275 Primary Schoolchildren Celebrate Achievements at WIT [wit.ie]
- Published: 30 June 2011
275 children attending four Waterford primary schools have been celebrating with their classmates, teachers and families at Waterford Institute of Technology having completed the 'Learning 4 Life' access programme run by the Institute in partnership with the Waterford School Completion Programme and Genzyme Irl. At the ceremonies in Waterford Institute of Technology, pupils from the Mercy Senior Primary School; Presentation Convent Primary School; St Saviour's Primary School and St Paul's Boys National School saw their achievements acknowledged.
'Learning 4 Life' works with children in fourth, fifth and sixth class and their parents to identify and address any barriers that might prevent young people completing their schooling and going on to higher education. The programme pairs the pupils with Institute students who are trained as 'volunteers buddies'. As well as being supported with their homework from school, the pupils spend time on campus and participate in a range of activities including computing and web design; science; sports; arts and drama all aimed at building their self confidence and showing that education can be a fun experience.
Full Story: www.wit.ie
177 inspection reports published on Department's website [education.ie]
- Published: 30 June 2011
A total of 177 inspection reports were published today on the Department of Education and Skills' website.
New inspection reports on the web today comprise:
- 83 whole-school evaluations (WSEs) of primary schools
- 6 whole-school evaluations (WSEs) of post-primary schools, including 20 subject inspections
- 58 stand-alone subject inspections at post-primary level
- 3 stand-alone programme evaluations at post-primary level
- 6 evaluations of centres for education
Since 6th February 2006, inspection reports on schools and centres for education are published on the Department of Education and Skills' website at regular intervals throughout the school year.
There are now 4,819 inspection reports on the website, representative of 1,957 schools and centres for education.
WSEs are conducted in primary and post-primary schools.
Full Story: www.education.ie
Minister Ciarán Cannon welcomes Bus Eireann agreement to reduce School Transport Costs by €1.5 million, Bus Eireann also agree to publish audited accounts on scheme [education.ie]
- Published: 30 June 2011
The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Ciarán Cannon, has welcomed confirmation from Bus Eireann yesterday afternoon that it is significantly reducing the administrative costs of the School Transport Service and will continue to do so over the next three years.
The Minister and officials from the Department met with Bus Eireann yesterday afternoon as part of their on-going negotiations with the company on finding savings in the School Transport Scheme which currently costs the state some €180 million.
"I can confirm that Bus Eireann has reduced its administrative overheads by approximately €1.5 million this year and the company has committed to finding further cost reductions over the next three years," said Minister Cannon.
"This means that the total administrative costs of Bus Eireann to operate the scheme will be in the region of €16.7 million this year, and not €25 million as has been suggested by some people."
Full Story: www.education.ie
Toddler speak 'key to school success' [eecho.ie]
- Published: 30 June 2011
Children who struggle to speak at the age of two are less likely to do well when they start primary school, research suggests.
It also found that children who own more books and are taken to the library as toddlers are more likely to achieve higher scores when they start school.
The study, by researchers at the University of the West of England, Bristol University, Sheffield University and Edinburgh University, looked at how the environment in which a child learns to communicate affects how ready they are for school.
The findings show that children’s understanding and use of words, and their ability to say two or three word sentences by the age of two was strongly associated with their performance when they started school.
Full Story: www.eecho.ie
Halving number of VECs will save €3m, says Quinn [IrishTimes]
- Published: 30 June 2011
REDUCING THE number of VECs from 33 to 16 will bring savings of €3 million while improving the overall education system, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has said.
Mr Quinn yesterday announced the revised reconfiguration which will see all but three of the current VECs – namely Dublin, Donegal and Kerry – amalgamated with other committees.
He said a name change from the Vocational Education Committee, which was somewhat anachronistic, to something like the “Local Education and Training Boards” was also likely.
“In the relatively short term, I’m looking for €3 million in savings and, in the long term, I’m looking for a much better educational service for the Irish citizen,” he said. “The next stage will be to identify the . . . . . . who will lead the new 13 of the 16 VECs because three of the VECs remain unchanged,” he said, adding discussions were ongoing in this regard. “The second thing that I need to do is identify the official headquarters of each VEC.”
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
