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Category: Stranmillis News

Vice-Chancellor Visits Stranmillis

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

The College was delighted to welcome Queen’s University Belfast President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Greer to the campus on Monday 31 January. The Vice Chancellor, together with Professor David Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students, spent time meeting and talking to current Stranmillis  students and to some of our newly arrived international students who will be studying at Stranmillis this semester.

After spending time with the students students, Professor Greer then met with Stranmillis CEO and Principal, Professor Jonathan Heggarty and the College Directors.

Tweeting after his visit, the Vice -Chancellor commented: “A great afternoon meeting with Professor Jonathan Heggarty, students and staff in @stranbelfast. @QUBelfast is proud to have Stranmillis as a University College and we look forward to celebrating their centenary later this year.”

Beyond the Stereotype – New Research Explores Views of Educational Success and Underachievement in Controlled Schools

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

A significant new research report into educational underachievement in controlled schools – commissioned and funded by the Transferor Representatives’ Council – has been launched by Stranmillis University College.

Beyond the Stereotype is based on group interviews with principals, teachers and pupils in eight primary and post-primary schools in suburban, town and rural areas, and also with school governors and other leaders in those communities.  The study aims to go ‘beyond the stereotype’ of the well-documented challenge of underachievement among Protestant working class boys in inner-city areas, and to ‘cast the net wider’ to provide a broader and more representative picture.  It raises important questions about the purpose of education and how we measure success.

The study finds that while pupils view educational achievement as largely related to success in external exams (such as GCSEs and A-levels), many school and community leaders (including employers) place greater value on a wider range of skills and abilities, and pupils’ mental and physical health, self-confidence, happiness and willingness to learn.

Particular challenges in rural communities, which have not been reported extensively to date in previous studies, are identified with some school leaders speaking of the difficulty in motivating boys to work hard towards GCSEs.  Disadvantage across generations and a lack of educational aspiration, often associated with inner-city working-class contexts, are also reportedly strong features of many rural communities.

Beyond the Stereotype also finds that schools lack support in terms of sourcing standardised tests for pupils, which are bought in from private companies in the absence of government-funded tests.  A resulting variety of approaches in testing at primary level mean that post-primary schools often test pupils within their first few days at their new school; this, in turn, adds to an impression among pupils that post-primary education is about tests and scores.

School leaders are doing “sterling work” in keeping education going throughout the pandemic with one positive consequence of this crisis being that “schools and families are often now better connected than ever before” due to the increased use of remote technology.

Many community leaders speak of their passion for supporting schools and helping local children to succeed.  A range of perspectives – supportive and critical – on the role of Protestant Churches in education is heard; the study affirms that where school leaders are open to church involvement (which cannot be assumed) and where a local church engages meaningfully, tangibly and unconditionally in its local school, “there is enormous potential to improve educational outcomes.”

Download the report here. 

MBE for Susan

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

The College is delighted to be able to congratulate Early Childhood Studies graduate, Susan Jones  on being awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medal.  Susan received her Honour from Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, at a ceremony in Windsor Castle in November, in recognition of her services to Pre-School Education and Integrated Education in Primary Schools in Northern Ireland.

Susan began her career in advertising. Her interest and passion for childhood development was triggered through wanting to learn more about her own children. Having been involved in developing several cross community, intercultural and arts projects with children and parents in the Craigavon area, Susan returned to education and was part of the first cohort of students to undertake the ’new’ BA (Hons) degree at Stranmillis, graduating in 2000. Susan then completed the PGCE (Early Years) at Stranmillis and, since then, has taught in several Primary Schools and is currently Head of Nursery Education at Fort Hill Integrated Primary School, Lisburn.

Commenting on her Award, Susan said: “I am very humbled to have received this amazing honour. It is a celebration of Early Years education, and of everyone who was involved with the vision of developing the ECS degree.

During a placement visit to Fort Hill, Sheelagh Carville, Head of Early Childhood Studies at Stranmillis, congratulated Susan, who continues to mentor current ECS students in their professional development. “Our ECS graduates’ accomplishments never cease to amaze me!” says Sheelagh. “Susan is the epitome of professionalism. The ECS team are proud that they can claim some small part in all of the wonderful achievements in her career.”

 Stranmillis currently offers the BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies as a full-time or part-time programme, and a Foundation Degree in conjunction with the Regional Colleges. The College also offers the MA Early Childhood Studies and the PGCE (Early Years).

New Chair Announced

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

Professor Sir Desmond Rea’s term of office as Chair of the Stranmillis University College (SUC) Governing Body, ended on 31 December 2021.  The Governors, Staff and Students would like to thank Sir Desmond for his dedication and leadership as Chair of the Board over the last 8 years.  We wish him well and look forward to celebrating his tenure in the near future.

Following an open competition and appointment by the Department for the Economy, Mr Edgar Jardine, who has served as Vice-Chair of the SUC Governing Body from 1 August 2014, took up the position as Chair with effect from 1 January 2022.  As a College community we congratulate Mr Jardine on his appointment and welcome him to his new role.

Mr Jardine is a former Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. He has also served at senior level in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy first Minister, and in the former Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and as Interim Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He was awarded the CB in 2012 for public service.

Since his retirement from the Northern Ireland Civil Service Mr Jardine has served in a number of non-executive roles. He was a member of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2018 and of the Education Authority from 2015 – 2020. He joined the NI Policing Board as an Independent Member on 1 April 2020.  He is also Chair of the Department of Finance’s Statistics Advisory Committee and serves as an Education Authority representative on the Board of Governors of Dundonald High School.

Farewell to Our International Students

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

At the start of each term, the College is delighted to welcome international students from our partner universities and colleges around the globe. Those students quickly become an integral part of the Stran community, experiencing the Northern Ireland culture, creating long lasting friendships and developing both personally and professionally. Our international students always add a richness and diversity to college life and it is then with sadness and best wishes that we have to say goodbye to them.

We hope that all our international  students who have been studying with us this semester will remember their experiences of Stranmillis and Northern Ireland fondly and we will see them again in the future!

All Aboard for a Magical Journey

Posted on by Andrew McAteer
Sleigh bells ring
are you listening
in the lane
snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
we’re happy tonight
walking in a winter wonderland

 

The sights, sounds and smells of Christmas were very much to the fore as our PGCE students transformed the Orchard Building into a truly winter wonderland for the pupils of Fane Street PS to enjoy as part of our annual PGCE Christmas playful learning workshops. And, from the expressions on their faces, they were definitely happy walking and playing in a winter wonderland.

Reflecting on the workshops, Senior Lecturer, Jill Magennis, said: “The successful planning and implementation of such high quality play learning experiences ensured that the workshops benefitted everyone involved – children, teachers, students and lecturers – and I am sure that every child left with a little bit of Christmas magic and joy!” That sentiment was endorsed by Fane Street P1 teacher, Miss Irwin, who commented that “the expressions of concentration and delight spoke volumes of how much the children enjoyed the activities.”

Join our PGCE students and Fane Street pupils as they journey on the Polar Express, meet the Gingerbread Family and enjoy a Winter Wonderland.

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