New national Guidelines on promoting positive mental health and suicide prevention in post-primary schools published.

“Well-Being in Post-Primary Schools” important tool for schools

The Minister for Education and Skills, the Minister of State for Disability, Older People, Equality & Mental Health and the Director of the National Office of Suicide Prevention launched new guidelines for mental health and suicide prevention for post-primary schools today (31st January).

The Guidelines provide a framework, with information for schools ... click to read full post & comments

New Action Plan on Bullying Launched

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 30/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics Teachers News Parenting

The new Action Plan on Bullying was launched yesterday by the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald T.D.
The Plan sets out twelve actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. The report makes it clear that preventing and tackling bullying requires support from parents and wider society and is not a problem schools can solve alone.

At the launch of the Action Plan in Dublin, Minister Quinn said he ... click to read full post & comments

Education 'is the most important aspect of people's lives'

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 29/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics

The necessity of earning the right qualifications has been highlighted by new research.

Entitled Ireland's Vital Signs 2013 - Extended Edition, the study revealed people in Ireland believe education to be the most important aspect of their lives.

... click to read full post & comments

Schools to keep formal records of bullying

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 21/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics

Formal records of bullying are to be kept at schools in a bid to prevent such behaviour taking place in the classroom and playground.

A report template has been drawn up by the Department of Education, which is being distributed to primary and post-primary schools across Ireland, the Irish Independent reports.

... click to read full post & comments

HEA proposes plans to merge third-level colleges

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 16/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has announced radical plans to drastically cut the number of third-level colleges that are funded by the State.

Colleges will be required to merge or establish much closer links with others, either on the basis of their proximity or because of a shared specialism, the Irish Independent reports.

... click to read full post & comments

Teachers' union makes Croke Park agreement warning

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 15/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics Teachers News

The largest teachers' union in the country has warned its members there are likely to be "very difficult elements" in any extension package of the Croke Park agreement.

Under the existing agreement, the public sector is committed to making savings of EUR3.3 billion between 2013-15, but the government are now demanding further cuts of around EUR1 billion.

... click to read full post & comments

Primary school patronage survey launched

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 14/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics Primary School News

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn is asking parents in 38 areas across the country for their input on the kind of school they would like for their children.

An online survey has been launched today (January 14th) and the parents or guardians of children in the areas are being urged to fill it in.

... click to read full post & comments

Concerns that students are being 'taught to pass tests'

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 09/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics Secondary School News

Teachers may be compromising the education of their pupils by focusing on teaching them how to achieve Central Applications Office (CAO) points instead of traditional learning.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has admitted to being concerned about the reliance teachers are placing on previous Leaving Cert exam results when deciding what and how to teach students, the Irish Independent reports.

... click to read full post & comments

Impact of potential tax on child benefit revealed

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 02/01/2013.
Tags: Education And Politics Parenting Kids

Plans to tax child benefit could cost families up to EUR640 per child, according to figures released by the Department of Finance.

The Department of Social Protection is required to make cuts of around EUR500 million to its annual budget and the Irish Times reports that introducing taxation on child benefit at the current income tax rates would account for approximately 80 per cent of these savings.

... click to read full post & comments

Brendan Howlin warns he will sack bad teachers

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 27/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Teachers News

Minister for Public Spending Brendan Howlin has issued a warning to teachers that the government are looking to remove those who are not performing.

During an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Howlin warned the performance of people in public sector jobs will be scrutinised much more closely from now on.

... click to read full post & comments

Students may not receive maintenance grants before Christmas

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 21/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Almost half of first-year college students who have applied for a maintenance grant may not receive a payment before Christmas, the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee (CDVEC) has warned.

It is anticipated that around 33,000 of the 67,000 maintenance grant applications will be approved, but a change in the application system has led to a delay in processing the claims, the Irish Independent reports.

... click to read full post & comments

Government provides grant to prevent bullying in schools

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 20/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

The government has pledged EUR500,000 to help deal with the problem of bullying at school, which can evolve to become cyberbullying online.

The issue has been brought to the attention of the wider Irish public once again after the tragic death of Shannon Gallagher, who committed suicide less than two months after her sister Erin took her own life, believed to be because she was being bullied.

... click to read full post & comments

Ruairí Quinn calls for "inclusive debate" on education in Ireland

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 18/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

The amount of time that is allocated to each subject in the Irish curriculum needs to be reassessed, according to Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn.

Writing in the Irish Times, Mr Quinn insisted that although two recent international reports have adjudged that Irish students are performing at an above average level, it is his "duty not to be complacent".

... click to read full post & comments

School patron handovers could begin in September 2014

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 13/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Catholic-run schools could be handed over to other patron bodies from September 2014 in areas where there is parental demand for a greater choice of patron.

Surveys conducted in five pilot areas show parents want to see more options in Arklow, Castlebar, Tramore, Trim and Whitehall.

