Plans are lodged for €1.5m new gaelscoil on Skibbereen site
December 6, 2016
A PLANNING application for a €1.5 million new school in Skibbereen has been lodged with Cork County Council by the board of Gaelscoil Dr Uí Shúilleabháin.
The application is to provide a new gaelscoil that will have four classrooms, a general purpose hall, a library, resource room and a learning support centre, as well as a modern outdoor play area and a ball court.
Early in 2015, the Cork Education and Training Board transferred ownership of a site in the grounds of Rossa College – a former football pitch – to the Department of Education’s building unit.
The project then went to the design stage and on Wednesday, the principal of Gaelscoil Dr Uí Shúilleabháin, Aisling Ní Néill, confirmed to The Southern Star that the board of management has applied for planning permission.
If permission is granted within the next three months, the principal said, construction could commence early in the New Year.
‘We are delighted that the project is progressing and that we are closer to getting a modern educational facility for our 60 students,’ she said.
‘A new school will attract new students,’ added Ms Ní Néill, who confirmed that they are already receiving enrolments for 2017.
At present, the 60 pupils at the school are accommodated in a crowded pre-fab building.
McConalogue calls on Education Minister to progress Buncrana 3 campus
December 6, 2016
Fianna Fáil TD Charlie McConalogue has called on the Minister for Education to prioritise the building of a new three school campus in Buncrana as a matter of urgency.
The project has been in the pipeline for years but there hasn’t been much progression on the plans to construct a new campus for three Buncrana schools, according to McConalogue.
The proposed Crana College campus will be home to Crana College secondary school, which has more than 500 students; Buncrana Gaelscoil, which was established in 1999; and Coláiste Chineál Eoghain, which is the only second level Gaelscoil in Donegal and is housed in Tullyarvan Mill.
“Students in Crana College are currently been taught in prefabs, while Buncrana Gaelscoil, which has more than 180 students, is using Buncrana Youth Club, as its school building. The pace at which this process is proceeding is completely unacceptable,” said McConalogue.
“I raised this issue on the floor of the Dáil this time last year and the then Minister Jan O’Sullivan claimed that a site for the campus had been identified. However, last week Minister Richard Bruton confirmed to me that although a preferred site had been selected and that the Department has been engaging with the landowner, no agreement has been reached. He also revealed that the Department has engaged with other landowners in respect of a second site as an alternative option,” said the TD.
“ It has taken years for the project to reach this stage; in fact some of the children who are in these schools will have left by the time the new campus is built. This is an extremely important project and it is imperative that it is moved to the design and construction phase as quickly as possible,” concluded Deputy McConalogue.
An cód: Now children can learn computer coding in Irish for the first time
December 5, 2016
Children can now develop their Irish language and computer coding skills at the same time, thanks to an American professor’s love of the language.
Computer science professor Kevin Scannell, from St Louis University in Missouri, has translated 20 hours worth of coding material into Irish for Hour of Code 2016.
Hour of Code is an annual global initiative designed to encourage young people to learn computer coding in hour-long sessions.
The focus is on making coding fun through the use of popular games like Minecraft, as well as films such as ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Frozen’.
This year marks the third year the event has been run in Ireland since it was taken up by digital learning movement, Excited.
The movement was co-founded in 2014 by Fine Gael TD Ciaran Cannon.
Mr Cannon took on the Hour of Code initiative after meeting its founder at the Web Summit three years ago, where he was asked to promote it in Ireland.
The event has been a huge success since it first came to Ireland, but this year marks the first time that coding lessons will be available online through the Irish language.
Prof Scannell kickstarted the initiative as he loves the language and believes children should be able to access coding lessons in their mother tongue.
While the whole website is not accessible in Irish, 20 hours’ worth of learning material are now.
The Hour of Code, which is being run as a part of Computer Science week, begins today and will be run through schools and coding clubs around the country.
Children will take part in hour-long coding sessions designed to demystify code and help them learn the basics.
Mr Cannon says children should learn computer coding to understand how technology works.
“All children should at least have a basic understanding of how technology works and should be able to understand that they can create their own technology rather than using other people’s technology,” he said. “In order to be powerful shapers of their own futures, they need to have these skills in a basic fashion.”
