Welcome
Welcome to our last ETSN for the current school year. It’s been a busy one (aren’t they all!), with training, General Members’ Meetings, changes to Panel Arrangements, our 30th Birthday Party, the launch of the Second Level Blueprint, discussions on the Learn Together programme, Clustering, and Enrolment Policies, the impact of major cut-backs in education on all schools, and our AGM at the beginning of June.
It’s been a great week for end-of-year celebrations, and the weather has been perfect for sports days and outdoor activities. We hope you have a lovely summer break, re-charging your batteries for a bright start to the new year in September 2009. Over the summer, we will be working on our programmes, including drawing up our Training Schedule. We have had some responses to our Training Survey, but more would be useful
in helping us to draw up a programme that will make the best use of your time. If you haven’t already completed the survey (it only takes about five minutes), please go to http://short.ie/et-training-programme
October will see us losing Louise Daly, for a year, while she takes a Career Break to travel. Barra Lysaght (familiar to many of you through his role as Team Assistant) will be taking up the position of School Support Officer in Louise’s absence. In anticipation of her departure, Barra has already started ’shadowing’ Louise, and will be taking over Patron Approvals from next week. You can contact Barra make arrangements for approvals out of office hours.
We wish you a happy sunny summer, see you all in September.
Deirdre, Louise, Barra, Amy, Gerry, Jarlath, Niall and all in Educate Together.
School profile – Bracken Educate Together National School
Bracken Educate Together National School Balbriggan held the official opening of its brand new school building last Friday. The school opened in September 2007 with 78 pupils as an emergency school and was housed temporarily in Sunshine House. There are now has 187 pupils on roll and the expected enrolment for next September is 230.
Invited guests included incoming Mayor of Fingal Councillor Ciaran Byrne, Educate Together CEO Paul Rowe, local TD’s Trevor Sargent and Michael Kennedy.
Following student displays of music, dance and singing, Paul Rowe in his speech praised the professionalism and dedication of the staff and the enthusiasm of the pupils led by Principal Marian Griffin. A special mention was made of the continuing support and involvement of the parents.
Flowers were presented to School Secretary Jillian Arcaya, Frieda McGovern who acted as temporary Principal when the school opened initially, and to Marian Griffin.
After planting a tree to mark the occasion guests, parents, pupils and staff shared in the wonderful and plentiful home cooked food provided by the parents, and were invited to tour the school.
Educate Together wants your views! Please take our short survey on how we can improve the BoM training programme for next year at http://short.ie/et-training-programme. Many thanks to those who have already completed the survey but we need more responses now if we are to provide a programme that suits your needs for the school year 2009/2010. Even if you didn’t get the opportunity to attend any or all of the modules that you would have liked, please let us know how we can better accommodate your needs next year. The training programme is for the benefit of Boards of Management and if we can improve it, please send us your views.
Further to Louise Daly’s email (sent June 24th to all Chairpersons and Principals) we would like to remind all schools that still have, or have recently been informed of new permanent posts, that you must inform Educate Together of these posts as a new teacher has been added to the Main Educate Together panel. This teacher is currently based in Limerick. If you have already begun the selection process (ie 1. You have gained refusals from 3 existing teachers on panel 2. You have submitted said refusals to the DES and have being given permission to advertise 3. Have placed the advertisement and are in the process of shortlisting, interviewing etc ) then you do not need to contact the new teacher on the main panel and may continue with your selection process. Schools that have not yet begun the selection process must offer permanent posts the the new teacher on the Main panel as well as the 3 previously existing teachers. Please contact the School Support if you have any questions.
How is Learn Together, the Educate Together ethical curriculum, to be transformed from an aspirational document into a lived reality within the life of the school?
Teachers from throughout the sector attended a seminar in Kilmainham on Saturday 13th June to address this central question – to share experience, personal and professional, to reflect on developments over the past year, and to consider future challenges. 2008 – 2009 saw the introduction, for the first time, of a structured programme in relation to the ethical curriculum in the colleges of teacher education – a long-awaited development. This was coordinated by Fionnuala Ward, who joined the Educate Together national office on a part-time basis in late November ’08. Fionnuala delivered some of the modules alongside Chris Lennon, Frieda McGovern, and Anita Dermody.