... click to read full post & comments

Irish pupils score above average in literacy, maths and science

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 12/12/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

A new report has revealed primary students in Ireland have scored above average in major international tests in reading, mathematics and science.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2011) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2011) tested pupils in the equivalent of fourth class in over 60 countries.

... click to read full post & comments

Ireland ranks 11th in global school performance report

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 29/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

New research has revealed Ireland's education system is 11th in the world in a new top 50 ranking.

Conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit for educational publishers Pearson, the Learning Curve report looked at what drives good educational outcomes.

... click to read full post & comments

Survey-says-half-of-primary-schools-in-deficit

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 28/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Parenting Teachers

A new survey of Irish schools reveals almost half of primary schools are in arrears. 46% of schools surveyed have experienced a deficit for their last financial year. 22% of schools are barely breaking even.  The survey, undertaken by Amárach Research, under the auspices of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) was carried out among 540 primary schools over a period between October and November.  

The survey also found that there were reductions in ... click to read full post & comments

Students-Film-Reports-on-Issues-That-Matter-to-Them

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 26/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Secondary School News

In a new survey commissioned by the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, the clear message was that students desperately want their opinions and ideas to be heard. Over 200 students, aged between 12 and 19, from across the island of Ireland participated in the survey which showed that more than 70% of students feel that adults today do not value their opinions.
Following these results the BT Young Scientist Exhibition decided it’s time to give ... click to read full post & comments

Major developments signalled in Irish curriculum by Sean Ó Foghlú

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 23/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

In a wide-ranging speech to the joint annual conference of Gaelscoileanna and Eagraíocht na Scoileanna Gaeltachta in Galway, Sean Ó Foghlú, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills said that the Department of Education and Skills was fully committed to implementing the ambitious actions in the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language.

The Department has prioritised key areas for action, including steps to increase the supply of ... click to read full post & comments

How many students from your school have gone to College?

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 22/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Parenting Teachers

Secondary school records on Schooldays.ie have been updated this week to include details of the numbers of students from each school admitted to the different Universities and Colleges around Ireland in September 2012. By visiting any individual school profile on Schooldays.ie you can now view the ‘data on college progression for the school for the last seven years.

Commenting on the data displayed on Schooldays.ie, Annemarie Wade, Managing Director of Schooldays stated that Schooldays.ie chooses not to ... click to read full post & comments

Families and students to experience payment delays this Christmas

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 21/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Students and low-income families are facing payment delays this Christmas due to setbacks experienced by the Student Grant Scheme and the Family Income Supplement (FIS).

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has admitted that some students may not receive their maintenance grant until the new year, despite an additional 50 temporary staff having been approved to help ensure targets are met.

... click to read full post & comments

New School Self-Evaluation Guidelines launched by Minister Quinn

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 19/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Teachers

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., launched new school self-evaluation guidelines at Sion Hill College, Blackrock in Dublin today.

The School Self-Evaluation Guidelines will support schools to evaluate their own work and to set targets to improve teaching and learning. This will help to achieve the targets set out in the Programme for Government and in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, launched by the Minister last year.
Launching the Guidelines, Minister Quinn said, “We need a ... click to read full post & comments

Imaginosity recognised as Discover Science Centre

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 16/11/2012.
Tags: Family And Leisure Parenting Education And Politics

Imaginosity is honoured to have recently received official recognition as a ‘Discover Science Centre’ by the Discover Primary Science and Maths Foundation. Imaginosity places an importance and emphasis on science and engineering, discovery and learning, through its varied interactive and educational daily programme of events and activities; hosted for both primary school and ... click to read full post & comments

Speech and Language Therapy Service recommended for disadvantaged areas

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 15/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Parenting

The establishment of dedicated early intervention speech and language therapy services in disadvantaged areas has been recommended in a children’s report launched today.

The Report found that a dedicated speech and language service would enable more children to receive the intervention earlier which would help to remove or reduce a significant disadvantage from them before starting school.

The Report, was launched by the Childhood Development Initiative which has ... click to read full post & comments

Patronage surveys receive low turnout

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 14/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

New figures from the Department of Education reveal the first round of online surveys for the preferred choice of patron for primary schools received a low turnout.

Less than 40 per cent of parents took part in the polls, which were piloted in five areas, according to data published by the Irish Times. 

... click to read full post & comments

Construction to commence on 8 new schools under PPP model

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 12/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn has welcomed the start of construction on eight schools that are to be delivered under the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

These schools are the third bundle to be built under the Department of Education and Skills' school PPP programme and are the first public sector projects to be funded under the model since June 2010.

... click to read full post & comments

Quinn 'disappointed' by third-level grant delay

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 09/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

The number of third-level students to have so far received their grants has been described as unsatisfactory by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland programme, he stated that there has been "quite an improvement" on previous years, but the new centralised application system is not as quick as desired.

