Children from eight different nationalities who completed English Language and Sports Integration Ca

South Dublin County Education Network

Graduation Ceremony

23 August, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

Mayor Billy Gogarty on behalf of the Members of the County Education Network will present certificates and gifts bags to a number of children from eight different nationalities who completed English Language and Sports Integration Camps over the summer at a Graduation Ceremony in County Hall Tallaght on Thursday 23rd August from 1.00-2.30pm.

Camps were held in two locations in the County and a total of 19 students took part. These camps took place over a three-week period in August 2007 in Killinarden Community School, Tallaght and Collinstown Sports and Leisure Centre, Clondalkin. These camps provided students with the opportunity to improve their English Language skills prior to the start of the new school term. The camps provided English Language tuition in the mornings with visits from the South Dublin Schools Library Services. In the afternoons the County Dublin V.E.C. provided a wide range of sporting activities. These camps aimed to create awareness of the many different cultures that now call South Dublin County their home by bringing them together through the positive medium of sport. The camps placed students of different nationalities on the same team where they worked together towards a common goal. Children from the local communities were invited to attend these sporting camps in the afternoons. By extending the membership of the summer camps in the afternoons the project promoted cultural integration for boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 17, which will foster friendships within the local community and encourage the participation of young people in sport after the completion of the camps.

The Mayor acknowledged the hard work and commitment of the students, teachers and sports coaches involved in the inaugural English Language and Sports Integration Camps.

These camps were organised by the County Education Network, which is a sub-structure of the South Dublin County Development Board. Mayor Gogarty paid particular thanks to the County Dublin Vocational Education Committee, Clondalkin and Tallaght Partnerships and South Dublin Libraries for their vision in developing an integrated approach to the provision of language and literacy supports for children from different ethnic backgrounds.

In addition to the resources provided by the agencies working in South Dublin County, funding was also provided by POBAL for this innovative pilot project. South Dublin County has a long tradition of working in partnership and the County Development Board is to the fore in improving partnership and collaborative working within the county.