Divided . . . But Still United

By CAROLINE WILSON

THE school choir’s anthem is “We Are In This Together”. And at North Lanarkshire Council’s first shared primary campus they all are; teachers, parents and the pupils.

Catholic and Protestant pupils in the Cumbernauld building eat side by side in the school canteen and play in the same football team.

While children at the Catholic St Andrew’s Primary and the non- denominational Cumbernauld Primary are taught separately, everything possible is done to create a sense of togetherness.

Youngsters travel on the same school bus and share a playground and gold star point system for good behaviour.

The idea of shared campuses sparked controversy four years ago when the council’s education officials unveiled a GBP150million plan for seven joint-campus primary schools.

The Catholic Church feared the proposals could lead to a “significant deterioration” in RC education and fuel indiscipline in the classroom.

However, all fears appear to have been unfounded.

A new independent report has found most parents and school staff at the schools – of which there are still only a handful – were supportive of the shared campuses and felt they had real benefits for the communities.

The study found very few instances of conflict had been reported.

The figures speak for themselves.

When the two-storey building in Eastfield Road, Cumbernauld, opened in January 2003 the roll for St Andrew’s was 40. Now it is more than 200, an indication of growing confidence amongst parents in the idea.

And this year the campus clinched a hat-trick of awards, including the Scottish education award for behaviour and attendance.

The two head teachers are Betty Greenwood, of Cumbernauld Primary, and Eileen Mulrooney, of St Andrew’s.

BETTY said: “When the schools opened we were conscious the eyes of the world were on us.

“There was a lot of wariness, but most of the fear was coming from the adults and it was fuelled by ignorance.

“There were all sorts of myths going around, including one that we had a wall separating the playground.

“As soon as the pupils walked through the door it was not a problem.

“Eileen and I were determined it would be a success and so were both parishes. “When the children were in assembly one little boy asked ‘Does this mean I have to sit next to a Catholic?’

“The pupil next to him said ‘You are sitting next to one’.

“We even had a shared Nativity play and the joke going around was that it was the first mixed marriage.”

The main challenges of teaching at a shared campus, according to both heads, was the logistics of catering for 853 pupils.

The Cumbernauld Primary head also said fears that a shared campus would lead to instances of sectarian bullying inthe playground have been unfounded.

She said: “Children distinguish on personality. When pupils are picking for football teams they pick the best players, it’s a simple as that.

“We deal with any instances of bullying in the playground as any teacher would at any school.”

Youngsters talk of the benefits of having a larger pool of school friends.

Eilidh McHugh, 10, P7 at St Andrew’s, said: “I like playing with pupils from Cumbernauld Primary. One girl lives in my street and I get to see her.”

Craig Lindsay, 11, of Cumbernauld Primary, said: “It’s good because we are not judged on anything. We are all friends and have a bigger playground.”

NORTH Lanarkshire Council plans to increase the number of shared campus schools following the success of the first seven.

Eileen Mulrooney, who has been in teaching 30 years, says the shared campus has benefits for pupils and teachers.

She said: “Most of the St Andrew’s teachers went to Catholic schools, they trained at Catholic institutions. They have never had to justify their beliefs.

“This is an education for teachers. We are the only shared campus with a mixed staff room and we believe that has been one of the reasons for our success.

“The diocese was not in favour of that. I think it feared Catholic values might be diluted.

“But we have to be the role models. If teachers are sitting in separate rooms it sends out a very negative message to the children.

“I am not in favour of a mixed teaching school. Catholic schools have a very separate teaching ethos, but that does not mean we can’t move closer together.”

Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.

(c) 2007 Evening Times; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.