The morning session of Saturday’s seminar was largely devoted to a review of this initiative. Whilst acknowledging the inequality of approach inherent in the Department of Education and Science’s provision for training of teachers in relation to the Educate Together ethical curriculum (vis-à-vis training provided in respect of the equivalent programmes used in the denominational school sector), the feedback from the colleges was very positive. The demand for such programmes from the students themselves was evident, and the relevance of the ethical education curriculum, both in terms of its objectives and methodologies, was clearly manifest.
Fionnuala then gave a presentation in relation to the Learn Together online teachers’ survey, which had attracted a large number of responses. The survey itself sought to gauge teachers’ impressions regarding the implementation of the ethical curriculum, the availability of resources, and the viability of a wide range of proposed strategies for improving the support available to teachers within the classroom.
In discussing the findings of this survey, those present expressed agreement as to the inadequacy of support currently available, and broad support for a variety of measures, with the provision of an online course proving particularly popular. The need for an online resource library, to coincide with the refurbishment of the Educate Together website this summer, was considered an immediate priority.
The afternoon session was mainly given over to presentations given by teachers in respect of each of the four ethical curriculum strands. The presentations provided a welcome opportunity for those present to share practical tools (lesson ideas, useful resources, whole-school activities) and to reflect in more general terms upon the philosophical underpinnings of the programme. The presentations delivered on the day are available here, with sincere thanks to:
Emer Carney (Castaheany ETNS)
Gráinne McManus (Lucan East ETNS)
Mary Griffin (Rathfarnham ETNS)
Imelda Wright (Gorey ETNS)
Maeve McCarthy (Swords ETNS)
As the day came to a close, Fionnuala introduced a pilot initiative, the object of which is to build a repertoire of resources and lesson ideas for teachers in respect of Learn Together. By forming ‘Strand Committees’, i.e. a committee of teachers developing resources in relation to the core objectives of each of the strands, the hope is to produce a resource pack, which could be issued to schools on what would initially be a biannual basis.
Terms of reference for these committees, as well as lesson templates, are available here. Should you be interested in participating in this initiative, contact Fionnuala at teachereducation@educatetogether.ie.
The following motion was passed at our Annual General Meeting at the beginning of June:
That Educate Together empowers the Board of Directors to allow variations from the “first come, first served” policy in such cases where a school board makes a serious and reasoned case for such a variation in order to address their obligations to equality under the Educate Together charter in their own communities.
At present, all Boards of Management with Educate Together patronage operate a “first come, first served” (FCFS) policy. Boards of Management can now apply to the Board of Directors to approve an enrolment policy that is not strictly FCFS, but has variations. Such an amended policy would not come into effect until it had been approved by the Board of Directors.
Blueprint for Educate Together Second-level schools launched with huge support.
“Both visionary and realistic” (Aine Hyland), “a new standard in second-level education” (Niall Crowley, former CEO of Equality Authority), “a visionary and exciting plan” (Prof Sheelagh Drudy, UCD) – these were just some of the comments made about Taking the Next Step – a Blueprint for Educate Together Second-level Schools when it was launched last Friday in Dublin.
Fiona Richardson, Second-level Education Officer, has drawn the views of start-up group and working group members in this Blueprint, linking them to Educate Together’s principles and the latest educational research. The result is an impressive document which will be invaluable to groups campaigning for schools in their area.
The vision of second-level education which the Blueprint outlines is one in which students are the architects of their own learning. In a radical move away from the traditionally hierarchical structures of the Irish second-level system, Educate Together second-level schools will operate as truly democratic learning communities, empowering students, teachers and parents to work together towards educational aims in an atmosphere of equality and respect.
The Blueprint draws on national and international research to show how, by integrating 21st century teaching and learning strategies comprehensively and purposefully into the curriculum, and by assessing not only what students learn but how they learn, Educate Together second-level schools will nurture critical thinkers, problem solvers, effective communicators, creators and innovators.
