Schools Of Sanctuary

Who We Are

Bunscoil Loreto Gorey

Bunscoil Loreto, Gorey, Co. Wexford was established in June 1843 and connected to the Board of Education the following October. Bunscoil Loreto, under the Patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Ferns and affiliated to the Loreto Trust Board, is situated in St. Michael’s Parish and caters for over 700 pupils, boys and girls. It caters for the full range of classes from Junior Infants to Sixth Class. It is an inclusive school that recognises, respects, celebrates and makes space for the many ethnicities, languages, cultures and traditions of our ever- diversifying student population.

Our Education Philosophy

We aim to make our school a place where:

-Love, freedom, justice, sincerity and joy find expression.
-Children feel accepted, and are allowed to experience the exercise of appropriate responsibility.
-The potential of each individual, spiritual, intellectual and physical is recognised and respected.
-Staff, Parent/Guardians, Students and Board of Management co- operate for the common good.

As a Loreto school we aim to promote the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the pupil; intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual, including a living relationship with God and with other people. A School of Sanctuary fosters a culture of welcome and inclusion for all. We offer refuge to those who need it and equip pupils and students with intercultural skills and the ability to have compassion in what is for many, a turbulent world.

Welcome to our School!

Here is our school crest. Before we applied to become a School of Sanctuary, some of our pupils approached Ms. Kennedy, our principal, with a business idea to fundraise for our new astro-turf pitch. This playground has brought new life to our school as the children now have a safe space to play. Sporting activities take place here and language poses no barrier.

Some of our students suggested producing half-zips for Bunscoil Loreto. Ms. Kennedy was so impressed by their proposal that she agreed to this idea. They asked the children to design a school crest for the half-zips. The entries were fantastic and they opted to merge three crests together to form the final crest.

The outer layer of the crest is the Loreto Ethos, the inside layer is the world surrounded by children holding hands and the final layer is the harp made up of two hurls and eight strings.

This crest holds such an important message for our school community, particularly our students. When we embarked on our journey towards becoming a School of Sanctuary, our principal surprised us by installing a new welcome mat at the front entrance to the school using this crest, as seen on the opposite page.

Our School's Welcome Mat in the Foyer

The symbolism behind the design:

Primary School Years

Diversity

The eight strings on the harp represent the eight years the children will spent in an inclusive environment.

The Loreto Ethos

Foundress Mary Ward and Teresa Ball responded to the needs of their time by establishing schools and using the work of education to spread the message of the Gospel. We continue to recognise the needs of our time
through the Schools of Sanctuary Initiative.

The children from all around the world that stand united holding hands represent our school community.

Holistic Development

Hurls represent the children's love of sport. They are placed together to form a harp to represent the children's love of music. Music and sport are universal languages, and make no distinction between ethnicity or race. All are welcome in Bunscoil Loreto.

Section 1: Learn

In 2019 Bunscoil Loreto took on the challenge of becoming the first School of Sanctuary in Wexford.

Staff members attended a Town of Sanctuary meeting which is an initiative being run in Gorey at present.

At this meeting, they learned about the needs of the asylum seeker community and the hardships they face on a daily basis.

Following this meeting we were privileged to have a visit from three asylum seekers to our school. Rania, from Sudan, and Kais and Rahaf, a Syrian couple, came into the school and spoke to our pupils. They spoke about some of their personal experiences both from their home countries and their time in Ireland. They also spoke about the experiences of their own children who are in primary school. It was very child-centred and engaging for all members of our school community.

Staff members also attended a City of Sanctuary meeting held in Dublin in March.

Who is seeking sanctuary?

Everybody seeks sanctuary in some way, however, some need sanctuary more than others due to situations they may find themselves in through no fault of their own.

In 2019, our Green Flag Committee conducted a whole school survey and discovered that we have children from 39 nationalities attending Bunscoil Loreto. Many of these children found themselves living in Ireland as their parents found work here. Others found themselves here as a result of fleeing their war torn home countries.

Leading the Change

Two Direct Provision Centres were recently set up in our locality. With the recent controversy in relation to such centres we felt that we could lead the change in our school by educating our students about how to support refugees and asylum seekers. In addition to this, and perhaps the greatest catalyst for our project, was the addition of two young Syrian students who joined our school. This provided first-hand experience on the impact and importance of being afforded a welcoming and tolerant community.

From Trócaire in conjunction with Global Schools
Primary Education for a Just World.

While we identified a number of potential areas that would support us in leading change in our school, we felt that for the current needs of our students and the wider school community, this project was most deserving of our time. It was challenging to hear the stories of asylum seekers and the conditions that they have endured, but it was also rewarding and beneficial- both for us, as a staff and for our students. Rania , Kais and Rahaf who spoke so honestly to our students had a massive impact on all of us. The biggest impact was made by Kais and Rahaf's five year old son. Our pupils got to see a video of him talking about his experiences of war life in Syria and his journey to Ireland. The room was very quiet when our children realised how lucky they were. They appreciated not having experienced what other children in the world are suffering on a daily basis. As teachers, this video had a profound impact on us. When two Syrian children joined our school community we better understood their feelings and experiences, giving us a starting point to ensure they felt safe in our school environment.

Student Feedback to this talk:
-"It was really interesting but scary to hear what the refugees had to tell us. Their lives are so different to ours. I felt really sorry for the little boy who was stuck in the war and glad that he is here now."

-"I felt sad for the people but happy for me that I was not living there. I hope they get to stay in Ireland where it is safe."

-"It was a bit sad. There was a war and they had to leave Syria. We saw a video about a little boy."

-"It was sad because they had a hard life. All their stuff was taken away during the boat trip over."

Following this talk we also received wonderful feedback from Rahaf who happened to meet some of our pupils in Gorey town. When the children recognised her, they stopped to ask how she was and told her of their hopes that she, her family and all of the refugees would be allowed to stay in Ireland.

How does the Schools of Sanctuary Initiative link to the Curriculum?

·        Language and Literacy
·        Social, Physical and Health Education
·        History, Geography and Science
·        Religious Education
·        Music, Art and Drama
·        Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

The Schools of Sanctuary Initiative links in with multiple areas of the Primary School Curriculum. It affords teachers the opportunity to facilitate lessons that integrate across a number of subjects, providing meaningful, contextualised learning experiences for students. We found that the Schools of Sanctuary Initiative linked particularly well with the following subject areas:

We were delighted that the project reflected the values of other initiatives underway at present, including:

·       Amber Flag. Theme: Well-being and Mindfulness
·       Active Flag. Theme: Travel the World
·      Green Flag. Theme: Global Citizenship
. Creative Schools

We will explain more about the link with these initiatives further on.

Cultivating a sense of belonging.