Eighteen months ago, in association with the completion of a major building extension, the Department of Education and Skills approved a Per Cent for Artgrant for the school.

Having already witnessed pupils, staff and parents stage a number of highly successful school pantomimes and talent shows, the Board of Management did not hesitate in agreeing to use the funding to commission a work of Musical Theatre.

A selection panel was formed, and guidance was provided by Sinéad Redmond, County Arts Officer.

Following national advertising, the proposal submitted by Dublin based composer Vincent Kennedy was chosen. He proposed writing and developing an original school musical, in which the pupils would benefit from on-going singing, drama and comic-acting lessons. He would get to know the values of the school and the personalities of the pupils, and use this knowledge to shape his work.

‘Mr. Kennedy’s depth and range of experience immediately caught the selection committee’s eye’ – Raymond Swan. For over 20 years, Vincent Kennedy’s music has been performed at home and abroad by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Bands of the Army and Garda, Cantando Choir and many other groups and ensembles. He had received previous commissions from RTÉ, Wexford County Council, Meath County Council, Donegal County Council, Offaly County Council, Lyric FM and from the Peace II and Peace III cross-border initiatives.

The resulting musical TheHeart of Truth was performed at the school on Thursday 8^thand Friday 9^th March. ‘There was a great sense of occasion,’ – Raymond Swan, ‘the children really felt that they part of something exceptional when they put on the bespoke costumes and the radio microphones, and when they saw the live band and the professional lighting system transform their school hall.’

Well over 100 children were directly involved in the performances. ‘Vincent Kennedy was determined to ensure that every child who wanted a part was included,’ – Raymond Swan. ‘He wrote new parts and songs along the way, and two separate casts were assembled– with one performing on Thursday and the other on Friday.’ Backstage roles were also central to the project, with a number of pupils moving the sets and props during the performances.

The school hall was packed to capacity for both performances. Town Mayor Angie Dooley attended on Friday, while Niall Wall from the National Office of Educate Together attended on Thursday. The performers received standing ovations on both nights. One of the comic highlights was The Talking Wall, while musical numbers such as Queen Cornelia’s Song, New Generation and We’re Going to Build a Bridge are still being hummed around the school.

Mr. Kennedy’s team for this project included national and local figures. The Director for the performances was playwright Declan O’Brien, a regular contributor to Joe Duffy’s Funny Friday RTÉ radio show. The Musical Director was Ronan Dooney a member of the original Commitmentsband and current member of the RTÉ Late Late Show Band. Local artist (and school staff member) Niamh Murphy did a remarkable job in creating sets for the show, while local choreographer Edel McDevitt (who is also a teacher at Gorey Educate Together) kept the pupils in step. Grainne Kennedy was in charge of bringing together costumes and props.

‘This was a wonderful experience for the children,’ – Raymond Swan. ‘We have seen their stage presence grow and grow over the past several months. Singers, narrators, comics, dancers, the chorus and the backstage crew – they all worked hard throughout and deserved the tremendous reaction given to them by the audiences. The school’s youngest pupils are already looking forward to their chance to star in The Heart of Truth in the years ahead.’

Raymond Swan, Gorey ETNS Principal

We had a busy day in Donabate Portrane ETNS yesterday with the Gaeilge team and PTA hosting a Tráth na gCeist (table quiz) for parents as part of our Seachtain na Gaeilge celebrations.  We had a fantastic response from parents as always with our school community.  The parents were assisted by Colm’s Rang a Sé who were on hand to help out with the language; with a broad range of questions (including a music round which included everything from Frank Sinatra to Florence and The Machine visiting Thin Lizzy and The Boomtown Rats along the way) there was real team work going on with the students understanding the questions and the parents knowing the answers!  it became quite competitive with recounts demanded and a fiercely fought last round! A great day was had by all.  Parents were not only impressed with the children’s knowledge of Irish but surprised at how much they themselves knew.

We are very proud with our level of Irish here in Donabate – the village has earned it’s way to the final two from 140 in TG4’s gteam competition.  Over the past 10 months there has been a huge effort locally to promote the use of Irish in the community.  We now have signs as Gaeilge in all the local shops and not only children but parents of all nationalities have embraced a cúpla focáil.

Go raibh maith agat.

