Parent power protest over Autistic cuts [theecho.ie]
- Published: 07 October 2010
A PUBLIC protest by parents on Tuesday over proposed cuts affecting the special Autistic unit of St. Senan’s primary school could be the launch of a campaign against such a move, ‘The Echo’ has learned.
The anger and sense of betrayal of parents of pupils attending the designated autistic unit at St. Senan’s PS spilled out into the area at the school gates entrance on Tuesday morning and again that afternoon.
Under the plan, the 18pupil special unit could lose as many as five of its Special Needs Assistants (SNA) and also two more SNAs in the mainstream classes of the school a fall-off of 30% on average in what the school and the parents involved view as merely a slashing cost cutting exercise by the Dept. of Education.
Full Story: www.theecho.ie
Remarks by President McAleese at the launch of the Link Schools Programme 'Partners in Development' to raise public awareness of development issues, European Union House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2, 7th October 2010 [president.ie]
- Published: 07 October 2010
A dhaoine uaisle, is cúis áthais domsa bheith anseo libh inniú. Míle buíochas libh as an chaoin-chuireadh.
I would like to thank Niall Roche, Chair of Link Community Development Ireland, for his kind words of welcome and also Cathal O'Keeffe for the invitation to launch the Link Schools Programme this evening.
Education is an awakening to our own potential and to the world around us. It is a gift and an opportunity that is not equally distributed in our world and wherever there is poverty or underachievement you can be sure there is a lack of education. Here in Ireland the advent of free universal second level education at the end of the 1960's began a process of transformation of Irish life from poverty to progress. Our experience of the surging individual and collective power that comes through education and our generation's long experience of generous outreach to the poor nations of Africa are an important context for the Link Schools Programme. It is a modern manifestation of the concern we have for the children of the Third World and of the faith we have in education as a pathway out of poverty and into economic growth and social progress. It is of course also more than that because this is not a conventional aid package where the funds of anonymous donors help the lives of anonymous recipients. The Link Schools Programme is about person to person links. It is about a journey of friendship, support and solidarity between pupils and teachers in Ireland and in Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Ghana. It is about developing a strong commitment to global justice, a better understanding of development issues, a respect for other cultures, ethnicities and perspectives, a sense of shared responsibility for ending the awful waste of endemic poverty in our world and delivering an up front and personal engagement between the Link's participants across continents.
Full Story: www.president.ie
Thousands of Children Receive Free School Milk to Celebrate FAO World School Milk Day [ndc.ie]
- Published: 06 October 2010
Over 42,000 children in some 950 primary schools throughout the Republic of Ireland will have received their school milk free today, in an initiative by National Dairy Council member co-ops to celebrate the World School Milk Day (29th September 2010) of the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
The National Dairy Council is encouraging more parents and teachers to engage with the school milk and dairy programme as a way of helping children to achieve their recommended dietary guideline consumption of dairy.
Nutritional Inadequacies in Irish Children
Dairy products provide an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet – and are particularly important for growing children and teenagers. Yet a considerable proportion of Irish children aged 5-12 years and Irish teenagers are known to have inadequate intake of certain nutrients such as calcium, vitamins A & D. (Refs 1, 2, 3 & 4). 42% of teenage girls and nearly one fifth (23%) of teenage boys have inadequate calcium intakes. (Ref 3)
Participating in the EU-subsidised School Milk Programme is a cost effective and easy way for parents to help children to combat this nutritional gap, as milk is a natural source of calcium and other essential nutrients, namely vitamins B12 and B2 and iodine and protein.
Full Story: www.ndc.ie
Vandal-hit school wins film event [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 06 October 2010
Education Minister Caitriona Ruane joined teachers and pupils at St Mary's Star of the Sea in north Belfast as they celebrated their success with a special reception in the school.
There was widespread condemnation last year when St Mary's was daubed with sectarian graffiti and suffered two arson attacks, but public support for the respected school helped it secure the prize.
The winning pupils, now in Year 5 at the Catholic primary school on the city's Shore Road, won interactive whiteboard teaching equipment after making a short video for a competition organised by global education technology company Promethean.
Company representatives and Belfast Lord Mayor Pat Convery, who is a member of the Board of Governors at St Mary's, were also at the special ceremony.
Ms Ruane told the event: "It is a fantastic achievement and one that everyone involved with the school should rightly be proud of.
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.ukSchools strategy a criminal waste of public money, says Owen Paterson [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 06 October 2010
Secretary of State Owen Paterson has attacked Northern Ireland’s segregated schools, claiming the policy involves a “criminal waste of money”.
But his comments have been swiftly slammed by Sinn Fein Education Minister Caitriona Ruane.
Mr Paterson told Conservative Party members in Birmingham that British taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for schools, such as one Belfast primary that had no pupils and another that had more staff than pupils.
Last week a report claimed that shared education between Catholic and Protestant schools could help schools survive imminent budget cuts
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
