Global Village Schools

Global Village’s Community of Practice event is well underway at Laois Forest School. Primary teachers and school leaders are learning to integrate Global Citizenship Education in their lessons via outdoor activities and workshops.

Thank You for Joining Us!
A huge thank you to everyone who attended the Global Village Leadership Symposium, Leading with Values: Patron Programmes and Social Justice in Primary Schools in Iveagh House, Dublin.
We were delighted to bring together school leaders, educators, researchers, and advocates for a day of learning, dialogue, and shared commitment to Global Citizenship Education and social justice in primary schools.
Thank you to all our speakers, panellists, and participants for making the event such a success.
We are especially grateful to our funders, Irish Aid, and to the Global Village Management Consortium partners Trocaire, Irish National Teachers' Organisation, , and Dublin City University—for their continued support.
We look forward to continuing the conversation and working together to support primary school pupils to become active global citizens committed to building a fairer and more sustainable world.

The Global Village Leadership Symposium 2026 is going on in full swing at the . We have a diverse range of speakers and panelist’s from Education leaders, patron body members, teachers and more. Stay tuned for more updates

Meet a Symposium panellist: Faten Alsourani
We are honoured that Faten Alsourani will join our Voices for Social Justice panel at the Leadership Symposium on 10 June.

Faten is a Palestinian lawyer from Gaza, now based in Ireland, where she works in human rights and international justice with Trocaire . Since arriving in Ireland she has been active in advocacy on Palestine, campaigning around the Occupied Territories Bill and contributing to wider accountability efforts. She has also helped document the systematic targeting of human rights defenders in Gaza, including journalists and healthcare workers.

Her advocacy is grounded in lived experience. She has lived under occupation, and her family has endured profound loss in Gaza. The voice she brings to this conversation matters, and we are grateful she will share it with us on the day.

Wednesday 10 June, 9:30am to 2.30pm
Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, Dublin

Book your place: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/leading-with-values-patron-programmes-and-social-justice-in-primary-school-tickets-1983950276684

Sharing this opportunity on behalf of our colleagues at Educate Together.
Educate Together is looking for a consultant to carry out a Mid-Term Review of their GCE and Activism Project, supported by Irish Aid. The work starts in July 2026 and will involve strengthening the existing M&E framework, reflecting on what is working well, capturing learning, and identifying ways to enhance practice for the remainder of the project.

The right candidate will have at least five years of experience in Monitoring and Evaluation, a strong understanding of GCE practice in Ireland, and a working knowledge of the Educate Together ethos and the National Primary Curriculum.

Applications close on Friday 26 June 2026. To apply, send a one-page proposal and CV to [email protected].

Full details and the consultancy spec are available at https://www.educatetogether.ie/about/careers/
Please pass this on to anyone in your network who might be a good fit.

Meet a Symposium panellist: Cathy Burke
We're delighted that Cathy Burke will join our Leadership Symposium on 10 June, taking part in the panel Patron Programmes in Practice – Supporting Leadership and Social Justice.
Originally from Mayo and a Dubliner since college, Cathy is a Catechist with the Partnership of Parishes in Lucan. In that role she facilitates Religious Education for children attending schools under patronages other than Catholic, and coordinates sacramental preparation across twelve primary schools and three special schools.
Cathy comes to the panel with a substantial background in primary school leadership. She was Principal of Scoil Eoin in Kilbarrack, a DEIS Band 1 school, for ten years, and went on to serve as Diocesan Adviser for Religious Education with the Archdiocese of Dublin for seven years. Her familiarity with the Grow in Love programme of the Catholic patronage, and the way it sits across the wider primary curriculum, is unmatched.
Her perspective on patron programmes as a support for school leadership, and on navigating inclusion, wellbeing and equality in school life, will be invaluable to the discussion.
Wednesday 10 June, 10am to 2.30pm
Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, Dublin
Book your place: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/leading-with-values-patron-programmes-and-social-justice-in-primary-school-tickets-1983950276684

Meet a Symposium panellist: Megan Atkinson

We're really pleased that Megan Atkinson will join our Voices for Social Justice panel at the Leadership Symposium on 10 June.

A working class artist and activist born and raised in Dublin, Megan is a first generation college graduate with a degree in Sociology and Social Policy from Trinity College Dublin. Her own path through higher education sparked a deep commitment to access and inclusion, and to advocating for the rights of those who are silenced or unheard.

Megan has worked with the Trinity Access Programmes and is a speaker with the National Youth Council of Ireland , where she is especially dedicated to amplifying the voices of young people. Her activism challenges what access really means in practice, and is shaped by an intersectional approach to social justice.

Writing and storytelling are central to her work too, as ways of connecting with others and giving form to experiences that often go unsaid. We can't wait to hear from her on the day.

Wednesday 10 June, 10am to 2.30pm
Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, Dublin

Book your place: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/leading-with-values-patron-programmes-and-social-justice-in-primary-school-tickets-1983950276684

Meet panellist Bronwyn April, joining the “Voices for Social Justice” panel at our Leadership Symposium on 10th June.
A racial justice educator and community development practitioner, Bronwyn brings more than twenty years of experience across Southern Africa and Ireland. She currently leads Education and Outreach at Comhlámh, where she runs national programmes on critical global citizenship, solidarity and inclusive practice.
She is a contributing author to NYCI's Understanding and Responding to Racism, the first anti-racist practice resource for youth workers in Ireland, and her work has been honoured by Dublin South City Partnership under the UN International Decade for People of African Descent.
Register today to hear from bronwyn and other leading voices for social justice tickets remain.
Iveagh House, Dublin, 10th June, 10am to 2.30pm
Link here- https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/creative-approaches-to-gce-teaching-for-justice-belonging-tickets-1544884895309

Tickets are still available for the Global Village Leadership Symposium
Leading with Values: Patron Programmes and Social Justice in Primary School
Wednesday 10 June, 10am to 2.30pm
Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, Dublin

This All-Ireland gathering brings patron representatives, school leaders and educational stakeholders together for a day of dialogue, collaboration and shared professional learning.

We'll explore how patron and ethos programmes help school leaders build inclusive and equitable communities, lead with values, and put social justice, pupil voice and active citizenship at the heart of primary education. The day also celebrates the diversity of patronage and management traditions across Ireland, and the shared commitment that runs through all of them.

We're delighted to welcome contributions from Vera Shanahan, Deirdre Kelly, Faten Alsourani and Sandra Corrigan.
A limited number of places remain. If joining us has been on your mind, this is the moment to register.

Book your place https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/leading-with-values-patron-programmes-and-social-justice-in-primary-school-tickets-1983950276684