Category: Stranmillis News

A Stranmillis University College lecturer is preparing to take a 15,000-foot leap of faith this February to raise vital funds for children’s education in India, ahead of a transformative international placement for student teachers. 

Jill Magennis, who is leading a Stranmillis University College team to India this spring, will complete a sponsored skydive with Skydive Ireland in support of Saphara, an education charity working with marginalised communities across India. 

12 Year 3 BEd students from Stranmillis University College and St Mary’s University College have been selected to take part in the programme and will travel to India in April. During the visit, students will work in partnership with teachers in Saphara’s schools, gaining first-hand experience of how education can transform lives in contexts of poverty. 

The group’s main placement will be at SNEHA Doon Academy in Dehradun, where more than 1,000 children from marginalised communities are educated. Students will support Literacy and Numeracy teaching, engage in professional dialogue with local teachers and deepen their understanding of how social, cultural and economic contexts shape schooling. The visit will also include time at Kaplani High School in the Himalayan region, further enriching students’ global and cultural awareness. 

Speaking ahead of the skydive, Jill said: 

 “I believe this amazing opportunity to visit India will be life-changing for our students and for the children and teachers they will work alongside. Education has the power to create opportunity, security and hope — and that’s why I’m quite literally jumping out of my comfort zone to support this important work.” 

Every £100 raised through the fundraiser will provide a full year of education for a child, covering school fees, uniform, shoes, books, stationery and daily meals.  

Crucially, this support also helps keep girls safely in education, protecting them from forced marriage and trafficking, while empowering them to reach their full potential. 

All funds raised will go directly to Saphara’s education programmes in India. 

Donations can be made via Jill’s fundraising page: https://saphara.enthuse.com/pf/jillmagennisjumpforsaphara  

Read more about the impactful work of Saphara here. 

Stranmillis University College is pleased to announce that international education expert Lucy Crehan will deliver the keynote address, ‘Global Learning for Transforming Curriculum in Northern Ireland’, at the third annual Dr Éamon Phoenix Memorial Lecture at Stranmillis University College.

The event takes on Wednesday 28th January 2026.

Lucy Crehan is International Director at the Centre for Education Systems, widely recognised for her work as an education explorer and international consultant, and recently undertook a strategic review of the Northern Ireland curriculum in partnership with the Department of Education.

Her acclaimed book, Cleverlands: The Secrets Behind the Success of the World’s Education Superpowers, was named one of The Economist’s Books of the Year in 2016. Ms Crehan also authored a major study on teacher career structures for the International Institute for Educational Planning at UNESCO, and spent a year advising governments on education reform with the Education Development Trust.

The event will also feature an address from the Minister of Education, Paul Givan MLA, and will include an interview with Ms Crehan following the keynote lecture. 

Established in 2023, the Dr Éamon Phoenix Memorial Lecture at Stranmillis honours the legacy of the late Dr Éamon Phoenix, a renowned historian and much-loved colleague who served as Principal Lecturer and Head of Lifelong Learning at Stranmillis University College.

The annual lecture attracts educators, researchers, students and professionals to engage in informed discussion on contemporary educational issues.

To attend this free event, register via Eventbrite here.

The Governing Body and staff of Stranmillis University College are delighted that our colleague of thirty-five years, Prof. Ken Gibson, has been honoured in the King’s New Year’s Honours list with an MBE for services to education.

Throughout his career, Prof. Gibson, who is himself a graduate of  Stranmillis University College, has shown unwavering dedication to educational excellence, student welfare, and innovative approaches to widening access.

Principal and CEO, Prof. Jonathan Heggarty stated “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Ken Gibson in being recogised in the King’s New Year’s Honours. This is richly deserved by Prof. Gibson who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to students and colleagues for over thirty-five years.”

 

Are you looking for Professional Development opportunities in 2026?

Limited Skill Up funding is now available for the following postgraduate modules commencing February 2026.

• Global and Shared Education

This module is ideal for anyone working in partnership-based education or training. You’ll explore:

• Building sustainable and inclusive partnership routines
• Shared education provision and stakeholder engagement
• Global networking and international perspectives
• Universal Design for Learning and inclusive pedagogy

Past participants have included practitioners from early years, primary, post-primary, FE, and training. We welcome applications from all sectors.

• Outdoor Learning

A practical, spring-focused module exploring:

• Outdoor curricula from a series of professional practitioner’  perspectives – early years, primary/post primary, FE and HE
• Project-based learning outdoors
• Teaching literacy and numeracy in outdoor environments
• Teaching a range of subjects outdoors:  from play pedagogy to Business, Art, Geography, History, Science and Engineering
• Developing whole-school, whole-college or subject outdoor learning plans

You’ll learn with three specialist practitioners representing early years/primary, post-primary, and FE/HE project-based learning. This module is suitable for all phases, and we particularly encourage those working with or interested in PBL to apply.

These fully funded Skill Up opportunities aim to strengthen sustainability, partnership working, outdoor learning, and innovative pedagogy across Northern Ireland’s education and training sectors.

Apply now: Visit our application page at https://www.stran.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/master-of-education-med-education-studies/

More information: See our module brochure – Click here

Questions? Contact us at cpd@stran.ac.uk

Please also note our brochure and website has lots of other module options if you are able to apply for TPL or College sponsorship at this time.  You may also avail of student finance for other modules on offer.

Places are limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

A major new piece of research from Stranmillis University College, Effective School Leadership in Disadvantaged Areas of Northern Ireland, took centre stage at a major conference in Belfast on 18th November.  

The conference, hosted by Belfast Charitable Society at its historic home of Clifton House, was attended by more than 80 delegates from schools, statutory bodies, charities, and community organisations, and focused on the deepening crisis in Northern Ireland’s education system.  

Commissioned in February 2024 after a previous education conference at Clifton House and funded by The James Kane Foundation and the Mary Ann McCracken Foundation, the Stranmillis report highlights how visionary principals, supported by robust training and mentoring, can drive pupil wellbeing, raise aspirations, and secure academic success even in the most challenging contexts. 

The findings were presented to delegates by Professor Noel Purdy OBE, Director of Research and Scholarship and the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement (CREU). 

“Evidence from our research shows that positive change can happen with visionary leadership,” Professor Purdy told delegates. “The report lends further weight to recent calls for greater investment in leadership training, mentoring, and succession planning within our most disadvantaged educational contexts. It should help educators and policy makers across Northern Ireland ensure schools of the future have strong leaders who are willing to apply every strategy and power they have for the benefit of the children in their community.”

Providing a community context, Jackie Redpath MBE, CEO of the Greater Shankill Partnership, spoke about the need for a strategy of locally driven change, and the importance of collaboration between communities and government. “Partnership working is tough,” he said. “It requires a level of absolute equality and shared principles, but when it works, and it does work, the results are worth it.” 

Delegates were urged to lobby policy makers, avail of the report research presented, commit to community partnerships, and most importantly of all, listen to the voices of the parents and children who are most severely impacted by ongoing education cuts and increasing levels of poverty. 

Closing the event, Paula Reynolds, Chief Executive of Belfast Charitable Society, reaffirmed the organisation’s centuries-long commitment to tackling educational inequality. “We hope that this event will raise awareness of the devastating impact that cuts and rising costs are having—particularly in areas like North Belfast—and we look forward to continuing this important conversation with educators and the local community.” 

To find out more about the findings from the CREU report, listen to a recent podcast interview with our CREU researchers here: https://www.stran.ac.uk/education-matters07112025/