European Movement Ireland has announced that the Blue Star Programme will be running for its eighth year over the 2018-2019 school term and the registration process for interested primary schools across Ireland is now open. The Blue Star Programme aims to foster better knowledge and understanding of how Europe affects our lives amongst Irish primary school pupils through classroom projects and activities.
What is it?
The Blue Star Programme is a venture of the Communicating Europe Initiative, supported by the Office of the Minister of State for European Affairs, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Education and Skills, the European Commission Representation in Ireland and the European Parliament Information Office in Ireland.
It is open to all primary schools in Ireland and either whole schools or individual classes can complete the programme.
Objectives
The objective of the Blue Star Programme, now in its eighth year, is to foster better understanding and knowledge, by primary pupils, of how the EU affects our lives. The Programme also aims to foster a strong sense of awareness of the EU among its participants that reaches beyond the school walls and out into the community. Over the previous seven years of the Programme, nearly 1,000 primary school registrations have come in across Ireland, with every county in the country represented since 2014.
Registration
Registration for the Blue Star Programme 2018-2019 is now open and to see how you can sign up and participate, please visit http://www.bluestarprogramme.ie/register/. For more information on the Blue Star Programme, visit http://www.bluestarprogramme.ie or get in touch with the team at bluestar@europeanmovement.ie. The deadline for registration is Friday 28 September.
How to Participate
If you are interested in participating in the Blue Star Programme, there are 5 stages to complete: 1. Registration 2. Action Plan 3. Completion of Blue Star Programme work throughout the school year 4. Final Report 5. Awarding of Blue Star Certificates of Achievement and European flag.
- Interested schools must fill in a Registration Form to sign up for the Blue Star Programme. This must be returned by post or email before Friday 28th September 2018.
- Participating Blue Star Programme schools are required to submit a short Action Plan 2017-2018 to give European Movement Ireland, as National Coordinator, an idea of the projects and activities your school will be undertaking. More importantly, in the past we have found that the Action Plan proves really helpful for teachers planning their lessons/activities for the year ahead.
- In order to successfully complete the Blue Star Programme, participating schools must complete all four elements of the Programme (historical, geographical, cultural and creative, and institutional) and hold an event to mark Europe Day (9 May).
- Similar to the Action Plan, the purpose of the Final Report that the school submits is to enable European Movement Ireland to see how participating schools covered all four elements of the Blue Star Programme. It also enables them to learn how the Programme might be improved year on year and allows them to read your thoughts and feedback.
- Once schools have submitted their Final Report and it is deemed acceptable by the Blue Star Programme National Coordinator, successful schools are awarded Blue Star Programme Certificates of Achievements, signed by the Minister of State for European Affairs, and a European flag.
For further information, get in touch with Ryan Levis, Programme Co-ordinator, and he says he’ll be delighted to help and provide more detail: 01 662 58 15, or email bluestar@europeamovement.ie
