Irish alive and well in Gaelscoil Átha Í
May 9, 2012
Retired RTE GAA commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was on hand to perform the official opening of Gaeilscoil Átha Í last Thursday morning.
Local politicians, clergy, parents, teachers and members of the local community in Athy joined the pupils in celebrating the occasion and they heard the guest of honour say that the spirit of the people of Athy made the day possible.Each of the class groups gave musical performances between the speeches and in keeping with the tradition of the school these speeches were ‘as Gaeilge’.
The 199-pupil school opened in September 2004 with 21 students at the Aontas Ogra premises on the Kilkenny Road. The new building opened in 2010 and it has eight classrooms, 10 teachers, one special needs assistant, a secretary, a cleaner and a caretaker.
Sinead Ní Nualláin has been principal of the school since last November. During her speech to the assembled audience she said her school was more fortunate than most. “There are schools that have been on the waiting list for buildings before us who are still on the list.
“We have a lovely building now but when we opened first in 2004 we had nothing. We were working out of the Aontas Ogra Hall and I want to thank the parents who believed in the dream of a gaelscoil in Athy and I want to thank them for their support.”
Credit for the establishment of the school was given by all who spoke to local woman Kathleen Robinson. Ms Ní Nualláin said that Kathleen Robinson had an unbelievable dream. “People didn’t think that a gaelscoil could ever exist in Athy and it’s a proud day for us because Kathleen did succeed. Without Kathleens belief we wouldn’t be here. For that reason we are naming our new general purpose hall after Kathleen.”
Following this Mícheál O Muircheartaigh and Kathleen Robinson unveiled a plaque, which named the hall Halla Mhic Róibín.
The MC for the event was local man and parent Johnny Watchorn who said that the school was a great achievement which was due in no small measure to the work of Sinead and her team and the commitment of the parents.
“Once upon a time people used to ask me when Irish was last spoken in Athy. Today I am able to tell people that Irish is alive and well in Athy and that is because of the gaeilscoil.”
The guest of honour Mícheál O Muircheartaigh said that Kathleen Robinson had succeeded because the people of Athy supported her. “Kathleen is not a fluent speaker but she believed Irish was as much for her as it was for those who are fluent. The people of Athy bought into her vision and the parents took a chance sending their children to this school and it is this spirit that made today possible.”
He went on to add that it was good to see inclusiveness at the heart of the school. “It is great to see boys and girls from different traditions and religions side by side in an inclusive and positive environment.”
Bunscoil an Iúir get successful inspection report
May 9, 2012
The ETI visited Bunscoil an Iúir last week and have informed us that we have successfully moved out of the Formal Intervention Process. The inspectors reported very good practice in the school and have given us an overall grade of good.
The Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Mrs. Bernadette McCaul congratulated everyone involved saying, “ It is a credit to the teaching and support staff and to the parents and children who have contributed very positively to the outcome.”
During the Monitoring Visits, ETI reported back to the school the following areas of improvement that had been implemented by the school:
- The Board of Governors has been re-constituted and governor training has been instigated.
- Parents are more involved in the life and work of the school.
- Co-ordinators have been appointed and there is now a more equitable re-ditribution of roles and responsibilities. They have developed significantly in their roles and are working at a strategic level and monitoring and evaluating
- There is more joint planningand better subject overviews.
- ICT is used effectively.
- There is a wider range of teaching approaches.
- In the Foundation Stage, play-based learning supports well the children’s literacy and numeracy.
- SEN provision has been reviewed and more realistic targets are set.
- intervention and withdrawal
- Classroom Assistants working well with SEN children
- Standards are rising- some children have moved off the SEN register
- Leadership in the school is very good. The Principal has given structure and is providing strategic direction to the school. She has a clear agenda for school improvement
- Effective deployment of classroom assistants
- Active learning/ Assessment for Learning/ Clear Learning Intentions/ Use of Plenaries/ Connected Learning/ Development of Skills
- Whole school improvement
- Test results – Paired Reading programme was very successful.
- School has continued on the road of self-evaluation
- There was a more focused approach to monitoring Maths in the school. Some evidence of connecting Maths to real life situations, e.g. Trocaire and Credit Union. Processing – Numeracy advisor was supporting the school on this and work was progressing.
