InTouch April/May 2007 - INTO - Irish National Teachers` Organisation

Transcription

InTouch
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation
Cumann Múinteoirí Éireann
Issue No 84 April/May 2007
ISSN 1393-4813
ANNUAL CONGRESS ■ INTO SUMMER COURSES ■ NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS ■ ANNUAL CONGRESS ■ INTO SUMM
COURSES ■ NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS ■ ANNUAL CONGRESS ■ INTO SUMMER COURSES ■ NORTHERN IRELAND
NEWS ■ ANNUAL CONGRESS ■ INTO SUMMER COURSES ■ NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS ■ ANNUAL CONGRESS ■ INT
IN THE NEWS
Scéalta Reatha
INTO: Political but not party political
s the general election approaches it is important to take stock of where we are on some of
the major issues affecting primary education
and primary teachers. We understand the
benefits of political activity and making our
voices heard in the political arena.
In recent years we have campaigned to ensure that
each child in a primary school is taught by a fully
qualified primary teacher and substantial progress has
been made. We must of course seek to have this
extended to panels of substitute teachers to ensure that
all teacher absences are covered by a trained teacher.
It is important not to forget that a number of years
ago special education was in crisis. There can be no
doubt that significant progress was made in relation to
this issue thanks to the campaigning of INTO members.
Nevertheless, it is fair to point out that a great deal
more needs to be done. The NEPS service covers less
than half of all primary schools and is operating at less
that half its required strength. The lack of speech and
language therapists, occupational therapists and
mental health professionals in the field of education is
a disgrace.
The needs of newcomer children are being addressed
but the agenda is far from complete. Additional staffing
is required; professional development opportunities
for teachers are limited and many of these children
require additional supports, over and above language
teaching.
Last term in particular, we saw the value of providing
fora for teachers, parents and members of the general
public to express their views on class sizes in primary
schools. Our series of meetings, attended by ,
A
people could not be ignored by the politicians. In two
short months the issue was driven up the political
agenda by the huge numbers turning out to meetings
which confounded the sceptics.
In relation to this issue in particular clear commitments have been given by most political parties and
candidates for the general election. Class size has truly
been made into an election issue.
It is important to recognise our successes in all these
areas and to give credit to those who have helped to
deliver progress. In the first instance credit goes to
INTO activists whose tireless work on many campaigns
has delivered significant advances. But it is also important to give credit to politicians of all parties and none
who have helped to advance our causes.
The INTO does not act in any party political way.
While we recognise progress on some issues and give
credit where credit is due we are only too well aware of
the very long list of improvements that are required to
make sure that educational infrastructure is built up
alongside economic success.
We will continue to make our voices heard, not in a
party political manner, but on behalf of primary education, our members and our pupils. Members have
many national and local priorities to consider when it
comes to casting their votes but I ask every member to
ensure that all politicians are aware that the priorities
of primary education are your priorities too.
General Secretary
INTO Congress 2007
T
John Carr, General Secretary, pictured with Mary Hanafin, TD,
Minister for Education, Caitríona Ruane, Minister Designate
(Nth Ireland) and Denis Bohane, INTO President -.
InTouch April/May 2007
he INTO Annual Congress, which
was held in Cork this year,
discussed a very wide-ranging
agenda. The significant progress made
in the ‘Class Size Campaign’ dominated
the early part of the week. Other issues,
from the demands of school leadership,
funding, the changing nature of schools,
to negotiations on national wage agreements were also discussed and debated.
On the Tuesday morning Congress was
addressed by Mary Hanafin, TD, Minster
for Education and Science, and also by
Caitríona Ruane, Minister Designate for
Education in the Northern Assembly.
Pages  to  of this issue outline coverage of the various speeches, resolutions
adopted, and other Congress business.
A webcast archive of the public
sessions is now available on the INTO
website at www.into.ie
FIRST AND LAST
Front Cover: Delegates
attending their first
Congress included: Irene
Nolan and JJ Brennan from
Dublin East and Fiachra
MacCraith, Limerick City.
Also pictured are those
retiring this year and attending their last Congress
included Paud O’Reilly,
Rathdowney; Kathleen Ryan,
Dublin City North and
Padraigín Ní Dhubhlucha,
Kilkenny City.
3
IN THE NEWS
Scéalta Reatha
Major progress on class size
S
ignificant progress has
been made by the INTO in
relation to commitments
on improving class size.
Minister Mary Hanafin TD
confirmed at Congress that, if
returned to Government, they
would reduce class size to /
within three years.
She also confirmed the
recruitment of an additional
, teachers to bring this
about and to cater for
increasing enrolments.
The Labour Party has
confirmed that if in
Government it will bring
average class size down to
/ over the lifetime of the
Government and introduce a
maximum class size of .
The Green Party has also
committed to : and Sinn
Fein has promised : if in
Government. We are still
awaiting details from Fine
Gael and the Progressive
Democrats.
Welcoming the commitments so far, INTO General
Secretary John Carr said that
the issue of class size in primary
schools and the quality of
education for our young
children should be the subject
of an all-party consensus.
Further coverage of this issue
and other commitments will be
included in a special election
edition of InTouch which will
issue later in May.
The CEC wish to thank all
members at Branch and District
level for the tremendous
support and effort put into the
campaign to date.
S
4
T
he National Development
Plan ( ‒ )
provides for €m to be
spent on ICT in education at
primary and post-primary level
over the next seven years.
A Strategy Committee has been
established by the DES to advise
the Minister in relation to this
issue. A submission on the
topic was requested from the
INTO. The Organisation made a
joint submission to the advisory group with the Computer
Education Society of Ireland
(CESI).
The INTO/CESI submission
argued for a significant investment in hardware for schools.
The recent NCTE audit of
schools IT is profoundly
disturbing showing, at a minimum, that one in five of every
computer in schools unfit for
purpose. Problems in relation
to broadband connectivity
were also highlighted and solutions advised.
Discipline guidelines
ection  of the Education
Welfare Act  provides
that schools should
prepare Codes of Behaviour in
respect of the students registered at the school, in accordance with such guidelines that
may be issued by the NEWB
following consultation with
parents, school management
and teachers, the Act provides
that the Codes of Behaviour
shall specify:
● standards of behaviour that
shall be observed by each
student attending the school;
● the measures that may be
taken when a student fails to
observe those standards;
● the procedures to be followed
before a student may be
suspended or expelled from
the school concerned;
● the grounds for removing a
ICT in
Education
●
suspension imposed in relation to a student; and
the procedures to be followed
in relation to notification of a
child’s absence from school.
In preparation for the issuing
of such guidelines, the CEC
made a detailed submission to
the NEWB in relation to the
compilation and implementation of Codes of Behaviour. The
basic premise of the CEC
submission is that a schools
Code of Behaviour should seek
to develop pupils self esteem
and promote positive behaviour and in doing so, it should
foster the development of a
sense of responsibility and self
discipline in pupils based on
respect and consideration for
others.The CEC submission
adopts a “rights and responsi-
bilities” approach to the issue
of school behaviour. A full
report on the CEC submission
to the NEWB was carried in the
May  issue of InTouch and
is also referred to in the
/ Annual CEC Reports
to Congress.
At the time of going to print,
the NEWB is due to launch the
Draft Guidelines of Codes of
Behaviour on  April ‘. The
launch marks the commencement of a formal consultation
process with the partners in
education. Consultation will
also take place with schools in
relation to the guidelines.
Following the consultation
process the final phase will be
the publication of the final
guidelines as provided for in
Section  of the Education
Welfare Act .
The submission sought a
substantial investment in
professional development
opportunities for teachers with
a range of courses designed to
meet needs and a cuiditheorí
service to advise individual
schools in relation to particular
needs. INTO/CESI argued that
teacher development must be
incentivised, recognised and
rewarded.
A major commitment to ongoing technical support was
demanded. It was argued that
teachers are not computer
technicians and they do not
have the skill sets or time to
provide the type of technical
support that is necessary in
schools.
Full details of the INTO/CESI
submission are available on the
INTO website www.into.ie
IN THE NEWS
Scéalta Reatha
School governance
T
he CEC has established a
sub-committee to look at
the issue of the future
governance and management
structures of primary schools.
This issue was also discussed
at Annual Congress in the
context of the VEC becoming
patron of a primary school in
Dublin from September .
Among the issues being
discussed by the group are
structures, funding
mechanisms, staffing including
ancillary staff, and redeployment issues. The group is
currently conducting research
into a number of these issues
and further updates will be
given in upcoming issues of
InTouch and through the INTO
website.
The CEC will also be consulting with members at branch
level in the coming months to
ascertain views on a number of
the key issues arising for school
governance.
Contents
Pages
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 4, 5, 7, 18, 55
Departments
Conditions of Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Communications, Principals and Social Inclusion . . . . 10
Legal, Industrial Relations
& Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
INTO Benefits and Discounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Trade Union Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Professional Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Membership survey –
generally positive
A
recent on-line and
paper survey of INTO
members showed
general satisfaction with INTO
services, information and
communication.
The survey also confirmed that
members view InTouch and
other publications as excellent
and very useful.
Those who responded said that
electronic forms of communication need to be developed
more and that, while the INTO
website is now visited by more
than % of the respondents,
email is seen as an increasingly
popular form of communication with all age groups.
A number of suggestions
were made on improving
communication and members
also indicated the need to
develop a membership card
for accessing certain items of
information and benefits.
T
p 16
p 57
Issues were also raised in
relation to participation and
a significant number of
respondents suggested that
many members perceive
branch meetings to be a
private members club.
p 61
Those involved questioned
the relevance of existing
structures and practices to
younger teachers.
The results of the survey
are being used in the
development of new IT
facilities and other services
for members.
Probation procedures
he CEC has begun to
consider procedures and
criteria for the probation
of teachers. This is now a function of the Teaching Council
and the issues being looked at
include a new model for probation which would incorporate
p 30
elements of professional
development, induction, and
mentoring. Despite fears being
raised in certain quarters there
is no proposal to transfer the
existing model from the
Inspectorate to school
principals.
Equality Conference Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 - 21
Comhar Linn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23
INTO Summer Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 29
Congress Reports (incl Media Coverage) . . . . . . . . . . 30 - 39
Northern News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 - 43
Home School Reading Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Retirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 49
Su Doku. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 51
Tips – Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Cumann na mBunscol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Intercultural Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Tús Maith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Tips – Investigating the Seashore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61, 63
Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65, 67
Tributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5
CENTR AL EXECUTIVE COMMIT TEE – HE AD OFFICE NEWS
Scéalta ón Lárchoiste Feidhmiúcháin / ArdOifig
Angela Dunne INTO President 2007 – 2008
T
he new President of the
INTO is Angela Dunne,
the first graduate of
Mary Immaculate College to
become President. Angela, a
native of Shanagolden,
Limerick, is a Learning Support
Teacher in Ballinabranna
National School, Carlow. She
celebrates her st anniversary
in the school next June.
Angela attended Shanagolden
PS and after second level
attended Mary Immaculate
College. In the s Angela
completed a two year extra
mural course from Maynooth
College and did a B .Ed in
education in St Patrick’s College,
Drumcondra, from  to .
Before being elected INTO
Vice-President for ’/’ Angela
represented District X on the
CEC for  years, covering
Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny
Laois, and part of Wicklow. She
is a member of North Carlow
Branch since the mid s
and served as Branch Secretary
for a number of years.
Angela has a keen interest in
Irish and in special education,
with particular emphasis on
Deaf Education as both her
sons are profoundly deaf. She is
very supportive of recent
improvements in special
education provision but believes
there is more work to be done
to support children with special
needs in mainstream schools.
Angela has been widowed for
almost  years and has six children, Senan, Edel, Kara, Bláithín,
Enda and Éimhín. She has five
grandchildren. All of Angela’s
five sisters and her daughter
Edel are primary teachers.
