Mercy Ballymahon Scoops Top European Award for Digital Education Practices

Mercy Ballymahon Scoops Top European Award for Digital Education Practices Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, is among the first in Ireland to be recognised under new European digital schools award

Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, has become one of the first schools in Europe to achieve European Digital Schools Awards status.

Launched last year, the Digital Schools Awards European programme was created to encourage and recognise innovation, collaboration and skills development in digital technology amongst schools. It is backed by the European Commissions’ Erasmus+ programme, national government bodies and leading technology companies led by HP.

Only 90 secondary schools across the continent were selected to take part in the initiative which is being piloted in five European countries namely Ireland, Lithuania, Scotland, Serbia and Slovenia and it is the first of its kind to be available across the continent.

Mercy Ballymahon is among the first schools in Ireland to receive the award which recognises and celebrates best practice in digital education. The school was awarded for its excellence in the areas of Leadership, Collaboration and Networking, Infrastructure and Equipment, Continuing Professional Development, Teaching and Learning, Assessment, Student Digital Competence and the digital self-reflection tool SELFIE. The school has also been invited to be a mentor school in the areas of Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Student Digital Competence specifically.

To achieve European Digital Schools status, the Longford based school had to demonstrate strong leadership in digital education and provide sufficient access to resources and infrastructure. Their school culture, professional development strategies and teaching practices were also assessed as part of the submission.

The European Digital Schools Awards requires schools to use the European Commission’s SELFIE self-reflection tool to assess their digital learning and teaching practices and identify areas where improvements can be made. As part of the programme, teachers were given access to expert support and resources to help them develop their digital curriculum and ensure pupils are given the skills they need to navigate the modern world.

The European Digital Schools Awards programme also intends to open up dialogue across borders and create a growing community of digitally competent schools, where teachers can share learnings from different education systems.

Ms Josephine Donohue, Principal at Mercy Ballymahon said: “To be one of the first schools in Europe to receive this award is such an achievement, and our whole school community is very excited by it.

“Both our teachers and students have worked incredibly hard to develop and embed digital learning into the curriculum. Ensuring that our students have access to the equipment, resources and support to develop their skills and literacy in this area has been top of our agenda for the last ten years , but the European Digital

Schools Award programme has given us the momentum to drive forward new strategies. I thank our parents and guardians who have supported our initiatives over the years. A special thanks to our Board of Management for their support and confidence in our digital curriculum. I thank our Digital team of Gary Kenny deputy principal, Fiona Noone, Michaela McGovern and Ryan Jones who have worked tirelessly to achieve the Digital Schools Award.

“The European Digital Schools Award has opened up channels for collaboration, both within our school community and with counterparts in other countries, and we have built close working relationships with educational professionals across Europe.

“We are very proud of the achievements of our school, and we will continue to share best practices with our friends across the continent.”

Anna Doody from Digital Schools Awards said: “We know that schools across Europe have taken great strides in recent years to integrate digital practices into their teaching, and one of the most important and valuable aspects of the European Digital Schools Awards is the ability to network with counterparts in other parts of the world.

“By connecting schools, we hope to bring attention to innovations happening elsewhere in the continent and encourage collaboration by opening more channels for knowledge sharing across borders.”

To find out more, schools are encouraged to visit awards4selfie.eu

Mercy Secondary School Principal Ms Josephine Donohue pictured with Digital Team members Ryan Jones, Fiona Noone, Michaela McGovern and Deputy Principal Gary Kenny on receipt of prestigious European Digital Schools Award.