Ógras i gCrois Mhic Lionnáin ag ceilúradh bliana ar an fhód
January 14, 2013
School does enrolment U-turn after 20 appeals
January 11, 2013
A Cork all-Irish school has reversed its decision not to enrol a third first-year class next September after more than 20 appeals were made to the Department of Education.
Gaelcholáiste Mhuire in the North Monastery — the city’s only northside all-Irish secondary school — was accused of changing the goalposts when about 50 of the 110-plus applicants to start there later this year were refused enrolment before Christmas.
While management were keen to accommodate three classes, the Edmund Rice Schools Trust which owns the school wanted to restrict numbers to avoid putting strain on the school’s facilities. The trustees want any expansion to be managed properly so that the necessary building works would be carried out to meet any rising demand for the school, which is under the same ownership as the adjoining North Monastery Secondary School.
But public representatives and parents claimed they were led to understand when applying last autumn that there would be three first-year classes, the same as in three of the last four years.
After a series of meetings over the last month between the board, parents, and the trustees, a decision has now been made to admit the third class.
It means good news for 28 boys and girls who had been refused a place, most of whom are understood to have lodged appeals to the Department of Education.
The chair of the school’s board of management, Paul Moynihan, said it had been working with the trustees to resolve a number of issues.
“The trustees held a number of concerns as regards the capacity of the school to accommodate the numbers that were being proposed for the 2013/14 academic year. Until these concerns were satisfied the trustees were unwilling to approve increased numbers,” he said.
“The necessary assurances have now been given by school management to the trustees that has enabled them to give their approval to the admission of increased numbers.” Local councillor Tom Gould said the development was good news.
“I think common sense has prevailed, it’s the right decision for the children. It’s a fabulous school with a great reputation and that is why places are so sought after and hopefully work can be done over the next year to ensure we won’t be facing the same situation again.”
www.irishexaminer.com
Parents to be asked on alternatives to Catholic-run schools
January 9, 2013
Parents in 39 towns and city suburbs will be asked their views from next week on a choice of up to five alternative patrons to their local, Catholic-run, primary schools.
They include seven Cork and Kerry towns, nine other Munster towns and 12 areas in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin. But the level of demand for changes to the current system could be in dispute after the interpretation by the group representing Catholic schools of the pilot survey results last month.
Although 25% to 35% of parents said they would avail of a wider choice of patronage if it was available, the Catholic Schools Partnership said this equated to just 5% to 10% of all parents, based on participation rates as lows as 24% in some survey areas.
Following the survey of families in five towns in November, the New Schools Establishment Group proposed that the Catholic bishops offer a school in each of them to multi-denominational group Educate Together. It was the most preferred patron among those who supported a wider choice of schools in Arklow, Co Wicklow, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Tramore, Co Waterford, Trim, Co Wexford, and Whitehall in Dublin.
The expanded survey of parents was to have started today but the Department of Education said patron bodies asked for it to begin next week, rather than this week when schools have just returned after Christmas.
In all 39 areas, the all-Irish schools patron group An Foras Pátrúnachta and the city or county vocational education committees (VECs) have put themselves forward to take over schools currently under Catholic patronage. The National Learning Network, a training division of the Rehab group, is an option for parents in four, and families in four towns can choose the Nigerian-founded Redeemed Christian Church of God as an alternative patron.
Educate Together is offering to be patron to schools in all but five areas, including Carrigaline, Co Cork, where it already has a school. The other Cork towns where parents of primary and pre-primary children are being surveyed are Bandon, Cobh, Fermoy, Passage West and Youghal.
Other Munster towns selected are: Shannon, Co Clare, Killarney, Co Kerry, Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Nenagh, Roscrea, Thurles and Tipperary in Co Tipperary; and Dungarvan, Co Waterford.
They have little or no choice of primary schools, other than Catholic or other denominational schools, but with insufficient population growth to justify new schools being built.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has asked the Catholic bishops in the five pilot towns to respond within six months with proposals on how to reconfigure their existing schools to facilitate Educate Together.
www.irishexaminer.com
Principal encourages parents to bring up kids bilingually
January 8, 2013
A LONDONDERRY school principal has encouraged people to come along to a range of multi-level Irish language classes this New Year to enable them to bring up their children bilingually at home.
Oisín MacEó, principal of Gaelscoil na Daróige encouraged people to look out for classes and events in their own area and to make it their New Year’s resolution to learn or improve their Irish.
“We are offering classes for both the beginner and the more advanced learner in the Ballymagroarty, Springtown, Hazelbank and Rosemount area. There will also be an e-book club for primary pupils and a fun Saturday club for former gaelscoil pupils now at secondary schools,” he said.
He added: “This is open to all family situations, for example whether all the adults speak Irish fluently already or if one or both of the parents is only learning. “The programe will support the parent in drawing up an action plan relevent to them and there will be informal classes directed at learning language used in the home. “It is hoped that this will lead to the establishing of a support group in the town for families looking to bring their children up through Irish or bilingually.”