Declan Kelleher INTO Vice President 2007 – 2008
T
he new Vice-President of
the INTO is Declan
Kelleher. Declan, a
native of Co Clare attended
Kilnaboy and Corofin NS and
St Flannan’s College, Ennis. He
qualified as a primary teacher
in St Patricks’s College of
Education, Drumcondra in
Dublin and he later studied in
UCD (BA) and Trinity College
(H Dip Ed). While in St Patrick’s
College he was elected
President of the Students’
Union and at the age of 
attended his first INTO
Congress in Tralee in . He
has only missed one since.
Declan taught in St Brigid’s
Boys’ NS in Killester in Dublin
before moving back to Clare.
He taught in Ennis NS and
since  has been principal
of Corofin NS in Clare. Once he
started teaching in  he
became active in the North
Dublin Branch of the INTO. He
was a member of the Branch
and District Committee and
was Branch Cathaoirleach
prior to leaving Dublin.
Subsequently, he joined the
Ennis Branch of the INTO and
served as a Branch and District
Committee member and also
as Cathaoirleach of the Branch.
Declan was elected to represent District  (Clare,
Tipperary and Waterford) on
the INTO Education
Committee and served for 
years before being elected in
 to the INTO Executive to
represent the , teachers in
these counties. He currently
represents the INTO on the
National Council for
Curriculum and Assessment.
Seán McMahon New CEC Representative for District XI
S
eán has been elected as
the CEC representative
for District IX Clare,
Tipperary and Waterford –
Loop Head to Hook Head!
He was educated at Coore
National School and CBS
Ennistymon, Co Clare. He
graduated from Mary
Immaculate, Limerick in 
completing a Masters in NUI
Galway in .
Since then he has pursued a
Diploma in ICT in MICE and a
further Diploma in School
Development Planning (UCG)
in the context of part time
involvement with SDPS.
Seán commenced his teaching career in Rathdowney
National School, Co Laois. He
then returned to his native
County Clare where he taught
in Annagh National School.
For the last  years Seán has
been a teaching principal of
Mullagh National School which
currently has a compliment of
eight teachers and is a DEIS
school in the rural disadvantaged category.
Seán has been an active
INTO member throughout his
teaching career and has
served as Cathaoirleach and
Secretary of the West Clare
branch.
He has also been actively
involved in representing principals and deputy principals
and has been Cathaoirleach of
the Clare Principal’s Forum for
a number of years.
He was elected to the INTO
Principals’ and Deputy
Principals’ National
Committee in  representing District XI.
7
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
Coinníollacha Fostaíochta
Appointment and Retention for the School Year 2007/08
C
ircular / sets out the
regulations governing
the appointment and
retention of teachers in
primary schools for the school
year /. The Circular can
be accessed on the Department’s
website www.education.ie or
through www.into.ie
New development in this year’s
Circular
Paragraph  deals with the
developing school criteria.
There have been some significant
changes to developing schools
criteria in the past two years.
.. The revised criteria are set
out as follows:
a) For primary schools with a
staffing of principal plus seven
mainstream class teachers or
greater the minimum
numerical increase required
is  pupils.
b) For primary schools with a
staffing of principal plus six
mainstream class teachers or
fewer, the minimum numerical increase is  pupils. An
average class size in excess of
 pupils must also apply to
schools seeking a post under
this criterion.
Schools must also have an
enrolment which is  above the
next appointment figure.
Schools must qualify under both
criteria and in the case of such
schools, (an) additional permanent post(s) may be sanctioned
provisionally pending the
confirmation of the valid enrolment on  September .
The staffing will be adjusted in
the light of the actual valid
enrolments on  Sept, .
Application(s) for (an) additional post(s) under developing
school criteria must be submitted to the Primary Payments
Section on or before  October,
.
.. Set outs the regulations
regarding the allocation of
administrative principals under
DEIS.
The enrolment figure for the
appointment and retention
of administrative principals
in urban/town primary schools
participating in the SSP will
be  pupils (Principal plus
five mainstream teachers).
This will facilitate the principal becoming an administrative principal.
or
● Principal teachers in
urban/town primary schools
participating in the SSP with
an enrolment of fewer than
 pupils but with a staffing
of principal plus seven or
more teachers when all exquota posts are counted may
be appointed as administrative principals. In both
instances, a permanent
mainstream class teacher
may be appointed to replace
the principal.
Any queries relating to the
●
appointment of an administrative principal under DEIS
should be made to the Social
Inclusion Unit of the Department
at    or   .
Appointment of administrative
deputy principals
The following criteria will apply
for the appointment of an
administrative deputy principal
in the / school year:
● Deputy principals in schools
with  or more mainstream
class teachers (including
developing school posts) may
be appointed as administrative (non-teaching) deputy
principals. In such instances,
a permanent mainstream class
teacher may be appointed to
replace the deputy principal.
In the event that the appointment as administrative
deputy principal is dependant on the confirmation of a
developing school post, the
appointment of administrative deputy principal and the
replacement teacher should
be done on a provisional
basis pending confirmation
of the developing school post.
or
● Deputy principals in mainstream schools that, in addition to ordinary mainstream
class teachers, also have five
or more special classes for
children with more complex,
low incidence, special needs,
may be appointed as
Administrative (non-teaching)
deputy principals. In such
instances, a permanent
mainstream class teacher
may be appointed to replace
the deputy principal.
Appeal Board for mainstream
staffing
. Where the Board considers
that in relation to the granting
of a post under the developing
school criterion, the projected
pupil numbers required to
retain the post were enrolled or
are likely to be enrolled by
December , but due to
circumstances outside the
control of the school, were not
enrolled as expected on 
September . A post allocated by the Board under this
criterion will be sanctioned on
a provisional basis subject to
confirmation of the required
enrolment being achieved in
December . For staffing
purposes, a pupil can be
included in the enrolment of
just one school in any school
year.**
** In the event that the school in
which the pupil was enrolled on
 September can verify that the
pupil did not need to be counted
for the appointment or retention
of a teacher in that school, the
Appeal Board will consider allowing the pupil to be counted as part
of the enrolment for staffing
purposes in the school to which
s/he has transferred.
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
Public Holiday Entitlements of Primary School Teachers
T
he Department of
Education and Science
has issued a clarification
note re Circular /.
The clarification note
outlines the fact that teachers
are not required to work on a
public holiday. A job-sharing
teacher must have worked 
hours in the five weeks prior to
the public holiday in order to
benefit from the provisions of
the Organisation of Working
Time Act  in respect of public
holidays. In such instance, a job-
sharing teacher is entitled to one
day’s pay at the job-sharing rate
of pay or one day’s leave in lieu.
The above applies to the
school terms in which job-sharers are timetabled to teach and
as such, applies to the Public
Holidays on  March, first
Monday in May and first Monday
in June each year. The job-sharing teacher who is not timetabled to work on the day that
any of the above mentioned
public holidays fall, is entitled
to receive one day’s pay (job-
sharing rate) or one day’s leave
in lieu as set out in Primary
Circular /.
The position in relation to
certain public holidays which
fall during the school vacation
period and for which neither
job-sharer is required to work is
that each job-sharer is entitled
to one days pay at the job-sharing rate of pay. The public holidays referred to in this instance
are those that arise on the last
Monday in October (Halloween
vacation),  and  December,
 January (Christmas vacation)
and Easter Monday (Easter
vacation). Please note that jobsharing teachers have no entitlement with regard to the
August Bank Holiday.
Arrangements for taking leave
in lieu due should be worked
out between principal, board of
management and teacher.
Claims for payment due should
be submitted through the
board of management to the
Primary Payments Section of
the DES.
9
COMMUNICATIONS, PRINCIPALS & SOCIAL INCLUSION
Challenging
Behaviour
S
ubstantial progress has
been made in the delivery
of resources for children
with special educational needs
in the last year. This includes
the upgrading of a significant
number of teaching posts from
temporary to permanent
status, the increased deployment of SENOs, the proposed
expansion of NEPS, the
appointment of a new NCSE,
the publication of the implementation plan for the EPSEN
Act, increased investment in
professional development and
proposals from the HSE regarding the Disability Act.
One of the areas that continues to cause difficulty is children with significant levels of
challenging behaviour. This
difficulty is compounded by the
lack of services available in
many parts of the country from
the Health Service Executive,
particularly in relation to
psychiatric and therapeutic
interventions. The INTO has
been seeking to progress this
matter over the last number of
months.
In discussions with the DES
and the National Council for
Special Education, the DES has
agreed to convene a small
working group with the relevant interests to focus on the
appropriate educational interventions for these children. It is
envisaged that this group will
convene shortly to determine
how best to initiate a response
to the needs of these pupils as
soon as possible.
Significant ruling on autism
Court upholds State provision
I
n a significant judgement
last March, the High Court
ruled that there was not
sufficient evidence to support
the assersion by parents whose
child has autism that the
education being provided by
the State was not appropriate.
The child was diagnosed as
having autistic spectrum disorder in October  and
commenced DES funded home
tuition in December . In
November  Seán was
assessed by an education
psychologist who recommended
that he have specialist applied
behaviour analysis (ABA) tuition
for  hours per week.
ABA is a systematic process
of studying and modifying
observable behavior. It uses
an experimental approach of
manipulating the environment
and tracking alterations in
behavior to understand and
manipulate functional
relationships between behavior
and environments. It can be
used as an education approach
with individuals suffering from
autistic spectrum disorder and
other developmental disorders.
While the Department of
Education did not provide
Seán with the recommended
specialist tuition it did,
however, provide Seán with
education in an inclusive mainstream class with some access
to ABA. The parents argued that
this
provision did not adequately
provide for the child.
The state contested the
claims in the High Court. The
legal action commenced in
January last year and concluded
six months later, running over a
total of  days at an estimated
cost of €m.
The ruling will have an
impact on the state’s responsibility for the provision of
specific and specialised education programmed for children
with special education needs
and education disabilities.
At present the Education
for Persons with Special
Educational Needs Act, 
legislates for the educational
provision for pupils with
special education needs. The
Act is being introduced in a
phased basis and will be fully
implemented in .
Provision under the Act
includes the entitlement of all
children with assessed special
educational needs to an
Individual Education Plan
(Section ) and the establishment of an appeals process
(Section ) regarding the
content of such an IEP.
The DES is in the process of
setting up further units for children with Autistic Spectrum
Disorder and the INTO has been
in discussions with the DES on
this matter also.
The Special Education
Support Service held a conference on  April and  May in
Dublin for principals of schools
with autism classes.
Further information on the
SESS will be included in the
June issue of InTouch.
Pilot Project on IEPs
T
he National Council for
Special Education is
currently considering the
development of a pilot project
on individual education plans
in accordance with the guidelines issued by the council last
year. Discussion is currently
taking place on a selection of a
variety of schools at primary
and post primary level including special schools with a view
to developing a project to begin
in the next school year.
The CEC has decided that the
implementation of the
Education for Persons with
Special Education Needs Act
should be put on the agenda of
Branch meetings taking place
in May and an updated report
on the implementation plan
will be included in the June
issue of the InTouch.
ICT Grant for DEIS Schools
S
chools in DEIS will be eligible for grants of between €,
and €, to purchase a variety of ICT equipment. Details
have issued in Circular / and the closing date for
applications is  May .
The DES has also written to schools that did not qualify for the
DEIS Programme but had additional resources under previous
schemes confirming that the schools will retain additional
staffing posts for the duration of the DEIS Action Plan. Schools will
10
also retain a Home School Community Liaison service, or its rural
equivalent. The review of HSCL clusters, in the context of additional posts and existing schools retaining a service in accordance
with their size and level of disadvantage, is currently underway. It
is envisaged that the review will be completed by the end of 
with a view to having any necessary changes implemented in
schools by 1 September . In the interim, the current level of
HSCL services in schools will remain in place.
