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Category: Stranmillis News

Tor Bank Work Experience 2019

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This year we were delighted again to welcome three sixth form students from Tor Bank Special School to Stranmillis. Each Tuesday morning Kirsty, Lewis and Reuben gained valuable skills and made many friends, accompanied and supported by Mrs Mary Hull from Tor Bank.

Kirsty worked with Kate and Yvonne serving customers in Betty’s coffee shop; Lewis helped deliver the mail and arrange classroom furniture as part of the portering team with Darren, William and James; and Reuben became part of the gardening team working closely with Niall.

All three students really enjoyed their time working at Stranmillis and quickly became part of the Stran community. Several members of College staff were delighted to be able to attend the school’s end of year leaving celebration.

Dr Noel Purdy, who arranges the work experience each year, commented, “Again this year we would like to thank our three wonderful students from Tor Bank – Kirsty, Lewis and Reuben – for all their hard work. We greatly value our partnership with Tor Bank and wish them every success in the future.”

Andrea Looks Back … and Forward.

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Andrea Magee graduated in 2011 with a BEd (Primary) degree. Below she looks back at her time at Stran, she explains how her teaching career has taken her from Belfast to Finland and to Switzerland, and she flags up an up-coming conference in Athens.

‘I always wanted to be a teacher – when I was very young I used to line up my teddy bears and ‘teach’ them on my toy blackboard! I used to tell them to be quiet! I loved school as a child and I loved learning, so it seemed like a natural progression for me to become a teacher, and I was over the moon when I got into Stranmillis.

Little did I know at the time that my goal to become a teacher wasn’t ‘achieved’ as such – the journey had only just begun. To become a teacher is a never-ending journey. As I remember being told at Stranmillis, as teachers we are the ultimate role models as lifelong learners. In order to enable learning to take place, we need to lead by example and remain open and curious to new learning opportunities ourselves.

My favourite memories from Stranmillis were those courses and modules which I chose for myself, through which I felt fundamental joy as a learner. I rarely thought of myself as a teacher when I was training at Stranmillis, but now I see how it shaped me to become the teacher and learner that I am today.

Stranmillis opened unimaginable doors that ended up shaping my career in ways I could never have dreamed of! During my third year, I spent an Erasmus exchange semester in Turku, Finland, with the help of the wonderful staff from the College’s International Office. It was a requirement to write a blog at the time, detailing my personal and professional development. II found this a lot of hard work, but in the end I found it so rewarding and fulfilling to have that blog to look back on that I’ve written several other blogs since!

That Erasmus semester completely changed my life. After graduating from Stranmillis, I returned to Finland where I studied for my Master’s in ‘Learning, Learning Environments and Educational Systems’. I met my now husband during my exchange; he is Swiss, and that’s what eventually led me to move to Switzerland, where I now teach. I teach in a bilingual international school in Zug, Switzerland. The children in my 2nd Grade class are 7-8 years old, and I also have the role of ‘Support Intervention Coordinator, through which I support children from 1st to 6th grade (aged 6-12).

In my spare time, I have recently co-founded a non-profit organization with other educator friends working abroad called ‘Embrace Joy in Education’ (emJoy education). We organise events through which we aim to bring teachers together and create a community of support and inspiration that will lead to joyful learning for all.

I host a monthly meet-up in Switzerland called the ‘edupat exchange’, when teachers and anyone passionate about education can meet, discuss and exchange ideas at the local library. We also have emJoy seminars in Helsinki and our biggest event coming up is a conference in Athens in October called the ‘Joyful Festival of Education’.

The Daily Mile Symposium

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Dr Brenda McKay Redmond and Dr Barbara McConnell from the Early Childhood Studies Department of Stranmillis University College took part in a research symposium on the health benefits of the Daily Mile initiative on Friday 12th April at the Hilton Hotel, Templepatrick.

This symposium, entitled “What is the Daily Mile and is it any good for our Kids in NI?”, was part of the annual conference of the Northern Ireland Branch of The British Psychological Society. The symposium, which was chaired by Dr McConnell, who is also the Hon. General Secretary in NI of the British Psychological Society, brought together academics, practitioners, health professionals, teachers and the research co-ordinator from the Steering Group of the Daily Mile Foundation.

