Page 138 - Bellfort Magazine 2025

Faith in Action: Year 8 Engage with Local Church Leaders—As part of our commitment to making
Religious Education meaningful and engaging, visiting speakers and educational experiences are a key
feature of our curriculum. At the start of this academic year, our Year 8 pupils had the enriching
opportunity to meet with ministers from local churches. These sessions allowed students to ask
thoughtful questions about the ministers’ personal journeys and what inspired them to pursue a life
in ministry. Later in the autumn term, following a lesson on the work of Good News For Everyone, a
representative from the organisation visited the school and kindly distributed New Testament copies
of the Bible to each Year 8 pupil.

Exploring Faith Through the Journey2Where Bible Exhibition—In September 2024, Dunclug College
was proud to host the Journey2Where Bible Exhibition, an engaging and thought-provoking event for
our Year 10 students. The exhibition offered pupils the chance to explore the Bible as a source of
truth and inspiration. It also provided a valuable platform for students to ask deep and challenging
questions, with responses offered from a Christian perspective, encouraging thoughtful discussion
and reflection.

Religious Studies Department and Community work: Supporting Our Community Through
Compassion and Action—Throughout the year, Dunclug College has remained dedicated to
charitable outreach and community support. We have continued to champion causes that make a
real difference in the lives of those in need. Our efforts have included providing practical assistance
to homeless charities across Northern Ireland, raising awareness of social injustices, and actively
supporting a local food bank by collecting non-perishable food items. This food bank plays a vital role
in helping families within the Ballymena area, and we are proud to contribute to its important work.

Partnership with the Northern Health Service – Palliative Care Comfort Pack Donations
As we work towards becoming a ‘Take 5’ school, we value the importance of being able
to connect and give to others within our community. Last year the College linked directly with
Macmillan Palliative Care Service to provide families at Antrim Area Hospital with ‘Comfort Packs’
containing essential items, so they don’t have to leave their loved ones at critical times. The response
from our school community was overwhelming and staff from the NHS met with College pupils in
February 2024 to receive items and convey their thanks. This project was the start of something
special and a partnership was formed between our school pastoral team and NHS Antrim Macmillan
staff in Spring 2024. The purpose of this partnership was to create a schools programme in Northern
Ireland which educated and informed students about end-of-life care and coping with loss.

NHS Schools Programme – ‘Lessons from an Elephant’ - The Northern Health and Social Care Trust,
Community Specialist Palliative Care Team, delivered a workshop entitled ‘Lessons from an Elephant’
to Year 8 students to raise awareness of Palliative care and Bereavement in June 2024. The
workshop was adapted from a programme of lessons entitled ‘Elephant’s Tea Party’ which was
developed by the highly respected national charity, Child Bereavement UK.

The workshop explored Palliative Care and Bereavement in an age appropriate, straightforward and
sensitive way. It is hoped this will help students to begin to develop coping skills should anyone
important to them experience life changing circumstances.

The workshop provided opportunities for students to share their experiences, and considered ways
we can support loved ones when life gets difficult. Through the workshop each Year 8 pupil created a
memory tile to mark the event. These tiles where pieced together and created an art mural which is
now proudly displayed on our college wall. We look forward to running this event again with a new
cohort of Year 8 as a survey conducted following the workshop evidenced an overwhelming number
of pupils recommended this workshop to be included on our school calendar of events going
forward.