Principal Teachers Facing Impossible Situation
- Published: 24 September 2009
'3,400 Principal Teachers are soon facing an impossible situation' said Seán Cottrell, Director Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN). Mr. Cottrell said 'given that it is the Principal who is legally responsible for the actual day-to-day management of schools, any agreement that arises from talks between the union and the patrons representatives must be practical and supportive of Principals'.
Generation Zzz: Are today's teens too tired for school? [Independent.ie]
- Published: 24 September 2009
They go to sleep late and struggle to wake up in the morning. And in the classroom they find it difficult to concentrate. Irish teachers and parents regularly complain that teenagers are not getting enough sleep.
As Susie Hall, a teacher at Malahide Community School, says: "Often you find that that their minds are asleep and information is going over their heads. It is affecting their academic achievement.'' The average teenager probably was not designed to to rise and shine at seven in the morning -- after going to sleep willingly nine hours earlier.
Full Story: http://www.independent.ie
Get-tough policy slashes €14m from prefab bill [Independent.ie]
- Published: 24 September 2009
THE bill for renting prefabs for schools has been slashed by €14m this year. It follows a get-tough approach to the use of prefabs by schools, some of which were renting them for years on end.
If a prefab is needed for more than three years, the Department of Education and Science will offer a school a grant to buy it rather than rent it. Since the start of last year, the department has given permission to 514 schools to buy prefabs or build classrooms.
Full Story: http://www.independent.ie
First years fall back in maths and reading [Independent.ie]
- Published: 24 September 2009
MOST of the 55,000 students who enrol in secondary school annually make no progress in reading and maths in their first year. In fact, some "go backwards", according to a confidential paper drawn up by the advisory body charged with curriculum reform.
It says that this 'drift' in achievement is a well-documented phenomenon across education systems that feature a transition at 11 or 12 years of age, the age at which pupils leave primary school. The paper, which goes before the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment today, says this lack of progress is a key issue in Junior Cert reform.
Full Story: http://www.independent.ie
Two more schools hit by swine flu [Independent.ie]
- Published: 23 September 2009
Two more schools have been hit with swine flu, leaving a small number of pupils ill with the virus.
Parents of pupils from the Loreto Convent, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, were the latest to receive letters advising them of the small outbreak at the school. They have been advised to contact their GP if their daughters show flu-like symptoms and to keep them at home from school for seven days if flu is diagnosed.
Public health specialist for the HSE in the north west, Dr Anthony Breslin, said most of the cases emerging are mild.
Full story: http://www.independent.ie