It began with academics from Ulster University presenting on their work around the Daily Mile. This was followed by Dr Colin Moran from Sterling University who presented on the first published Scottish study on the Daily Mile. (The Daily Mile originated in Sterling, where the head teacher, Elaine Wylie began it in St Ninian’s Primary School). Dr Brenda McKay Redmond then presented on a study that she has been implementing in Stranmillis with Year 1 ECS students during their ‘Children’s Health and Wellbeing Module’. This study facilitated students participating in The Daily Mile during seminar work, with the intention to motivate them to be The Daily Mile Champions in their settings and thus encourage more children to take part.

Following on from the research papers, Colette Brolly from the PHA and Clare Drummy, Physical Activity Co-ordinator for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, talked about how Health Professionals are supporting the implementation of The Daily Mile in Schools. The symposium ended with Philip Lavery and Rosin McMullan, Vice Principal and P.E Co-ordinator respectively from Mount St Michael’s Primary School in Randalstown, presenting a case study of their school introduce The Daily Mile and how beneficial they are finding children’s participation in it.

Dr Barbara McConnell, Chair of the symposium noted: ‘This was an excellent symposium and it was so good to have academics, health professionals and practitioners together in the room to learn from each other. We are very grateful that Emily Carson Research co-ordinator for the Daily Mile came along to hear the symposium and we are delighted that we are going to continue this network and have established a local partnership at Stranmillis to investigate ways to continue the research and participation in The Daily Mile. It was encouraging to hear that 222 schools – 27% of NI primary schools – have now registered for the Daily Mile in NI, but there are a number of schools still to register and we hope at Stranmillis to be able to support this work in collaboration with our partners. The symposium was an ideal opportunity to hear about the real life practicalities from the staff at Mount St Michael’s, but I was so moved to hear the stories of how it is an inclusive, free intervention and how all children can participate at their own level.’

Barbara expressed her gratitude to all the speakers at the symposium, especially thanking Colin Moran, whose mother and aunt are Stranmillis alumni.

The Talk of Tyrone – Stranmillis ECS staff launch The Daily Mile

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Talking, walking and running were the requirements at the launch in Omagh County Primary School of The Daily Mile (TDM) initiative when Dr Brenda McKay Redmond and Dr Barbara McConnell, Stranmillis ECS staff, were the invited guests.

The Early Years staff at Omagh County P.S. have been working at introducing The Daily Mile for their children under the enthusiastic direction of Emma Daley, their nursery teacher and current Stranmillis ECS Master’s student. Emma wanted to introduce TDM as it is a social activity where the children walk, run or jog, at their own pace, for 15 minutes at least three times a week. It is fully inclusive and improves the health and wellbeing of children. Emma believes that TDM helps children to become more physically active, that it is sustainable and that the children are refreshed, returning to class ready to learn. The Early Years staff have also been working alongside Lesley Finlay & Eimear O’Kane (Western Health Social Care Trust (WHSCT) Health Improvement Department) and Oonagh Donnelly (Community Planning, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council) in the lead up to this exciting event.

Lesley Finlay, Physical Activity Co-ordinator for the Western Health & Social Care Trust, highlighted: “The Daily Mile is a simple, free way of promoting physical and mental health and also helps children focus in the classroom. We are delighted that Omagh County have introduced the initiative in their school. We have developed a range of resources to support Primary Schools who wish to participate in The Daily Mile including pupil certificates and classroom posters.”

Jill Funston, Principal of Omagh County PS, felt that the introduction of TDM in her school was significant because: “The Daily Mile removes barriers to the participation in physical activity. It is simple and inclusive. It introduces daily physical activity into children’s lives with the minimum of fuss. A valuable intervention in this time of austerity which costs nothing”.

The children celebrated completing their first mile by placing a sticker on their ‘The Daily Mile’ chart and enjoying a healthy picnic snack. What an achievement!
Brenda McKay Redmond insisted that: “Running along with the Nursery and Year 1 pupils as they embarked on their Daily Mile journey was the real privilege of the day. Being part of this TDM launch initiative, and watching the children embrace the core principles of TDM was so exciting. TDM was such a sociable event for the children as they had fun, ran and chatted with their friends, enjoying their experiences together. Barbara and I wish all the children and staff every continued success in implementing this vital and valuable initiative and hope they will continue to be the Talk of Tyrone!”

