UNITED KINGDOM

We are a country primary school situated in Glenavy, Northern Ireland. It is about 30 minutes from the capital city , Belfast. We have 15 teachers in our school, a nursey class and two classes per year group from Primary One to Primary Seven. The school also has a principal and a special needs teacher. The teachers teach all areas of the curriculum. They have a variety of ranges of teaching experience, ranging from two to eighteen years experience. Pupils ages range from 3 – 11 years old. There are 400 pupils in our school. Through the years there has been an incresed number of students who are presenting academic, social and emotional and communication difficulties. In our school teachers are continually striving to raise standards and to ensure the well-being of every pupil in our care. Last year we had some experience in using animals to help a disabled child with social and emotional difficulties. Her response was very positive to this and we felt this is an area we would like to explore further and share experiences and ideas with other schools. Our school is situated in the countryside is surrounded by many farms and animals. The local lough and river are very close and the school already has extablished partnerships with the wildlife agencies and have used this to enhance learning. We have a riding stable very close by and this is something we would like to gain some ideas to help utilise this facility. Our school has been involved in one previous project before and this is due to be completed in August 2020. We found this project so far to be very beneficial and has provided us with wonderful opportunities for learning and has motivated us to participate again in another project. There will be a lead teacher in the project who has participated within our current Erasmus project as co-ordinator, and two other teachers who will support this teacher who are keen to be involved in the Erasmus project. We are keen to talk with other partners and learn from them. We will be in close contact to share ideas with our partner schools. We hope that through this project standards will continue to rise, and that the children will develop a real love of mathematics. The children will become more aware of other cultures and be able to adapt to work with people from all over the world.