LEGAL, INDUSTRIAL REL ATIONS AND EQUALIT Y
Caidrimh Tionsclaíochta, Dlí agus Comhionannas
Teaching Council Launches
Codes of Professional Conduct
Teaching
Council
research policy
O
he Teaching Council has
recently agreed a research
policy to provide the framework within which the Council
will implement its research
function. The Research Policy
sets out the criteria which will
be used by the Council to select
priority research topics.
The Policy also sets out the
way in which the Council’s
research function will be
funded and the various means
by which the Council may
conduct or commission
research.
Up to ten bursaries may be
awarded each year. It is envisaged that the first such scheme
will be launched on May , at
which time application forms
will be published on the
website;
www.teachingcouncil.ie.
The policy also includes
information on how research
proposals will be evaluated and
contracts awarded.
on  March last Codes
of Professional Conduct
for Teachers, prepared
by the Teaching Council were
launched.
Copies of the codes have been
sent to all teachers.
Further details are available at
www.teachingcouncil.ie
The codes are set out in two
parts, the first of which relates
to professional practice and
includes standards of teaching,
knowledge, skill and competence, and the second of which
deals specifically with professional conduct.
Joan Ward, chairperson of
the Teaching Council and
an INTO member said, “the
publication of the codes
marks an important milestone
for all in the education
community. They set out
the key responsibilities
which are central to the
practice of teaching and
make explicit the essential
values which underpin the
profession.”
Pictured at launch of Codes of Professional Conduct are Áine Lawlor,
Director; Mary Hanafin, Minister for Education and Science; Mary
Kennedy, RTÉ; and Joan Ward, Chairperson, Teaching Council.
Review of Rules and Constitution of
Boards of Management
n foot of representation from the
partners, the DES has initiated a
review of the Constitution of Boards and
Rules of Procedures, in preparation for the
next election of members to boards of
management. The INTO has made a
detailed submission which seeks:
● Clarification in relation to the procedures governing new primary schools
being established under the patronage of the VEC.
● An amendment to the Rules in order
to provide for the use of information
technology eg, in relation to the return
of information electronically the sole
signatory may not necessarily be the
chairperson of the board of management.
● The insertion of a new provision in
respect of principals acting as secretaries to boards of management.
● An amendment to reflect the provisions of the Protection of Employees
(Fixed Term Work Act) .
O
12
Clarification on the provisions governing the election of teacher representatives to boards of management to
ensure that both job sharers are
entitled to vote.
● Further guidance on the process of
appointing an acting chairperson.
● An explicit requirement in the
appointment of teachers to provide
that each assessor is required to keep
his/her own marking sheet which can
subsequently be made available to
candidates.
● Clarification on the matter of a
specific application form.
● The extension of web advertising of
posts via www.publicjobs.ie.
Any views that members have on the
operation and procedures of boards of
management should be forwarded to
Anne McElduff, Assistant General
Secretary in the Legal and Industrial
Relations and Equality Section at the
INTO Head Office.
T
Members protected
on school boards
●
inister for Education and Science,
Mary Hanafin TD, recently confirmed
that people serving on school boards of
management are protected from any
personal liability should legal action be
taken against that board.
M
Questions have arisen in relation to this
following recent media coverage.
The Minister said that the Attorney General
has confirmed that where a member of a
board of management performs their functions in good faith under the Education Act
no act can lie against them personally.
The Minister also said that with new boards
being established later this year € million
will be available to train boards on issues
such as good governance, financial
management, and bullying and child
protection.
EQUALIT Y
Comhionnanas
ESRI survey highlights ‘Dignity at Work’ concerns
T
he INTO Equality Conference, held in Tullamore in
March, was highly successful in exploring dignity at work
issues. A full report of the
Conference is contained elsewhere in this InTouch, and related
documents are under ‘What’s
New’ on the INTO website.
Positive judgement
Delegate Evaluation Forms from
Tullamore indicated that all
aspects of the Conference were
well received. A particularly positive response was indicated to
the inputs from keynote speaker
Jacinta Kitt, Sheila Crowley as
Chair of the INTO LGBT Group,
and to the Discussion Sessions.
The Equality Committee
thanks all who attended, participated in and contributed to
the Conference.
New survey
The importance of addressing
dignity at work issues is underlined by the results of a new
survey: Bullying in the
Workplace: Survey Reports
 by the Economic and
Social Research Institute. The
full survey may be read or down-
loaded from www.esri.ie but its
main findings include:
● Overall, .% of respondents
(and .% of employees) had
experienced workplace bullying within the previous six
months.
● Education, Health and Social
Work are among the sectors
with the highest incidence
rates, of between % and %.
● Public sector organisations
report more bullying but also
are more likely to have a
formal policy (% of workplaces have a policy).
● One of the highest rates of
Equality Tribunal finds for INTO member
T
wo recent Equality
Tribunal Decisions have
particular relevance for
primary schools. These are
rulings on an Employment
Equality Act case and one under
the Equal Status Act, both
related to Munster schools.
Award to INTO member
INTO member Marie Casey was
discriminated against on gender
grounds when questioned about
her children at interview. The
Tribunal ordered the Board of
Management of Coachford NS
to pay her €, as compensation for distress suffered and to
ensure that procedures are
followed in future interviews.
Welcoming the decision, the
General Secretary paid tribute
to Ms Casey for pursuing a case
to help achieve a more professional interview process for all
teachers. The central finding
emphasised the need for training of selection panels, he said.
Ms Casey was represented at
the hearing by INTO Senior
Officials Noel Ward and Deirdre
O’Connor, and was accompanied by her CEC Representative
Anne Fay. The Board was represented by a legal team. The case
reference is DEC-E-8.
Maximum award in Kerry case
The maximum award (€,)
under equal status law was
made to a parent, Nora O’Brien,
who took a case on behalf of her
son against Scoil Lios Teilic. The
claim was on the Traveller
community and disability
grounds, and also alleged
victimisation. It was related to
an enrolment application.
The Tribunal found that the
enrolment decision process was
flawed and that the decision was
not clearly “unconnected with”
a family issue with the previous
school which had the same Board
chairperson. While no direct
discrimination was established,
victimisation was found to have
occurred. (Victimisation happens
where adverse treatment is
related to a complaint made
under the Act. The case report
states that an Equal Status Act
complaint is outstanding
against the original school).
The Board was ordered to pay
the award to compensate for
victimisation, loss and distress.
(The reference for this decision
is DEC-S-).
IN BRIEF….
● The INTO Equality Committee at
its recent meeting discussed immigration and education issues and
‘family friendly’ provisions for teachers – more in future Equality pages.
● INTO LGBT Group final meeting
this school year, Sat,  May. For
details, lgbt@into.ie or  .
●“Like good healthcare, the key to
success is early intervention” Dave
O’Connell, Westmeath Examiner,
responds to INTO invitation to write
about workplace bullying.
Pictured at a recent Equality Committee meeting are Anne
McQuaile (Louth, D.V), Anna Stanton (Mayo, D.IV), Patricia
O’Farrell (Tyrone, D.II) and Doreen Sheridan (Donegal, D.III)
workplace bullying (.%) is
reported by females in the
Education sector (with males
reporting %).
Challenges
Findings like these challenge all
in education to put in place
policies, procedures and training
to make workplaces more positive. The results are not unlike
the INTO survey where % of
members responded ‘yes’ to a
question asking if they had ‘ever’
been bullied at work. They also
challenge us to follow up the work
of the Equality Conference ’.
Campaign on
child benefit
restrictions
ot everyone in Ireland gets
the children’s allowance
(Child Benefit). From May ,
restrictions were placed which
mean that certain children
living in Ireland no longer qualify.
N
Immigration policy impacts on
children
FLAC, the Free Legal Aid
Centres organisation dedicated
to realising equal access to
justice for all, has launched a
campaign to restore Child
Benefit as a universal payment.
It points out that children
living within Ireland are treated
in an unequal and discriminatory way based on their
parents’ nationality and residency status. For example,
families affected include those
not permitted to work such as
asylum seekers. FLAC believes
that abolishing universal Child
Benefit is contrary to the principles of the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
The INTO has responded
positively to a request to
support the campaign to
restore Child Benefit as a
universal payment. Further
details, including an online
petition, are accessible at
www.flac.ie.
13
EDUCATION
Oideachas
Ionad
tacaíochta
don Ghaeilge
Baile Bhúirne
T
he Minister for
Education and Science
announced the establishment of a Resource Unit for
Irish under the auspices of
COGG to be established in
Baile Bhúirne.
Tá sé mar aidhm leis an tionscnamh seo tacú leis an
Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn ar
fud an chórais oideachais agus
i gcomhphobail Ghaeilge, go
háirithe sa Ghaeltacht. Beidh
an acmhainn nua faoi
choimirce na Comhairle um
Oideachas Gaeltachta agus
Gaelscolaíochta (COGG). Beidh
ceathrar ball foirne breise
lonnaithe san ionad a bheas i
gColáiste Íosagáin. Measc na
bhfeidhmeanna a chuirfidh
COGG i gcrích i mBaile Bhúirne
tá;
● Cuidiú le pleanáil agus
soláthar cúrsaí sainiúla
inseirbhíse do mhúinteoirí
maille le tacaíocht
churaclaim don Ghaeilge mar
chéad teanga.
● Taighde ar theagasc agus ar
fhoghlaim na Gaeilge a
choimisiúnú, a anailisiú agus
a scaipeadh ag gach leibhéal
den chóras oideachais.
● I gcomhar le lucht soláthair
tríú leibhéal cur le deiseanna
oiliúna réamhsheirbhíse
d'ábhair oidí chun a ninniúlacht Gaeilge a
fhorbairt.
● Cuidiú le foirne tacaíochta
náisiúnta/ réigiúnacha chun
cláir ghinearálta inseirbhíse
do mhúinteoirí Gaeilge a
fhorbairt.
Beidh raon tionsnaimh eile
idir lámha san ionad ag Údarás
na Gaeltachta agus is é an
tÚdarás a dhéanfaidh
athchóiriú ar an bhfoirgneamh.
Beidh comhráite ar siúl leis na
páirtithe leasmhara, leis na
hionaid oideachais agus le
seirbhísí tacaíochta eile, ar nós
PCSP, SLSS agus SDP, maidir le
forbairtí eile, agus beidh coiste
comhordaithe ann.
14
Early childhood education
T
he INTO recently met with Catherine
Hynes, Principal Officer in the Early Years
Policy Unit in the DES. The INTO presented
its policy on early years education which included:
● investment in appropriate classroom and
outdoor facilities;
● classroom assistant in all infant classrooms;
● reduced class size particularly in infant classes;
● an annual grant for the provision of equipment
and materials;
● a three year infant programme where required;
and
● the need for professional development for
teachers.
The DES outlined the functions of the Early Years
Unit. Catherine Hynes stated that the Unit was
co-located in the Office of the Minister of
Children. Co-location allows opportunities to
discuss matters across Departments of relevance
to early childhood education. The main function
of the Early Years Unit is to ensure the quality of
educational experience of the children in childcare and early learning facilities. The
Department stated that its function to add value
to existing provision, as outlined in the DEIS
programme. She stated that the National
Childcare Investment Programme (NCIP) was
investing in providing facilities for childcare and
early learning facilities. She added that the
Department was interested in the development
of wrap around care.
Learning to teach – students on
teaching practice in primary schools
Report of the DES Inspectorate
T
he DES launched a report
on Learning to Teach, a
report on final year
student teachers on teaching
practice. This report received a
lot of negative media coverage,
and has been criticised by the
Colleges of Education as an
unfair report. The general
purposes of the evaluation were
to collect data to advise the
Minister, to compile an overall
report to support the formulation of future policy, to promote
collaboration between the DES
and the colleges, and to provide
feedback to the colleges.