Further information on becoming a Daily Mile School can be found on TDM website www.thedailymile.co.uk and by contacting Dr Brenda McKay-Redmond B.mckayredmond@stran.ac.uk TDM representative for N.I. on TDM Research Advisory Group

ECS Farewell Tea Party!

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Staff from the BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies [ECS] degree at Stranmillis held a farewell tea party for their final year tutorial group students who are about to graduate in July.

The tea party marked the end of their three years of full-time study; both staff and students enjoyed the opportunity to chat, reminisce and hear about future plans for the following year from the students.

In Year 1, ECS students at Stranmillis are allocated a Professional Development [PDP] tutor and are assigned to a tutor group for the duration of their course. They get the opportunity to meet in these small groups on four occasions each year to discuss their professional development. This PDP Tutor also visits and monitors them throughout their extensive placement activities, supporting their development as Level VI graduate practitioners. PDP tutors encourage the members of their tutor group to undertake the University College’s extensive programme of ‘degree enhancement’ activities which broaden and extend their knowledge and skills, over and above their degree content. The process ensures that graduating cohorts are ready for the next stage in their careers as they engage in postgraduate study, or enter the world of work in early childhood education and care.

The ECS team wish the ‘Class of 2019’ all the very best in their future careers and hope they will keep in contact with Stranmillis as they explore where their ECS degree will take them!

When a conversation on Twitter leads to a whole conference!

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A rise in social media activity on how to best address ‘Adverse Childhood Experiences’ (ACEs) demonstrates a growing global concern for those who work with children. Teachers, schools and other educational professionals are central to identifying children who are dealing with one or multiple ACEs and to provide appropriate support to them. ACE awareness is now an integral part of Stranmillis degree programmes and as part of our wider community engagement we were delighted to jointly host and organise a ‘Relationships for Resilience: Show-casing effective trauma informed practice’ conference.

The conference was a collaborative project between Stranmillis University College, Barnardo’s NI, Women’s Aid Federation NI and Connected for Life. Representatives from each of these organisations formed the TIPER team (Trauma Informed Practice for Effective Relationships network) and organised the conference to inspire and deliver messages of hope and resilience. The TIPERs agreed that there had been a lot of awareness raising around ACEs but that many practitioners remained unsure about what they could do next to break cycles of adversity and how to really make a difference.

Roisin O’Neill from Barnardo’s said:

‘We wanted to motivate practitioners and students and influence change across the different sectors to bring about a more trauma-informed and trauma-responsive society. The key message was to be about the power of relationships and human connections in bringing about healing and transformation, and helping children to thrive and fulfil their potential.’

The conference was attended by 200 practitioners and 50 students and was a huge success. It was opened by Stranmillis drama specialist students, pictured with College tutor Dr Bronagh McKee who produced the drama to showcase the importance of trauma informed practice for teachers in understanding children’s reality of adversity. This was followed by a powerful film – ‘Robert’s Story’ which told of a young local man’s journey from adversity and offending to resilience and hope. The keynote speech was from inspirational Jaz Ampaw-Farr, Resilience Ninja and TED Talk presenter, who told her story of growing up in the midst of appalling poverty, trauma and hardship and the five ‘everyday heroes’ (all teachers), whose belief in her literally saved her life.

Jaz took time to view Stranmillis student posters on adverse childhood experience and trauma informed practice and said

‘I’m blown away with the work that your (Stranmillis) students get in relation to trauma informed practice’ and tweeted ‘My reason for celebration today is connecting with these phenomenal women (TIPER team) leading the ACEs revolution in Northern Ireland’.

The afternoon provided a range of workshops that showcased and celebrated models of best trauma-informed practice from early years settings, schools and community groups across Northern Ireland. These provided delegates with innovative ideas, strategies and practice tools to help children overcome adversity, build resilience and fulfil their potential. The University College will continue to embed ACE awareness trauma informed practice in its core degree programmes and looks forward to hosting more events such as the one highlighted here.