Weekend Workshop with Lullabies
May 14, 2012
This June, An Gyréum is organising Weekend with Lullabies, 15 – 17 June for people who would like to learn Irish in a new way – through learning amazing Irish lullabies. The workshop will be led by Siobhán Cleary and Máire Breatnach.
15 June, Friday
arrival time: afternoon
7pm Soup supper
8pm Introduction to Lullabies
16 June, Saturday
9am Pre-breakfast Yoga
10.30am Breakfast
11.30am Learning of the first two lullabies from a screen, Short walk
2pm Lunch, Three short lullabies followed by short walk on Moytura plateau
7pm Dinner, Evening with music, Repeating the full learnt lullabies before bedtime.
17 June, Sunday
9am Pre-breakfast Yoga
10.30am Breakfast
11.30am Learning of the third set of lullabies
2pm Lunch
Tour to Kesh Caves where all the lullabies are recorded inside the cave, the
same place where King Cormac Mac Airt as a baby was suckled by she wolves.
The recording is forwarded to each participant as an MP3.
Price:
180€/person
130€/person who book through Comhluadar or mention Gaelscoileanna in their booking
Max: 20 participants
More information: http://www.gyreum.com
Scléip 2012 on Raidió na Gaeltachta
May 14, 2012
Raidió na Gaeltachta recorded the regional heats and Final of Scléip and we are delighted to announce the dates of the 5 programmes:
Leinster Heat: 9th June 9.00 am
Munster Heat: 16th June 9.00 am
Ulster Heat: 23rd June 9.00 am
Connaught Heat: 30th June 9.00 am
Final: 7th July 9.00 am
Congratulations again to the winners and their schools and many thanks to Fiachna Ó Braonáin and his team at Raven Productions that recorded the competition this year on behalf of Raidió na Gaeltachta.
Funding opportunities under Youth Events scheme 2012/2013
May 11, 2012
Foras na Gaeilge is currently seeking applications from groups which organies Irish language activites for young people. Funding of up to €5,000/£3,500stg will be offered to individual organisations under the scheme.
Through this scheme, Foras na Gaeilge is providing funding for suitable Irish Language activities for young people which aim “To advance, promote and strengthen the use of Irish”. Suitable events that will provide young people with opportunities for using the Irish language should be run between 01 September 2012 and 30 June 2013.
Please note that Foras na Gaeilge will not respond to any applicants after the deadline until assessments are completed. Groups, therefore, are reminded to answer every question on the form and provide all information required from the checklist before the deadline. If you have any questions on any aspect of the form or the checklist, it is advised that you contact Foras na Gaeilge before the deadline. This scheme is open to any organisation except corefunded organisations.
The scheme is not open to core-funded organisations which receive annual funding from Foras na Gaeilge. Applications will be accepted until 23 May 2012.
For further information check out www.gaeilge.ie.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Two new EPV courses being offered by Gaelchultúr
May 10, 2012
Over 2,000 primary school teachers have done one of Gaelchultúr’s online EPV courses since they were first offered three years ago, and many of those have expressed a desire to do another of the company’s courses this summer. In light of that interest, we have developed two new courses to meet the growing demand:
How to Teach Irish Effectively in the Classroom: This course is aimed at primary school teachers who are looking for more effective ways to teach Irish. Each unit contains sample lessons relating to the curriculum themes, as well as videos showing how to teach those lessons. Teachers participating in the course will be able to use this material in the classroom and copy the approach when developing their own lesson plans.
Ardchúrsa Cruinnis do Mhúinteoirí Bunscoile is aimed at primary school teachers who have a reasonably good standard of Irish grammar but who wish to focus on the more challenging aspects and perfect their language skills.
Gaelchultúr is offering eight online courses in total for primary school teachers this summer, all of which are recognised by the Department of Education and Skills and entitle successful participants to three EPV days. You can click on the course titles below to get more information about them, to try sample units, or to make a booking.
How to Teach Irish Effectively in the Classroom
Ardchúrsa Cruinnis do Mhúinteoirí Bunscoile
Bunchúrsa Cruinnis do Mhúinteoirí Bunscoile
Irish Language IT Resources for the Classroom
Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers – Junior and Senior Infants
Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers – 1st and 2nd Class
Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers – 3rd and 4th Class
Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers – 5th and 6th Class
Gaelchultúr’s EPV courses have been in great demand since they were first offered in 2009 and one of the reasons for this, according to Siobhán Patten, Gaelchultúr’s Specialised Courses Manager, is the interesting, useful content. “There are plenty of practical ideas and fun activities in the courses and participants really look forward to trying them in the classroom.”
Another aspect that really appeals to users, says Siobhán, is the logical layout of the website. “We’ve added to the technology since last year, and teachers will find the courses even more user-friendly than they were in previous years. So the good news is, those taking our programmes don’t need to be particularly knowledgeable about technology.”
Gaelchultúr’s online EPV courses have received glowing praise from previous participants. This is what two teachers who’ve previously completed the courses had to say about them:
“I wish to thank everyone in Gaelchultúr – I will certainly use the course material in the classroom. Well done!”
