Firhouse Community College – Innovating Maths Education Through Erasmus+ and Trinity Access, Article published in the DDLETB Newsletter October 2025
Firhouse Community College’s Maths Department has been on an extraordinary journey over the past three years, one that has transformed how Maths is taught and learned. Through our partnership with Trinity College Dublin and the Erasmus+ Programme, our teachers have been at the forefront of educational innovation, collaboration, and creativity, both in Ireland and across Europe.
For the past three years, Firhouse Community College has proudly participated in the Trinity Access Maths Programme, a national initiative that connects schools around the country to develop new, engaging approaches to teaching Junior Cycle Maths. This collaboration has allowed our Maths Department to redesign our Units of Learning, focusing on task-based learning and real-world problem solving to help students become more resilient, confident, and curious learners.
Working closely as a department, we now plan lessons collaboratively and have introduced peer observation, allowing teachers to learn from one another in a supportive and reflective environment. The results have been remarkable — students are more engaged, more willing to take risks, and demonstrate greater perseverance in tackling challenging problems.
In addition to the Trinity Access work, our school is part of an Erasmus+ programme with Trinity College Dublin, which brings together Maths teachers from Ireland, Austria, Sweden, and the Czech Republic to exchange best practices and co-create new learning materials. This international partnership has provided invaluable insight into how different education systems approach Maths and how collaboration can enhance teaching quality and student outcomes.
Our Erasmus+ journey is structured around a series of Learning, Teaching, and Training Activities (LTTAs) — short-term international exchanges where teachers from partner schools come together to share expertise, explore new pedagogical methods, and design innovative classroom resources.
The project began with LTTA01, hosted in Ireland, where teachers from all partner countries came together to explore the project goals, share details of their education systems, and use AI tools to assist in lesson planning and resource creation. Each country also developed plans for how to apply what they learned within their own schools.
In April 2024, as part of LTTA02, Nadia McCormack, Hazel Travers, and Seidina Delagic travelled to the Czech Republic, where they shared our Geometry Unit of Learning and observed classroom practice in Czech schools. Later that year, in December 2024, for LTTA03, Seidina Delagic and Jack Farmer represented Firhouse in Austria, presenting a Unit of Learning on Probability. Most recently, in April 2025, Noel Gallagher and Pablo Gayubo visited Sweden for LTTA04, where they presented a Unit of Learning on Quadratic Patterns and participated in workshops exploring inclusive teaching strategies.
The next phase of the project, LTTA05, will see Nadia McCormack, Seidina Delagic, and Monica Crossan return to Austria, where they will present a Unit of Learning on Coordinate Geometry and deliver a lesson plan on linear and quadratic equations using the Utility Value Theory.
These exchanges have not only deepened our teachers’ professional practice but have also brought back fresh energy and innovative ideas to share with students in Firhouse classrooms. We are incredibly proud of how our Maths Department has embraced this opportunity to grow, learn, and lead on an international stage.
As part of this ongoing work, we are also eager to connect with other DDLETB schools interested in collaborating on Maths resources or developing a Community of Practice to enhance learning in Maths across the region. Through these projects, Firhouse Community College continues to show that when educators collaborate, locally and internationally, the learning experience for every student becomes richer, more dynamic, and more inspiring.
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The next phase of Firhouse’s CC Erasmus Journey
Firhouse Community College’s Maths Department has spent the past three years reshaping how Maths is taught through its collaboration with the Trinity Access Maths Programme and its Erasmus+ partnership with Trinity College Dublin. These initiatives have helped redesign Junior Cycle Maths using real‑world, task‑based learning while strengthening collaborative planning and peer observation. Students are now demonstrating greater confidence, resilience, and engagement because of this work.
Alongside the national collaboration, the department has been an active participant in an Erasmus+ project with partner schools in Austria, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Through a series of international training exchanges, Firhouse teachers have shared Units of Learning, observed classrooms across Europe, and developed new teaching resources together. Recent mobilities included presentations on Geometry, Probability, and Quadratic Patterns during visits to the Czech Republic, Austria, and Sweden.
Most recently, the project continued with LTTA05, during which our team (Monica Crossan, Seidina Delagic and Nadia McCormack) travelled to Vienna, Austria in December. Firhouse representatives presented a newly developed Coordinate Geometry Unit and delivered a lesson using Utility Value Theory to support student motivation in linear and quadratic equations. This visit strengthened our collaborative work and added to a growing bank of shared resources for all partner schools.
The next stage of the project will take place at the end of March, when the Erasmus partners visit Ireland. Trinity College Dublin will host the group for four days, and Firhouse Community College will host for one day on campus. During this visit, our team will present a new lesson using Utility Value Theory to help students explore the meaning and relevance of area, perimeter, and volume. We will also deliver a session on the Fishbowl Protocol Activity, in which a small group discusses a task in an inner circle while observers in an outer circle listen, reflect, and later join the conversation. This structure allows the Maths and Science Departments to demonstrate effective cross‑curricular planning, share reasoning strategies, and discuss the mechanisms and challenges involved in co‑designing integrated lessons.
As part of the project’s long‑term legacy, the Erasmus team has also created a dedicated website where all Units of Learning and teaching materials developed through the partnership will be freely available to Maths teachers around the world. This platform will support collaboration, resource sharing, and the spread of innovative practice across borders.
Firhouse Community College is also in the process of applying for the Innovative Maths Pedagogy And Creative Teaching (IMPACT) Badge and Flag from Trinity Access Maths. Achieving this recognition would be a major milestone for our school, celebrating the hard work, creativity, and commitment that our Maths Department has shown throughout this transformative journey.
