Cork Educate Together was awarded €5,000 to collaborate with DCU, and five schools*, to create a collaborative network of SPHE teachers. This project aims to increase awareness of the importance of whole school approaches to SPHE through creative and arts-based interventions, encouraging cross-sectoral collaborations between teachers, students, and other key stakeholders, such as teacher education leads and national organisations of strategic relevance.
*List of collaborating schools:
- Larkin Community College , Dublin
- Dominican College , Dublin
- Newbridge College, Co. Kildare
- St Anne’s School , Co. Clare
- St Mary’s Secondary School , Dublin
School’s reflection
The Le Chéile SPHE Project, sponsored by the FÉILTE Bursary
The Le Chéile SPHE Project aimed to establish and sustain a collaborative network of cross-sector SPHE educators, united by a shared mission to co-design, deliver and showcase creative, whole-school approaches to SPHE.
The project team comprised of post-primary teachers working across a range of sectors, school contexts and geographical locations. As recent graduates of the DCU Graduate Diploma in SPHE—the first specialist teacher education programme of its kind in Ireland—the team demonstrated a strong commitment to ongoing professional learning through collaboration, critical reflection, co-design and the sharing of practice.
The initiative was supported through partnerships with Dublin City University and collaborators from the arts sector.
The vision underpinning the Le Chéile SPHE Project was to create opportunities for young people to engage with peers from diverse areas, backgrounds and educational settings. Central to this vision was the encouragement and amplification of student voice. The project team sought to provide a space in which students could articulate their lived experiences of growing up and reflect on how SPHE can support them in navigating these experiences.
Creativity played a key role in both the design and implementation of the project, with particular emphasis on its contribution to the wellbeing space.
Reflection
Teachers participating in the project benefitted significantly from collaboration within a national network of SPHE educators. The creative methodologies employed during the workshop supported students in engaging with complex and meaningful topics both intellectually and emotionally, enabling exploration of their lived realities. This approach provided valuable insights for the planning and delivery of relevant and responsive SPHE programmes in schools.
The cross-school dimension of the project highlighted the benefits of collaborative planning and implementation in the SPHE context. Students reported enjoying the opportunity to come together with their peers, while the creative activities facilitated dialogue, connection and reflection. Student voice was central to all aspects of the project.
The initiative concluded with a reflective exercise in which students examined the insights and experiences shared throughout the workshop. This process resulted in the creation of a collective piece, Our Call, which articulates young people’s lived experiences and outlines their aspirations for a curriculum that supports their holistic development and educational journey.