| Walter
Radar, the New Opportunities Fund's newly appointed Northern
Ireland Director also attended the conference, he added "I
am delighted to be able to take part in this event to mark
the success of the New Opportunities Fund's Out of School
Hours Learning grant programme.
"The Southern Education and Library Board projects that
received support from the Fund have demonstrated a high level
of commitment to assisting hundreds of young people in having
positive learning experiences through a wide range of innovative
and challenging activities."
One such school that received funding under the NOF Out of
Schools Hours Learning programme was Stewartstown Primary
School. School Principal Mr William Marlin spoke to other
participants about the success of his after schools clubs.
"Coming from a small rural school with only 2 full time
teachers, the extra funds from NOF has enabled the school
to offer after school clubs 4 to 5 days per week. The children
have had the opportunity to avail of a wide range of activities
including archery, craftwork, cookery, computer skills and
a homework club."
Delegates also heard presentations from Stella Cunningham,
SHSSB Childcare Partnership on the Sure Start Programme and
the importance of a multi agency approach. Mary Yarr, SELB
Advisor for Modern Languages involved Kenny Wright, Orritor
Primary School and Sean McMorrow in her presentation on the
development of German and Spanish within a number of primary
schools within the SELB. Schools could consider including
languages as part of their Out of School Hours Learning Programme,
if it meets the NOF OSHL criteria.
Vivien Kelly, SELB Advisor for Environment & Society updated
schools on Multiversum, the learning on line project. "Multiversum
is a European project which provides pupils in primary and
post primary schools in the Southern Board area with a platform
to place their learning experiences on the web. Young people
can visit http://selbcomenius.org to view their work and also
to learn more about the project which connects learners in
6 countries - Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal, England and
N Ireland."
Mary Laverty, Education Extra updated schools on the excellent
material they produce on how to support Out of School Hours
Learning. Reading Clubs and Breakfast Clubs were highlighted
as an exciting way to engage young people.
Fiona Nicoll, NUS/USI mentoring Co-ordinator stressed the
value of mentoring and facilitated a workshop for the student
delegates. Seventeen students from the participating Post
Primary Schools attended the conference. This workshop informed
students and they will now be able to explore how best they
could be involved in a mentoring programme within their own
school. A follow-up training programme will be organised over
the next number of months.
The New Opportunities Fund is the biggest of the National
Lottery good cause distributors, providing National Lottery
funding for health, education and environment projects across
the UK, with a particular focus on disadvantage and improving
quality of life. The Fund supports sustainable projects that
will:
· Improve the quality of life of people throughout
the UK
· Address the needs of those who are most disadvantaged
in society
· Encourage community participation
· Complement relevant local and national strategies
and programmes
Funding for programmes is divided between Northern Ireland,
Scotland, Wales and England on the basis of population weighted
to reflect levels of deprivation.
The Fund has awarded grants totalling more than £8 million
benefiting more than 850 schools since the launch of the Out
of School Hours Learning grant programme in April 1991. The
programme closed in March this year.
The Lottery cash was used to create and develop regular out
of school learning activities in secondary, special and primary
schools across Northern Ireland around the school day, weekends
and in the holidays. . |
