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Aimsir na gComhdhálacha do mhúinteoirí na tíre

April 29, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Jack and Jill Foundation

April 29, 2011

Children’s charity The Jack and Jill Foundation have launched the Phones for Boards scheme to raise money for children in need and to benefit the schools which take part.

Jack and Jill are collecting old mobile phones from schools. They recycle the phones and sell them on. Two thirds of the profit from this goes back to the charity and the remaining third returns to the schools. Coupled with this, the two schools which collect the largest number of old mobile phones will win a school visit from Jedward during the month of June, another great incentive to take part!

Ordinarily, Jack and Jill distribute the profits from this scheme to schools in the form of products and equipment such as: interactive white-boards, laptop computers, books, sports jerseys, and equipment and the like. In cases where the school doesn’t require any of these, cash is given to them. Further information is available on www.jackandjill.ie/phonesforboards or 1850-525545. Calls in Irish are welcome and Shane Whelan is the person who deals with Irish-medium schools.

The Jack and Jill Foundation works to provide respite care and support for seriously ill children and their families.

Iarratais á lorg Scéim Chónaithe Choláiste na Tríonóide

April 20, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Sparánachtaí taighde 2011

April 20, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Promoting Irish amongst new immigrants

April 19, 2011

This year Metro Éireann multicultural awards will  highlight the work of organisations and individuals who promote the Irish language amongst new immigrants.

Foras na Gaeilge are sponsoring a special award which will be presented at the Metro Éireann awards ceremony which honours individuals, groups, companies and journalists who promote crosscultural understanding.

The MAMAs were founded in 2002 by Ireland’s first multicultural newspaper, Metro Éireann and this year are sponsored by An Post, Dublin City Council Office for Integration, Foras na Gaeilge, The Irish Times and MK Design Studio.

The awards will be presented in ten main categories, Multicultural and Media, and applications are invited from the public, state and private sectors, as well as from print, broadcast, visual, online and student media.

Further information at www.mamaawards.com.

©Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com 19 Aibreán 2011

Lá na Naíonraí

April 18, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Caitriona Ruane faces challenge over bus fund decision

April 14, 2011

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane is facing a High Court challenge over the refusal to fund a bus service to Northern Ireland’s only post-primary Irish language school.

The board of governors at Colaiste Feirste in west Belfast is seeking a judicial review of her department’s decision not to financially back a pilot transport scheme for pupils coming from Downpatrick, Co Down.  A judge was told the service would encourage more children to attend and help increase the use of Irish language.  Michael Lavery QC, appearing for the school’s vice-chairperson, Colma McKee, said: “The more children that we can get to be educated through the medium of Irish the more you are achieving the objective of the Good Friday Agreement and the statute.” The decision not to fund the service for 11 pupils who travel from Downpatrick to Colaiste Feirste was taken last September on the basis of an economic assessment.

Belfast Telegraph

Lá eolais do na polaiteoirí

April 14, 2011

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

Can You Turn Your Community Into TG4’s Next Top Irish Speaking Town?

April 12, 2011

TG4 and Adare Productions are producing a brand new series where non-Gaeltacht community’s can compete against each other for the opportunity to call themselves The G-Team winners 2011 and win a €40,000 Foras na Gaeilge prize to use in promoting their local area. This new and innovative programme will be sponsored by Foras Na Gaeilge.

‘The G-Team’ is a new 10 part series on TG4 that will feature non-Irish speaking communities from all over Ireland and challenge them to begin using their native tongue in their daily routines. Can your local butcher sell the Sunday roast in Irish? Can your local parents learn enough of the language to read their kids a bedtime story?

We are currently looking for Irish speaking Team Leaders in each region to put their town forward and spearhead their community’s effort as they work towards their very own G -Day (Gaeilge) Day.

G-Day is the day where the cameras will descend to watch the town in action as they hold a festival and use every effort throughout the day to use the Irish language.  The team leaders will be across all aspects of their preparations leading up to and including their G-Day. The team leaders will also be responsible for encouraging their town to embrace the G-Team challenge and use Irish in their daily routine in the weeks leading up to their G-Day and beyond.

Are you a team leader? Do you live in a community that would benefit and embrace The G-Team challenge? Can you organise, focus and drive your local community to put their best foot forward and compete in a truly national competition? If so, we want to hear from you…

On the 11th of April 2011 the G-Team application form will go ‘live’ via the TG4 website. Starting on that day, for a 2-week period only, applications will be invited. We are looking for team leaders from any and all non-Gaeltacht towns from all across the country to apply.

