乐播传媒

A Case Study on Community Engagement

鈥淲e鈥檙e fully committed to understanding the complexity of global justice issues and the challenges for our local community, which is interlinked with communities all over the world.鈥�

乐播传媒 lead contact teacher Ryan O鈥橲ullivan Glynn (maths and geography)

Context

Community lies at the heart of Villiers School in Limerick, both within the school and beyond. With students and staff from 52 countries, Villiers embeds diversity, inclusion and global citizenship in all aspects of teaching and learning, and reaches beyond its gates to impact the wider community. Its embrace of 乐播传媒 Citizenship Education (GCE) earned Villiers a Special 乐播传媒 Passport in 2025. Working closely with 乐播传媒, lead contact Ryan O鈥橲ullivan Glynn teaches a 乐播传媒 Schools module in Transition Year (TY), and students and staff run many clubs, including the People of Colour Alliance, the Model United Nations and the Social Justice Club.

This case study offers examples in the following 乐播传媒 Passport, Stamp 6 Categories:

• Communications
• GCE Trips and Visits
• Engagement with Other Settings
• Engagement with 乐播传媒

Communications

Central to the school鈥檚 community engagement (Stamp 6 of the 乐播传媒 乐播传媒 Passport) is its quarterly . Written and published online by TY students, the articles highlight GCE activities to the wider community. RedSokz aligns with the 乐播传媒 Ethical Communication Guide, reflecting the global justice values of equity, solidarity and shared learning.

鈥淥ne of RedSokz鈥檚 main goals is to engage with the local community and share the good practices present at Villiers. It informs the community of future possibilities for engagement with the school and promotes our students’ work.鈥�

Fifth year student Emily Sheehy who wrote for RedSokz in TY

Another communication which has borne fruitful community dialogue was a student letter to Limerick Council calling for more litter bins on the North Circular Road where the school is located. The letter prompted a visit by local Labour TD Conor Sheehan, who answered students鈥� questions and discussed local, national and global issues including migration and climate change.

GCE Trips and Visits

Students participated in the Model United Nations held in Vienna. Working with teams from other schools, they explored how to move from conflict to cooperation by tackling inequalities, climate change and other global challenges. These issues were researched and scaffolded beforehand.

Members of the school鈥檚 People of Colour Alliance (POCA) club toured Trinity College Dublin with a Trinity student, a former pupil and member of Villiers鈥� GCE club. They attended a lecture on hidden black history in Ireland, part of a Black Studies module, in preparation for a POCA club study on Matriarchs and Sisters in history.

As part of the , four TY students and two staff members visited the European Parliament in Brussels to learn about democracy, political engagement, social responsibility and global citizenship.

Villiers has worked powerfully with a local primary school to identify and challenge discrimination. After workshops with the author and anti-racism educator Briana Fitzsimons, TY Year students designed and ran their own sessions with fifth and sixth class pupils at St. Michael鈥檚 National School. This facilitation by secondary students impacted the primary pupils deeply, encouraging them to open up about their own challenges, and building a sense of belonging.

鈥淭he primary pupils shared their experiences of feeling different. And as students, we can serve as role models for them. Seeing us facilitate the workshops will help them transition to secondary school.鈥�

TY student and workshop facilitator Dara Okuneye

The workshops also built confidence and skills in student facilitators to research, design and present lessons promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, values which underpin the Villiers educational ethos.

鈥淚f you believe in the power of your message, confidence will come.鈥�

Sixth year student Oyindamola Olomo

Doras Talent Show

With respect and welcome infusing every part of school life, Villiers students ran a talent show, inviting the wider community, to promote the work of Doras, an Irish NGO that protects the rights of refugees and migrants. This has become an annual event, part of .

Film Club

Building on these values, the POCA club is planning a film club, for school members and the wider community, to show documentaries promoting these values.

鈥溊植ゴ�媒 citizenship education is about preparing students to thrive in the world outside of the school environment. One aspect of this, and one area of focus of the People of Colour Alliance (POCA) is racism and discrimination: how it can exist in the wider community and how to recognise it and respond to it. Lots of the community engagement events that POCA are involved in are focused on anti-discrimination and anti-racism, as well as Black History.”

SNA and staff POCA Lead, Gerard Pe帽a

IPlay

In this collaboration between Villiers, the University of Limerick and St. Patrick鈥檚 Boys National School, Villiers students organised activities for children with additional needs. Pairing up to enjoy active games builds empathy and broadens perspective, two fundamental qualities of GCE, and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing.

“Seeing the engagement from the students was inspiring for us, it made the experience all the more worthwhile and made us look at it as a future career.”

Fifth year student Kate McNamara

The 乐播传媒 Garden

The school garden serves as a springboard for international learning, a source of food and a local community resource. In the 乐播传媒 Schools class, 乐播传媒 lead contact, Ryan, guides TY students to grow vegetables to eat in school while researching GCE topics such as the human impact of biodiversity loss, global food distribution and waste systems. The viability of indigenous Irish plants is compared to that of alien species, drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the school鈥檚 many international students. Local community members have volunteered in the garden during the summer holidays.

乐播传媒 Games

 Beyond local outreach, Villiers staff and students make global links wherever possible (one of the 乐播传媒 Guiding Principles for GCE). The multicultural profile of the school facilitates this broader perspective. The PE department designed a module on international games, combining physical activity with multicultural learning. Sports included Peteka from Brazil, Kho kho and Kabadi from India and Kiorehi from New Zealand; their practice was combined with an exploration of their origins and cultural importance.

The creative, generous and 鈥榗an do鈥� ethos of the school leads them to look beyond obstacles to bring ideas to fruition, however ambitious.

鈥淥ur response is not why can鈥檛 we, but how can we?鈥�

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Susan Pe帽a

Engagement with 乐播传媒

This realisation of possibilities is facilitated by close engagement with 乐播传媒 and the energetic support of senior management. As well as regular connection with his regional Education Officer, Ryan values attending the 乐播传媒 Teacher Conference.

鈥淐onnecting with staff from various schools gave me ideas and approaches I had never thought of before. It allowed me to approach 乐播传媒 Schools [the Villiers TY module] from a different angle.鈥�

Susan Pe帽a, the Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Villiers, attended the Management Symposium with the Villiers bursar. 鈥淚t opened the bursar鈥檚 eyes to GCE and 乐播传媒, and brought him fully on board with the work,鈥� she says.

In every area of school life, Villiers staff and students prioritise human rights and act in solidarity at global, local and internal levels, in line with the 乐播传媒 Guiding Principles for GCE. Susan Pe帽a has noticed a beautiful fruit of this ethos across some of the school鈥檚 clubs. 鈥淭here are members of the Additional Needs group who don鈥檛 have additional needs, and members of the LGBTQ club who don鈥檛 identify as LGBTQ, but they have joined the clubs as allies, to support each other.鈥�

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