The beginner and advanced Irish classes will be held at Gaelscoil na Daróige and in the Ballymagroarty Community Flat in Synge Court, while the parents’ programe will take place at the Gaelscoil.
Demand is expected to be high and so people are asked to contact the school as soon as possible at 71371414 by e-mail at scoil1@hotmail.com or on Gaelscoil na Daróige’s Facebook page.
The various Irish language classes and events organised across the town this year will compliment the Líofa initiative, which aims to have 5000 people signed up to become fluent in Irish by 2015.
www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk
College promotes online learning as Gaeilge
January 7, 2013
TG Lurgan is aiming to boost interest in the Irish language with a new music video app, Colette Sheridan reports
AN Irish language music video app has recently been launched by Coláiste Lurgan, an independent Irish language summer school based in the Connemara Gaeltacht. TG Lurgan is available for free downloading on Android and iOS and can be accessed in the App Store or Play Store. It enables users to enjoy and share music videos as Gaeilge.
It was developed on a voluntary basis by Coláiste Lurgan, providing a wide selection of contemporary Irish language music videos alongside tutorial videos for learning Irish. The next version of TG Lurgan will include a facility whereby members can upload their own productions as Gaeilge, allowing people to enjoy and learn from them.
In 2012, Coláiste Lurgan launched Abair Leat! — the world’s first social networking site dedicated to the Irish language. It’s all part of Coláiste Lurgan’s aim of popularising the use of Irish and broadening its base. As the manager of Coláiste Lurgan, Micheál Ó Fóighil, explains, the app — cited as the Irish language equivalent of MTV and Vevo — allows users to create their own playlists, making people’s favourites even more accessible.
“While the songs themselves provide first class entertainment, they are also an excellent vehicle for language learning. Song and verse have always been a very powerful memory aid, putting essential words and phrases not just on the tip of your tongue, but also into your long-term memory.
“Learners relate to Irish language versions of songs they enjoy listening to as entertainment rather than work. Learning the lyrics helps learners to expand their vocabulary and to speak simple essential phrases in a quick non-tedious way. Any exposure to the Irish language outside of the class situation is a huge plus. Quite a lot of people have learned the lyrics as Gaeilge. It’s quite an effective language learning exercise.”
TG Lurgan recently passed the one million plays milestone since uploading its first video on the Vimeo platform two years ago. Among the most popular productions so far are ‘BEO Lurgan’, an Irish cover version of ‘Some Nights’ by American indie pop band, Fun, with over 80,000 views. Other hits include ‘An Chóisir Rac’ — an Irish version of ‘Party Rock’ by LMFAO with 45,000 views and ‘Lady Ga(eilge)’, a medley of Lady Gaga songs clocking up 40,000 views. TG Lurgan also features many original compositions, such as ‘Damhsa Amhráin’, ‘Céili ar an Trá’, ‘An Buachaill Ceart’, ‘Can Os Ard’, ‘Seans Deirneach’ and ‘An Bráisléid’ to mention just a few.
Ó Fóighil says the songs are used in some Irish language classes, “not just in Ireland, but all over the world. Quite a number of them are Irish versions of contemporary popular music.” The Irish language students record the songs during their sojourn at Coláiste Lurgan during the summer.
“We put up the songs in a kind of karaoke version. There are now over 400 videos altogether. While making them, we improvise a lot.”
The Irish language “is never going to go out of fashion, as long as we have a country. But Gaeilge has been very poorly presented by the Department of Education. It’s such a pity it’s not presented by the department in a more appealing way that can actually resonate with people. I suppose the Department of Education would be the biggest obstacle to the progression and learning of Gaeilge.”
Both young and older people are “positively disposed” towards learning Irish. “After spending 14 years in a classroom learning Gaeilge, there’s something wrong with the way it’s presented if people aren’t curious about it afterwards. This has been said over and over again. But nothing has really changed in the way the language is taught. It’s not a question of resources. Money is being spent but there’s damn all to show for it.”
If Ó Fóighil worked in the Department of Education he would make Irish “much more appealing with an emphasis on spoken Gaeilge. No one expects (school leavers) to speak the language. That’s a huge flaw. Not only are they unable to speak it, but when they try to, they have no confidence. They can see no relevance in it… It’s not that more money is required. It’s just that the language needs to be taught in a way that people can connect with.”
Only for TG4, the Irish language “would be in huge trouble. Setting up TG4 was the most positive thing done for the language. The station makes the language relevant. Only for it, we wouldn’t be talking about Gaeilge at the moment. TG4 is a really significant player in presenting the language in a modern way.” And TG Lurgan aims to make it hip, cool and, most of all, accessible.
www.lurgan.biz
www.irishexaminer.com
New study of how Gaelic affects brain functions
January 2, 2013
Scientists are to investigate changes in brain functions among people who are fluent in English and Gaelic.
The study involving Glasgow and Edinburgh universities will require its test subjects to speak Gaelic exclusively for about 40 days.
