Vol.
3 No. 31 - October 20th, 2003
Navan
Educate Together National School Celebrates Harvest Season
with the South African Ambassador
On
Monday 20th Oct. the children of Navan Educate Together National
School were thrilled to welcome the South African Ambassador
to Ireland, Her Excellency Mrs. Melanie Verwoerd to their
school located at Rock Lodge, Flowerhill, Navan. The school
opened last year and was originally housed in the Order of
Malta Hall in Academy Street, Navan. The parents had to pack
and re-pack all the school equipment every day and the facilities
were very limited. Despite the difficulties, the school grew
on account of the dedication of teachers and parents. It is
now a four teacher school with 64 children and has moved to
a large house in Flowerhill. This accommodation will last
the school for the next two years. The children were extremely
busy preparing for the ambassador's visit, learning songs
and poems around the theme of Harvest and Regeneration.
When the ambassador arrived on such a crisp bright October
day, there was great excitement. John Keaveney, Principal
teacher, and Paul Rowe CEO of Educate Together welcomed her
to the school and after a speech by Vernu Gramoney, Chairperson
of the Board of Management and songs and poems from the children,
Mrs. Verwoerd spoke to the children, staff and parents in
the school yard.
Vernu Gramoney who is a South African citizen working in Ireland,
thanked the Ambassador for taking time to visit the school
and said:-
“Whilst our children may not realise it, they are now
part of a schooling ethos from Educate Together that attempts
to address one of the biggest problems in society today, that
of being different.
Being different is a category given to people by others who
feel that they know what qualification a person needs to be
called a person. The Educate Together concept to me is simple:-
Accept people for what they are and show them all respect.
These are good values to help bring up your kids no matter
what background you come from.”
In
a warm and friendly address to the children, staff and parents,
Mrs. Verwoerd highlighted the challenge that diversity presents
to modern societies. She explained that in South Africa there
are eleven different languages and many different religions.
What they had learned is that it is not enough to teach children
and adults to tolerate differences. What they have learned
in their ‘rainbow nation’ is that “It is not
about tolerating. It is, as you are doing, celebrating diversity”.
She went on to explain that it is only when children are taught
in this atmosphere from an early age that they have a firm
base and cemented friendships that allow them as teenagers
and adults to really cope with diversity and its challenges.
She concluded by saying that initiatives such as the Educate
Together schools were probably the best social initiatives
that parents and teachers could involve themselves in for
the future of society.
Ambassador Verwoerd has a distinguished track record of political
activism in the new South Africa. Before taking up office
as Ambassador to Ireland in 2001, Mrs. Verwoerd was a member
of parliament for the ANC in Capetown. She became the youngest
ever female member of the South African Parliament in 2001
and has degrees in Theology, Philosophy and Feminist Theology.
As a member of parilament for the ANC, she has travelled extensively
on fact finding missions and supported South African asbestos
workers in their legal action against the multinational Cape
plc.
Educate Together schools are set up and developed by groups
of parents in a local communities, who wish to send their
children to a national school that is multi-denominational,
child-centred, co-educational and democratically run. The
schools are recognised by the Department of Education, are
non-fee paying and operate under the same rules applying to
all national schools.
Educate Together’s main objectives are based on empowering
the rights, skills and knowledge of its students and respecting
their identities, abilities and equality. This involves playing
a key role in the root and branch reform of the Irish education
system so that it becomes modern, integrated and inclusive.
To this end we are committed to building a national network
of schools that provide a legally binding commitment to children,
teachers and parents to support their cultural, religious
and social identities.
There are currently 31 Educate Together schools in Ireland,
of which 16 are in the greater Dublin region. Educate Together
acts as patron of new schools and represents all its members
in negotiations with the Department of Education and Science
and other national organisations.
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For
further information please contact the Educate Together National
Office;
E: info@educatetogether.ie Tel:01 4292500, Fax:01 4292502
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© Educate Together, 2003
