St Louise’s Specialist Comprehensive College, Victoria College and Ballyclare High School Stage Joint Performance

Eight months on from the launch of a £3.7m Sharing Education Programme (SEP) at Queen’s University, three schools are to host drama performances showcasing the positive impact the programme has had on their lives.

Created to encourage schools to make inter-community collaboration an integral part of their everyday life, 2,500 school pupils in Northern Ireland have benefited from the programme to date. The programme is funded by the International Fund for Ireland and Atlantic Philanthropies and administered by Queen’s.

Tonight (Thursday, 15 May), pupils from St Louise’s Specialist Comprehensive College in Belfast will perform with pupils from Victoria College, Belfast and Ballyclare High School at the Youth Action venue in Belfast. 

Both of tonight’s performances have been written and produced by pupils studying for a GCSE in Drama. The first performance Their Past Our Future features pupils from St Louise’s and Ballyclare High School. It tells the story of the development of two communities (Ballyclare and the Falls Road) over the last 60 years, focusing on the lives and issues of young people throughout that time.

The second story, Two Belfast Girls, is a co-production between St Louise’s and Victoria College and tells the story of two young girls from opposite sides of the community who meet as young children, lead separate lives and then meet again. They now have to choose what they want to do.

The performances follow on from another Sharing Education event held earlier this week at Queen’s when pupils from Belfast Model School for Girls, Our Lady of Mercy and Little Flower in Belfast, attended the University to receive their Welcome Host accreditation after following a customer service programme.

Speaking ahead of the performances, Professor Tony Gallagher, Head of the School of Education at Queen’s said: “Within the Sharing Education Programme our short term goals were to provide teachers and pupils with opportunities to engage with different traditions and learning cultures and to share access to academic excellence.

“Tonight at Youth Action, we will see performances which are tangible evidence of the positive impact Sharing Education is already having, thanks to the hard work of pupils, teachers and the support of parents.

“Long term, we will have created enhanced educational and personal development opportunities for everyone involved. In addition to the fostering of reconciliation and partnership, pupils are also having access to educational excellence, something of vital importance for their future and that of the wider community in Northern Ireland.”

Ita McVeigh, Project Leader for Specialism in Performing Arts at St Louise’s said: “In feedback we have received, pupils are telling us of how they have made many new friendships with other young people with whom they would otherwise have little or no contact.

“We  are a society still coming to terms with years of living apart but through the resources provided by SEP and the energies and commitment of our young people and their teachers, we have been begun the journey towards creating new links through educational partnerships. Our pupils, in this exciting collaboration, now have increased opportunities to play their role in developing a more stable society for all of us and of course enjoy their learning along the way.”

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