Tánaiste opens newly refurbished St. Joseph's National School, East Wall [education.ie]
- Published: 09 September 2010
Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan TD today opened the newly refurbished St. Joseph's National School, East Wall, Dublin 3.
The school building was refurbished at a cost of €1.1million and funded by the Department of Education and Skillls.
The refurbishment work included a new heating system, installation of CCTV and alarms, replacement of doors and windows, installation of new floors, refurbishment of the toilets and creation of a re-cycling area.
In addition, the school building was completely re-painted and the area in front of the building was pedestrianised and planted.
St. Joseph’s has a current enrolment of 181 pupils and a staff of 20.
Speaking at the opening, the Tánaiste said 'It is my great privilege to join you here today in East Wall, in the heart of Dublin, to celebrate the opening of your fabulous refurbished school.'
'An event such as this is always a great occasion.'
'This morning here in East Wall is not only the culmination of a lot of planning and hard work; it also represents this community's hope and confidence in the future.'
'Schools are a vital and integral part of any neighbourhood.'
Full Story: www.education.ie
New programme will help children cope with everyday difficulties [advertiser.ie]
- Published: 09 September 2010
An innovative wellbeing programme, which targets young primary school children, has been piloted in three Galway schools.
The first dedicated mental health promotion initiative of its type, it was run at Scoil na Trionoide Naofa in Mervue, Scoil An Chroi Naofa, Newcastle Road, and Scoil An Chroi Naofa in Ballinasloe. The progamme, called “Zippy’s Friends”, was piloted in 40 primary schools in the west by the HSE and the Department of Education.
Aimed at five-to seven-year-olds of all abilities, it teaches young children how to develop skills to cope with problems which may occur in adolescence and adulthood. Pupils learn how to deal with everyday difficulties, to identify and talk about their feelings and explore ways of dealing with them.
Mary Kilraine Hannon, health promotion officer with the HSE West, says the programme gave the children an opportunity to interact with other children and their teacher in different ways.
“They developed skills on how to communicate effectively with others, how to deal with issues such as conflict, change and loss, and they learned ways to find solutions to their own problems.”
Full Story: www.advertiser.ie
Parents turn to charity as school costs hit home [dublinpeople.com]
- Published: 09 September 2010
THERE have been calls on the Government to help shoulder the burden of back to school costs for less well off families as desperate parents turn to charity for assistance.
With the new school year now underway, many families across the Southside are struggling to pay for books, uniforms and meals due to the recession.
The St Vincent De Paul revealed that they have dealt with an almost 40 per cent increase in the number of parents - and even some Dublin schools - who approached them for financial assistance in the run up to the new school year.
The organisation expects to spend over e4 million on education this year, as the average cost of sending a child to secondary school has spiked to e815 - e500 more than the Back to School allowance.
A spokesman told Southside People that overall calls from cash-strapped Dublin residents were up 37 per cent on last year.
Worryingly, a number of Dublin schools have also approached the charity requesting financial support.
“We have definitely seen an increase in recent times because of the rising cost of getting kids back to school,” the spokesman said.
Full Story: www.dublinpeople.com
School children 'not spending enough time on maths' [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 09 September 2010
Children in primary and secondary schools in Ireland are not spending enough time learning maths or science, it has been revealed.
The OECD Education At A Glance report highlighted Ireland's problems when it comes to its education policy.
As well as revealing that it spent less money on its schools than 29 other countries, it also showed that less time was given to teaching pupils important subjects such as maths and science.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Primary school children to learn craft skills [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 08 September 2010
Children in primary schools in Ireland are set to learn "traditional craft skills" under a new initiative.
The Crafts Council of Ireland is running the programme entitled CRAFTed: Learning Skills for Life across 36 selected primary schools, starting this month (September 2010).
More than 900 children will spend two hours a week for five weeks learning how to knit, sew, make jewellery and craft wood.
According to organisers, it will give pupils the "opportunity to explore their creativity and learn new skills by working collaboratively with professional craftspeople".
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