Mr Cannon also hopes the availability of the lessons in the Irish language will help to make learning the language fun.
“It normalises the use of the language in a very modern context,” he said.
The Galway East TD hopes the use of modern games will help to make both coding and the Irish language interesting and entertaining for a young audience.
“If you can take something as digitally contemporary as Minecraft and ‘Star Wars’, and you can access it through the Irish language, that gives it a whole new relevance for a new generation,” he told the Irish Independent.
Over 180 countries take part in the Hour of Code, with 135,301 events taking place worldwide. See hourofcode.com/ie for more details.
Launch of major international study of Irish Students’ Performance in Mathematics and Science in TIMSS 2015
December 5, 2016
Minister Bruton welcomes publication of major international study on Irish students’ competences in maths and science
Action Plan for Education contains ambitious action for further improvements in performance in maths and science
The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, today (Tuesday 29th November) welcomed the strong overall performance of Irish students in a major international study of maths and science achievement in primary and post-primary schools. The results come from TIMSS 2015 (the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study).
The report provides an international comparison of student achievement in maths and science at Fourth Class in primary and at Second Year of post-primary. In general, students in Ireland performed relatively well compared to the other countries participating in TIMSS 2015. Ireland’s mean scores were significantly above the international TIMSS centrepoint in maths and science at both grade levels.
While the trends contained in today’s results are encouraging, it is clear that there is still room for improvement in science and maths. The Action Plan for Education, which has the overall aim of making Ireland the best education and training service in Europe within a decade, outlines a series of ambitious actions to further improve our performance in maths and science, including introducing coding and computer science throughout the school curriculum, a comprehensive National Policy Statement on STEM in schools and ambitious new measures to upskill science and maths teachers.
The key findings of the report include:
Irish fourth class students ranked 9th out of 49 countries in maths (up from 17th out of 50 countries in 2011)
Irish fourth class students ranked 19th of 47 countries in science (broadly consistent with 22nd position out of the 50 countries that participated in 2011)
Irish second year students ranked 9th of 39 countries in maths, (there is no recent study with which to compare this)
Irish second year students ranked 10th of 39 countries in science (there is no recent study with which to compare this)
Commenting on the report, Minister Bruton said:
“The basic aim of this Government is to sustain our economic progress and use it to build a fair and compassionate society. No area is more important to this vision than education, which has a crucial role both in breaking cycles of disadvantage and also in providing the skills needs to sustain a growing economy. That is why we have published and started implementing an Action Plan aimed at making Ireland the best education service in Europe.
“The report published today is an important measure of the progress that we are making along that road. While there has been some progress, it is clear that we have a long way to go if we are to achieve our ambition of being the best in Europe.
“While the trends being published today are encouraging – in particular improved results in fourth class maths and science and in second year science – it is still clear that there is major room for improvement in maths and science.”
“The results from TIMSS 2015 point us to areas that we need to focus on, including how we can stretch the performance of higher-achieving students and how we can better develop students’ cognitive skills and knowledge of content areas such asGeometry and Physics.”
The Minister commended the report’s authors and thanked all of the students, teachers, principals and parents who took part in the study and responded to the questionnaires.
Dr Aidan Clerkin, one of the report’s authors, said that“the improvements in maths and science performance that we see here, compared to previous studies, are encouraging. Improvements are particularly notable among lower-achieving students. However, there is room to improve among higher-achieving students, who appear to be underperforming in Ireland relative to their counterparts in some other countries.”
Rachel Perkins, another of the authors, noted that“we are seeing some level of consistency in the relative strengths and weaknesses of primary and post-primary students in Ireland. For example, students in Ireland are showing relative weaknesses in Geometry and Physics, and relative strengths in Number and Earth science, at both Fourth Class and Second Year.”
A note on reporting performance
All TIMSS scores are reported on a scale which is set to a ‘centrepoint’ of 500. This is not an international average for TIMSS 2015, which is not reported by the international consortium that runs TIMSS. Instead, the centrepoint (500) was set during the first TIMSS assessment in 1995. It is used as a constant reference point against which countries can monitor changes in their performance over time.
About TIMSS 2015
The report – TIMSS 2015 in Ireland: Mathematics and science in primary and post-primary schools – was written by Dr Aidan Clerkin, Rachel Perkins and Rachel Cunningham, of the Educational Research Centre.
