Mural painted by our Italian friends
The students who took part in CEPNET in Poppi have just moved on from their primary school and look what they have left behind for those to follow in their footsteps…
According to the group, they wanted to leave this “as a sign of the best thing that happened to them during their 5 years there.”
We salute them as they move onto second level and trust that they will be shaping the future of their communities for a long time to come, with an eye to creating a more sustainable world.
Dissemination Event- Dublin
An event was held in Dublin on September 27th in IMMA’s lecture theatre.
The event brought together a range of teachers, academics, teacher trainers from Dublin universities as well as representatives from NGOs, environmental organisations, youth workers and parents and guardians from the D7ET school community.
We were lucky to have the event hosted by Evie Kenny, who is behind the national broadcaster’s podcast on environmental and sustainabilty issues. The event was recorded to be included in a forthcoming podcast that will look at how schools are engaging with the climate emergency.
Evie interviewed students who had completed CEPNET projects, teachers involved in CEPNET delivery and a principal who spoke about how participation in CEPNET had contributed to a wide range of benefits in their school, not least the animation of a new group of active young citizens.
An important part of the event was linked to the CEPNET website. In launching and promoting the website, there was the opportunity to share further the resources developed and the tips and guides to using the CEPNET approach. It was described by one of the audience as a “one stop shop” for getting to know and work with the approach.
We were also lucky to have participants at our event who are directly involved in an Environmental Festival that was due to take place in IMMA, the Earth Rising EcoFest. We got to hear about the intended highlights and how we could get involved.
A lively questions and answers session, following the presentations and interviews, allowed some of our guests to quiz the students on some of the impacts as they saw it.
Participants also had the opportunity to discuss more informally with the students about their projects and experiences of participating in the project. The students spoke about the importance of being able to get to know their peers in the other schools and how much they enjoyed these online discussions and sharing exercises.
Fourth Partner Meeting- Dublin
All partners arrived in Dublin for our fourth and final transnational meeting for our project. We spent most of our time in the Dublin 7 areas of Smithfield and Stoneybatter. We were well looked after in the Sanctuary where we could look to finalise the work of the project, after two wonderful years of collaboration.
A key part of the Sanctuary space is its labyrinthine garden, based on principles of wellbeing and mindfulness. John explained to us about the process of how the garden was put together.
A visit to Stoneybatter would not be complete without a tour of its various eateries, with Lillliput a welcome feature for the group.
During the evening, we were guided on a walking tour of Dublin’s South Inner City by Kenny, who is involved in a social enterprise, connecting issues of homelessness within the city’s historic centre. Participating in this Secret Street Tour allowed us to hear Kenny’s story and how he had been affected by homelessness and is now working to build a platform to raise awareness of the issue.
On our second day, we visited our partner school in Dublin, D7ET where we were welcomed by the students and school community. We got to engage with the students in the yard and through presentations and song.
Meeting with Irish Minister in the Dáil
Before they finished up for their final term in primary school, Rachel’s sixth class group were invited to visit the Dáil (Ireland’s parliament) in order to meet with Ossian Smyth, a Government Minister, and one of our local representative TDs Neasa Hourigan (Teachta Dála in Irish, meaning a member of parliament). Both Ossian and Neasa are TDs from Ireland’s Green Party.
The visit came about due to one of the class CEPNET projects. Ciara, Freya and Siún had emailed a series of questions to Government departments asking about how environmental targets were going to be met and how young people were to be more included in these processes.
Instead of having an email response, we were invited to meet with the both Ossian and Neasa, so that the girls could ask the questions in person. As well as spending time with these politicians, having some refreshments, the class also were brought on a tour of the Dáil and Seanad. We got to ask plenty of questions about the functioning of our democracy and to see leader’s question time in action.
More information is available in the Student Project section of the website, where there is a video of Neasa talking about how young people can be better included in managing a response to the climate crisis.
Dissemination Event- Vienna
The 3rd CEPNET Multiplier Event was held in Austria on 23 June 2022.
It was attended by 25 primary teachers, teacher trainers and educational specialists and aimed at enabling them to understand and implement the CEPNET approach in primary schools.
The first presentation on the CEPNET approach, the evaluation of the first cycle, selected international projects and the 3 Intellectual Outputs was delivered by MOVES.
The teachers from ZIS (Centre for Inclusive Schools) facilitated a hands-on presentation on the approach, actively involving the participants and showing them how it works in practice.
Then the ZIS students presented four of their projects and an infographic with all the projects and the classes involved was displayed on the floor for participants to discuss.
Dissemination Event- Poppi
The 2nd Multiplier Event of the CEPNET project took place in Italy on 9 June 2022.
The main objective of the event was to present the project and its 3 results, first of all to the other teachers of the Poppi School (primary and secondary) and to the entire community.
The presentation was carried out by Oxfam, the teachers who took part in the project and the children themselves, who were the real protagonists of the event.
The event was an opportunity to show how participating in an Erasmus+ project focused on dialogue with other European countries can stimulate profound change, especially for a primary school in a small mountain village like Poppi.
It was also emphasised how CEPNET’s innovative research and active citizenship methodology is effective in developing cross-sectoral skills, engaging and stimulating children, and how it can fit into the daily dynamics of the school by shaping the official curriculum.
Letter from Italian Minister to Poppi Students
Great news from our Italian friends. The Minister for Economic Development has responded to one of the emails from the children. The Minister is explaining how the Italian government is working to reach some of its sustainable development targets such as cutting CO2 emissions based on the suggestions made by Poppi’s children.
