40% of nine-year-olds suffer from bullying [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 08 December 2009
TWO out of five of all nine-year-olds in Ireland have said they were bullied in the past 12 months, a major new study has revealed.
It also found one in five children (19%) were overweight, with a further 7% described as obese and that children whose parents had weight problems were three times more likely to be overweight or obese;
It also found wide inequality based on their family’s socio-economic status.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
The welfare of the child is what school attendance officers are all about [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 December 2009
It’s the success stories of getting kids back to class that keep school attendance manager Michael Doyle going in what can be a very difficult job, writes GRÁINNE FALLER
‘OUR JOB IS to support the right of a child to attend school.” The age-old image of a school attendance officer chasing after truants is way off the mark, according to former attendance officer Michael Doyle. “Obstacles to a child attending school often come down to family dysfunction,” he says. “Officers engage with families and other agencies in an effort to find solutions to those problems.”
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Fee-paying schools less likely to cater for special needs [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 December 2009
PROVISION FOR special needs pupils is largely concentrated in “free” State-run schools and in disadvantaged areas.
New Department of Education figures indicate some leading fee-paying schools make little provision for students with special educational needs.
Broadly, the list shows many fee-paying schools close to the bottom of the table when it comes to special needs provision.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Bully for all classes [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 December 2009
ANALYSIS: Some 40 per cent of Irish nine year olds have been bullied over the past year, according to the Growing up in Ireland report. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports
ALL CHILDREN are potentially vulnerable to the effects of bullying, regardless of sociodemographic factors. That’s one of the conclusions of a major new report on the lives of Irish children, which found some 40 per cent of nine year olds reported being bullied over the past year.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Calls for U-turn on Protestant schools' grants [Herald.ie]
- Published: 08 December 2009
The Government was urged yesterday to rethink its decision to cut grants to Protestant secondary schools.
The Royal Black Institution said it planned to follow its sister group the Orange Order and meet the Government and opposition leaders to raise concerns at the cuts.
Senior Protestant clergy in the Republic, plus a cross-section of political parties in Northern Ireland, joined critics of the Government in attacking the plans to remove grant aid historically offered to 21 fee-paying Protestant schools.
Full Story: www.herald.ie