TIMSS is organised by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), a non-profit organisation based in The Hague, Netherlands. At an international level, the study is managed by the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Centre in Boston College, USA. The International Study Centre works collaboratively with the various National Research Centres which are responsible for managing each country’s participation in TIMSS at a national level. In Ireland, the Educational Research Centre (ERC) fulfilled this role on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills (DES).
By assessing students’ maths and science performance at both primary and post-primary levels, TIMSS provides detailed comparisons of the relative achievements, strengths, and weaknesses of education systems in the various participating countries. The study operates on a four-year cycle, with the first administration taking place in 1995. TIMSS 2015 is the sixth iteration. Ireland has taken part in TIMSS twice previously: in 1995 (at both primary and post-primary levels) and in 2011 (at primary level only).
In 2015, more than 582,000 students from 57 countries[1] participated in total. Thirty-one countries (and seven benchmarking participants), including Ireland, participated at both primary and post-primary level. Benchmarking participants are sub-national regions or entities which must follow the same procedures and meet the same data quality standards as countries in order to participate (e.g., the province of Ontario, Canada, or the state of Florida, USA).
In Ireland, the TIMSS assessment took place in schools in April and May 2015. The assessment was administered by teachers in participating schools. At Fourth Class, 72 minutes was allocated to testing, compared to 90 minutes at Second Year. A short break was given in the middle of the tests at both grade levels. After the tests, and generally on the same day, students completed questionnaires, which took about 30 minutes. Each student completed one of 14 test booklets, each of which contained questions on maths and science.
Current and forthcoming national reports
The report released today – TIMSS 2015 in Ireland: Mathematics and science in primary and post-primary schools – describes the maths and science achievement of students in both Fourth Class and Second Year, for both maths and science. It focuses on the results of the tests, and contains information on mean (average) performance, the distribution of performance (e.g., how higher- and lower-achieving students in Ireland compare to their peers in other countries), the percentage of students reaching each of four internationally-defined Benchmarks of achievement, and areas of relative strength and weakness in the performance of students in Ireland. It also contains a comparison of the Irish curricula for maths and science at each grade level against the content of the TIMSS assessment, in order to examine how much of the assessment students in Ireland might have been expected to have covered by the time of testing.
In 2017, a number of contextual reports will be published by the Educational Research Centre that will examine the educational context in Ireland more broadly, together with associations between contextual factors and student achievement. These reports will use the detailed information provided by students, parents, principals and teachers, together with national-level structural factors, to provide a more complete snapshot of maths and science education in Ireland.
[1] In 2015, 57 countries participated in TIMSS. However data for Armenia are not available and so only 56 countries are included in the international results. Without Armenia, thirty countries participated at both grade levels.
(Gaeilge) ‘Imní’ faoi easpa eolais maidir le hAonad Gaeltachta nua na Roinne Oideachais
December 5, 2016
(Gaeilge) Os cionn 2,000 leabhar Gaeilge á roinnt ar 750 gasúr Gaeltachta
December 5, 2016
Gaelscoil’s 24-hour Irish charity challenge
December 5, 2016
BANTRY’S gaelscoil took part in a school-wide 24-hour Irish language challenge recently.
The idea to take part in this challenge was conceived by the teachers as an inventive and different way to promote the Irish language within the school.
Gaelscoil Bheanntraí students from every class participated and were given a sponsorship card which encouraged them to collect donations from friends and family members.
Speaking on behalf the school, Deirdre Uí Mhurchu said: ‘The children coped very well with it as they are very diligent about speaking the language.’
All of the money raised was donated by the Gaelscoil students to Conradh na Gaeilge, a charity that is dedicated to promoting the use and influence of the Irish language in the lives of the general population.
(Gaeilge) FÍSEÁN: An Ghaeltacht Abú! Dúshlán imreoirí Chonnacht tugtha le ‘haka’ Gaeltachta!
November 23, 2016
Haka Gaelach strikes fear into All Blacks
November 17, 2016
Children from a Co Dublin Gaelscoil performed a modified version of the Maori Haka for the All Blacks rugby team at their training ground ahead of this weekend’s much anticipated return Test at the Aviva Stadium.
