TV & Film Producer Emma-Rosa Dias and screenwriter David McCrea have returned to their former Belfast school, Hazelwood Integrated College, to shoot a short film for the new season of RTE’s Storyland. This award-winning commissioning project gives emerging Irish drama talent an opportunity to make original programmes, viewable to a global audience on RTÉ Player.

More than two hundred aspiring and experienced drama production teams applied this year, and Afro-Mic Production’s script, based on a true story, was chosen as one of the four films for production in 2017. (more…)

The IEF’s fundraising manager, Brian Small, was delighted to be among the guests at Lagan College today (Monday 7 August) for the official opening of this year’s Camp Camilla.

Special guest at the ceremony was Olivia Nash MBE, actress and supporter of integrated education.  She joined the camp founder, Camilla Ballard, to welcome the participants and their parents. The event was also attended by local MLA Clare Bailey, who was herself a pupil at Lagan College. (more…)

The Chief Executive of the IEF, Tina Merron, has welcomed the call from the NI Children’s Commissioner for an integrated education system in Northern Ireland.

Koulla Yiasouma, NI Commissioner for Children and Young People has launched the Commission’s Educational Inequalities and Inclusion Position Paper, saying
“Education is the service that impacts on every single child nearly every single day for at least 12 years of their lives and usually longer.  It is the service that gives children the tools they need and helps prepare them for their future.” (more…)

Actor Adrian Dunbar has been a long-time supporter and advocate for Integrated Education in Northern Ireland as evidenced by his recent activity.   For years, Adrian has been a friend to the IEF, visiting schools and appearing at events.

In a video interview he made during a visit to Rowandale Integrated Primary School give a boost to the school’s fundraising efforts in 2010, Adrian said;
“I have always felt that children being educated together and sitting beside each other at school was surely the first step for a healthy society…..

…..“It’s much easier to demonize a section of the community if you don’t know anything about them.” (more…)

The Department for Education has published a report on the outcome of mixing/merging schools in Oldham and what impact this had on ethnic group relationships etc. Although these are not the same as Northern Ireland, there are some interesting parallels for integrated education in Northern Ireland. (more…)

New-Bridge Integrated College has been awarded the Evens Prize for Peace Education 2017 – the first winner in the UK or on the island of Ireland since the award scheme was established in 2011.  For this year’s prize, the Evens Foundation looked for strategies implemented in secondary schools for dealing with ‘hot topics’ in a constructive way. (more…)