Cedar Integrated Primary School in Crossgar is hosting a delegation of teachers from schools in Poland, Hungary and Turkey from December 5 – 7.

Cedar Integrated Primary School in Crossgar is hosting a delegation of teachers from schools in Poland, Hungary and Turkey from December 5 – 7 as part of the ‘Comenius’ European Schools Partnership Programme, with the official project launch taking place in the Crossgar school on Tuesday December 5.

The partners are:

• Szola Podstawowa from Lodz in Poland
• Gorece Sehit School from Izmir in Turkey
• Iskola Palanta from Pilisvorasvar in Hungary

The programme will enable the teachers and pupils of the four schools to work in partnership over the next three years on a joint educational project entitled ‘The Friendship Garden’.

This will involve each school designing and building a small garden, which becomes a hub for sharing learning about the environments, ecology, habitats and climates of each country as well as inspiring artwork, poetry and prose. ICT learning will be promoted by the creation of a joint project website and the use of digital multi-media to record the progress of the project.

The project will also enable staff from Cedar to make reciprocal visits to the partner schools over the next three years. For Cedar the project represents a wonderful opportunity to broaden the experience and understanding of our staff and pupils and adds a multi-cultural and international aspect to the education we provide. Given how rapidly our own country is currently changing, particularly with the arrival of so many migrant workers, developing positive European links seems a very worthwhile initiative.

Cedar is also delighted that a number of local community and business contacts have offered to support the project including Celia Spouncer of Spouncer Associates, Noel Ellison of the Outdoor Room, Crossgar and Jonathan Bradshaw of the Four Seasons florists in Downpatrick.