For an education that looks beyond the results: celebrate One Day Together on Friday, 23rd October 2026
The recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results have once again placed Ireland among the countries with consistently strong academic performance. This is a source of pride for all of us who dedicate our professional lives to the education of children and young people. These results reflect the commitment, dedication, and quality of the work carried out every day in classrooms across the country.
At Educate Together, this achievement has certainly been part of our conversations. However, our horizon is broader. For us, the most important measure of educational quality is not academic performance alone, but the system’s ability to be genuinely inclusive, equitable, and deeply human. It is encouraging that measures such as PISA are increasingly recognising students’ sense of belonging and wellbeing as important indicators of educational success alongside academic achievement.
This is why, when we look at the results, we also pay close attention to the persistent gaps between DEIS and non-DEIS schools, and to findings such as second-generation immigrant students outperforming non-immigrant students — patterns that invite us to reflect on how opportunities and supports are distributed.
From Reflection to Action
At Educate Together, addressing these questions is not simply a matter of reflection, but of action. Across our network, initiatives such as Nurture and other wellbeing and inclusion supports aim to ensure that every child feels, safe, valued and able to participate fully in school life. Research also highlights the impact of this work. An ESRI study of Educate Together second-level schools found that students experienced strong feelings of inclusivity and belonging, and that the schools’ inclusive ethos helps create a welcoming environment for all.
Making this kind of education possible requires every school in our network to sustain, day after day, the safety, wellbeing, administration, and high-quality functioning that students rely on. We know this does not happen by chance. It happens because teachers, school leaders and staff work with extraordinary commitment, often in complex contexts and with limited resources.
Alongside the work happening in schools, delivering an inclusive, equitable, student-centred education also requires a strong structure behind the scenes – one that can respond to schools’ needs, coordinate communities of practice, support boards of management, provide relevant training, and help ensure that our ethos is lived consistently across the network. This is the mission of the Educate Together national office.
Get Involved: One Day Together
The national office supports a range of initiatives that help schools bring our shared values to life across the 118 schools in our network. This is why we are inviting you to be part of this collective effort through One Day Together.
One Day Together brings schools, communities, and supporters together to celebrate equality-based education and raise funds for Educate Together’s work.
There is no single way to take part. Each school can choose an activity that suits its students, staff, and wider community — from a small classroom initiative to a whole-school event.
By taking part, you can help to strengthen our schools; advocate for change and ensure parents’ voices are heard; and grow the movement so that more families can access an Educate Together school.
