Shared Education

"Red and Green Working Together"

March 2017 saw the formal launch of the Shared Education partnership between Down High School and St Patrick's Grammar School (affectionately known as the Green and Red Highs). The two Downpatrick grammar schools have, of course, worked together before; but our successful joint bid for Shared Education Signature Project funding is allowing us to deepen this relationship for the mutual benefit of pupils, teachers, parents, governors and the wider Downpatrick community. As our shared journey unfolds it is clear that we have so much to learn from one another.

Shared Education is very much focused on the following objectives:

• Collaborating to improve learning and teaching opportunities and outcomes
• Building cross-community relations and nurturing tolerance and respect
• Developing our links with wider civic society (including community organisations, local government, charities and employers)

DHS and SPGS have very much embraced the core values of Shared Education. The wide range of collaborative projects and events that we have introduced include:

• Combined and targeted intervention and support in Literacy and Numeracy
• Joint Mindfulness and Wellbeing training for pupils and teachers
• Collaborative learning across a majority of our teaching departments
• Collective training for teachers, middle leaders, and the Student Leadership Teams across the 2 schools
• Co-volunteering and community work including the Saphara Project to India, the Special Olympics and the Saint Patrick Centre Santa Trail
• Listening to the synergised pupil voice of our two School Councils
• Joining together for a number of workshops ranging from Young Enterprise to Crime Scene Investigation to DNA Analysis.
• Shared strength and conditioning work for some of our rugby and Gaelic football teams
• Joint life skills sessions for Sixth-Formers including a focus on young driver safety and the need to be responsible when using social media

We believe in a shared future and we are excited by the learning opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead.