Educate Together

Following a successful public launch of it’s pre-enrolment list in Ashbourne, Educate Together are hopeful that a new Educate Together primary school will be opened in the area in the near future.

Here’s a useful resource for any teacher to start off the new school term: a multi-faith and multifaceted calendar for the 2012 academic term! We’ve also compiled a list of all upcoming Educate Together events, training sessions and conferences for the year. Download both calendars here.

Young scientists from the laboratories and classrooms of 6 Educate Together schools are set to make an impact at the RDS Primary Science Fair this year!

Educate Together students in Galway and Balbriggan have scooped 3 awards at the Eircom Junior Spiders 2011!

Educate Together has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills of new school building projects in 2012. Five of the 56 projects planned will involve Educate Together schools. New Educate Together school buildings will be completed in Carlow, Waterford, Blanchardstown West and Holywell in Swords. Thornleigh Educate Together National School in Swords is scheduled for extension.

The last quarter of 2011 was very active on the lobbying front. Educate Together made its final submission to the Patronage and Pluralism Forum, made a detailed deposition to the Department of Education and Skills on enrolment policy and formally submitted its position on the Education and Training Boards Bill to the Oireachtas Select Subcommittee on Education.

Educate Together made a submission on school enrolment policies to the Department of Education and Skills in October 2011. The submission was drafted as part of the recent consultation process on school enrolment policy. The submission can download here.

The Joint Oieachtas Committee on Education and Skills has invited submissions on the Draft Heads of the Education and Training Boards Bill, 2011. As both a partner in education and a future potential receiver of services from the proposed Education & Training Boards, Educate Together has made a formal submission to the Select Sub-Committee on Education & Skills. That submission is available to download here.

There is currently one teacher on the Educate Together Main panel. We believe that this teacher will be redeployed very shortly. If you have a permanent vacancy in your school please contact the national office. You will more than likely be allowed to fill this vacancy in a fixed term capacity until the end of the school year (June).

The National Procurement Service (NPS) was established by Government decision in 2009 to ensure maximum efficiency in the area of public service procurement of goods and services. Following discussion between Educate Together and the NPS this facility is now available to Educate Together schools. The NPS uses information provided by participating groups of the public service community (including schools, local authorities etc) to bargain with service providers/ suppliers for a better rate for all involved.

On behalf of everyone in the National Office, we’d like to acknowledge and draw attention to the extraordinary work of the volunteers on Boards of Management. As we are at the end of the recent term of office for Boards, there are a number of people who will not be returning to their roles.

Welcome to Emma Grainger our new Ethos Development Officer who is settling in nicely after her first fortnight in the role! Emma has come to us from the Youth Work Service of Léargas and has a background in training and facilitation with children, young people and adults as well as Educational Research and Evaluation.

The first module of the Board of Management training is now available online. A letter has been sent to all boards of management advising them how to access the course. The letter contains your enrolment key which will have to be entered by each board of management member in order to access the course

The Minister for Education and Skills recently announced that capital funding was being made available to provide a primary schools minor works grant of €28 million for the current school year. This will come as great news for many schools as it was rumoured that the grant would not be paid this year.

On Thursday 24th November, A debate was held in the Senate Chamber of Stormont parliament buildings. This debate, hosted by the Integrated Education Fund, was about the future of integrated approaches to education in Nothern Ireland. Educate Together CEO, Paul Rowe, spoke at the debate, discussing Educate Together’s role in establishing multi-denominational schools in Ireland.

It’s that time of year again! This year, why not purchase these beautiful Seasonal Greeting Cards for friends and family, and raise funds for Educate Together’s schools nationwide.

We are circulating an online survey on values to all school Principals in the Educate Together network, entitled “Values in Educational Practice Survey”. Please spare five minutes to complete this survey.

There are currently three teachers …

Our annual Ethos Conference took place in Galway on Saturday Nov 12th and was a great success. This conference was open to teachers, parents and Board members. In response to requests from schools outside of Dublin, the conference took place in Galway City.

Educate Together has welcomed as ‘progressive’ draft recommendations proposed today by the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. The Advisory Group shared its reflections on the planning for greater diversity in Irish education at a public session in the Department of Education and Skills.

Pupils from Ennis Educate ETNS and Waterford ETNS were very proud to have been at the Inauguration of President Michael D. Higgins in Dublin Castle on Friday 11th November 2011.

The second ever Educate Together school to be established in Ireland, Bray School Project, has marked its 30th anniversary. A series of events culminated on October 27th with ‘A Friendship and Memories’ event with some of the school’s founding teachers and parents.

At Aston Village ETNS in Drogheda, Educate Together has taken possession of 16 classrooms, a separate general purpose hall and a special needs unit for this rapidly growing school.

Hello All,
Welcome to the October …

Students and staff at Castaheany Educate Together NS were thrilled to welcome All Ireland Winning Dublin footballers to the school in October. See the pictures here!

Parents, pupils and staff in Educate Together schools went a little bit crazy to support the National Fundraising Day on October 28th 2011! Schools hosted a wide variety of events to celebrate the inclusive ethos of Educate Together schools and raise funds for its voluntary school management support programmes. Check out the pictures here!

Parents, pupils and staff in Educate Together schools around the country are coming up with creative ideas to support Educate Together’s National Fundraising Day on October 28th.

On Friday the 16th of September 2011 – the Thornleigh community – parents, grandparents, guardians, children, teachers and SCP had their first attempt at soup making, and boy was it a success!

Educate Together has noted with sadness the passing of Caroline Mooney. Caroline was a founding member of the group campaigning for an Educate Together second-level group for Waterford, and gave her time generously to that campaign from its inception.

Educate Together has welcomed the publication of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Ireland. Read more here!

Permanent posts
The Educate Together Main …

Following a very successful public meeting in Kildare Town recently, Educate Together are hopeful that a new Educate Together primary school will be opened in the area in 2012.

Educate Together is to meet local parents in Tallaght to discuss their plans for a new primary school: It takes place at 8pm Thursday September 15 in Rua Red, South Dublin Arts Centre, Tallaght.

Educate Together is calling for an urgent review of cuts to special needs education funding.

A welcome note from Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together, at the start of a new school year!

Educate Together has welcomed news from the Department of Education and Skills that new primary schools will be opened in four additional areas in September 2012, with nine more in 2013.

A Note from Educate Together’s CEO, Paul Rowe, on the Educate Together school building projects underway this summer.

The DES has now given …

As of today the DES …

Educate Together has welcomed news from the Department of Education and Skills that a new primary school will be opened in Kildare Town in 2012.