Meet the ‘G-Team’ judges:

Lorcán Mac Gabhann
Lorcán has spent periods employed in the following Irish language organisations; Conradh na Gaeilge, Ógras, Bord na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge agus since 2001 is employed sa CEO of Glór na Gael. He is a founding member of Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille, Dublin 18, and is Chairperson since 1995. He was a member of the Board of Directors, and Treasurer, of Gaelscoileanna Teo from 2000 – 2004. He is a member of the Board of Directors, and Chairperson for 3 years, of the school patronage body,  Foras Patrúnachta na Scoileanna lánGhaeilge since 1996.

Rossa Ó Snodaigh
Rossa, musician and Irish language activist, is a founding member of Irish language rock band “Kila”. He was also the driving force behind the setting up of a Gaelscoil in his local area, Cluainín Uí Ruairc/Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim. Rossa was instrumental in setting up the Speaker’s Square in Dublin’s Temple Bar area and each year organises the Irish language tent at Electric Picnic.

Mary Hanafin
Mary Hanafin is a former secondary school teacher of Irish and history. She was a TD for 14 years and over the course of her political life was Minister for Education and Science (2004–08), Minister for Social and Family Affairs (2008–10), Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (2010–11) and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (2011).

For further information, please contact:
Adare Productions on 01 2843877

Which are the fastest growing schools – and which are down?

April 12, 2011

Which schools have seen a surge in pupil numbers over the past decade and which are most popular with parents, writes SEAN FLYNN

SCHOOL ENROLMENT figures provide a fascinating glimpse in parental choice. They help track which schools are seen as ‘successful’ and which ones are struggling to fill numbers. The lists published on this page track a decade of change in Irish education. They compare school enrolment figures for this school year with the position a decade ago.

The main features of the list include: – “Free’’ State-run schools which experienced a drop in enrolment during the Celtic Tiger have managed to reverse this trend in recent years. – Many VEC schools – especially those outside of Dublin are booming. Irish language schools have seen a surge in pupil numbers. – The popularity of fee-paying schools remains very resilient despite fees averaging €5,000 per year; – Schools which perform well in The Irish Times Feeder School Lists have shown a surge in pupil numbers.

Another feature of the data is the surge in pupil numbers in the post-Leaving Certificate colleges; these cater for students in the year or two after they leave secondary school. In Dublin alone, colleges of further education in Dún Laoghaire, Killester, Sallynoggin and Dundrum have seen enrolment increase by at least 50 per cent over the past decade. The fastest growing school on the list is Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, about 20 minutes from Limerick city. On its hugely impressive website, it describes itself as the “school of the future.” In 2004, the headmaster, Noel Malone was awarded the Dell Technology Award for Excellence in Education, the first recipient outside the US. Remarkably, virtually a huge majority of of the top 30 fastest growing schools in the State are all in the VEC sector. All of these schools challenge those lazy cliches about the VEC.

The fastest growing school in Dublin is St Colmcille’s Community School in Knocklyon, an area of rapid population growth. Like many community schools in Dublin, the school has built a very strong local reputation since it was opened in 2000. The second-fastest growing school in Dublin is St Kevins CBS in Finglas is an interesting case study. The school suffered a severe decline in enrolment for decades but it has managed to dramatically turn this around in recent years.

Other Dublin schools which have reversed a decline in enrolment include Oatlands College, Stillorgan. Pupil numbers are up from 340 to over 500 and there is a long waiting list. This comes after a period during the boom when the school was squeezed by the huge number of “big brand” fee-paying schools in the area. Overall, the picture for Christian Brothers schools in Dublin is a mixed one. While places like St Kevin’s are booming, schools like O’Connells, St Joseph’s in Fairview and St Paul’s in Raheny are continuing to see declining pupil numbers. Many of these schools have been hugely successful in integrating newcomer children. Another school worthy of mention is St Brendan’s College, Dunboyne, Co Meath which has registered growth of 58 per cent in enrolment. St Brendan’s was featured on the successful RTÉ documentary The School last year.

Among fee-paying schools, the most striking feature is the 28 per cent growth registered by one of the more expensive schools in the State – St Gerard’s in Bray, Co Wicklow. Most of the big name schools have seen growth over the past decade including Gonzaga (up 11 per cent), Belvedere and CUS (both up 10 per cent ) and Blackrock College (up 4 per cent).

The published lists are based on Department of Education figures for the 2001-02 school year and the current school year. The percentage increase/decrease quoted represents the growth/decline in pupil numbers.

All schools with less than 200 pupils in either 2001 or 2010/11 have been excluded from the lists on this page – except for fee-paying schools. Broadly new schools in new areas have also been excluded.

Data on enrolment patterns in PLCs is available on irishtimes.com

The Irish Times

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