'Anseo' Conference Announced [Into.ie]
- Published: 08 June 2009
'Anseo' Conference Announced
The INTO LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) Teachers' Group is holding a conference in October to mark its fifth anniversary. Titled 'Anseo', the conference will focus on issues of inclusion in staffrooms.
05 June 2009
Children to lose out on pre-school scheme in funding row [independent.ie]
- Published: 08 June 2009
Source: independent.ie
By Paul Melia
Monday June 01 2009
THOUSANDS of children could lose out on a year's free pre-school education because of a row over funding.
Childcare groups have warned that creches will not sign up when the new pre-school scheme begins in January because the Government grant will not cover costs.
In April's emergency Budget, the Government replaced the early childcare supplement payable to all children under five with a commitment to fund a year's free pre-school education.
Pre-schools would receive €2,400 a year to provide the service, which would benefit up to 70,000 three and four-year-olds at a cost of €170m a year.
Pre-schools registered for the scheme will be paid a weekly capitation grant of €64.50 to cover 15 hours for each child. Parents cannot pay a top-up to subsidise the service.
But the annual capitation payment per child will not cover rent, rates, water charges and wage costs, say providers.
Childcare groups yesterday warned that unless the grant is increased hundreds of creches will not sign up, which will lead to a shortfall in places.
The Irish Montessori Education Board, which has 86 members, says the state contribution needs to be doubled.
The annual cost of sending a child to Montessori is between €3,000 and €4,000 per year.
"A capitation of closer to €100 would be more appropriate for our schools," spokeswoman Mina Walsh said.
Yesterday a spokesperson for the Minister for Children Barry Andrews said the state's contribution would not be increased, adding that parents will not be allowed pay a top-up to creches.
- Paul Melia
Immigrant children need language support [Irish Times]
- Published: 05 June 2009
Immigrant children need language support
The vast majority of second-level schools in the country have immigrant children among their student body, according to a report published by the Economic and Social Research Institute today.
The report, Adapting to Diversity: Irish Schools and Newcomer Students , is the first national study of school provision for newcomer students. It surveys 1,200 primary and second-level schools and provides detailed case-studies of twelve schools.
In contrast to second-level schools, four in ten primary schools have no immigrant children. However there are a disproportionate number of primary schools with quite high concentrations of newcomers.
The report found that newcomers are more likely to attend urban schools and those already catering for disadvantaged student groups.
While newcomer students are seen by teachers as motivated, hard-working and placing a high value on education, language needs, if not addressed, hinder their academic development and social integration. Language needs among newcomer parents make it difficult to involve parents in their child's education since few schools have access to translation services.
According to the report, newcomer students spend most of their time being taught by mainstream classroom or subject teachers, few of whom have received training on teaching English as an additional language. Principals and teachers identified a need for more training for teachers, guidance on best practice and access to teaching materials suitable for older students learning English.
The report also found that two-thirds of second-level schools and half of primary schools have put formal measures in place to support the social integration of newcomer students.
Relations between newcomer and Irish students are seen as broadly positive. However, the report found some evidence of segregation in friendship patterns and incidences of bullying based on nationality or ethnicity.
Despite the recession, diversity is likely to remain a feature of Irish society. The report stresses the need, in the context of scarce resources, to avoid a trade-off between the needs of newcomers and those of Irish students.
Promoting good relations among teachers, parents and students and teaching to the range of abilities in the class will, according to the report, benefit all students.
Moodle Workshops [CESI]
- Published: 05 June 2009
Moodle Workshops
CESI, with the support of NCTE and the Blackrock and Galway Education Centres, have organised two Moodle workshops and are now inviting registration for these events.
Dates, Locations & Registrations
Saturday, 6 June: Galway Education Centre
10:00 - 16:00. Registration in advance by contacting the Galway Education Centre by phone at 091 745600 or email at info@galwayec.ie.
Saturday, 13 June: Blackrock Education Centre
10:00 - 16:00. Registration in advance by contacting the Blackrock Education Centre by phone at 01 2365000 or email at bec@blackrockec.ie.
Please note that there are a limited number of spaces available for each workshop. Places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis based on time and date of registration.
Outline of Training
Training will be divided into 2 distinct sections:
1) Administrative: (10am till 12:30pm)
- Technical setup of Moodle itself on Shared, Dedicated Servers
- Setting up courses
- Setting up users
- Auto import of users
- Moodle Maintenance
- Plugin installation
- Shared logins/authentication
- Questions arising
2) Teaching: (13:30 till 16:00)
- Running Moodle courses
- Designing content for Moodle (various resources & activities available)
- Integrating 3rd party content presentation (EXELearning & HotPotatoes & Articulates etc.)
- General instructional design principles
About Seaghan
Seaghan Moriarty has delivered training to various teachers, Education Centres and organisations on Moodle numerous times in the past few years and has a keen interest in not just the technology but the whole learning environment which can be enables using Moodle.
The Active School Flag [PPDS]
- Published: 02 June 2009
The Active School Awards have been in existence for the past four years. During this time many schools have taken part and celebrated physical education, physical activity and sport provision within the wider school community. The Active School Awards have evolved every year to meet the changing needs and demands of schools. This year sees a move away from the competitive element of the Active School Awards to a more sustainable Active School Flag.