Lynda, Donabate Portrane ETNS

Three older classes entertained the parents outdoors with songs like “Trasna Na dTonnta” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”!  A marquee was also erected outside the front of the school to display the children’s artifacts, models that they had made, and Toys of the Era that they had made.  Parents also sold healthy cakes & pies.  All classes visited this special museum and all parents were impressed, also, by the displays in the front hallways of the school.

The children had been preparing for this day for about five weeks and they learned and absorbed a lot of history of the period.  Junior classes carried out experiments with water and ice.  It was a very worthwhile project, without forgetting to make reference to the sad family stories from the disaster.  Many lovely photos were taken on the day, some of which can be seen in the local papers.

Catherine Sadlier, Principal, Greystones ETNS

On Thursday the 29^th of March 2012, the Agri Aware Mobile Farm visited Thornleigh Educate Together, Applewood in Swords, Co. Dublin. All the children, parents and teachers had to do a ‘double take’ on entering the school as they were greeted bright and early by Orla and her Mobile Farm, which housed a calf, a piglet, a donkey, a goat, a hen, a sheep with her two newborn lambs and a rooster who alerted the whole neighbourhood in Applewood of their arrival….’cock-a-doodle-doo’!

The mobile farm visit to Thornleigh Educate Together was an exciting and educational experience for students and teachers alike. Children from JuniorInfants up to 3^rd class were introduced to the animals by the enthusiastic Orla. It was a fun, exciting and innovative way to introduce the pupils to a range of farm animals in a safe educational environment. Pupils got the opportunity to learn about the animals while also getting an opportunity to see, handle and feed them. We learned some very interesting information like how hens ingest stones to aid digestion in the absence of teeth!

Each of the animals had fantastic names such as Gerry the calf, Billy the goat and Henrietta the hen! Miss Aoife’s 1^st class got the wonderful task of naming the two newborn lambs. After much deliberation they were named Rosie and Max!

Every child and teacher thoroughly enjoyed the visit from the Mobile Farm, which complemented the Springtime SESE curriculum perfectly. We would like to thank Orla for her expertise and the animals for being so much fun! We look forward to welcoming her again in the future!

Miss Aoife Lynam, 1^st class teacher, Thornleigh Educate Together

Orla – Leinster Mobile Farm – www.agriaware.ie

Application should include:
Standard Application Form for Principalship

Application to be sent to by email only:
FAO: School Manager
recruitment.citywest@gmail.com

Applications must be received no later than 24^th May 2012

A panel of suitable applicants may be set up to fill vacancies which may occur within a four month period from the date of this advertisement.

This post is being re-advertised. The original advertisement was placed in March and interviews were held in April. The post was offered to the successful candidate, who accepted the position. However, the candidate has since notified the school that they are unable to take up the position, and the school has taken the decision to re-advertise. Previous applicants may re-apply.
Citywest ETNS is a new school opening this year with junior infants.

Application should include:
Letter of application
CV (unbound/slide binder)
Written references
Referees (name, role, contact number)

Application to be sent to:
SNA Applications
Karen Loughran
Chairperson
Gorey Educate Together N.S.
Kilnahue Lane
Carnew Road
Gorey
Co. Wexford

Applications must be received no later than 24^th May 2012

Applications are invited for Special Needs Assistant vacancies which may arise during the 2012-2013 school year. (A panel of suitable applicants will be formed.)
Closing date: 2pm Thursday May 24th. Interviews evening of Wednesday May 30th.
Submit letter of application, brief up-to-date CV and two letters of reference only. (No certificates, exam results, etc. at this point.)
Only shortlisted applicants may be contacted.

Application should include:
Standard Application Form for Teaching Posts (as this is an Educate Together school, please ignore the section on qualifications to teach religion, candidate’s religion, etc.)
Teaching Council Registration
Letter of application
Written references

Application to be sent to:
Chairperson,
Board of Management,
Wicklow Educate Together N.S.,
Marine House,
The Murrough,
Wicklow Town,
Co. Wicklow.

Applications must be received no later than 18^th May 2012

A panel of suitable applicants may be set up to fill vacancies which may occur within a four month period from the date of this advertisement.

Substitute for Maternity leave beginning on Monday 11^th June 2012.
This will be for a Senior Infants class initially.
Interviews will be held on Friday 25^th and Saturday 26^th May. Applicants must be fully registered with the Teaching Council and have a completed Statutory Declaration form.

