A Portrush teacher working in Spain has spoken about why her pupils can’t get enough of the Irish News.
Elena Morelli (31) is the secondary coordinator at the Anne Sullivan International School in Barcelona, which became the first international school to take part in the Irish News Young News Reader Media Project last year.
The cross-curriculum project for children aged eight to fourteen (Key Stage two and three) delivers a specially commissioned newspaper for eight weeks along with classroom activities designed to help young people engage with the news.
Elena’s colleague Cormac Walsh, the school’s deputy director, first learned of the initiative through his sister in Ireland.
Proving to be an excellent resource to improve written English for 70 students in 2022, 200 pupils will now be taking part this year.
Having studied Spanish translation at Ulster University, Elena said she fell in love with Spain after moving out in 2014 and has stayed ever since.
She told the Irish News she was “pleasantly surprised” when her tech-savvy students became absorbed in reading a printed newspaper.
“It was like a breath of fresh air for them, because being exposed to a newspaper was something they weren’t very used to,” she said.
“They probably associate their grandparents holding a newspaper. Also seeing articles from another culture and language was really interesting for them. They also found it a bit of a challenge getting their heads around the colloquial language or what was generally going on in Northern Ireland.
“That was really good and engaging. I found the activities prepared for them were really well directed for teenagers which is the group I’m working with.
Elena said her students were also able to use the sessions as platform to understand world events.
“When we did the project last year, things started to evolve with the war in Ukraine," she said.
“So they became more aware of what was happening outside their bubble. What is fake news, where can we trust our news?
“It was reaching different types of children too, those who were already interested in the news but also those who have never really thought about what’s going on in Asia or with Gaelic football.
“So it covered a lot of different interests for an age group that can be very stuck on social media."
Encouraging more teachers working abroad to take part, she said: "The Irish News Project is a fantastic way to bring a bit of home into your classroom while working in another country. "Students are exposed to current affairs through engaging activities created by the project.
"It’s also a great opportunity for Irish teachers abroad to connect with each other and keep up with what’s going on."
