Welcome to the latest edition of Classroom Digest. In this issue we include a report on the impact physical assaults in schools are having on staff; tá alt againn ar chás na Gaeilge sa chóras oideachais; Minister for Education Norma Foley has said she has “every confidence” an allocation of €96 per student for schoolbooks will be enough; we have an article on the difficulties experienced by one mother who is trying to find a school for her son; We look at what happens when a school ‘reconfigures’; The Welsh minister for education launches a language scheme in a Dublin gaelscoil and more...
More than 500 teachers and SNAs took leave after physical assaults in schools: More than 500 special-needs assistants (SNAs) and teachers took leave due to physical assaults in schools in the last six years and union representatives believe that incidents are “getting more serious and more frequent”. Simon Bracken reports.
Tá gluaiseacht na Gaeilge ag éileamh le fada go gcuimseofar polasaí don Ghaeilge sa chóras oideachais agus tá an feachtas #Gaeilge4All ag eagrú léirsithe ar an 29 Márta ag Teach Laighean chun aird a tharraingt ar an gceist. Éanna Ó Caollaí ar chás na Gaeilge sa chóras oideachais.
Foley ‘confident’ €96 per pupil will be ‘sufficient’ to make free schoolbooks available to all: Norma Foley, the Minister for Education, has said she has “every confidence” an allocation of €96 per student to primary schools to purchase free schoolbooks will be “sufficient”. Harry McGee reports.
Dublin school fears for the future amid rise in aircraft noise: Moments before a busload of children leave Kilcoskan National School in Co Dublin for their Tuesday morning swimming lesson, a large aircraft emerges from the grey bank of clouds overhead, turns sharply left and climbs into the sky. Mark Hilliard reports.
‘I have applied to all of the special education schools for my son, but all say they’ve no places’: My son Robbie will be 13 next month, and has a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Marrita Coyne on her struggle to find a school place for her son, Robbie, who has autism and Down syndrome.
Bike library scheme to be extended after ‘phenomenal’ success at Dublin school: A bike library pilot scheme is set to be extended following its transformational impact on a school in Dublin. The scheme works by allowing parents to borrow electric bikes, mostly cargo bikes, for up to three months at a time as an alternative to car journeys to and from school. Ronan McGreevy reports.
My child’s Catholic primary school is considering becoming multidenominational. What might change? There are over 3,000 primary schools in the Republic of Ireland today, of which 160 are multi-denominational. In response to rapid demographic and social changes in Irish society, the Government has set a target of having 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030.
Welsh minister launches Welsh language programme at Dublin Gaelscoil: Schoolchildren at a Dublin Gaelscoil marked St David’s Day, the Welsh national holiday, on Wednesday by participating in an innovative language-learning programme as part of an international initiative to promote the Welsh language, writes Éanna Ó Caollaí.
Wider school abuse redress scheme would involve ‘potentially enormous costs’, official documents stated: Broadening the State’s redress scheme for people abused in school would expose the exchequer to “unquantifiable and potentially enormous costs”, unpublished Government documents reveal.