Like Educate Together primary schools, these second-level schools will incorporate a comprehensive Ethical Education curriculum. The Blueprint spells out how this will result in an inclusive, intercultural learning environment where second-level students will critically interact across viewpoints within a common language of respect.
Drawing widely on current Irish and international research, the Blueprint outlines how providing an integrated approach to curriculum at junior cycle will improve teacher-student relationships, ease primary-secondary transition and provide a more relevant, connected learning experience for young people.
The positive response to this move is not surprising, given the increasing frequency with which business leaders, academics and others raise concerns about the relevance of the current second-level system. Just last Saturday Tom Boland, head of the Higher Education Authority added his voice to many before him in saying “our second-level system is producing students who learn to the test; who in ever greater numbers are not learning to think for themselves; who receive spoon-feeding at second level and expect the same at third” (Irish Times, 13/06/2009).
To download a copy of the Blueprint and find out more about its launch visit www.educatetogether.ie
School Profile- Kilcolgan Educate Together National School
What a busy year it has been at Kilcolgan ETNS! One of 12 new ET schools opened last September, this school year concluded with the school concert on Thursday (June 25th) which was well attended by parents and the wider school community.
The school is situated in the village of Kilcolgan in South County Galway, in probably one of the most rural locations of all the Educate Together schools. A very active group of parents from the South Galway area who have worked tirelessly for the past few years are responsible for establishing this school. Their enthusiasm has continued this year, with this school developing a very good reputation for activity. The school community have also been very busy on the fundraising and school promotion work too. Kilcolgan ETNS is quickly becoming an integral part of the local community.
This busy first year has included many activities, both in and outside the school ranging from sports, to science, music to arts and culture, as well as hosting numerous visitors to the school. Also, the school had its official opening this year. Not surprisingly, enrolment for the coming year looks very healthy, and the school looks set to continue to grow in the coming years.
For further information, check out the school website: www.kilcolganetns.com
Educate Together National Office Fundraising events
The Mini Marathon was a great success – thank you to all those who sponsored us! As pressures on state funding increase we need to look at other ways of keeping the National Office afloat. This is the first year that the National Office has formally organised a team of women to run the mini-marathon and we are pleased that so many people sponsored and ran with us.
We would like to say an extra special thank you to all the women from the Educate Together Community who ran for us on the day:
Paula Carolan (Principal Thornleigh ETNS)
Sarah Carolan (Thornleigh ET school community)
Louise McCann (Thornleigh ET school community)
Laura McCann (Thornleigh ET school community)
Marianne Kelly (ET Office Community)
Ciara Holland (Glasnevin ET school community)
Grainne Walsh (Glasnevin ET school community)
Karen Keogh (Glasnevin ET school community)
Sarah Walsh (Glasnevin ET school community)
Camilla Fitzsimmons (Castleknock ET school community)
Rita Galvin (Principal North Kildare ETNS)
Grace Martyn (North Kildare school community)
All the money that’s raised is going towards “Learn Together” Ethical Curriculum Training in 2009!! This will sponsor ethical curriculum training for new Educate Together Schools, train trainers and establish resources and courses for all Educate Together Schools.
We haven’t received all the sponsorship money yet but we are hoping to raise over €5000.
Reminder: all sponsorship money is to be in by 30 June 2009.
If you are interested in helping us with our fundraising efforts please email Masina Johnston at fundraising@educatetogether.ie
Noticeboard
The information below is displayed for information purposes only and Educate Together is not responsible for the content or views of external agencies, nor should inclusion on this noticeboard be taken as an official endorsement from Educate Together)
SchoolSites.ie is a new service set up by a group of Educate Together parents (who work in the web industry) to supply cost-effective and professional websites for schools. SchoolSites websites help schools save time and money on administrative costs and provide an excellent communication channel for the whole school community. All websites for a limited time only are available from €995 plus vat including domain & hosting.
SchoolSites.ie would like to offer all Educate Together schools €100 discount on a website and they will also donate a further €100 to the Educate Together National Office. Visit www.schoolsites.ie for more information or to view examples of SchoolSites websites. If you would like to get your school website ready for the new school year please contact Lynda Coughlan on 087-1234704 or email info@schoolsites.ie.