The Main Educate Together redeployment panel has been released by the Department of Eduaction and Skills. There are three teachers on the panel. All three teachers are located in schools that are much more than 45km from the nearest Educate Together school. For this reason the Department of Education and Skills have been informed that we will not be able to clear the main panel.  A small number of teachers may be added to the main panel in the coming weeks and schools will be updated if and when this happens.

The DES are allowing 2/3 weeks for schools to interact with teachers on the main panels. The subsidiary and supplementary panels will not be released until the DES are confident that all 458 permanent teachers on main panels nationwide can be redeployed. As we can do nothing to assist this process at the moment we must be patient and wait for the other panels to clear.

The DES are intending to issue an panel update on 18 May and it is hoped that most permanent teachers will be redeployed by then. If all goes well we can expect the subsidiary and supplementary panels to issue after this date.The combined number of teachers on the Educate Together subsidiary and supplementary panels is 53 teachers.  We do not  have a breakdown  of where these teachers are located at the moment.

All 60 Educate Together schools have complied with the DES circular 07/2012 and declared both their permanent and fixed term vacancies. Educate Together would like to thank all schools for their co-operation to date with the process. Schools are reminded that all emerging vacancies (both permanent and fixed term) should be notified to the panel operator (Louise Daly <louise.daly@educatetogether.ie>) within five days.

Second-Level patronage is a key issue for the multi-denominational patron body. It received recognition as a second-level patron at its AGM last year following a ten-year campaign. It is a strong advocate for educational reform and its ‘Blueprint for Second-Level Education’ has been widely regarded as a best practice model.

The last year has been a very positive one for Educate Together with two new schools opened in 2011 and a further five opening this September. Significant investment in school infrastructure has been achieved and nearly all Educate Together schools should be in permanent buildings by 2015.

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn with students from Tyrellstown ETNS and Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa, Chairperson Educate Together Board of Directors and Paul Rowe, Educate Together CEO, at the Educate Together AGM held at the Tyrellstown school

The Minister is due to receive recommendations from the expert group on patronage for second-level schools scheduled to be opened in the next three years. Educate Together has applied to open second-level schools in Drogheda, Greystones, Tyrellstown/Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown and Lusk.

Educate Together Chief Executive Paul Rowe welcomed the Minister’s statement and congratulated him on the initiatives he has brought to education reform since taking office. In particular he cited the establishment of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism and stated:

‘The Forum’s report has made a clear proposal for a mechanisms for change. However, responsibility has now passed to the State to implement this mechanism. The Forum report refers to the urgency associated with these steps. We believe that the establishment of a register of preference of parents of pre-school children should be the first priority’.

At the meeting were representatives of groups of parents who have been campaigning for places in Educate Together schools. Prominent amongst these was the Portobello group where there were 340 children registered. There are only 60 places available in the local Educate Together schools. This is an area where there is urgent need for a new school. Paul Rowe called on the Minister and his officials to facilitate the early opening of a new Educate Together school in theDublin 8 and other areas. He said:

“In our emerging modern democracy, it is unconscionable that the State is still compelling significant numbers of parents to send their children to religious schools against their lawful preference and conscience.”

He expanded upon the issue of investment in education calling for protection of front line services and the urgent need to address waste and duplication of back office services in the state education sector:

“Investment in our education system must protect front line services. This generation of children didn’t take out or offer the crazy loans that are at the root of our current problems. They are the key to our economic future and their educational chances should not be compromised by the profligacy of the past.”

The last year has been a very positive one for Educate Together with two new schools opened in 2011 and a further five opening this September. Significant investment in school infrastructure has been achieved and nearly all Educate Together schools should be in permanent buildings by 2015.

Parental involvement and the principle of democratic engagement are cornerstones of Educate Together’s educational approach. The high attendance of its members and vibrant debate over conference motions illustrate an organisation with substantial support.

The importance of that support to Educate Together was acknowledged by Paul Rowe who stated:

‘The role parents have played in the growth of Educate Together cannot be over stated. Their dedication to voluntary service helps to make our schools the rich and vibrant learning environments that they are. The Irish primary education system could not operate without parental involvement and our state owes them a huge debt of gratitude’.

This year’s AGM marked 34 years of Educate Together multi-denominational schools. Since the Dalkey School Project opened in 1978, the Educate Together network has grown to 60 schools. Five new schools will open in 2012 with a further three scheduled to open in 2013. Educate Together has also applied to open six second-level schools, the first of which could open its doors in September 2013.