The Inspectorate’s evaluation
was carried out during the
school year / in the final
period of teaching practice of
 students. The inspectors
observed student teachers and
evaluated their practice in four
key areas: planning, teaching,
learning and assessment The
assessment of the quality of
teaching of final year students,
who are about to take up posts
as teachers in primary schools,
is considered to be an important part of the Inspectorate’s
overall evaluation remit.
The planning and preparation of most student teachers
was rated excellent, very good
or good. Most of the students
outlined appropriate curriculum aims and objectives and
planned suitable content.
Planning for cross-curricular
integration and planning a
differentiated approach to cater
for the variety of abilities and
learning styles of children were
noted as two areas of difficulties.
A majority of students organised and managed classroom
activities well, and also
displayed a confident presence
in the classroom. A majority
also employed an appropriate
range of teaching methods with
good questioning strategies in
their teaching.
About a third of the students
were poor or weak at promoting
collaborative work among
pupils. Catering for individual
differences was an area of weakness for a majority of the
students.
Most student teachers had
fostered a positive, secure and
pleasant classroom atmosphere
that was conducive to good
quality learning. In a majority of
the classrooms purposeful
learning occurred and pupils
were seen to be motivated, co-
operative and willing to learn.
Discipline was good and the
pupils respected the code of
behaviour that had been
agreed.
About % of the student
teachers were judged to have
had some difficulty organising
suitable activities to ensure
that pupils were actively
involved in their own learning.
Fewer than half were given
the top rating in relation to
their assessment practices,
more than a third were considered to be experiencing some
difficulty and a few were
considered to be ineffective in
this aspect of their teaching.
Teaching practice was well
organised and managed by the
colleges. The students were
carefully supervised and effective systems existed for ensuring that the ratings awarded to
students were based on a fair
and systematic assessment of
their work. All the colleges had
procedures for ensuring that
students experiencing difficulties were supported. The
schools involved in teaching
practice continued to support
the colleges in providing field
placement.
INTO BENEFIT S AND DISCOUNT S
Buntáistí agus Lascainní CMÉ
Win with
AIB
Lost in taxation?
It is estimated that at least €
million is unclaimed each year
by PAYE employees. It is very
worthwhile to properly check
your tax balance each year as
most people find they are due a
refund. The average tax refund
for  and  alone was
€. The main reason for
people overpaying tax is that
they are not claiming all of their
entitlements and that is why
www.taxmate.ie was built.
Taxmate.ie offers an online taxation service to help teachers
calculate their tax balance
through two easy to use and
hassle free online calculators.
The service includes advice on
what credits are available and
what you can claim. Also once
the calculation is done there is
no need to fill up separate
forms as the relevant Form 
document is completed for you.
So what tax credits or
allowances can you claim?
Teachers can claim an
employment expense of €
for . And, similar amounts
for the previous three years:
that’s a possible tax refund of
€ (being €, x %).
● Teachers can claim for
expenses that are wholly,
exclusively and necessary for
teaching. For example, you
can claim for the cost of
purchasing books that you
use for teaching.
● Did you know you can claim
€ cash in  for your bin
charges? And over the past
four years that is € in cash.
Did you know you can still
claim bin charges if you pay
apartment maintenance fees
(which include refuse collection)?
● Did you know that if you are a
young teacher living at home
and paying rent to your
parents you can claim a
●
April and May  Offers and Competition
Experience the Derrynane Hotel and Luxury
Holiday Homes in a breathtaking location on the
Ring of Kerry at Caherdaniel, surrounded by
magnificent scenery, aquamarine sea, golden
beaches. This is a family holiday hotel with a
difference! Dine in their award-winning restaurant, enjoy some leisure time in the m warm
outdoor swimming pool or play tennis overlooking the ocean. Relax and rejuvenate in the steam
room, sauna, gymnasium and seaweed bath. For
young guests there is a large supervised games
ircom Phone Watch are
delighted to offer INTO
members % off the price of
their wirefree alarm systems.*
Eircom PhoneWatch has an
extensive range of alarm
systems and products to suit all
your security needs. A  hour
monitored security solution
from the leaders in the residen-
E
private rent tax credit? Over
the last four years that’s
€, in cash.
● Teachers can claim tax relief
for any additional voluntary
contributions made to a
pension fund. Taxmate.ie will
compute this in your tax
calculation and make sure
you receive full tax relief for
these additional contributions.
● Did you know you can receive
€ cash in  for your
trade union contributions?
And over the past four years
that is € in cash.
As a member of the INTO, you
are entitled to a discount of
%, when using taxMATE. So
for only € per tax year, find
out now where you stand. Just
visit www.taxmate.ie and enter
the promotion code ezinto
when registering to receive
your discount.
Always check with a good
friend first – taxMATE.ie
room during school holidays.
Weekends:  B&B plus  dinner for €pps.
Midweek:  B&B plus  dinner for €pps.
www.derrynane.com
IB are giving INTO
members the opportunity to win one of four
€, prizes. Log on to
the benefits page of the
INTO website for more
information.
A
he giftsdirect.com’s site
offers an extensive range
of gifts suitable for worldwide
delivery including: birthday
gifts, baby gifts, get well gifts,
gizmos and gadgets, gourmet
food hampers, exquisite wines
and champagnes, and much
more.
T
INTO members can avail of a
free gift with every purchase.
To launch this special offer
giftsdirect.com are giving
away a Fairtrade Hamper to one
lucky winner. Simply send your
contact details on a postcard
to the Benefits Section, INTO
Head Office,  Parnell Square,
Dublin  by  May .
See the benefits page of the
INTO website for more
information.
Win a Derrynane Weekend Break
The lucky winner will enjoy staying at the
Derrynane Hotel for  nights bed with full Irish
breakfast and  evening meal plus a relaxing rejuvenating seaweed bath. Send your contact details
on a postcard to the Benefits Section, INTO Head
Office,  Parnell Square, Dublin  by Friday,  May.
tial security market means that
your keyholders and/or the
emergency services will always
be on hand to check on your
home – minutes after your alarm
is activated. They will watch over
your home, and personally deal
with all your alarm activations,
day and night, so you’re free to
sleep soundly and free to get on
with your life.
Please contact   
or log on to the benefits page of
the INTO website for more
information.
*This offer is valid until  June
 and cannot be used in
conjunction with any other
offer. Only one offer per household.
International
Teachers’
Identity Card
(ITIC)
he ITIC offers discounts
to teachers including
discounted admissions to
museums and cultural
attractions throughout
Europe. This card is available through USIT at a cost
of €. Call USIT on 
 or visit www.usit.ie
T
15
TR ADE UNION TR AINING
Oiliúint Ceardchumann
Appointment procedures seminars
seminar on Appointment
Procedures will be held on
Monday,  May  in the
City North Hotel, Gormanstown, Co Meath. The aims of
the seminars which are
presented by INTO officials are:
● to update principals on the
procedures relevant to the
appointment of teachers;
● to update principals on recent
legislation and Equality
Tribunal decisions in the area;
● to enable principals, in their
role as members of selection
boards, to manage the
appointment of teachers
more effectively;
● to provide principals with
information on the implementation of the Protection
of Employees (Fixed Term )
Work Act  and the
Protection of Employees
(Part-Time) Work Act .
To secure a place on this seminar please complete the application form below and return to
A
Joanna Walsh, INTO Head Office,
 Parnell Square, Dublin . Tel:
  or email
jwalsh@into.ie. The DES has
authorised the release of teachers to attend the seminars but
unfortunately substitute cover
is not provided for such release.
Procedures seminars: participant
comments
“Very enlightening and informative…”
“Brilliant….could have listened
all day…”
“Need more seminars like this…”
“Content of seminar very beneficial all round….”
“Well worth doing… excellent presentation…”
A similar seminar was held on
Monday,  March in the
Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel. This
seminar which was attended by
 participants was the fifth of
such seminars which have
proved to be extremely successful and beneficial.
INTO ONE-DAY SEMINAR
Appointment Procedures
INTO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2007
Seminar application form
PLEASE COMPLETE IN BLOCK CAPITALS
 ..............................................................
 . () ........................................
 . ....................................................
 .() .........................................
  ............................................................
 . () ..........................................
  ..............................................
  .................................................
..........................................................................
Monday,  May
City North Hotel, Meath
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS:
Friday,  May
DATE:
VENUE:
..........................................................................
Cheque in the amount of € made payable to INTO enclosed
with this application.
Signed: ................................................................................................
Please complete in full and return to Joanna Walsh, INTO Professional
Development Unit, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin .
* N.B. applications accepted on first come first served basis
Would you like to become involved in the INTO?
Here is your chance!
ould you like the opportunity to learn more about
your conditions of employment,
about education legislation and
about how the INTO works? INTO
Trade Union Training has decided
to offer a course for members
who wish to find out more about
the education system and the
Trade Union, but who may not
hold any elected office in the
Organisation. The course is open
to all members who are not
invited to training events
organised by INTO Head Office.
The  places on each course
will be filled on a first come,
first served basis.
A course will take place from
 p.m. on  May and all day 
May ’ in the Days Hotel,
Galway. Substitute cover will be
provided for  May. The cost of
meals and accommodation will
be covered by INTO.
The aims of the course are to
increase participation in INTO
W
16
by providing members with
information, to increase awareness among teachers of their
conditions of employment,
legislation and other education
issues, and to provide information on the INTO. If you would
like to book a place, please fill
out the form below and fax back
to   or post it to Linda
Johnston, INTO Head Office, by
 May. Should you have any
queries, please do not hesitate
to contact Linda on  
or email your details to ljohnston@into.ie
‘Becoming Involved’ seminars:
participant comments
“Speakers were excellent, great to
be in a small group where discussion is viable and welcomed.”
“Well presented, enthusiastic
speakers and great discussion.”
“Great way of meeting other teachers and seeing what is going on in
other schools.”
INTO TRADE UNION TRAINING 2007
Becoming Involved in INTO
Seminar application form
 ..............................................................
 . () ........................................
 . ....................................................
 .() .........................................
  ............................................................
 . () ..........................................
  ..............................................
  .................................................
..........................................................................
DATE:
 and  May
Days Hotel, Galway
VENUE:
..........................................................................
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS:
Wednesday,  May
Signed: ................................................................................................
Please complete in full and return to Linda Johnston, INTO Professional
Development Unit, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin .
* N.B. applications accepted on first come first served basis
“Obviously presented by
extremely able and competent
individuals.”
“Excellent, a lot covered, good
explanations and presentations.
Variety of issues addressed.”
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Forbairt Ghairmiúil
When my Grandparents were Young, and Local History
Marino, 2006-7
C
Some project medal
winners along with
Paddy Madden & Laura
Walsh, SESE lecturers,
Colaiste Mhuire
Marino; the project
judges; Sheila Nunan,
INTO General
Treasurer and Dr Anne
O’Gara, President,
Colaiste Mhuire
Marino.
oláiste Mhuire Marino prides itself
in active learning as advocated by
the Primary School Curriculum
(). Within SESE this involves facilitating the students to develop themselves as
scientists, geographers and historians. As
part of the experience of being an historian
 ‘Granny’ projects were completed by the
first years and post-grads and  ‘My Place
Mid-th Century’ projects were completed
by the second years.
The ‘Granny Project’ entails researching
the life of a person and presenting the
result in a folder or album. The student is
expected to use all the skills of the historian
such as examining evidence, change and
continuity, cause and effect, time and
chronology and displaying empathy with
subject to compile the written record of the
chosen person. This entails interviewing
the person and extracting information on
their family background, pastimes, home,
social and work life, travel etc. They are
expected to present the material in an
attractive manner using the primary sources
studied such as photos, certs, old documents,
diaries, letters, old toys, artefacts etc. These
projects are a wealth of historical information, an excellent classroom resource and
for many will be a precious heirloom for
generations to come. They signify the true
elements of historical research.
