Educate Together Second-level News  Vol. 1, Issue 3 - April 2008

New Coordinator for Second-level Curriculum Development Work

We are delighted to announce that Kathleen Geraghty has started the important job of putting our second-level curricular framework down on paper. Kathleen has links to Dublin 7 ETNS and has many years’ experience working in second-level education.

The four principles of the Educate Together ethos will be at the heart of this curriculum work and discussions and recommendations from the various workshops and meetings which have been held, and the data from the Trinity research, will also shape the process. Kathleen will work with curriculum working groups, as well as consulting with the authors of the primary Learn Together ethical education curriculum and others from within and outside Educate Together.

We will be arranging with Kathleen to meet with people who have volunteered for working groups in this area very shortly so if you are interested in joining these working groups, or sending on your local group’s ideas on curriculum to Kathleen, please contact us as soon as possible. The aim is to produce a draft of the curricular framework by the summer.

Paul Rowe tells Second-level Principals that he is looking forward to working with them

Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together, addressed the Annual Symposium of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham last month. In his speech he highlighted the positive contribution that “independent patron bodies with purely educational objectives” make within the Irish educational landscape and said he was looking forward to developing good relationships new partners at Educate Together moves into second-level education.

Paul has been invited to give the keynote address at the Annual Conference of the National Parents Council - Post-Primary on Saturday, 5th April.

Working Groups

At a meeting on 1st March, the following areas were identitifed as likely topics for working groups: Management and Structure and Teaching and Learning Methodologies, Lobbying and Communications, Campus and Built Environment, Curricular Framework and the Ethical Education Curriculum.

There are now groups established in the areas of Management and Structure and Teaching and Learning Methodologies and the Management and Structure group is planning to meet during the General Members’ Meeting this Saturday, 5th April.

Volunteers Wanted

If you have an interest in ET second-level education and would like to join a working group, or if you (or someone you know) has particular skills which would be useful to these groups please contact Emer at the national office or email secondlevel@educatetogether.ie. In particular if there is anyone with experience in school buildings and/or planning, ethical education, curriculum, consulting young people and campaigning and lobbying, these groups still need more people.

Patronage and Trusteeship Negotiations

Good progress was made in this area during March.

Department of Education and Science

Further to our meeting with the Department of Education and Science in February, we wrote to them more formally on 13th March in support of Educate Together’s application to register as a second-level patron. In this correspondence we mentioned a number of geographical areas where interest has been expressed in establishing a second-level Educate Together school. We are now pressing the Department for a response.

IVEA / VECs

Paul Rowe and Emer Nowlan met with a group representing the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), the national representative body for the Vocational Education Committees (VECs), on 27th March. The aim of this meeting was to explore the possibility of drawing up a national level “Model Agreement” which could then be entered into by ET and local VECs around the country to establish ET second-level schools in partnership with VECs.

An overview of the Educate Together ethos and how it can be applied successfully at second-level was presented to the IVEA representatives. Following this there was some discussion as to what the aims of a second-level Educate Together school might be, and what would constitute “partnership” between the two organisations. It was agreed that the group would meet again at the end of April to continue the discussions.

Start-up Groups

At the working group meeting on Sat 1st March, a clear distinction was made between the work of the Working Groups, which we hope will contribute to national policy in relation to second-level education, and the work of local Start-up Groups, who are campaigning for an ET second-level school in their area.

We are aware of active start-up groups who meet regularly in Lucan, Navan, Swords and Waterford. If you are involved in a group in your area please contact us and let us know how you are getting on. Here are some of the activities that groups have been involved in:

• Discussing amongst your group and with your children how you feel the Educate Together principles can be applied at second-level and what you want your Educate Together second-level school to be like
• Building relationships with existing schools in the area
• Collecting demographic information in relation to establish whether there is / will be a need for a new second-level school in your area
• Holding public meetings
• Lobbying local and national representatives
• Looking for potential sites

Public Meetings

We would like to start helping start-up groups to organise public meetings soon in areas where it seems there would be a significant demand for an Educate Together second-level school in the near future. If your group feels that it is ready to take this step then please contact Emer in the national office.

From time to time we hope to highlight a Start-up Group in this newsletter. If your group is interested in sharing its experiences here, please contact us.

Lobbying and Communications

“Advocates” Campaign

We know from our meetings with education partners, academics and other organisations that there is a high level of support for the Educate Together second-level campaign. In order to capitalise on this support, this month we hope to launch an “Advocates” campaign. The aim of this will be to gain the public support of key opinion-formers and decision-makers in Irish education, including well-known academics and public representatives who can lend weight to our campaign.

If anyone has ideas or time to contribute to this campaign please contact us.

That’s all for this month. Don’t forget to visit the second-level rooms in the forum and get chatting! www.educatetogetherforum.ie

Educate Together Second-level Project
Project Manager: Emer Nowlan
Email: secondlevel@educatetogether.ie

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Educate Together Second-level News is published by Educate Together, the national representative organisation for multi-denominational education in Ireland. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the policy of Educate Together unless expressly stated. Any non-commercial organisation is free to copy the contents of this newsletter as long as the source is attributed. Educate Together supports the standards proposed by the ePhilanthropy Foundation. See Code of Ethics (http://www.ephilanthropy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ethics) If you have received this email counter to your wishes or no longer wish to receive it please contact secondlevel@educatetogether.ie. We also undertake that the details of any person who subscribes to this newsletter will not be forwarded to any third party or used for a purpose other than to receive this newsletter unless you have expressly given permission.
Educate Together 2008