St Macartans, the Forth Chapel launch new resource for primary schools.
School children and their teachers from three Clogher Valley Primary Schools gathered at the award winning St Macartans, The Forth Chapel, Augher, Co Tyrone to mark the launch of a new Education Programme designed for Key Stage 2 pupils. This six week programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund includes lesson plans and resources for teachers. It has been designed to encourage children to discover more about their local community through focussing on a visit to St Macartans, The Forth Chapel and learning about the history and heritage of this special place.
Themes covered in the programme include: local history, heritage, exploring creative writing and poetry, arts and craft and planning an event. It provides teachers with resources for literacy, numeracy, communications, religious education, the world around us and personal development and mutual understanding.
Canon Noel McGahan in welcoming the teachers and their pupils to The Forth Chapel to launch the Education programme commented
"St Macartan's The Forth Chapel stands on the ancient site of Ballinagurragh Forth in the heart of the Clogher Valley and is a key historic site in this region. Over the past number of years parishioners have worked hard to restore the fabric of the Church and have also created a wonderful heritage trail with associated visitor literature all available onsite. The development of this St Macartans Education Programme is another welcome addition to our work here and we very much hope it will encourage young people to look more closely at their local area and continue to appreciate the wealth of heritage and history we have here in the Clogher Valley. We want our teachers and students to use this programme as an invaluable learning resource, we hope it will inspire them to discover more about our heritage, history and the people who have gone before us and that they will pass this onto future generations whom we trust will become equally willing custodians of our historic places."