E-Scéal 166: Religion - Who should teach it, when and where?
- Published: 12 June 2008
E-Scéal 165: DES Provides New Email Address for Principals' SEN Queries
- Published: 05 June 2008
The Special Education Section in the DES have agreed, following a request from IPPN, to provide a dedicated email address for Principals seeking information, advice etc. in relation to SEN resources. It seems that in recent weeks DES staff have been inundated with calls and unable to cope with the volume. This led to a restriction in the number of hours within which calls could be answered. Clearly this created other problems. We have been assured that if Principals communicate with Primary Administration 3 using the email address lsrt@education.gov.ie, that a more efficient and satisfactory service will be provided. Please note that this address is for the use of Principals only.
We would also like to remind you that if you, or any members of your staff, wish to participate in our programme of On-line Summer Courses, full course details and booking form are available to download from www.ippn.ie.
Is mise le meas,
Seán CottrellE-Scéal 164: 2008/09 Planning Day & Mental Health Survey
- Published: 22 May 2008
Planning / Development Day
Following repeated requests for information from the DES, it has just been confirmed that BoMs may close schools for one day during the 2008/09 academic year to facilitate school planning and curriculum development. We hope this information will be helpful in calendar planning. It has also been announced that the School Development Planning (SDP) initiative and the Primary Currriculum Support Programe (PCSP) will be merged into one service. Details of the nature of the new service are not known at this point.
E-Scéal 163: Free Advertising on educationpost.ie - New DES Circular 62/2008
- Published: 14 May 2008
After 6 years of lobbying by IPPN, the DES and the Management Bodies have finally agreed to allow website advertising for all teaching posts with effect from today
How will this work? From today onwards, you can place your advert on educationposts.ie entirely FREE of charge. However, for the remainder of 2008 calendar year, the circular requires schools to place a shortened 'one line advert' in a national newspaper. In the interest of cost savings this should be kept to the minimum words as per the example below.
Eg. Permanent teacher required from 1-09-08 St. Mary's NS, Bray RN12345X. See www.educationposts.ie.
It is sufficient to place this 'one line' advert in a national paper for one day only. This will cease to be a requirement from 0
Please refer to 2 linked documents:
Please circulate the Teachers' Poster by e-mail, photocopy and place on staffroom notice board.
At the time of issue there are 155 vacancies advertised on www.educationposts.ie and 4,612 teachers registered awaiting adverts in their chosen counties.
Is sinne le meas,
E-Scéal 162: SEN Resources - Apply Now & Deputy Principals Conference 2008
- Published: 13 May 2008
SEN Resources for 2008/2009
Last week, we met with Mr Pat Curtin and Mr Sé Goulding from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). They informed us that this year many Principals are late in applying for SEN resources - namely, SNAs and Low Incidence SEN teaching hours. The NCSE are advising Principals to apply immediately for the resources you require for September 2008. If you are waiting for psychological assessments to be completed, they advise you to go ahead and apply now based on your current paperwork and make a supplementary application later. One of their concerns is that if applications all arrive at the end of the current school year, they will not all be processed on time for the new school year.
Deputy Principals' Conference 2008
Deputy Principals from more than 200 schools will attend their annual conference at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe next week. Two Heads are Better than One - Sharing the Leadership Role is the theme this year.
The conference begins on Monday evening at 6pm with a Trade Exhibition and registration followed by dinner at 7.30pm. Seminar topics will include:
1. Special Education Needs - pupil withdrawal vs. in-class support - Fiona King
2. Inclusion - Policy & Practice - Pat Goff & Larry Fleming
3. Building Professional Relationships - Angela Lynch & Jim Hayes
Due to increased demand, additional places have been made available. Principals may attend provided the Deputy Principal also attends. Substitute cover is provided by the DES for Deputy Principals only for Tuesday, 20th May. To book a place, please click here to download an application form or call the IPPN Support Office on 1890 21 22 23.
As those of you who have attended these events will know, participation in the seisean is a pre-requisite for deriving maximum benefit from the event! Please bring along your guitar, flute, accordion or songbooks.
We are looking forward to meeting you on Monday evening.
Is mise le meas,
Seán Cottrell