The letter mentions our CEPNET project as an important Erasmus+ project as well as mentioning each pupil by his/her name. It ends by saying that a better, more sustainable world will not be possible without the children’s help and thanks them for being so aware and engaged.
See below for the letter.
Dissemination Event- Omagh
The first Erasmus + Cepnet Multiplier Event was held on 1 June 2022 in Northern Ireland.
Representatives from the Northern Ireland Education Authority, Omagh and Fermanagh District Council, Primary schools, Health and Social Services and parents from St Ronan’s Primary School in Omagh all attended the event.
All participants engaged fully with the schedule of the event and favourably commented on the 3 Intellectual Outputs created by the CEPNET partnership.
After a presentation on the CEPNET project and Intellectual Outputs, the St Ronan’s Primary School children presented their research findings to the audience.
Participants were invited to visit individual project stalls, interact with the various artefacts, ask questions and share observations with the children.
It was evident how successfully the methodology of the CEPNET project fits so well within the primary school curriculum and this was emphasised at the ME by the school principal.
Third Partner Meeting- Omagh
The 3rd TPM hosted by Early Years – the lead partner and St. Ronans Primary School. At this meeting we looked at our Social Media presence and investigated the website in more depth as well as planning for future multiplier events in partner countries.
The Chair of Omagh and Fermanagh District Council greeted the international delegates in the Strule Arts Centre for lunch.
The partners had a tour of the city of Omagh.
On the 2nd day St Ronan’s Primary School welcomed the visitors to their country school in the sunshine and the children presented their CEPNET projects to great applause.
CEPNET i Poppi
L’istituto Comprensivo Statale di Poppi e Oxfam Italia organizzano l’incontro conclusivo del Progetto ERASMUS+ CEPNET che si terrà presso il locale Auditorium dell’ Istituto Comprensivo di Poppi il 9 giugno 2022 a partire dalle ore 15:00.
L’evento rappresenta l’occasione per divulgare i risultati finali di un progetto biennale a respiro europeo incentrato sui temi della Agenda 2030 rivolto agli alunni frequentanti le attuali classi quarte della scuola primaria e per condividere l’utilizzo di una metodologia didattica che si è dimostrata motivante ed efficace nello stimolare le competenze trasversali dei bambini.
Nella consapevolezza che attraverso la condivisione e la conoscenza di buone pratiche didattiche si possa alimentare un circolo virtuoso di miglioramento dei processi formativi, e di riflesso della società futura.
Omagh to host CEPNET Event
St Ronan’s Recarson Primary School and the Early Years Organisation are hosting an event in Omagh that will focus on CEPNET and how it has been so successfully applied within the school and wider community.
The Omagh District Council chairman will be present to hear all about the work on sustainable development and how the school is building capacity with their students to connect with global themes and to offer opportunities for the children to discuss these issues with other children in different parts of Europe.
The children will be front and centre for the event and they will present the results of their deep dive into the Sustainable Development Goals. The fantastic videos show how the children have really embraced the topics and are going to be experts in sustainabilty as they reach second level and beyond.
The first group project looked at Clean and Affordable Energy as a topic.
Life Below Water was the focus for another group.
A third project looked at issues to with Life On Land.
A fourth group decided that they were interested in examining the issue of Quality Education.
The event is organised to allow the school community to share their work and their findings with the wider community. The children and their teachers will also be sharing their learning with their new friends and colleagues from across Europe.
Positive Evaluation Report
Thanks to all our students, teachers and parents for contributing to our evaluation of the first cycle of CEPNET in the schools.
We are delighted with the feedback, please have a read here and let us know what you think.
Second Partner Meeting- Vienna
Partners will be coming together again in Vienna in late March to review how they are getting on with the methodology. For most schools, Cycle 2 will be almost complete and the teachers will get a chance to discuss progress within a series of workshops.
We will also be planning our Multiplier Events.
Our school partner in Vienna will host the second day of the meeting and the students will bring us on a walking tour of their community.
Dublin7ET students present projects
The sixth class students from the Dublin school in the partnership have mostly completed their work on CEPNET projects. These have ranged from detailed analysis of solar power, homelessness, fundraising projects, as well as this rap about climate change.
In total, some 17 projects were presented to a group of almost 100 children and teachers from the school community. A lot of preparation had gone into these presentations. More information can be found in the student project section.
The students will continue to share their results with peers and local organisations. One group examined the journey of their football jerseys and discovered that some were more sustainable in terms of their global footprint. They will share these findings with their clubs.
There was some disappointment from others in the slow response from local and national politicians. One group had been promised a response to their questions about Cop-26 and environmental targets from the Minister for Environment. To date, the children have not heard back.
School Student Councils are elected
Each of the four schools have used a range different approaches to elect CEPNET representatives in each classroom. A “first past the post” election approach was taken in one class, with the use of “proportional representation” in another.
These student councils will meet regularly to review project progress. They will come up with the best means for their peers to share their ideas and projects in the online spaces, as well as present their results.
Despite initial challenges with connections, wifi and language barriers, the council representatives are planning the review process for many of the project results.
First Partner Meeting- Florence and Poppi
After over 18 months of lockdown and restrictions on meeting, all partners finally got to spend some face to face time with each other to review progress in their separate schools, examine the resources that have been developed and to spend time in small workshops where teachers from each school could talk frankly about their experiences.
All participants spent a wonderful day with our colleagues in Poppi. The children welcomed us to the school and the Mayor of Poppi officially opened our session with kind words about the importance of inter-school collaborations and partnerships.
The group visited the local castle where students from the local schools acted as tour guides and facilitators for the visit.
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