Following on from Ireland’s historic win against the New Zealanders in Chicago in early November, some 60 children from 6th class, Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada, Lucan, performed a mixture of the fearsome Maori Haka – Ka Mate and a re-written version of Ireland’s Call for the assembled team at the Westmanstown Sports Complex on Monday.
Príomh Oide Damhnait Uí Ruairc said a parent came up with the idea for the performance in September and teachers and students spent the last two months preparing the Haka Gaelach for the event.
“A parent suggested the idea in September and asked if we might be interested in performing for the All Blacks. We said we would. The initial plan was that the boys would perform the Maori Haka but we decided we couldn’t do it without the girls.”
“After researching the Haka we discovered that the tradition is for the Haka to be performed by men. It was then that we decided to adapt it and incorporate Ireland’s Call into the performance”.
Paying tribute to late rugby greats Jonah Lomu and Anthony Foley the children also paid homage to prominent Maori leader and political activist Apirana Turupa Ngata .
Despite the excitement surrounding Ireland’s first ever win over the All Blacks, Bean Uí Ruairc said the famous result threw the event into some doubt, leading to fears it would not go ahead.
“We only heard on Monday morning that the event would go ahead – and even then, it was only 50:50. The students were taken on a bus to Westmanstown that afternoon and we still didn’t know if it would go ahead.”
The children’s fears were put to rest once the team arrived.
“The children were very excited. It was great for them. It is something they will never forget. Not only did they meet the All Blacks but they met the team that Ireland beat as well.”
All Blacks captain Kieran Read thanked the children for their performance.
“That was fantastic, what a welcome! It’s pretty awesome to see how much it means to you guys and to bring a bit of the Maori culture over here in Ireland, the boys certainly appreciate it.”
Founded in the local GAA club in 2005 with just 26 students and two teachers, Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada now has 470 registered students and 21 teachers and is under the patronage of an Foras Patrúnachta. It moved into a purpose built building in 2012.
Indicative of the demand for Irish language schooling, the school was oversubscribed this year.
“We are full at the moment. We could easily take another stream or two – and that is with another Gaelscoil around the corner,” Bean Uí Riada said.
The school is named after the Eiscir Riada, a geological ridge that stretches all the way west to Co Galway.
Eiscir Riada marked the division of Ireland into two halves – Leath Cuinn (Conn ‘s half) and Leath Moga (Mugh’s half) following the battle of Maigh Nuadad in AD123 between Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles) and Eoghan Mór (also known as Mogha Nuadhad or servant of Nuada).
Legal bid to relocate Irish language primary school from 115-year-old west Belfast building clears first stage
November 17, 2016
The mother of a pupil at Gaelscoil an Lonnain was granted leave to seek a judicial review of Education Minister Peter Weir’s decision to turn down the proposed move.
Her lawyers claim the Democratic Unionist MLA acted irrationally and failed to comply with a statutory duty to develop Irish medium education.
She is seeking a court order for Mr Weir to either authorise the relocation or review his decision.
The school, with an enrolment of around 60 pupils, has been at its current site on the Falls Road since 2004.
But according to the mother’s lawyers those premises are now cramped, restrictive and no longer fit for purpose.
In December 2015 the Board of Governors of Gaelscoil an Lonnain’s Board of Governors submitted a relocation proposal to the Department of Education.
Its plan was to move to the former site of St Comgall’s School.
Support was said to have been secured from the Education Authority, the Education and Training Authority and Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta – the statutory body set up to advise the Department on compliance with the obligation to facilitate the development Irish language education.
The proposal was turned down in June, however, with issues about the school’s sustainability understood to have featured in the decision.
Counsel representing the parent taking the case claim the decision unlawfully took into account irrelevant factors.
It was also alleged that the Minister failed to consider increasing demand for Irish medium education in the area.
Papers lodged in the case further contend that the decision breached the European Convention of Human Rights by not prioritise the welfare of the child.
Leave to apply for a judicial review was granted today without full argument.
The case will now proceed to a substantive hearing early next year.
Outside court a lawyer representing the parent’s lawyer welcomed the outcome.
Joanne McGurk, of Michael Flanigan Solicitors, said: We are pleased that today the court has granted leave in this application.
“We will continue with the challenge and hope to secure the result that will allow the relocation to proceed.”