... click to read full post & comments

Minister Fitzgerald launches report on consultation with children and young people

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 08/11/2012.
Tags: Parenting Education And Politics

Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today launched, Life as a Child and Young Person in Ireland: Report of a National Consultation.

This consultation was conducted in April ... click to read full post & comments

Greater parental involvement 'needed to tackle bullying'

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 05/11/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Consultations with children aged between 13 and 17-years-old have revealed pupils would like to see more involvement from parents and students when it comes to implementing anti-bullying policies.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, Children's Ombudsman Emily Logan explained how she discussed cyber-bullying with 300 teenagers in a bid to gather information that can be used to help schools develop strategies on managing bullying.

... click to read full post & comments

Quinn calls for crackdown on pupil absence

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 30/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Proposals to tighten the rules on monitoring children who are missing school regularly have been suggested by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.

The Irish Independent reports that the Minister has announced plans to speak with Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald about lowering the threshold at which local authorities get involved in absence.

... click to read full post & comments

Schools 'must increase their efforts to tackle bullying'

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 26/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Efforts to tackle school bullying should be redoubled, according to the Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.

School boards were urged to step up their approach towards the problem, as it was claimed that recent research has revealed the scale of bullying in Ireland remains "a matter of grave concern", the Irish Times reports.

... click to read full post & comments

Science Week 2012 launched by Minister Sherlock

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 25/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics Teachers

Sean Sherlock, T.D., the Minister for Research and Innovation today launched Science Week 2012 and announced that it will be celebrating ‘Everyday Experimenting!’  This year’s theme aims to demonstrate that science plays a key role in our everyday lives and that we are all constantly experimenting.  From tying our shoe laces to attempting a new level on a game, or trialing a new recipe and even embarking on ... click to read full post & comments

Teachers to protest outside Dail today

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 24/10/2012.
Tags: Teachers Education And Politics

The Teacher’s Unions, ASTI, INTO and TUI, are expecting thousands of teachers from schools in the Dublin area to take part in a protest rally outside the Dáil at 4.30pm today. ASTI General Secretary Pat King said that today's protest is about sending a message to Government that "there is nothing left to take from education" in the Budget.

Also joining the protest are newly qualified teachers who are demanding ... click to read full post & comments

School patronage survey launched

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 22/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has launched a new process to examine the possibility of transferring some Roman Catholic schools to other patron bodies.

The move is designed to help meet calls for a greater diversity of school types, with parents in five initial areas asked to complete a survey about who they would like to see running their local primary schools.

... click to read full post & comments

Secondary-school-students-records-at-risk-on-line

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 21/10/2012.
Tags: Parenting Teachers Education And Politics

According to the website thejournal.ie this morning, personal records of thousands of secondary school pupils could be available to view by any internet user.

A serious security flaw in a schools data management system used by many secondary schools means that sensitive data such as pupils academic records, parents details and ... click to read full post & comments

ASTI criticises proposal for teaching allowance cuts

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 15/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

ASTI general secretary Pat King has criticised suggestions that certain allowances paid to teachers should be abolished, claiming such a move would be a breach of the Croke Park Agreement.

Minister for public expenditure and reform Brendan Howlin is pushing for a review of the Island Allowance, Gaeltacht Allowance, Allowance for Teaching through Irish and the Allowance for Principals Serving as Secretary to a Board of Management.

... click to read full post & comments

Parenting more important than schools to academic achievement

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 12/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

New research from 3 American Universities finds that parental involvement is a more significant factor in a child’s academic performance than the qualities of the school itself.

“Our study shows that parents need to be aware of how important they are, and invest time in their children – checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is important,” says Dr. Toby Parcel, a professor of ... click to read full post & comments

Children's Ombudsman sees rise in education complaints

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 10/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

The number of complaints made to the Ombudsman for Children leaped significantly in 2011.

According to the office's latest annual report, there were almost 1,500 complaints lodged last year, which was a 22 per cent rise on 2010.

... click to read full post & comments

Proposed cuts to fee-paying school subsidy sparks debate

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 09/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

Suggestions that the subsidy given to fee-paying schools should be cut have provoked mixed reactions among government backbenchers.

Labour Minister of State Alan Kelly expressed his support for the Department of Education's proposal to reduce budget expenditure by reducing the €100 million given to private schools.

... click to read full post & comments(1)

Mixed response to the Minister's announcement of Junior Certificate overhaul

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 05/10/2012.
Tags: Education And Politics

The Minister for Education, Ruari Quinn yesterday announced that the current Junior Certificate Programme will be phased out over eight years and will be replaced by a school-based model of continuous assessment.

Pupils currently in fifth class in primary school will be the first students not to sit the Junior Cert as we know it, as the new programme is due to begin in 2014.

... click to read full post & comments