By encouraging the students to become
historians themselves through doing the
project it is hoped that they will develop a
deep insight of what history really means
and will, as a result, be able to teach it well.
The SESE team in Marino believes that it is
better for a student to understand the
process of being a historian rather than
learning about the product of other histori-
ans’ research. It is a better educational
experience to practice a skill than merely to
study its theory and techniques from a book.
In the Local Studies Project students are
expected to ask questions such as what,
where, when, why, how and who about
their chosen place. They have to present a
synopsis of that place as it was in the
middle of the th century. In compiling
their record students are asked to use headings such as population, religion, agriculture, landlords, Famine, ruins, industry,
housing, folklore etc. The aim of this
assignment is to encourage students to use
the skills of the historian to record what life
in the place was like around the time of the
Famine. By becoming historians themselves
they will hopefully understand the subject
better and teach it more effectively.
On  February, in Marino Institute of
Education,  students were presented with
medals by Sheila Nunan, Deputy General
Secretary and Treasurer of the INTO, for the
best projects.  more received beautiful
certificates. The medals and certs were
sponsored by the INTO and the Heritage
Council of Ireland. The adjudicators of the
FROEBEL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH
INTO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT
Special Education Needs Post Graduate Diploma
Course in Resource Teaching
Commencing Autumn 
Lectures will take place on weekends
and will be located in Dublin and/or
regional venue, dependent on demand.
●
●
●
Course content will include:
● Identification of special education
needs.
● Intervention strategies.
● Brain-behaviour relationships.
● Understanding difficult behaviour.
Reading and mathematical
difficulties.
Skills for consultation and
integration.
Development and monitoring of IEPs.
For further details contact:
Linda Johnston, INTO Professional
Development Unit,  Parnell Square,
Dublin . Telephone:   or
email: ljohnston@into.ie
projects, Catherine Gralton from Rosmini
College and Patricia Cunningham from
Scoil Na Mainstreach, Kildare Town, summed
up the contents of each project and
commented on their educational value
before an enthusiastic audience of c. 
people.
This was the sixth Awards Ceremony and
over , life stories have been compiled
so far. This initiative was started by Mary
Burke who was a lecturer in the College six
years ago and has been continued by the
writers of this article since then.
“A hundred years from now it will not matter
what my bank account was, the sort of house I
lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world
may be different because I was important in the
life of a child – that might make all the difference”. Forest E. Witcraft
■
Paddy Madden lectures in SESE in
Coláiste Mhuire, Marino. He is on
secondment from Scoil Treasa Naofa,
Donore Ave. Laura Walsh also lectures in
SESE in Coláiste Mhuire, Marino. She is on
secondment from St Fiachra’s JNS,
Beaumont, Dublin .
INISHBOFIN SUMMER SCHOOL
 ‒  July
Inishbofin Island,
Co Galway.
“Fancy an imaginative course in the
company of a great team on a magical island
off the west coast of Ireland?”
The team will include botanist, archaeologist, marine biologist, ecologist and painter.
Booking essential.
Information from: Leo Hallissey - /
-. Email: lfrack@eircom.net
17
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Children’s Medical and Research Foundation
INTO Fund – 2007 Appeal
I
t’s that time of year again
when the INTO Appeal for
Our Lady’s Children’s
Hospital, Crumlin, is launched
in every staff room in the country. The prizes this year are:
st Prize – Toyota Avensis
nd Prize – €,
rd and th Prizes – €,
th and th Prizes – €,
th, th, th and th Prizes –
€,
Our Lady’s Hospital would
like the money raised by INTO
members to contribute towards
the cost of a Hydrotherapy Unit
for the treatment of arthritic
children.
Hydrotherapy plays a pivotal
role in the management of
childhood arthritis and is
considered to be as important
as medical management in
many patients. In fact, hydrotherapy has been shown to be
even more effective than dry
land physiotherapy in young
people suffering with arthritis.
This new unit will not only
benefit children with arthritis –
it will be used to assist many of
the patients attending the physiotherapy department. This
piece of equipment will cost in
the region of €,.
Last year INTO members very
generously contributed
€, to the Children’s
Medical and Research
Foundation INTO appeal and
we are confident that with your
support we can exceed last
year’s figure. We therefore appeal
to you and your colleagues once
again to give your full support
and contribute to this worthy
cause by purchasing one of the
tickets. Tickets cost € each.
Tickets for the draw have
been sent to Staff
Representatives. Please return
the ticket counterfoils and
payment to Georgina Markey by
Wednesday,  June . The
draw will take place on Friday,
 June  in INTO Head
Office. Further tickets may be
obtained if required, by
contacting Georgina Markey at
  .
The Children’s Medical and
Research Foundation would like
to assure INTO members that
their donations have a lasting
effect on the care and
treatment and prevention of
childhood illnesses at Our
Lady’s Children’s Hospital,
Crumlin, and will continue to
do so should the hospital be
relocated to a new site in the
future.
Special Olympics encourages schools to SO Get Into It
T
he new Special Olympics Ireland
Schools’ Programme, was launched on
 March in Belfast by Primary 
pupils from St Malachy’s PS, Eliza Street,
Belfast and their teacher Gerard Keenan.
‘A Place for Everyone… SO Get Into It’ is
an all island programme and has been
compiled following extensive consultation
with those responsible for the development
of the curriculum at primary level and has
been distributed to over , primary
schools, north and south. It contains four
text books with age appropriate, cross
curricular lesson plans, worksheets and a
short DVD. Post primary materials are
currently under review and will be piloted
later this year.
The basic premise of the programme is
that it should help to foster understanding
of and respect for the needs of all students
particularly the needs of those with disabilities by instilling an appreciation of their
courage, talents and abilities. It increases
students’ understanding of the potential of
people with a learning disability particu-
larly in the area of sport. One of the
modules is dedicated to inclusive activities
and games which can be used in the PE hall
or the school yard.
Goretti Newell, Schools’ Programme
Manager added, “The students just love
participating in the discussions and games,
both in the classroom and the playground.
The active learning approach of ‘SO Get
Into It’ really teaches them how to work as a
team and to show respect for people with
differing abilities in a fun and inclusive
way.
As part of the Special Olympics Support
an Athlete fundraising campaign, the SO
Get Into It Programme can be incorporated
into fundraising activities undertaken in
schools.
Visit www.eircom.net/SpecialOlympics to
download the Support an Athlete pack,
donate online or register an event or call
the freephone hotline on    .
The SO Get Into It resource books
are also available to download at
www.specialolympics.ie.
Special Olympics athlete Una McGarry of Salto
Special Olympics Club (in red) who will represent Ireland at the  World Games in
Shanghai, China in October, Shaun Cassidy,
Regional Director, Special Olympics Ulster and
Goretti Newall, Schools' Manager, Special
Olympics Ireland. Picture courtesy of Charles
McQuillan/Pacemaker.
CORK TEACHERS’ VICTORY
Cork Teachers’ Football Team pictured
after their recent victory in the Murphy
Cup, inter firms board competition.
All the players are teachers from Cork.
Included in the photo are team trainers
Diarmuid Murphy and Ciaran Ó
Muirchearthaigh.
18
EQUALIT Y CONFERENCE
Comhionnanas
Equality Conference
affirms dignity at work rights
T
he Equality Conference
, which took place in
Tullamore on  and 
March, discussed and affirmed
the right of every person to
dignity at work, and to a workplace free of bullying and
harassment. Organised by the
Equality Committee, the event
was very positively evaluated by
delegates and gave rise to much
discussion arising from the
plenary sessions and
workshops.
Two launches
To coincide with the
Conference, the INTO formally
launched two reports. One was
a report on the Adult Bullying
Survey conducted by Equality
Committee members at a
number of October  INTO
meetings. The other is a compilation of the views of some
people in prominent positions
who responded to an INTO
invitation to write about workplace dignity and bullying
issues. Thirty-five responses,
including seven from Northern
Ireland, are contained in the
booklet, and they bring a variety of approaches and perspec-
tives to the task. Copies of the
booklet are available from the
Equality Section at Head Office.
Identifying, tackling, moving on
Speakers and presenters at the
Conference identified and
discussed the concepts of
dignity and of adult bullying,
outlined strategies to prevent
and tackle problems and
emphasised the building of
positive workplaces to move on
appropriately from problems.
As seen on these pages, a
variety of contributors made
inputs. These included Equality
Committee members who
presented at Discussion
Groups, the General Secretary,
the Minister for Labour Affairs
and presenters from INTO
offices (Anne McElduff, Tony
Carlin), teachers and
researchers (Declan Fahie,
Marian Flanagan), and speakers
with particular expertise and
perspectives (Jacinta Kitt,
Sheila Crowley, Patricia
Normanly from Dublin Bus,
Senator Joe O’Toole).
Documents available
A Conference Theme Paper
Deirdre O’Connor, INTO Senior Official; Denis Bohane, INTO President
‘/’; Tony Kileen, TD, Minister for Labour Affairs; John Carr, INTO
General Secretary and Noel Ward, Senior Official (on secondment to
the Benchmarking Secretariat)
presented at the opening
session by Equality Committee
Cathaoirleach Kathy McHugh
and Leas-Chathaoirleach Maree
Farrell set out the main issues
and tasks of the event. This
paper, and many of the other
presentations, may be viewed
on a webcast or as documents
on the INTO website; under
‘What’s new’, go to
‘Conferences’ and from there to
‘Equality Conference’. The
website coverage includes a
Panel Discussion, which
concluded the Conference, of
questions submitted by delegates.
In these pages, we summarise
some of the main inputs.
A shared responsibility
J
ohn Carr thanked the INTO
Equality Committee and
INTO Officials for their
efforts in organising the
Conference.
At the outset he stated that
work is a significant part of all of
our lives. What we do at work,
how we do it and how we are
treated at work significantly
influences how we see ourselves
and how others see us.
New procedures, resources
The INTO believes that workplace bullying is not a normal
industrial relations issue and
that existing measures to
tackle the problem are totally
insufficient. The government
has a major responsibility to
publish procedures for dealing
with bullying, and he called for
the implementation of the
recommendations in the
report of the Expert Advisory
Group on Workplace Bullying
including access to the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
or the Labour Court.
John Carr also stated that the
INTO wanted the Health and
Safety Authority to be responsible for the enforcement of
health and safety statements
related to bullying and to
commit resources to commission surveys and reports examining patterns and levels of
workplace bullying.
He called on school management to “face up to its responsibilities to ensure that
bullying is not tolerated and
that incidents of reported
bullying are adequately dealt
with and brought to a timely,
fair and conclusive resolution”.
He did, however, acknowledge
that efforts made by managerial authorities are being
undermined by the underfunding of school management
at primary level.
He stated that INTO has
invested heavily in attempting
to address the issue of workplace bullying. These efforts
include the publishing of the
Working Together document in
November . He stated that
the INTO is committed to reexamining these procedures in
the light of experience and, if
necessary, changing and
updating procedures, policies
and practice.
In closing he stated that we
must face up to bullying and
harassment whenever and
wherever it occurs in the workplace.
19
Comhionnanas
Stress on the positive in keynote address
“
M
yths and misconceptions’ around bullying were tackled by
Jacinta Kitt in her keynote
address. Referring to her particular interest in building positive work environments, she
described “the sense you get
when you walk in the door” of a
school as a powerful measure of
its work environment.
She spoke of the need for a
person displaying bullying
behaviour to have allies. These
will have been incorporated
into the bully’s circle and will
be in total denial of problems,
despite what they witness. This
group dynamic is what is often
called ‘mobbing’ a victim.
●
●
●
Handling and not handling the
problem
Ms Kitt referred to four main
categories of workplace, and
the characteristics of each, in
handling workplace bullying.
