Secondary education programmes

We do this by:

• Supporting teachers and students to develop their knowledge and understanding of the root causes of global challenges such as climate change, conflict and poverty
• Providing opportunities to learn and put into practice skills such as research, critical thinking and communication.
• Providing opportunities for young people to meet their peers, use their voices and create innovative ideas to global challenges 

Speak Act Do is a resource to support teachers and students in taking action on some of the defining issues of our time - Climate Change, Conflict, Inequality, Poverty and Hunger. 

It is designed as a six to eight week programme which is ran by the school, and that works whatever the location or context of the school. It is flexible, led by the school and supported by the Concern schools team. It can be ran independently or embedded into CSPE, TY modules or Politics and Society. 

Schools who sign up receive a dedicated resource pack, support from the Concern schools team over the course of the programme, as well as school visits and the chance to attend events throughout the year!

At the end of the year, students are invited to showcase their projects and meet other schools who have taken part. 

We offer free GCE workshops secondary schools on the following:

• Conflict
• Climate Change
• Gender Equality
• Poverty/Work of Concern
• Hunger

Students will consider the root causes of these issues, their impact on people’s lives with a focus on the communities that Concern work with overseas and a chance to consider solutions and ways to take action. 

TY Academy is a week-long work experience programme for young people who are interested in learning about the context of the communities that we work with overseas, as well as how Concern work with and support communities to respond to challenges they face. It is both a work experience programme, as well as a Global Citizenship Education programme. 

Students will explore the root causes of problems such as conflict, climate change and poverty, as well as learning more about how they impact on peoples lives. As part of this, students will hear from Concern staff about how we work with communities to both respond to these challenges, develop long term solutions, as well as how Concern advocate for long term sustainable change through working with governments and institutions such as the UN. 

Over the week, students will work on a project using the knowledge they have gained and present this to staff at the end of the week. 

We will be running TY Academy in person in our Dublin office on the following weeks:

• 6th November - 10th November 2023  [FULL]
• 29th January - 2nd February 2024 [FULL]
• 26th February - 1st March 2024 [FULL]
• 22nd April - 26th April 2024 [FULL]

Concern Debates is an All-Island year long competition for senior cycle students. Each year, over 150 schools across the island of Ireland debate topics from climate change to corporate responsibility.

The programme gives students the opportunity to learn skills in research, critical thinking, and public speaking. It also helps students to reflect on, and try to tackle, some of the most important issues facing the world today. 

Interested in the Concern Debates?

We run full day Global Citizenship Education workshops which bring students from different schools together to learn more about specific issues which link to key UN world days. These are in person, and schools can sign up a maximum of six students to attend. They are perfect for students who want to dive into an issue, or for students who are participating in the debates or Speak Act Do as a well to develop their knowledge.  

• 17th October: World Food Day (Location TBD) 
• 24th January: International Day of Education (Location TBD)
• 5th/7th/20th/21st March: International Women's Day* (Locations will be in four places around Ireland TBD) 

*Priority will be given to schools participating in the Concern Debates.