Where will Educate Together students go for second-level? [IrishTimes]
- Published: 13 April 2010
There are five Educate Together schools in Lucan. Over 300 pupils will shortly transfer from primary to second-level but the Department still refuses to allow Educate Together act as a patron for second level, writes GRÁINNE FALLER
CONSIDERING HER eldest daughter is just in second class, it seems strange that Carol Dunne would be worried, or even thinking, about second-level education at this early stage. But the Lucan-based mum of four is very concerned.
“My children go to Griffeen Valley Educate Together school,” she says. “But, to be honest, I’m worried about their lack of second-level options. I chose the Educate Together ethos for a reason. Everyone is accepted for who and what they are and I thought it would give my children a good grounding for later life.”
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Teacher's Pet: [IrishTimes]
- Published: 13 April 2010
An insider's guide to education
- MARY COUGHLAN , the new Minister for Education and Skills, has made a flying start in her new portfolio.
Coughlan gave an assured performance at both the INTO and the TUI conferences. And those pictures of her cowering in fear from a baying mob at the TUI conference provoked a great deal of sympathy from the public.
Better still, Coughlan has shown some decisiveness. First, she announced an easing of that ludicrous embargo on promotions, which has made it impossible for schools to operate.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Half of teachers in job for less than 10 years [Independent.ie]
- Published: 13 April 2010
MORE than half of the country's 30,000 primary teachers have been teaching for less than 10 years, new figures reveal.
They also show that 8,651 have been teaching for five years at most, while a further 7,846 have only between six and 10 years' experience.
Just 218 teachers have more than 40 years' experience, with a further 1,359 having between 35 and 40 years' service.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Project IRIS (Inclusive Research in Irish Schools)
- Published: 12 April 2010
School Principals play a key role in the day-to-day delivery of special education programmes and support services in schools, and your input is critically important to our understanding of special educational provision in Ireland.
Project IRIS (Inclusive Research in Irish Schools) is a national three year longitudinal research project which will carry out the most in-depth study of special and inclusive education ever conducted in Ireland.
Commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) the study will collect information from multiple perspectives across the education system and will help us build a comprehensive picture of the policies and practices that support young people with special education needs (SEN) in their learning.
As part of this research project we are distributing a short survey to every primary school in Ireland and we invite you to complete this survey and share your experience and views of special education provision.
The survey is completed entirely online and can be accessed using the link below. It contains 5 sections and will take the average respondent approx 20 minutes to complete.
We would be extremely grateful if you could take some time out of your schedule to complete this survey and thank you in advance for your participation.
Yours Sincerely,
The Project IRIS Team
For further information and updates on Project IRIS please visit our website www.projectiris.org. If you have any questions or additional feedback regarding this research please feel free to contact the Project IRIS team at info@projectiris.org
Being a teacher is no easy job [Independent.ie]
- Published: 12 April 2010
VICTOR Feldman's anti-teacher tirade (Letters, April 9) is a curious mixture of envy, rant and inaccuracy.
The majority of the "perks" that he assumes teachers enjoy simply do not exist.
There is no early retirement scheme. To gain full pension a teacher will have to pay contributions for at least 40 years. Because few teachers gain permanent jobs early in their career (at second level, 52pc under 30 are on part-time contracts) a significant number retire on pensions well below full value.
As for a "short working day", the recent Behaviour and Attitudes survey, as reported in the Irish Independent, shows that second-level teachers work on average 46 hours per week.