The organisational responses
may be
● Dismissive; seeing bullying as
inevitable or ‘flavour of the
month’, complainers are
paranoid or nuisances, they
should shut up or leave,
‘bullies’ get the job done!
(The folly of the last
statement was highlighted; in
fact, effective management is
% task and % people
oriented).
Minimally compliant; where
being seen to do something
(CYA!) is important; the
complaints are the problem
not the bullying.
Reactive; focussing on dealing
on an “incident by incident”
basis, good policy as an
adequate response, no
preventative role is possible.
Proactive; where creation of a
positive environment is
recognised to have beneficial
effects on all aspects of the
workplace, culture can
prevent bullying, the organisation/school takes responsibility and collaboration,
openness, equality are
fostered.
Seeing the doughnut, not the
hole
The keynote address stressed
the right of each person to
bring home from work intact
those characteristics they bring
in, such as dignity, confidence
and self-esteem. Bullying is a
cause of huge suffering, is
psychological abuse and nothing less, and would not thrive in
a respectful, collaborative
culture. Bullies tend to be
Tony Carlin, Senior Official, INTO Northern Office; Sheila Nunan, INTO
General Treasurer; Angela Dunne, INTO Vice President (‘/’) and
Jacinta Kitt at the Equality Conference.
personally and professionally
inadequate, “ethically
challenged and unburdened by
conscience”. Bullying is never
about managing, but always
about destroying.
Ms Kitt spoke of the need
for positivity. She believes in
“seeing the doughnut and not
the hole” in our efforts to build
positive work environments.
The characteristics of a positive, effective work
environment indicate a
welcoming, equal, fun place to
work.
In concluding, she cited
research findings showing that
victims do not generally want
retribution or revenge. They
simply want workplace bullying
to stop. To bring this about, it
may be necessary to confront a
person or a situation. Saying
nothing allows bullying to go
on. To speak out gives hope for
a resolution and a restoration of
peace in one’s working life.
‘Moving on’ training sessions
S
ix parallel training
sessions had a specific
focus on resolving and
‘moving on’ from situations of
workplace bullying. These
short summaries reflect only
some issues dealt with by the
facilitators.
● Anne McElduff highlighted
agreed procedures in the
Working Together document.
She dealt with a number of
themes through particular
school scenarios, including
good communication, legitimate function of authority,
knowledge of procedures
and the need to demonstrate
fairness.
20
●
●
Patricia Normanly outlined
work to develop a positive
workplace in Dublin Bus in
the context of a changing
workplace and of having
an equality and diversity
plan. She identified strategies for managing and dealing
with conflict, and that
investing in people is a key
principle.
Declan Fahie set out the right
to just working conditions,
the multiple effects of workplace bullying and discussed
why schools seem vulnerable
to workplace bullying.
‘Moving on’ worked only with
absolute, shared
●
●
commitment. Prevention
strategies, stopping bullying
and moving on as a school
were also addressed.
Joe O’Toole provided a
‘battery check’ stress self-test.
Stress can both lead to and be
a consequence of bullying. He
focussed on affirmation (or
lack of) in schools, on giving
support to colleagues and on
staff outings. Some visible
symptoms of staff problems
were presented and
discussed.
Tony Carlin looked at how
both ‘targets’ and ‘observors’
of bullying may be affected.
Moving on had to begin with
●
risk assessment, followed by
setting of goals and a plan to
achieve these. Consultation
and review stages of planning
were outlined as was the
importance of staff ‘ownership’ of process.
Marion Flanagan looked at
the evolving definition, and
severe effects, of bullying.
Moving on was neither easy
nor automatic, but not
impossible. The elements of a
positive work environment
and what the school and individual can do to ‘move on’
were identified. Self-esteem,
communication and self-care
are all important in this.
Comhionnanas
Ending isolation and inaction
J
oe O’Toole addressed the Conference in place
of his Seanad colleague David Norris, who
was ill and who conveyed his apologies and
good wishes to INTO delegates.
away if we witness bullying,” he said, “any more
than a teacher would ignore suspected abuse of a
child. We have a ‘duty of care’ to colleagues also,
and the exercise of this would serve to nip in the
bud attempts to undermine dignity at work.”
Isolation and uncertainty
Senator O’Toole perceived a lack of professional
self-confidence among teachers. The isolation of
the classroom might mean that a teacher never
saw another colleague doing their work in the
course of an entire career. This gave rise to a
vulnerability and uncertainty, and he questioned
how this equipped teachers to deal with praise (a
“Trojan horse loaded with problems” unless
genuine and aware) and complaints.
Stressing the necessity for building the team at
school level, he saw the words “foireann scoile” as
the most powerful and affirming in official documents.
INTO LGBT Group Secretary, Damian McGrath and
Chairperson, Sheila Crowley with Joe O’ Toole
Breaking the silence and invisibility
T
he address by Sheila
Crowley, Chairperson of
the INTO LGBT (Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) Group, was followed
by a standing ovation. Delegates
were struck by her courage and
honesty in outlining why schools
are not yet safe places for gay/
lesbian students or teachers.
Twin hallmarks
“We are your colleagues and
friends whom you know and
work with each day of the school
year,” she said. However, life in
school for gay/lesbian teachers
and pupils is still characterised
by the “twin hallmarks of invisibility and silence”. There is no
curricular affirmation, and the
silence, with the portrayal as
different or other, does not
afford dignity at work to LGBT
colleagues.
Ms Crowley spoke of the separation between public and
private lives. Many feel that
colleagues “would see us in
inister for Labour
Affairs, Tony Killeen
thanked the INTO for the
invitation to address the
Conference. He stated that a
new study carried out by the
ERSI found that of the people
surveyed .% reported an
incident of workplace bullying in the previous six
months, in comparison to %
in . He noted that it
would seem that there is an
increase in the number of
people reporting incidents of
bullying at work.
M
Health and Safety Act
Duty of care
“Bullying is usually facilitated by inaction,” said
Joe O’Toole. He described the phenomenon of
‘mobbing’ and stressed the special responsibility
of witnesses to intervene. “Teachers cannot walk
Health and
safety focus
terms of our sexual orientation
only rather than seeing our
orientation as part of who we
are”. She told of her conviction
that if she, with her experience
and education, could not be
open about her lifestyle, what
hope was there for young teachers or for students?
Referring to the “long shadow”
cast by Section () of the
Employment Equality Acts, Ms
Crowley gave examples of dignity
at work being undermined. If
Civil Partnership is legislated
for, gay and lesbian teachers
may wish to seek time off for
the ceremony. This will amount
to coming out to a religious
chairperson in many instances.
There is real concern that this
may be construed as undermining the school’s religious ethos,
with employment implications.
Curriculum and bullying concerns
Children are exposed to images
in television series, films and
news coverage which feature
gay and lesbian issues. Ms
Crowley argued that it is better
for children to learn of these in
an informative, non-prejudicial
manner at school.
Giving children appropriate
language and concepts is likely
to help them resist homophobic attitudes. She highlighted
research on homophobic bullying in schools and contrasted
the handling of such bullying
with that of racist name-calling.
Silence and even hostility
towards pupils and teachers for
just being what they are is a
dignity issue.
Ms Crowley concluded by
outlining the work of the INTO
LGBT Group since . She
paid tribute to the INTO for its
support. “Is cúis áthais agus
bród domsa, tar éis  blian ag
múineadh, go bhfuil mé ábalta
bheith páirteach i gCumann
Múinteoirí Éireann mar múinteoir leispiach don chéad uair i
mo shaol,” a dúirt sí mar fhocail
scor.
He stated that a central challenge concerns what is being
done, or what can be done to
assist people who have been
bullied in the workplace. He
said that the  Safety,
Health and Welfare at Work
Act made the obligations in
relation to workplace bullying much clearer. He had
asked the Board of the
Health and Safety Authority
to prepare a new Code of
Practice and he noted that
the INTO had made an excellent but very challenging
submission. The Code
suggests that measures
should be put in place to
deal with incidents at the
workplace level and that the
next phase would involve the
Labour Relations
Commission. It is not possible currently for teachers to
make an appeal to the LRC
and it would be part of the
job of his successor to put
such a procedure in place. In
light of the Safety, Health
and Welfare at Work Act it
was his view that there
would not be a need for new
legislation.
In closing he stated that all
of the over two million
people who work in Irish
workplaces are entitled to do
so in safety without having
their health impacted upon
negatively.
21
COMHAR LINN
Winners of
February
2007 Draw
Winners of
March 2007
Draw
CAR – TOYOTA COROLLA
CAR – TOYOTA COROLLA
Christina Lillis, Mallow No.  NS,
Shortcastle St, Mallow,
Co Cork
Laura Quinn, St Brigid’s GNS,
Killester, Dublin 
Winners of Congress
Table Quiz
CASH – €
CASH – €
Seamus Ó Ceilleachair, Feede
Cross, Ravensdale, Dundalk,
Co Louth
Olibhe Ní Bhraonain, Gaelscoil
Brian Boroimh, Seanbhaile,
Bóthar Chil Dheaglain, Sord,
Co Átha Cliath
WEEKEND FOR TWO in Jury’s
Doyle Hotel
Doyle Hotel
Michelle Flynn, Scoil Realta Na
Mara, Kilmare, Co Wexford
Marina Browne, Scoil Mhichil
Naofa, Athy, Co Kildare
Doyle Hotel
Doyle Hotel
Elizabeth Mongey, Gardiner St
NS,  Upper Gardiner St,
Dublin 
Pat Crowe, North Kildare
Educate Together, Clane Road,
Celbridge, Co Kildare
Winners of 1st Prize at Congress Table Quiz were Colm Minnock,
Aoibheann Duffy, Ted McCarthy and Helen Lucheroni (INTO District V)
pictured with Denis Bohane President ‘/’, Michael McHugh and
Dympna Mulkerrins, President Of Comhar Linn INTO Credit Union.
Crossword No. 95
A draw for 2 x €100 will be made from all correct entries
Simply complete the crossword and send it
to InTouch, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, before Friday 1st June, 2007
NAME:
ADDRESS:
Across
1. Curtail tea? How lucid and expressive! (10)
6. Ditch this for a comical reaction.
(2-2)
10.The middle-distance runner finds
many in the French sea. (5)
11. Dessert makes Granny Smith bitter.
(5,4)
12.Does beer in this form give one
unwanted wind? (7)
15. The capitals of western Australia
name this film fish. (5)
17. Aura that gives little Henry nothing.
(4)
18.Somehow, one robs these spheres.
(4)
19.This bird will get confused in Seoul.
