Primary Level

News and advice covering the primary level education system.

‘He wouldn’t be great for vegetables’: School meal scheme not to everyone’s taste

Parents share mixed views on weekday lunches offered to children in schools

Primary school forced to close despite warning six months earlier of fire safety problems

Department of Education ‘suddenly very forthcoming once closure happened’

One-month suspension from register for principal convicted of stealing from school

Return to teaching conditional on man seeking no senior role with access to school funds

Teacher who stole money from primary school had ‘all-consuming’ addiction, hearing told

Individual previously received a suspended sentence for the thefts before a jury in the Circuit Court

‘They’re missing out on so much’: How screens and Covid are shaping childhood in Ireland

Basic skills such as playing, pretending and conversing have been affected by tech use and pandemic isolation

Dyslexia in the classroom: ‘It was like asking a fish to climb a tree’

An advocate says teaching in a way more suited to dyslexic students would have broad benefits for others as well

Chronic absenteeism twice as prevalent in Deis schools, report shows

Over one-third of students in the most disadvantaged schools missed 20 or more days in 2023-24

School meals should be cooked fresh in community kitchens, says chef Darina Allen

Founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School says nutritional value of food served to school children needs to improve

‘All forms of heritage connect children to their past and help them make sense of the present’

The Heritage in Schools scheme encourages children and teachers to investigate local heritage through place-based learning

Teaching has become an increasingly lonely profession

In my past life, which included a stint as a private detective, there was time for a chat and a joke with a colleague. Not any more

Young Scientist: Kerry student (15) wins overall prize for brain cancer diagnostic tool

Aoibheann Daly develops GlioScope that can reduce need for invasive procedures

Former principal jailed for stealing €100,000 gets one-month teaching ban

Theft over two-year period amounted to pattern of ‘premeditated and deliberate’ behaviour, Teaching Council panel finds

Ireland’s outdoor primary school: ‘A lot of people panic about the weather’

The Outdoor Primary School (TOPS), in Greystones, Co Wicklow, functions outside the Department of Education’s remit, but staff and parents rhapsodise about the benefits of such an education

Stream of rejection letters from special schools is ‘soul destroying’, says father

Riley McMahon’s twin sister attends local secondary school, increasing his awareness of what he’s missing out on

Civil servants say targeted bursaries for teachers must be considered to boost supply

Naughton advised of shortage of personnel with qualifications in key subjects at post-primary level

School withdraws appeal for toilet rolls from pupils but funding strains remain

Primary school principals say balancing books is ‘impossible’ without seeking parental donations

Change to Catholic patronage of Irish schools is slow to come – for good reason

Rite & Reason: The Department of Education and Youth is currently running an online survey of parents and guardians

EirGrid and Green Schools partner to power young minds

EirGrid’s support allowed An Taisce Green-Schools to bring back the energy theme of its programme last year

‘First of all, I don’t have summers off’: Teachers assess the reality of education in Ireland

Three teachers reflect on their experience of Ireland’s past and present and their hopes for the future

A national conversation about the future of Irish education is about to start. It could be magical

It must make space for voices that are too often left out, and children and young people must be at its heart

Less forest ‘school’, more ‘nature immersion project that focuses on a child’s wellbeing’

A forest school in Co Clare offers no curriculum or classes, just a nature-based space, and activities that seek to spark children’s curiosities and interests

Hot school meals: Junior infants served same portions as those in sixth class

Tackling portion size to help reduce food waste generated by scheme, says Department of Health official

New Deis Plus plan for Ireland’s most disadvantaged areas needs to be bold

If Deis Plus is watered down, it will be horrifically depressing for everyone within education

Variation in primary teachers’ proficiency in Irish ‘a matter of significant concern’

Department inspectorate found ‘apparent lack of confidence’ among many teachers using Irish in English-medium schools

Ireland remains locked into the anglophone world. Will we ever make the multilingual leap?

Language specialists doubt whether existing educational policies can deliver on State’s linguistic competence deficit

Irish-language education policy ‘ignores elephant in the room’, advocacy groups warn

Patron body says ‘little progress’ made on similar goals announced 20 years ago

Say ‘goodbye’, not ‘day day’: why parents should speak to their child like an adult

The inclination to continue parentese well past babyhood is patronising to kids

‘I was horrified that any parent would give a nine-year-old a smartphone’

Ask Brian: More than a quarter of primary schoolchildren and a third of secondary school students are now using artificial intelligence

UK students are abandoning languages and the arts. Let’s make sure it never happens here

When governments signal that some subjects matter less, the cultural and human cost is far greater than imagined

‘Silent sidelines’ at children’s matches: How utterly depressing that this is where we are

Jen Hogan: Adults’ behaviour is having a detrimental effect on children playing a game. Just let that sink in

Pay increases for childcare workers to take effect this month

Pay deal provides 10% increases to thousands of staff in creches and after-school childcare centres

‘I wouldn’t eat them myself’: Your verdict on free hot school meals

Some parents raise concerns about food waste and meals’ nutritional value, while one supplier argues the scheme is underfunded

Ireland’s small schools are dying – but it’s not too late to save them

Years of austerity and poor choices by successive governments' choices have left many rural schools overcrowded, under-resourced and fighting for survival

Idea that Irish schoolchildren can simply ‘opt out’ of religion class is a myth

What we will have now is teachers saying 'Christians believe Jesus was the son of God' in one lesson, followed by 'Jesus was the son of God' in the next

Hot school meals scheme: A vital resource or ‘low quality’ food?

The Irish Times wants to hear your thoughts on the programme

More than one in five pupils missed over 20 days of last school year, data show

Figures still above pre-pandemic levels despite overall reduction in chronic absenteeism

School meals: How do French and Irish food for pupils compare?

Nantes pupils dined on melon, Gouda cheese, cheese tart - and that’s just the starters

Are school wellbeing programmes doing more harm than good?

Some studies suggest one-size-fits-all mindfulness and mental-health programmes may even increase difficulties among young people

McEntee rejects ‘misinformation’ about sexual orientation elements of new primary curriculum

Fifth and sixth class children should ‘understand what basic attraction is and respect each other’, Minister says

New primary school curriculum includes emphasis on language skills and Stem subjects

Updated specifications include fresh guidance on arts, social and environmental and health learning

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

Stardust

Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people

Common Ground

How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands