IPPN

Published: 08 February 2018

The Action Plan for Education 2018 was launched on Wednesday, 7 February 2018 in St Audoen’s NS, Dublin. Minister Bruton announced over 370 actions aimed to make Ireland’s Education and Training Service the best in Europe by 2026.

Some key actions in the 2018 Action Plan include:

• School Excellence Fund: Support school clusters to undertake innovative projects in areas of Digital, Disadvantage, Creativity, Gaeltacht and School Inspection under the School Excellence Fund.
• Leadership: Improve middle management structures in schools and empower school leadership with training, mentoring and resources. A proportion of the CPD budget will be dedicated to delivering on strategic priorities such as innovation and leadership.
• Digital: Progress new maths curriculum for primary schools to include elements of coding. Continue work of Minister’s Digital Implementation group of experts.
• Disadvantage: Update DEIS Plan. Develop a more tailored resource allocation model for DEIS schools.
• Parental Choice: Enact the Parent and Student Charter Bill and the School Admissions Bill. Shortly commence Reconfiguration for Diversity process to deliver step up in a number of multi-denominational schools.
• Wellbeing: Recruit 10 more NEPS psychologists. Provide more guidance to schools on the use of external providers. Publish Wellbeing Policy Statement. Expand Student Support Teams.
• Special Education: Develop first ever In-School Speech and Language Therapy Service. Undertake comprehensive assessment of the SNA scheme to ensure we are achieving the best outcomes for children with special educational needs.
• Critical skills: Deliver new, revised literacy and numeracy targets given the success of Irish students in meeting existing ones.
• Curriculum: Develop new Religion and Ethics programme for primary schools.
• Teacher supply: establish a Teacher Supply Steering Group, build on initiatives already announced and develop a policy on Teacher supply to support the availability of relevant teaching resources across the system in the short, medium and long term.
• Gaeltacht: Implement Gaeltacht Schools Policy, for which the budget this year has doubled. Issue grants and resources for schools who have opted into Gaeltacht schools scheme. Commence Schools Excellence Fund – Gaeltacht. Commence new
  M.Ed programme for Irish language teachers.
• Ongoing Review: Every agency under the remit of the Department of Education and Skills will be reviewed to ensure they are in line with the ambition to be the best in Europe. First reviews to commence in 2018

Click here to read the plan in full

Click here to view DES Press Release

Published: 08 February 2018

Mary T Mc Cormack, Detective Sergeant attached to the Victim Identification Unit, at the Online Child Exploitation Unit based in the Garda National Protective Services Bureau is looking for your assistance in the creation of a uniform and crest database. The aim of this unit is to identify victims, suspects and locations of child abuse. Previous cases have shown that a school uniform or its crest can often appear in images and associated images relating to the sexual exploitation of children. The identification of this crest/uniform could help locate and help the child who is at risk and hold the perpetrators of this exploitation or abuse to account.

The unit is seeking principals’ assistance with this project and request the forwarding of the following information to them:

Image in preferably JPEG format of the uniform for your school. 

• Uniform
• Close up of crest
• Tracksuit associated with school
• Blazer/coat/fleece
• Other clothing worn by the school attendees
• Information regarding the school
• Name & address
• Number of school goers
• Gender of school population
• Contact person in the school to act as a liaison in the event of Gardaí needing to contact the school regarding the uniform.

Requested information can be sent to gnpsb.once@garda.ie with the subject title ‘School Uniform DB – primary’. If you school does not have a uniform, please notify the above email address of the ‘Nil’ return including the name and address of the school.

Published: 08 February 2018

February 2018 Mid-term – All schools will close on Thursday 15 February 2018 & Friday 16 February 2018. Primary schools may use 3 discretionary days to extend this break to an alternative option of a 5 day break for the period from Monday 12 February 2018 to Friday 16 February 2018 inclusive.

23 February 2018

• Notify relevant Panel Operator of any permanent or fixed-term vacancy
• Return Main Redeployment Panel Application Form (Appendix E) for surplus permanent/CID holding teachers to the Department’s Primary Teacher Allocations Section
• Submit completed Staffing Appeals Form (Appendix F) for the March meeting of the Primary Staffing Appeals Board to the Department’s Primary Teacher Allocations Section
• Return ‘CID Declaration Form 18’ (Appendix G) in respect of all teachers awarded a CID in or before the 2017/18 school year and a Main Panel Application Form, if applicable, to the Department’s Primary Teacher Allocations Section
• Return the ‘CID Declaration Form 18’ (Appendix G) to Primary Teacher Allocations Section for each teacher with a CID awarded under the terms of Part A1 or A2 of Circular 0023/2015.
• Return CID applications for eligible teachers for the commencement of the 2018/2019 school year. Circular 0023/2015 sets out the eligibility requirements for CID. Applications should be made on Appendix H - Form CID (18/19).
• Schools may enter into a SET Cluster Arrangement with neighbouring schools to create a full-time permanent post. The base school in a SET Cluster should submit Form S.E.T.Cluster2018 (Appendix D) to the Primary Allocations Section. Note: Schools that are in an existing clustering arrangement (agreed for the 2017/18 school year) do not need to notify the Department as these clusters will remain in place for 2018/19. Schools are reminded that once a S.E.T. cluster has been established, it will remain in place until the next review of the Special Education teaching allocation by NCSE.

Published: 25 January 2018