(5)
21. How Ted dove into the faithful! (7)
23.She takes part in Brownie celebrations. (5)
24.The boxer might train with this
part of the rigging. (4)
25.Alexander, the poetic pontiff. (4)
26.Lo, try out this part of Austria. (5)
28.Planet that's in its element! (7)
33.Does one ride a sea-horse in this
sport? (5-4)
34.Concerning a boxing match. (5)
35.It's unusual to see one's rear like
this! (4)
36.The shape of a rural giant. (10)
Down
1. The objectives of a top-class
manuscript. (4)
2. Tore Bella asunder in a bearable
way. (9)
3. Greek home of a fur Co. (5)
4. As a novice, every one of them
is a washout. (5)
5. Faucets found, thanks to the
postscript. (4)
7. A profit once more. (5)
8. Try lager, Al, when confused by the
paintings here. (3,7)
9. Tree that grows in a communist
copse? (7)
13. Donated some Malaga venison. (4)
14. The point mother is confused about
has yet to be proved. (7)
16.Defensive building provided by a
circular tug? (5,5)
20. American showcase for a marvellous bird of prey. (9)
21. Bemoan the way the red pole was
broken. (7)
22.Jug filled with sheep, right? (4)
27.Reversible helicopter blade. (5)
29.A lobe is damaged by this deadly
virus. (5)
30. The family note a discordant sound.
(5)
31. Note our sullen appearance. (4)
32.Agitate the prison. (4)
Gordius - In Touch Crossword No. 94
Across
1. Cob 3. Middle class 8. Earwig
9. Compound interest 10. Scare 11. Sling
13. Death 15. Overact 16. Stadium
20. Lapel 21. Draws 23. Choir 25. Stress
26. Enlightened 27. Tot
Down
1. Cheeseboard 2. Barnacle 3. Maine
4. Decimal 5. Copes 6. Anubis 7. Sod
12. Geometry set 13. Decal 14. Hotel 17.
Innocent 18. Apostle 19. Cartel 22. Scrag
23. Cited 24. Ice
Winners of Comhar Linn Cross Word No. 93 are
Ken Ryan, Templeogue,Dublin 6W and
Miriam O’Mahony, Rathmore, Co. Kerry
23
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – SUMMER PROGR A MME 2007
Summer Programme 2007
T
he professional development summer
programme for  offers an extensive
variety of courses in curricular, methodology and ICT related areas. It has expanded upon
the programme offered in  as well as offering
several new course titles. Courses have been allocated on a District basis thus enabling us to
provide professional development opportunities
countrywide. The course titles, co-ordinators and
venue details are listed on following pages.
Key Code
8 Course Venue & location
i Course Co-ordinator’s
Behaviour and Learning
Cúrsa Gaeilge
Summer Course
‘Cumarsáid, Comhluadar agus
Craic’, Summer Course
contact details
An Ghaeilge
‘Cumarsáid,Comhluadar agus
Craic’, Summer School
á na scoileanna seo dírithe
ar mhúinteoirí nach bhfuil
an teanga ar a dtoil acu, chomh
maith leo siúd go bhfuil sí go
líofa acu. Beidh ceardlanna idir
ghníomhnacha ar árbhair
éagsúla ar siúl: turais, siúloidí,
ceardlanna drámaíochta,
amhránaíochta agus filíochta.
T
DISTRICT 13
Branch: An Daingean
8 Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir,
Dún Chaoin, Trá lí, Co Chiarraí
‒ 
i Máirín Ní Bhroin, Cloichear,
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Trá
Lí, Co Chiarraí
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) scoildhunchaoin.ias@
eircom.net
i Nuala Uí Ghearailt, Cathair
Scuilibin,
Baile na nGall, Trá Lí, Co
Chiarraí
(h)  
(m)  
T
his course will explore
classroom behaviour and
how it impacts on children’s
learning. The course will look at
how positive learning behavior
can be encouraged through a
whole school approach.
Classroom management to
promote positive behaviour
will be explored as will the
importance of teaching positive
behaviour. Strategies to deal
with inappropriate individual
behaviour will be appraised
and possible links between
behaviour and specific learning
needs/difficulties/disabilities
will be explored.
DISTRICT 5
DISTRICT 12
Branch: Drogheda
Branch: Cork City South
8 Drogheda College of Further
8 Rochestown Park Hotel,
Education, Drogheda, Co
Louth.
‒ 
Rochestown Road, Douglas,
Cork
‒ 
i Anne McQuaile,
i Martin Burke,  Trabeg Ave,
 Albany Terrace, William
Street, Drogheda, Co Louth
(h)  
(m)  
Douglas Rd, Cork
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
DISTRICT 10
DISTRICT 14
Branch: Muinebheag
Branch: West Liffey
8 Aboretum Lifestyles Garden
8 North Kildare Educate
Centre, Kilkenny Rd, Carlow
Together NS, Clane Rd,
‒ 
i Anne Hughes,
‒ 
‘Greenview’, Donore,
Bagenalstown, Carlow
(h)  
(m)  
i Aoife Ní Choileáin, Scoil Ui
Dhalaigh, Leixlip, Co Kildare
(m)  
á an cúrsa seo dírithe ar
mhúinteoirí nach bhfuil an
teanga ar a dtoil acu, chomh
maith leo siúd go bhfuil sí go
líofa acu. Beidh ceardlanna idir
ghníomhnacha ar árbhair
éagsúla ar siúl: ceardlanna
drámaíochta, puipeadóireachta,
amhránaíochta agus filíochta.
Beidh roinnt den chúrsa dírithe
ar miodhanna múineadh na
Gaeilge chomh maith.
T
DISTRICT 06
Branch: Galway
8 Coláiste Choilmcille
Indreabháin, Co Na
Gaillimhe
‒ 
i Michael Gallagher
 Knocknacarragh Park,
Salthill, Galway
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) michael.gallagher@
ntlworld.ie
DISTRICT 12
Branch: Cork City South
8 Scoil Eoin, Ballincollig,
Co Cork
‒ 
i John Daly
The Arts Factor
Summer Course (Pilot)
“All that ART requires is a space and people with
ideas to fill it.” Brian Way
Fill in your space this summer by joining in
this entertaining and relaxed summer course
which will ease you into your well deserved
and long awaited holiday break. This course
has a wide range of practical, entertaining and
engaging activities in visual art, music, dance
and drama.
24
Moyne House, Ardarostig,
Bishopstown, Cork
(h)  
(s)   
DISTRICT 04
Branch: Curry
DISTRICT 15
Branch: Dublin North West
8 Holy Family NS, Tubbercurry, Co Sligo
‒ 
i Frank McGee, The Rock,
Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo
(h)  
()  
()  
8 Sportslink, Santry,
Dublin 
‒ 
i Aoife Redmond
St Joseph’s JNS, Balcurris Rd,
Ballymun, Dublin 
(m)  
Principals’ Course
3 Day Intensive Summer Course for Newly Appointed Principals
A Thematic Approach to
Multiclass Teaching
his course will aim at
equipping principals in the
basics of the role of principal.
The course will explore the
administrative role of the prin-
cipal, the legal role and the role
of people/team management
and delegation. This course is
designed to dovetail into the
’/’ Misneach Programme
DISTRICT 05
DISTRICT 14
Branch: Carrickmacross
Branch: West Liffey
DISTRICT 04
DISTRICT 13
8 Springfield House Hotel,
Branch: Ballinrobe
Branch: Killarney
8 St Joseph’s NS,
8 Lissivigeen NS, Cork Rd,
T
8 The Carrickmacross
Workhouse, Shercock Road,
Co Monagahan
Lucan Rd, Leixlip,
Co Kildare
 -  
i Mary Jones, Tullyallen,
Upr Magheracloone,
Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) mjtullyallen@eircom.net
 -  
i Pat Crowe
 The Walled Gardens,
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
Summer Course
his course explores and appraises a thematic approach to
multiclass teaching. The course will include modules on classroom management, planning/timetabling, approaches and
methodologies as well as the exploration of sample themes.
T
Ballinrobe,
Co Mayo
Killarney
‒ 
i Denis O’Sullivan
‒ 
i Richard Higgins
St Joseph’s NS, Ballinrobe,
Co Mayo
(s)  
Clonkeen NS, Killarney,
Co Kerry
(s)  
(m)  
DISTRICT 11
DISTRICT 16
DISTRICT 16
Branch: North Clare
Branch: Mitchelstown
DISTRICT 10
Branch: Youghal
Branch: Wexford
8 Bell Bridge House Hotel,
8 The Firgrove Hotel,
8 The Walter Raleigh Hotel
8 To be confirmed
Youghal, Co Cork
 -  
i Louisa O’Brien
Our Lady Of Fatima NS,
Barntown,
Wexford
(m)  
 -  
i Jane Flannery
Fahydorgan,
Carrigtwohill,
Co Cork
(m)  
Spanish Point, Milltown
Malbay, Co Clare
Mitchelstown, Co Cork
‒ 
i Mary Dennehy
‒ 
i Michael O’Connor
Dromin, Miltown Malbay, Co
Clare
(h)  
(m) -
Dún Baoi,
Cloughleafin,
Mitchletown,
Co Cork
(m)  
Outdoor
Education
Introducing Fairtrade, Child Labour and the
Right to Education in Primary Schools
Summer Course (Pilot)
Summer Course
his course aims to provide
participants with the
opportunity to explore the great
outdoors and enjoy nature. It
combines SESE and PE (Outdoor
and Adventure) through trails,
walks and orienteering. Unwind
into nature with this practical,
relaxed and hands on course.
Participants will need protective
clothing for outdoor activities.
T
T
DISTRICT 08
Branch: Dublin South County
8 St Joseph’s NS, Valleymount
Blessington, Co Wicklow
‒ 
i Ged Doyle, Valleymount,
his course will be delivered as part of the
Irish Aid funded Education Rights Development Project co-ordinated by INTO and CESESMA
in Nicaragua. The course will inform and raise
awareness about how the interlinking issues of
Fairtrade, child labour and the right to education
can be introduced into primary schools at all
class levels. Participants will be introduced to a
specifically designed curriculum based pack on
the issues and will be guided in its use. A variety
of issues including working with photographic
evidence and real life stories, avoidance of
stereotyping children/families/situations in
developing countries, responding to children’s
reactions and developing proactive attitudes will
be explored and discussed on the course.
DISTRICT 07
DISTRICT 12
DISTRICT 14
Branch: Mullingar
Branch: Kinsale
Branch: Dublin City North
8 To be confirmed
8 The Blue Haven Hotel,
8 Teachers’ Club,  Parnell
‒ 
i Fionnuala Bruton
Scoil Mhuire CBS,
Mullingar,
Co Westmeath
(m)  
Kinsale, Co Cork
‒ 
i Eamon Kelly
Belgooly, Co Cork
(s)  
(m)  
Square, Dublin 
‒ 
i Gregor Kerr,  Allenton
Drive, Dublin 24
(m)  
(e) kerrgregor@yahoo.co.uk
(h) 
(s)  
(m)  
25
Teaching and Learning in the Early Years
Summer Course
his course will explore
teaching and learning in
the early years in the context of
the revised curriculum. The
course will explore child development in the early years, the
infant curriculum, creating an
optimum learning environment
for young learners and parental
partnership. In particular,
approaches and methodologies
for emergent literacy and maths
will be appraised as well as the
role of play as a teaching and
learning tool, integrating play
into the curriculum and the
teacher’s role in play based
teaching and learning.
DISTRICT 03
DISTRICT 07
DISTRICT 08
Branch: Letterkenny
Branch: Kells
8 Mount Errigal,
8 St Colmcille’s BNS, Kells,
8 St Colmcille’s JNS,
T
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal
‒ 
i Tom Feeney
Lower Killult, Falcarragh,
Letterkenny, Co Donegal
(s)  
(m)  
Co Meath
‒ 
i Ann Jordan
Bush Road, Gibbstown,
Navan,
Co Meath
(h)  
(m)  
Knocklyon, Dublin 
‒ 
Movement
and Music
Summer Course
his course will focus on
both music and physical
education. Dance, both
creative and folk/traditional/
hiphop will be included as will
gymnastics. Listening and
responding to various genres of
music will be explored and
participants will explore how
music can be composed by the
various class levels.
T
i Helen Dore
St Colmcille’s JNS,
Knocklyon, Dublin 
(s)  
(m)  
(e) helendore@hotmail.com
DISTRICT 15
Branch: Dublin North East
8 St Fintan’s High School,
Sutton, Dubiln 
‒ 
i Audrey Clarke
Active Learning and Teaching Methodologies
Summer Course
A
course exploring active
teaching and learning
methodologies – co-operative
learning, project learning,
peer tutoring etc. The course
explores and informs the effect
such methodologies have on
children’s learning and skills
development and also how to
put such methodologies into
practice in the classroom.
