The Blue Star Programme Teachers Newsletter will be updated at the start of every month throughout the school term, to keep you in the loop with what’s going on in the world of the Blue Star Programme! All participating schools will receive the newsletter as an email each month and it will also be accessible here online.
Any questions or queries you may have about the Teachers Newsletter, please contact us: bluestar@europeanmovement.ie
The Blue Star Programme March Newsletter
This newsletter contains information about the how to complete the Blue Star Programme and EU50 Our Anthem!
As always, we are available to contact via email. If you have any specific questions or queries regarding the Blue Star Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
How to complete the Blue Star Programme 2022-2023
We have made it easier than ever to complete the Blue Star Programme!
As usual, to successfully complete the Blue Star Programme, participating schools must complete all four elements of the Programme (historical, geographical, cultural and creative, and institutional).
There are two ways that schools can complete all four elements of the Programme.
1. As has been the case for previous years, schools can complete the Programme by submitting an end-of-year Blue Star Programme Report, letting us know the activities you have undertaken throughout the year as part of the Programme. The deadline for all Blue Star Programme Reports to be submitted is the 17 May 2023 so that we can get Certificates of Achievement to schools before the term ends in June.
2. Schools can also complete the Programme by taking part in 4 online quizzes that will be based on the four elements of the Programme. We will release one quiz a week online from 17 April -12 May 2023, which you and your pupils can take part in together as a class or school. Participation in all 4 quizzes will serve as completion of the Blue Star Programme 2021-2022! We will provide more information about the quizzes in the New Year.
(We would still love if you were able to send us a Blue Star Programme Report even if you have done the 4 online quizzes so that we can see and celebrate the work you and your pupils have done throughout the academic year!)
For more information on what is involved in each of the four elements of the Programme, see here.
VIP Visits
VIP visits are a long-standing tradition of the Blue Star Programme where MEPs, Ambassadors, TDs, Councillors, Journalists, EU officials, (and much more!) visit schools and speak to the pupils about their relevant field with regard to Europe!
VIP visits are a great opportunity to showcase the pupils’ work as part of the Blue Star Programme and for pupils to learn about the EU in a practical, personable way.
You can also write to your school’s local MEPs or an Ambassador to Ireland from a different EU country. Pupils can ask them what a day in the life of an MEP’s like, or ask an Ambassador what their favourite thing about Ireland is – we’ll leave the creative questions to the pupils!
MEPs, Ambassadors, TDs and others love getting involved in the Blue Star Programme and seeing how pupils around the country are learning about the work of the EU, so don’t hesitate to drop them a line. You may even be able to arrange a virtual visit/ video call! If you do manage to organise a VIP visit this year, be that either in person or virtually, we would be grateful if you could fill out our School Visit Form so that we can keep a record of all VIP visits that take place.
If you need any advice or support on how best to go about contacting one of these potential VIP speakers, feel free to get in touch with the Blue Star Programme Team at bluestar@europeanmovement.ie.
Digital Resources
The Blue Star Programme provides a range of online resources. This includes virtual schoolbooks, activity worksheets, quizzes, digital board games & more! We hope that these resources will be useful to teachers.
To access these resources, teachers can go to the Blue Star Corner part of the website and use the password BlueStar4*.
What is there to do and see on Blue Star Corner?
On the Blue Star Corner of our website, you can find all sorts of Digital Teaching Resources to help you teach your class, for example:
• Downloadable teaching resources, such as worksheets and word searches.
• Digital activities, such as quizzes and interactive maps.
• Blue Star Programme Activity Sheets – they correspond with the four core teaching pillars of the Programme and are available in both English and Irish
• Links to other teaching resources
You can also find all the relevant Forms and Reports that you may need to access throughout your time completing the Programme, such as the VIP Question Form and the Final Report.
To celebrate 50 years of EU membership we have launched our digital anthology! Through contributions from the public, first-hand history, and discussion of how we got here, we want to tell the story of Our EU. You can read the story of Our EU here
If you need any advice or support on how best to utilise these online resources, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Blue Star Programme Team at bluestar@europeanmovement.ie.
EU50 Our Anthem!
As part of the EU50 programme celebrating this milestone, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education and the Royal Irish Academy of Music are partnering on a new initiative: Ár nAmhrán / Our Anthem!
We invite you as teachers to offer your students the opportunity to learn and rehearse our EU Anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, culminating in live performances of the Anthem in schools on Europe Day 9 May. The EU flag will be distributed to each participating school.
Register your interest here.
Scaoil amach é!
For more updates about the Programme, follow us on Twitter @BlueStarProg and please don’t hesitate to share your photos and work with us throughout the year!