Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan is proud to be involved in Culture United. Culture United is an Erasmus project funded by the EU. The project uses cultural events and heritage festivals in each of the participating countries as multidisciplinary learning experience for students in primary schools. The goal is for children to learn in an interactive and engaging way which appeals to their natural curiosity, enthusiasm and interests.
In this project, our school is working closely with culture staff from Creative Spark Dundalk. Teachers at our school will develop teaching materials related to Brigid of Faughart. Other schools will also benefit from the teaching resources that are created. The teaching resources will be linked with a cultural heritage event in Dundalk in September 2021 that is related to Brigid of Faughart.
Read about our latest activity here:
Multiplier Event, Dundalk 23/9/22
Friday 23 September 2022 was Culture Night in Ireland. In Dundalk, Creative Spark hosted a mini-conference showcasing the Culture United project in which it has been participating with Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan for the last three years.
Culture United is an Erasmus+ project with partners in Scotland, Ireland, Finland, and The Netherlands, who are working together to use cultural events and heritage festivals as a way to incorporate multidisciplinary ways of teaching in primary schools. This helps students to become more engaged with what they are learning and contributes to students’ cultural and social development, as well as their creativity.
The event kicked off with a beautiful performance by the harp players from Rang a Sé in the Gaelscoil.
Sarah Daly, Executive Director of Creative Spark, gave an overview of the project and its aims, followed by Áine Uí Choinne, Head Teacher at Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan, who spoke about the learning and impact the project has had on the teachers, staff and students. Teachers, Sionann Ui Bhraonáin
and Éadaoin Nic Aodha, introduced a video made by the Gaelscoil pupils in which they explained how they had made friends with other pupils from the partner schools in Edinburgh and how they had exchanged letters and had video calls with the schools there.
The event launched the Culture United Teacher Training programme which is available free of charge on Thinkific to anyone interested in learning how to imbed more culture and creativity in their teaching. We also launched the Cultural Organisers Toolkit, which aims to help events organisations
to work better with teachers, schools and their pupils. This toolkit is available to download on the Culture United website.
Creative Spark and Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan are the Irish partners in this project and have learned and shared a lot with colleagues from the Netherlands, Scotland and Finland.
More information: https://www.cultureunited.eu
https://www.facebook.com/EUCultureUnited
Thinkific Training Material:
https://learninghubfriesland.thinkific.com/courses/culture-united-teacher-training-program
Beannachtaí na Féile Bríde! Click on link to see photos!
1/2/22 : Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan were delighted to welcome facilitator Úna Curley to Rang 5 who showed them how to make St Brigid’s crosses. The class had already made them from construction straws but these crosses are made from rushes which were gathered in bog lands nearby. Typically, the crosses have 4 arms, tied at the ends, although there are 3 armed versions also. Legend has it that as St Brigid was sitting with a dying pagan chieftain, she picked up some rushes from the floor and begin to weave them into a cross. The man asked her about it, and she told him of Jesus, which resulted in his conversion to Christianity before he died. They are traditionally hung over the entrances to dwellings to ward off disease for the year. Beannachtaí na Féile Bríde oraibh go léir.
NEWS: Our CULTURE UNITED partner Unique Events in Scotland organized their Burns and Beyond event online this year – they did a great job! The CULTURE UNITED school programme must wait until after the lockdown, but here’s a sweet memory of how it looked last year! https://www.burnsandbeyond.com/events/culture-united/
Our partners in this project are:
Oulu International School, Finland
Stichting Beleef en Herinner and Kunst Kade from The Netherlands
Creative Spark, Dundalk, Ireland
Edinburgh City Council and Unique Events from Scotland, the UK
Open Education Community (Belgium)
*Séanadh:Ní hionann tacaíocht an Choimisiúin Eorpaigh do tháirgeadh an fhoilseacháin seo agus formhuiniú ar ábhair an fhoilseacháin, lena léirítear tuairimí na n-údar amháin, agus ní féidir freagracht a chur ar an gCoimisiún as aon úsáid a d’fhéadfaí a bhaint as an bhfaisnéis atá ann.