 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The "Together" Programme |
For the past two years Neil McMaster, who was Head Boy in 2000-2001and who graduated from Queens in 2005 with a 2:1 in Modern History, has worked for the Spirit of Enniskillen Trust developing and running a programme called ‘Together’ in over fifty schools across Northern Ireland and in Oldham. The programme gives young people the opportunity to engage in dialogue on an inter schools basis exploring the issue of, ‘Dealing with Difference.’ |
As part of his role Neil has addressed a great many influential organisations including, the then education minister Ruth Kelly’s commission on learning methodologies and processes, Sir Keith Ajebo’s Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review, and other groups of government ministers and Department of Education officials both at Westminster and in Northern Ireland. He has co-ordinated and facilitated eight six month international leadership and dialogue programmes with Catholic and Protestant young people from Northern Ireland and White and Asian young people from Oldham working in a variety of host countries including Croatia, Bosnia, USA, Canada, Cyprus and Sweden. |
 |
He has worked with the Department of Education and local school principals to develop a joint schools programme in Ballymena in response to the murder of Michael McIlveen and he has recently been responsible for a combined schools programme in Fermanagh to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Enniskillen bomb. At the invitation of the education authority in Oldham Lancashire he has developed and delivered a programme of dialogue and skills development days in fifteen predominantly White or Asian post primary schools across Oldham on the theme of ‘Dealing with Difference’ . Neil’s programme has recently undergone an independent evaluation by the University of Ulster which stated that ‘the Together programme represents an exemplar of alternative approaches to teaching and learning.’ |