- There was more focus on monitoring and evaluating – there had been a ‘booklook’ on Addition. Suggested that this could be more focused in the future, e.g. rather than data-handling, focus on the use of pictograms throughout the school. There were also some observations of Maths lessons and this was an appropriate start for Co-ordinator
Gaelscoil Chionn tSáile – drámaíocht agus ealaín den scoth
May 9, 2012
Seachtain Na Gaeilge – Gaelscoil Mhic Easmainn 2012
May 9, 2012
Cleamhnas Gasta in Eochaill
May 9, 2012
CONNECT 3 – A new online Language Awareness and Good Relations resource for post-primary learners
May 9, 2012
A new online resource aimed at helping learners in post primary education to discover more about the languages of English, Irish and Ulster-Scots will be officially launched by Mayor Alderman Maurice Devenney on Wednesday 16th May 2012.
The project, titled CONNECT 3, was jointly designed and developed by Derry City Council and The Verbal Arts Centre to record young people’s attitudes to these languages.
Young people from a range of schools in the Derry City Council area were surveyed to establish their level of awareness of the languages of English, Irish and Ulster-Scots and to ascertain what role social influences play in young people’s different attitudes to languages. Survey data from these workshops was subsequently analysed and used to form the basis of the CONNECT 3 website.
Speaking ahead of the launch, the Mayor, Alderman Maurice Devenney said: “The Connect-3 project illustrates how a creative approach to dealing with complex subjects such as language and cultural identity can often be the best; and because this project has been designed in partnership with young people from the Council area, it accurately reflects contemporary attitudes towards the languages of English, Irish and Ulster-Scots. I would encourage as many schools as possible in the Council area to make use of this creative resource as a means promoting positive attitudes to languages and fostering good relations”.
The new website which can be accessed at www.connect-3.co.uk includes a fun, interactive language awareness quiz with a range of teaching resources designed to complement specific areas within the NI post-primary curriculum.
The CONNECT 3 project was funded by Derry City Council’s Good Relations Section and the project launch is one of a number of events taking place in the Council area as part of Community Relations Week 2012 which runs from 14th – 19th May 2012.
The project launch will take place at 1.15pm on Wednesday 16th May at the Verbal Arts Centre, Derry.
Website URL: www.connect-3.co.uk
Deireadh an Chomórtais BEO beagnach anseo!
May 9, 2012
Irish language digital resource wins eGovernment Award
May 9, 2012
ITunes U, a new innovative Irish language learning resource was top of the class at the E-Government Ireland awards held in Dublin Castle on April 25th.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin TD presented the Irish language award at the event which rewarded the digital achievements of public sector bodies.
An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) a body which supports Irish language medium education developed iTunes U which is an online multimedia channel hosted on iTunes which combines videos, podcasts and other multimedia material for Gaeltacht schools and Irish medium schools.
Over 300 files from the archives of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and Acadamh na hOllscolaiochta Gaeilge are available to download on the iTunes channel. They include famous Irish language songs such as Peigín Leitir Móir, Amhrán Chámuis, Roddy McCorley, An Cailín Deas Rua as well as sketches and conversations in various dialects.
The National Library of Ireland took the social media award at the event with Fáilte Ireland wining the marketing award. The HSE won an award for the campaign Get Ireland Active and Citizens Information won an award for their mobile web application.
GAELPORT.COM
Opportunities for schools to get funding from Gleo
May 4, 2012
Foras na Gaeilge has issued a reminder that its Gleo scheme will run from now until May 31.
If schools want to enter this scheme there are application forms available on the Foras na Gaeilge website at www.gaeilge.ie/gleo
The GLEO scheme awards English-speaking schools for leading the way in promoting spoken Irish in their schools and communities throughout the year. Schools are selected on the basis of their innovation and creativity and last year 12 schools received an award of €3,000 to spend on Irish language resources and language events for their school.
In 2011 54 schools entered the competition with websites, drama, puppet shows, quizzes and debates included among the varied activities all run ‘as Gaeilge’.
Examples of the events and activities that schools have organised in past schemes are available at www.gaeilge.ie/gleo
THE MAYO ADVERTISER
http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo
Comhaltacht Shéamuis Uí Mhórdha
May 2, 2012