The research aims to add new scientific evidence to suggestions that people who are bilingual have enhanced problem-solving skills and flexible thinking.
The study will include MRI scans to help detect changes in brain functions.
Scientists from Scotland, Belgium and Germany leading the research said the experiments would be entirely non-invasive.
They will be carried out at University of Glasgow’s Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, with approval of the College of Science and Engineering’s ethics committee.
Dr Meike Ramon, of the University of Glasgow and Belgium’s Universite catholique de Louvain, said brain functions changed when people performed specific tasks.
She said it should be possible to identify changes before and after someone has spoken Gaelic over a long period.
Physical tasks
Research published in August suggested bilingual children outperform children who speak only one language in problem-solving skills and creative thinking.
Researchers set lingual, arithmetical and physical tasks for 121 children, aged about nine, in Scotland and Sardinia, Italy.
They found that the 62 bilingual children were “significantly more successful in the tasks set for them”.
The study was published in the International Journal of Bilingualism.
The Glasgow-based children spoke English and Gaelic, or English only, while the Sardinian cohort spoke either Italian only, or Italian and Sardinian.
They were asked to reproduce patterns of coloured blocks, to repeat orally a series of numbers, to give clear definitions of words and to resolve mentally a set of arithmetic problems.
The tasks were all set in English or Italian.
Researchers found that the bilingual children were “significantly more successful in the tasks set for them”.
Family members
Last month, research published by the University of the Highlands and Islands suggested that generations of families that speak Gaelic use the language in different ways.
Gaelic dominates the conversations of family members aged between 53 and 71.
Second and third generations, family aged 16-37 and three to seven, mostly use English.
But the research also found adults spoke Gaelic when talking to children, who in turn would reply in the language.
bbc.co.uk
Dráma raidió dhaltaí Choláiste Feirste
January 2, 2013
Head of first Gaelscoil in Waterford city with passion for Irish language, music
January 2, 2013
Treasa Ní Eachthighearnn’s lasting memorial is that education through Irish is firmly established in Waterford city.
She was first head of Gaelscoil Phort Láirge, the first Gaelscoil in the city. It began in 1985 with 20 pupils in a basement. Classes were often interrupted by rain flooding the accommodation. The Gaelscoil is now housed in a purpose-built school with 224 pupils.
After retiring, she continued to train the school choirs.
She was passionate about the Irish language and music. Her instrument of choice was the flute, she was organist in her local church and she was a more than useful fiddle player. At the time of her death she was learning the concertina.
Her passion for music sent her up and down the country to traditional music events. She collected tunes and loved finding rare verses of songs.
Her passion for music was infectious, being passed on to her pupils. The choir of Gaelscoil Phort Láirge has always had a high standard, winning several major competitions.
She followed Waterford hurlers; to her, John Mullane was one of the all-time greats.
Treasa was born Teresa Hearne in 1943 in Clogheen, Co Tipperary, the third child and only daughter to teacher William Hearne, a Wexford man, and his wife Kathleen (Sheehan), from Cork city.
Having attended the secondary school in the Convent of Mercy in Wexford, she spent over a decade as a Mercy nun, including teaching science in Carrick-on-Suir for a period. During that time, she studied for a degree in Irish at UCC.
In the 1970s, she took the difficult decision to leave religious life. Training as a primary teacher, she taught in Stradbally, Co Waterford, then Duncannon, Co Wexford, before helping to establish the Gaelscoil.
Treasa is survived by her brothers Thomas, Billy, Eugene, Martin and Colum.
http://www.irishtimes.com/
Changing school patronage
December 19, 2012
Sir, – The extremely low participation in the survey on school patronage is not surprising. Every effort was made to keep this survey as low key as possible.
The online survey received very little coverage in the media and information on the Department of Education website presented so many different options and possibilities that it would seem that the vast majority of parents just decided that the best thing to do would be nothing at all. As predicted only those who are fanatical about change voted.
According to your article, (“School Patronage survey queried”, Home News, December 14th) just 4 per cent (parents of 80 children out of a school population of 1,965 in Arklow) voted for change. The Department of Education is releasing only the figures for those who have voted for change and not the exact statistics on the percentage of parents who participated. Mini ster for Education Ruairí Quinn has said results in the five pilot areas show a “strong demand for change”.
Yet Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership says, “Those who expressed an opinion in favour of change amount in each of the five areas to less than 10 per cent of parents”.
Who is right; and is the department going to act on the whim of such a small minority? May I remind Mr Quinn that when only 35 per cent of the electorate voted on the Nice treaty in 2001 we were told that we would have to vote again. Even when 53 per cent voted on the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 we were told that because we did not understand the issues we would have to vote again.
We pride ourselves on our democracy, but to impose the biggest change in primary education since the setting up of the national schools on the basis of such a slender minority vote would be dictatorial and not democratic.
– Yours, etc,
AM KEHOE,
Roselawn Road, Castleknock, Dublin 15.
www.irishtimes.com
Neamhchinnteacht maidir le todhchaí eagraíochtaí Gaeilge
December 19, 2012
