Beirt Mhúinteoirí Gaelscoile á lorg
June 27, 2012
Lá Gaelach – Volvo Ocean Race
June 27, 2012
Clár – Lá Gaelach Volvo – 5 Iúil
Inspirational talk on multilingualism
June 27, 2012
This is a keynote speech by Prof Antonella Sorace for the newly opened Centre on Multilingualism (UCOM) at the University of Ulster. The Centre aims to provide practitioners, educators, policy makers and service providers with research, assistance, help and advise in relation to speaking in more than one language. This includes not only issues of acquisition of more than one language by children, but also the wider social and cultural benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism for society and the economy.
Improving the lives of children and young people: Public Consultation
June 27, 2012
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs wants your help in developing plans to improve the lives of children and young people over the next five years. For the first time, one Government department is responsible for all policy on the well-being of children and young people. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, TD, wants your views.
Blinds for Schools Scheme
June 27, 2012
Galway based Printed Blinds Factory have launched their “Blinds for Schools Scheme” at the IPPN conference in Dublin on the 26th January 2012. Blinds are printed with educational designs such as Irish literacy, English literacy (alphabet), numeracy (numbers, multiplication table), anti-bullying, recycling and more. Each blind will be kindly financed by the sponsor.The scheme is not only about providing blinds to schools. It is a part of large scale research on energy saving EcoSunFilterTM fabric and how educationally printed blinds can improve learning. The participating schools will be asked to fill research forms before and after the installation, to provide first hand insights into the effectiveness of putting educational designs on window blinds in classrooms.Thanks to this idea schools not only get the blind they need but also utilize the unused window space as an educational aid.
We are offering prints in Irish and Gearóid from Foras na Gaeilge is supporting us making sure that the designs are correct.
Our short video presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZgqAM_MyjI
By using our blinds instead of blackout blinds children are not closed in a dark box for half the day. Children’s’ eyes are experiencing severe pressure when they sit in a dark classroom and then they go outside. The effect is similar to what we experience when coming out of the cinema, but the students experience that several times a day every day for many years of their life.
Through the scheme we want to offer the blinds to schools for free, and have them sponsored by companies and bodies that want to promote their educational messages on the blinds in the classrooms.We are a blinds company not an advertising agency and this is designed to help fund schools and provide them with free top quality blinds. The scheme was designed not to breach the anti-commercialism policies of particular schools.
Any primary school in Ireland is free to join the scheme, and can do so by calling the registration office (1800 254637, 091 799611) www.printedblindsfactory.com
Gaelscoil an Chuilinn
June 27, 2012
Lá Oiliúna Don Luath Léitheoireacht
June 27, 2012
Irish language media make a Rí-rá about going online
June 27, 2012
A new online media resource for Irish speakers – Meon Eile (meoneile.ie) – has gone live.
The site, launched in Belfast on Monday, aims to give browsers regular written news, sport, music and cultural features as well as videos in Irish. Meon Eile’s producer Sinéad Ingoldsby said they intended to produce high-quality material and “interesting stories on a user-friendly site” to cater for Irish speakers on the web.
Raidió Rí-Rá (rrr.ie), an Irish-language station which plays chart music for young people, also announced Monday that they would begin to broadcast live on the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) platform in Dublin and Waterford this Sunday, in Cork and Limerick by the end of 2012 and nationally after that.
As well as being online, Raidió Rí-Rá is available on iPhone, Nokia and Android phones through the TuneIn application.
www.irishtimes.com
Intensive Irish course for post-primary teachers – free of charge!
June 27, 2012
If you’re a post-primary school teacher who teaches through Irish, you’ll have a great opportunity to improve your language skills this summer because COGG (An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta) is organising an intensive Irish language course again this year. The programme, which is being run in conjunction with Gaelchultúr, is aimed at those teaching in post-primary Gaeltacht and all-Irish schools and will be held in Coláiste an Eachréidh, Athenry, Co. Galway, between 20-24 August 2012. The course is free of charge and lunch will be provided to participants each day.
“This is the fourth year we’re running the course,” says Éamonn Ó Dónaill, Gaelchultúr’s Director of Education. “The demand for places has been extremely high to date and we expect this year’s programme to be equally popular.
“It’s a very practical course, in which the emphasis is on everyday school language and on the main aspects of Irish grammar. Specialised sessions are also provided, allowing participants to get to grips with the specific language and jargon used in their own subjects, and teachers are also given information about the most useful technological resources available for Irish. The programme appeals to teachers because it caters so well for their needs.”
The intensive course received glowing praise from last year’s participants and some of their feedback can be seen below.
“This is my first year teaching in a Gaelcholáiste and I have more confidence now having done this course. I’m very happy with the resources I got and with the grammar book. I also had the opportunity to ask the subject specialist any question I wished. The teacher was excellent and very friendly.”
“I have learned a lot. I’ll definitely be back next year.”
“I learned a lot of rules I hadn’t known.”
“Everyone question I asked was answered and the rules are much clearer now.”
The course brochure is available here and you can register for the programme here.
Applications must be received by 29 June 2012.
Online EPV courses: a chance for teachers to study at their leisure
June 27, 2012
With the school year drawing to a close, the country’s pupils and teachers are about to get a well-deserved rest. The youth of Ireland will be spending long days relaxing at the seaside and, as Gaelchultúr is offering a wide range of online courses this summer, there’s no reason why the teachers shouldn’t do likewise.
Gaelchultúr is offering eight EPV courses to primary school teachers this year, all of which can be completed from any location of the participant’s choosing, provided that there’s internet access available. All courses are recognised by the Department of Education and Skills and entitle successful participants to three EPV days. Additional information and sample material are available for each of those courses on www.gaelchultur.com.
“We believe that there will be a high level of demand for the two new courses we’ve developed this year,” says Éamonn Ó Dónaill, Gaelchultúr’s Director of Education.
“Teachers often have difficulties organising fun language activities in the classroom, but they’ll get plenty of ideas from the lesson plans and the videos that form a central part of the course How to Teach Irish Effectively in the Classroom.
“We feel confident that teachers will also be very interested in our other new course: the Advanced Course in Accuracy in Irish for Primary School Teachers. Over 600 teachers have done the Basic Course in Accuracy in Irish for Primary School Teachers to date, and this new course will give them an opportunity to focus on more challenging grammatical rules and to perfect their language skills.”
Each course costs €75.
