Integrated Education Month 2025: Celebrating Cultural Connections
Integrated Education Month 2025: Celebrating Cultural Connections
Each year, Integrated schools celebrate Integrated Education Month, which is an opportunity for the collective celebration of Integrated Education and reflection on what makes us unique.
For 2025 our theme is “Celebrating Cultural Connections”.
As you know, Integrated schools strive for diversity in terms of religious background, cultural background, socio-economic background, ability and much more. We encourage schools not only to strive for this, but to celebrate it and create spaces in which the school community can learn from this rich diversity. “Celebrating Cultural Connections” is focused on making the most of the rich fabric existing within Integrated schools and in wider society.
IEM will take place in March 2025. We acknowledge that schools may celebrate this in and around the month, but if it works better for you we encourage you to take one week in March as a focus point, with NICIE endeavouring to share the work being done on our platforms. Please see some information below which might assist you with your celebrations.
IEM 2025 Padlet board
This year for IEM 2025, we have created a Padlet page signposting schools to relevant resources they may wish to use in connection with Celebrating Cultural Connections. This resource is designed to be a collaborative tool for teachers from Integrated schools to share and utilise resources related to the theme. It is split into a general section, one on Anti-Bias in Education, one on organisations connected with the theme, one on resources for schools, one on assembly resources, and one on videos, presentations and webinars. Some of these will naturally overlap.
This is very much a working, collaborative document which we would very much like you to input your ideas onto. You can do this by simply clicking the ‘+’ button in the relevant section. Any resource should be reviewed by the educator and selected carefully prior to use in schools. Note: all additions will be manually reviewed and approved before publication.
We are also intending to share a Padlet page connected specifically to Anti-Bias in Education, but this will be shared after March so as to not confuse the two.
In this section
Into Film NI resource and webinars
For the past two years, Into Film have collaborated with the NICIE Teachers’ Committee for IEM and have created resources connected with the theme. We are delighted to be collaborating with Into Film once again for IEM 2025.
This year’s resource is focused on exploring the theme through Into Film’s Games Programme, and on using games to enhance learning and foster shared cultural experiences. More information is included through the link to the resource below.
Please note that the website requires you to make a free account before downloading the resource. You may have already created one in previous years.
Link to resource pack: https://www.intofilm.org/resources/2350
Sean and Nichola from Into Film delivered two webinars spotlighting and explaining the resource: one for pre-school/primary, and one for post-primary. You can access them below:
Pre-school/Primary webinar below:
Post-primary webinar below:
Please feel free to get in touch with Into Film if you have any queries.
You can request workshops, submit competition entries etc using:
Remember to keep NICIE updated with the work you are doing in the lead up and during IEM 2024, as well as afterwards, whether it involves the Into Film resources or any other work carried out within your school.
The 2023 Integrated Education Month was on the theme of Bias Busters. Click the image to the right to find out more and see the winning films.
