Now parents have got sick of homework [Herald.ie]
- Published: 01 September 2010
WITH the new school term about to begin, many parents are dreading the "chore" of nightly homework -- and some are even calling for it to be scrapped
A poll for the the Netmums website reveals that up to one in six parents (16.3pc) do not think their youngsters should receive homework because children need time to "switch off".
Nearly one in five (18.2pc) said their children receive too much homework -- although 28.8pc think they do not get enough. The website poll questioned more than 1,000 parents.
It found that almost one in three (31.8pc) think their children's homework is "a bit of a chore and just another thing to get done in the busy evenings".
Full Story: www.herald.ie
Diary of a schoolteacher: Thank God those long summer hols are finally over [Independent.ie]
- Published: 01 September 2010
It's great to be back at work! I take a deep breath and breathe in that unique cocktail of adolescent hormones, chip fat and urinal cakes that is the school smell -- oh baby, that feels real good!
No, I haven't gone mad, and yes, you might think that 10 weeks of paid vacation sounds like paradise but if you had the bad luck to be me, you'd change your mind.
The problems begin at home -- the site of my past three months of confinement.
Mrs Grade has never passed on an opportunity to hold forth on how teachers are given too much free time over the summer.
I think she feels threatened by my innate air of authority, honed over the years in the classroom, and the fact that those early days of the summer break present me with a chance to encourage our kids to get up and get out there and do stuff.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Has the time come to hang up the school uniform? [Independent.ie]
- Published: 01 September 2010
To their detractors, they are a relic of regi- mented, old-fashioned schooling; a sign that Irish education still values conformity above individuality.
The supporters of uniforms, on the other hand, say they encourage equality in schools by stopping competition among pupils over who has the most expensive designer gear.
Whether they love them or loathe them, most parents moan about the cost of school outfits at this time of year.
A survey by Bank of Ireland and the education website Schooldays.ie found that three-quarters of parents believe uniforms are too expensive.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Fearless four breeze through first day [Independent.ie]
- Published: 01 September 2010
Three-year-old quadruplets are learning their numbers and their ABCs after starting Montessori school yesterday.
Meanwhile, at a school in the same county, an 89-year-old nun returned to the classroom to begin her 61st year as a teacher.
Robbie, Jamie, Lillie and Johnny Maher make up the younger group and are Carlow's only set of quads since records began.
The foursome made parents Mary and John Maher from Kilnock, Ballon, very proud when they didn't even shed a tear on their first day at Montessori.
When the tiny tots arrived into the world on October 22, 2006 they weighed just over one pound each. Jamie is the smallest known surviving quad in Europe but he's also the "hardiest" of the four.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Stay Safe lessons still optional in many schools [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 31 August 2010
DOZENS of primary schools are still not teaching children self-protection skills that could help them to avoid abuse situations, despite Government plans to make the programme mandatory.
As almost 3,300 primary schools reopen this week, children’s charity Barnardos said there is no reason why Stay Safe should still be an optional programme for primary schools.
The Department of Education said a survey which 80% of primary schools responded to showed that, while 92% of schools use Stay Safe, 123 were not teaching it last year. Although 76 of these were using an alternative child protection course, the figures suggest around 60 primary schools nationally offer no such classes for their pupils.
Stay Safe is used in the social, personal and health education (SPHE) curriculum to teach children to recognise an unsafe situation and tell an adult about it. They also learn how to respond to unwanted touching and to know it is all right to say "no" if asked to do something wrong or dangerous.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