“This is the most useful and practical summer course I have ever done. I will recommend it to my friends and I look forward to doing another course of yours next year.”
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
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
Comhaltacht Shéamuis Uí Mhórdha
May 2, 2012
Coláiste Ráithín: Protest March on Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 14.30
May 2, 2012
Cairde Ráithín, Coláiste Ráithín’s Parents Association and its feeder schools are leading a Protest March to the gates of Dáil Éireann on Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 14.30, to demand a new school building for Coláiste Ráithín to open by 2014, which has been a ongoing issue for more than 17 years now. They will meet the 5 Wicklow TDs to get a progress report from them since a joint meeting in February nearly 3 months ago.
Following on from the successful parent’s Protest March to Department of Education & Skills last week, the parents of Coláiste Raithín have sent an Invitation to all Wicklow TDs to come to the steps of the Dáil and tell parents what progress has been made since a delegation of the parents committee met them in February nearly 3 months ago. At that meeting in February, parents explained in detail the plight of this north Wicklow school which needs a new building but which is stuck in a Kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucracy.
Since 1994, management, staff and parents in Coláiste Ráithín have been working towards a new building for Coláiste Ráithín. Seventeen years after the Department of Education first sanctioned a new building, Coláiste Ráithín is still in the same location – on 2 separate sites in Bray town centre with 50% accommodation in portacabins. There are little recreational and no sports facilities. Despite this, the school is one of the best schools in Wicklow and South Dublin and pupils continue to thrive academically.
While the Minister of Education opened two new schools in Wicklow yesterday (Monday, 30th April) there is still no communication of any description from his Department to the most recent correspondence from Cairde Ráithín, nor any sign of movement in this Catch 22 that this North Wicklow school has been caught up in. Coláiste Ráithín is the top non-fee paying school in Leinster outside of Dublin in the just-released 2012 school league tables and in the top ten non-fee paying schools nationwide.
In light of the Minister’s recent roll out of the DES new buildings and extensions programme for the next 5 years and beyond, which does NOT include any provision AT ALL for Coláiste Ráithín, the parents are now taking direct action to protect the valuable education resource in north Wicklow that is Coláiste Ráithín. Negotiations with the Minister and the Department of Education and Skills; Wicklow VEC (the patrons of Coláiste Raithín); Wicklow TDs and Bray Town Council, especially in the last 6 months, have all yielded no real, tangible progress.
The Parents most recent letters to the Minister have gone without any acknowledgement.
On Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 14.30, pupils from Coláiste Ráithín and its feeder schools, accompanied by parents from the community of the whole of north Wicklow, will protest at the Dáil Éireann. There will be an opportunity for the Co Wicklow TDs to explain to parents and pupils, why this situation has been allowed to continue for so long.
While there seems to be general agreement amongst all parties that a new school building is required, there seems to be NO URGENCY to resolve this matter. This is particularly worrying for both current and future pupils and their parents, given that a brand new state of the art school is planned for 2014 in Blacklion, Greystones, a distance of only 4 miles from Coláiste Raithín. Such a new school facility can only have a huge negative impact on Coláiste Ráithín, its feeder schools and so its future as it is right in the centre of Coláiste Ráithín’s unique catchment area. Parents are demanding that it is now time to bring this long outstanding matter to an immediate and satisfactory conclusion.
Therefore, in order that a new school building for Coláiste Ráithín be open by September 2014, the committee request the Minister and all TDs to do the following urgently:
– all outstanding issues regarding the current proposed Bray site be determined immediately;
– the Blacklion site be made a default option only to be exercised if the Old Bray Gold Club site is not available immediately;
– guarantee parity of esteem and equality of resources for the only Gaelcholáiste in North Wicklow;
– make the relocation of Coláiste Ráithín into a new school building, to open in September 2014, an absolute priority.
For further information, please contact: Paul Moore, spokesperson from Coiste Cóiríochta Coláiste Ráithín / 086 838 5049 /
pmoore@iol.ie
Members of north Wicklow community can sign the petition in hard copy at Coláiste Ráithín or online at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/colaisteraithinnewschoolbuilding2014/
Sligo group wins Siansa Gael Linn
May 1, 2012
Young traditional music talent took the stage of the National Concert Hall on Sunday for the grand final of Siansa Gael Linn with Sligo’s newest musical hope, Teaspach taking the Siansa Gael Linn crown for this year.
The octet from the Sligo Grammar School, followed the footsteps of other alumni who previously won the national title in 2009.
Members of the group include Áine Ní Mháirtín, Nell Ní Cheallaigh, Gearóid Ó Duibhir, Íde Ní Chionnaith, Jason Mac Aonghusa, Hannah Ní Cheallaigh, Peadar Ó Maonaigh and Pádraig Ó Gabháin.
Fataí Fánacha from Coláistí Eoin and Íosagáin in Dublin took second place with Galwegian’s Macalla from Corofin in third place.
