The Department of Education are committed to a process of encouraging schools across Northern Ireland to partner together more systematically. In particularly, they want schools that traditionally serve the protestant or catholic community to come together.

The goals of developing these partnerships include:

• Improving the standards of achievement of all our pupils;
• Increasing the skills of staff in partnering schools;
• Enhancing the use of resources of the schools involved;
• To help children develop more friendships across the community;
• To empower all stakeholders to be able to embrace diversity;
• To impact community relations now and in the future.

In March 2016 Carntall Primary School, St. Macartan's Primary School and Augher Central Primary School embarked on a journey of shared education. For us, the Shared Education Programme enables cross-sectoral collaborations to become an integral part of school life, creating enhanced educational and personal development opportunities for everyone involved.