and wide and specializing in addressing specific
language impairments. They employ Governors,
Teachers, Classroom Assistants, Speech & Language Therapists, and
Ancillary/Clerical staff. Eight Speech and Language therapists are based in
Thornfield and through a range of strategies and approaches address many
aspects of speech and language difficulties. Pupils attending the school range
from 4 – 16 years old and usually come from mainstream backgrounds. The length
of stay in Thornfield varies depending on ability and aptitudes. Average stays however are between 3-5 years
before pupils are successfully returned to their local or receiving school. We visited
the school and had the opportunity to attend classes and were impressed by the activities
they carry out, different teaching approaches with adapted communication
soothed to their students' needs. We were impressed by their way of teaching,
the engagement of the teachers, their hospitality, and their willingness to
share ideas and examples of good practice. After the traditional Irish Lunch in
THS, we attended a workshop on promoting Social Skills in THL. Teacher Laura
Finnegan presented ICANS Programme, which they use in their school. Speech and
language therapist Brid Tate explained the work that SLT does in THL and then
we discussed the similarities and differences between the work done in
different countries. Steven McAleese from the Neighbourhood Police presented us
with their ways of promoting e-safety awareness in young people. Also, we
visited Jordanstown Schools - a school for deaf children and children with
visual impairments, including blindness. The school offers both primary and
secondary education, catering to children between 4 and 19. The school
Headmaster dr. C. Scully gave us a tour around the school and presented their
work with children with special needs. It was very interesting to see how they
work with children with such different needs in one class. It takes a very well-skilled
teacher to be able to prepare their classes so they are adapted for every child
(for a child with hearing impairment, who needs more visual clues and one with
visual impairment, who needs more visual stimuli etc.). There we debated the
differences and many similarities between school systems and working with
students with special needs. In addition to all of the professional and
educational content of the mobility, we also had the opportunity to see some great
places. The walkthrough of the Titanic Museum was very impressive. We walked
the streets of Belfast and admired the many sights. Particularly beautiful were
the historic buildings like the Belfast City Hall, Ulster Museum, Botanic
Gardens, etc. In Jordanstown, we visited Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough
Council offices. Interestingly, the building was previously used for
textile-related industries since the 1700s so it really has a rich history. The
second mobility gave us a very valuable insight into the practices of working
with children with developmental and/or speech and language difficulties in
Northern Ireland. Through observation, presentations, and conversations we
exchanged experiences and examples of good practice. We met a lot of great
people and gained a lot of ideas on how to enrich our work.
We are
particularly grateful to the staff of the Thornfield House School and the main
coordinator Mr. Colm Burns for the well-chosen activities and a great
experience.
Tanja, Izidora and Anja, the team from Elementary
school dr. Ljudevita Pivka Ptuj, Slovenia
