In December pupils and their teachers from four Northern Ireland schools (Belfast Model School for Girls, Erne Integrated College, St Fanchea's College and Loreto Grammar, Omagh) were presented with awards at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, in recognition of their achievements through participation in the Dreams and Teams Programme.

Pupils received the prestigious Gold and Silver awards at a reception held in their honour in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont. The awards were presented by Will Haire, Permanent Secretary from the Department of Education.

Dreams and Teams is an international programme, jointly managed and administered by the British Council and Youth Sport Trust, aimed at developing young leaders through sport.

Mary McGeown, British Council Northern Ireland commented "Dreams and Teams offers a unique way of engaging students in activities which help them build their confidence and gain leadership skills and experience to help their own communities, and to develop cross cultural awareness and share experiences with their peers in their partner schools overseas."

Last year it involved 5,000 Young Leaders who engaged a further 150,000 young people and 3,000 teachers in 424 schools around the world. To date there are 15 Northern Ireland schools involved linked with schools in Sri Lanka, Botswana, Zambia and the Netherlands. The schools agree a development plan for link activities with their partner school to ensure that there are benefits to both schools. such as history, politics, geography English and many more.