DISTRICT 03
DISTRICT 06
DISTRICT 09
Branch : Aileach
Branch : Roscommon
Branch : Dublin West
8 Tullyarvan Mill, Buncrana,
Co Donegal
8 The Abbey Hotel,
Roscommon
8 West County Hotel,
‒ 
i James Doherty
Rockytown Rd, Buncrana,
Co Donegal
(s)  
(m)  
(e) jamesdoc@esatclear.ie
‒ 
i Tommy Connolly
Cloonakilleg, Mount Talbot,
Co Roscommon
(h)   
(s)  
(m)  
Understanding How School
Works
Summer Course
his course is intended for
teachers who wish to find
out more about the various
factors that impact on how
schools work. These factors
include among others, issues
related to teachers’ conditions
of employment, legislation,
agreed procedures and general
education policy. The course
will be facilitated by INTO
officials with a broad
T
26
knowledge of these areas.
Chapelizod, Dublin 
‒ 
i Maura Mulkerrin
 Coolamber Park,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 
(h)  
(m)  
Scoil Mhuire, Howth,
Co Dublin
(m)  
Lifeskills for
Teaching and
Learning
Summer Course
his course will explore the
topics of: Esteem through
learning, assertiveness, understanding bullying, the
challenge of relationships and
communication, school structures and staff relations and
managing change.
This course is participative in
nature and those taking part
will be actively involved in
exploring each of the topics
and relating them to their own
personal and professional
development.
T
DISTRICT 12
Branch: Schull
DISTRICT 14
8 The Teachers’ Club, 
Parnell Square, Dublin 
‒ 
i Linda Johnston
c/o PDU, INTO,  Parnell
Square, Dublin 
(ph)  
8 Scoil Bhride,
Ballydehob, Schull,
Co Cork
‒ 
i Colleen Murphy
Scoil Bhride,
Ballydehob, Schull,
Co Cork
(m)  
Diversity Inside and Outside the Classroom
Summer Course
course aimed at understanding diversity in
society. It will explore various different
family structures, social groupings/classes and
cultures and how culture influences behaviour
and attitudes in the classroom. It will also include
A
a section on human rights inside and outside the
classroom. It will also explore best practice
towards inculcating an environment of understanding diversity within the classroom and the
whole school community.
DISTRICT 04
DISTRICT 09
DISTRICT 15
Branch : Castlebar
Branch : Dublin City South
Branch : Dublin North East
8 Davitt College, Moneen,
Castlebar, Co. Mayo
8 The Mercer Hotel,
Mercer Street, Dublin 
8 Carnegie Court Hotel,
‒ 
i Maíre Nic An Fhailghigh
 Aglish Estate, Castlebar,
Co Mayo
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) mmcnally@eircom.net
‒ 
i Seán McCarthy
 Sarsfield Court,
Sarsfield Rd, Inichicore,
Dublin 
(h)  
(m)  
(e) seanteach@eircom.net
Swords,
Co Dublin
‒ 
i Kaye Nolan
 Thormanby Lawns,
Howth,
Co Dublin
(m)  
(e) ayrfieldjns@eircom.net
Sensitive
Areas in SPHE
Summer Course
his course will explore the
specific areas within the
SPHE curriculum. The areas of
RSE, Substance use and Child
Protection will be explored with
regard to content and appropriate teaching/learning
approaches and methodologies.
It will also explore the
development of attitudes,
communication skills and
decision making abilities
within this context.
T
DISTRICT 07
Branch: Tullamore
8 Annaharvey Farm,
Tullamore,
Co Offaly
INTO
On-line
Summer
Programme
Enrolling on
www.into-elearning.com
from 8 May 2007
AVAILABLE COURSES
Teaching English as an Additional Language:
An Intercultural Approach
Colaiste Mhuire, Marino Institute of Education
in Collaboration with INTO Professional
Development Unit. New. €75. A course aimed at
equipping teachers with a range of practical
strategies for teaching children who are learning
English as an additional language.
Appreciating the Visual Arts
2007 Edition. €75. Exploring the area of looking
and responding to art across all six strands:
drawing, paint and colour, print, clay, construction and fabric & fibre.
Interactive Teaching Methodologies
2007 Edition. €75. Exploring interactive teaching and learning methodologies: co-operative
learning, peer tutuoring, project learning and
mind mapping.
A Cross Curricular Approach to Human Rights
in Education
2007 Edition. €75. Exploring the area of Human
Rights in societal and primary school contexts.
Mathematics: Sharpening Minds not Pencils!
New. €75. Exploring all strands of the Maths
Curriculum, encouraging the use of manipulatives and mathematical games.
Scoil Naisíunta An
Daingean
St Mary’s Road,
Daingean,
Co Offaly
(m)  
DISTRICT 11
Branch: Nenagh
8 The Abbeycourt Hotel,
Dublin Rd,
Nenagh,
Co Tipperary
‒ 
i Ann Marie McCann
Rathnaleen,
Nenagh,
Co Tipperary
(m)  
DISTRICT 14
Developing an E-learning Culture in your
School
INTO Professional Development Unit in
collaboration with NCTE. New. Exploring and
identifying web resources, digital content and
software suitable for educational use. Potential
of interactive whiteboards explored. Creating
online content e.g. google maps. Note: This
course is funded by NCTE. Booking deposit of € is
refundable on completion of course. Places Limited.
Enrolment is open from  May. Courses commence  July and run until  August.
For further information see www.into-elearning.com DES approved & 3 EPV days. Discussion
Forums moderated by expert facilitators.
‒ 
i Mary O'Donoghue,
8 St Brigid’s Resource Centre,
(beside Killester church),
 Howth Rd,
Killester,
Dublin 
‒ 
i Dympna Mulkerrins
 Donnybrook Manor,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 
(h)  
(m)   
(e) dympnamulk@eircom.net
27
Using ICT as a Teaching and Learning Resource
Summer Course (Designed in collaboration with and funded by NCTE)
his course focuses on using ICT as a teaching and learning
resource. The course will explore how such skills can be integrated into teachers’ repertoires of approaches and methodologies.
Practical issues relating to classroom management of ICT will be
appraised. Please note this is not a beginner’s course – competency
in the use and application of ICT is required to undertake the course.
DISTRICT 03
DISTRICT 06
DISTRICT 08
DISTRICT 14
Branch: Errigal
Branch: Loughrea
Branch: Tallaght
8 Acadamh Ghaoth Dobhar,
8 St Brigid’s Vocational School,
8 St Mary’s NS,
8 St Brigid’s Resource Centre
T
Doirí Beaga, Leitir Ceanainn,
Tír Chonaill
‒ 
i Bernadette Ní Dhuibhir
Ard Na Carraige, Doirí Beaga,
Leitir Ceanainn, Tír Chonaill
(s)  
(m)  
(f)  
(e) scoilmnm@yahoo.ie
DISTRICT 03
Branch: Errigal
8 Ionad Na Múinteoirí Ionad
Oideachais Ghort A’ Choirce,
Gort A’ Choirce,
Co Dún na nGall
‒ 
i Phyl O’Connor
Ionad Na Múinteoirí Ionad
Oideachais Ghort A’ Choirce,
Gort A’ Choirce, Co. Dún na
nGall
 
DISTRICT 05
Branch: Dundalk
8 Redeemer BNS, Ard Easmuinn,
Dundalk, Co Louth
‒ 
i Ann McCabe, Redeemer GNS,
Ard Easmuinn, Dundalk,
Co Louth
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) gerannmccabe@ imagine.ie
Loughrea,
Co Galway
‒ 
i Rita McMahon
 Woodville,
Loughrea,
Co Galway
(h)  
(e) ritamcm@eircom.net
‒ 
i Gerry Brown
Rahandoon, Sallins,
Co Kildare
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
DISTRICT 09
DISTRICT 07
Branch: Dublin City South
Branch: Droichead Nua
8 Scoil Mologa, Clareville Rd,
8 Scoil An Linbh Iosa,
Ballycane,
Naas,
Co Kildare
‒ 
i Miriam Nolan
 Monread Lawns,
Sallins Road, Naas,
Co Kildare
(h)  
(m)  
Branch: Navan
8 St Declan’s NS,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath
‒ 
i Mairead McCabe
St Declan’s NS,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath
(s)  
Mart Lane,
Foxrock,
Dublin 
 -  
i Matt Reville,
 Coolamber Park,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 
(h)  
(m)  
(e) matrev@utvinternet.com
(beside Killester Church),
 Howth Road,
Killester, Dublin 
‒ 
i Margaret Pierce,
St Brigid’s BNS,
Howth Road,
Killester,
Dublin 
(m)  
DISTRICT 15
Harold’s Cross, Dublin 
‒ 
i Nuala Uí Dhrisceoil
 The Ave, Woodpark,
Ballinteer,
Dublin 
(h)  
(m)   (ring or text)
(e) nuala_o_d@hotmail.com
Branch: Dublin West
8 Scoil Mhuire, Woodview
Lucan, Co Dublin
Branch: Dublin North West
8 John Paul II NS,
Sonesta,
Malahide,
Co Dublin
‒ 
i Ann Marie Ireland,
John Paul II NS,
Sonesta,
Malahide,
Co Dublin
(m)  
(e) annieeire@hotmail.com
‒ 
8 Gerri McGeady,
 The Grove,
(m)  
DISTRICT 10
Branch: New Ross
8 VEC, New Ross, Co Wexford
DISTRICT 08
8 St Brigid’s BNS,
28
‒ 
i Niamh King, Dunganstown,
New Ross, Co Wexford
(m)  
DISTRICT 16
Branch: Midleton
8 St John the Baptist NS,
Midleton,
Co Cork
‒ 
i Elma Huggard,
St John the Baptist NS,
Midleton,
Co Cork
(m)  
(e) elmagroves@hotmail.com
Branch: Cork City North
DISTRICT 11
Branch: Dungarvan
8 Dungarvan VEC, Colaiste
Cathal Naofa, Co Waterford
‒ 
i Victor Mullins,
 Priory Avenue, Abbeyside,
Dungarvan, Co Waterford
(h)  
(s)  
(m)  
(e) vgjm@cablesurf.com
8 Glanmire Community
College, Glanmire, Co. Cork
‒ 
i PJ O’Brien,
Templerobin Hse,
Ballymore,
Cobh,
Co Cork
(h)   
(s)   
(m)  
(e) mary.obrien@iolfree.ie
INTO Professional Development
Summer Programme 2007
Please see pages - for
details of courses and summer
schools.
NTO Professional
Development courses and
summer schools are designed
and delivered by teachers.
Participants will have entitlement to EPV days.
I
Please Note
●
a non-refundable booking fee
of € will apply to all
courses and summer schools.
The booking fee will be put
towards enhancing the
delivery and administration
of the Summer Programme.
●
For ICT courses ‘Using ICT as a
Teaching and Learning
Resource’ which are funded
by NCTE, the € booking fee
is refundable on course
completion.
SUMMER PROGRAMME APPLICATION FORM / FOIRM IARRATAIS DON CHLÁR SAMHRAIDH
Please include a booking fee of €40 with this application form
P L E A S E CO M P L E T E I N B LO C K CA P I TA L S
Mobile no/Uimhir Fón Póca
Course Title/
Ainm
Co-ordinator’s name
Email/Ríomhphost
Location/
Ionad an Chúrsa
Dates
Other Information
What is your teaching position?
Personal Details
Name/Ainm (Official Records)
What class will you be teaching in September?
Name/Ainm (if different to above)
Did you participate in this INTO course previously?
Please state: Yes ■ No ■ When
PPS Number
Using ICT as a teaching and learning resource
Roll Number/Uimhir Rolla na Scoile
Applicants for this course must complete this section.
Please Tick: ■✔
I regularly use ICT
Yes ■ No ■
Branch Name/Ainm na Craoibhe
I have a good understanding of word
processing and desktop publishing
Yes ■
No ■
I am familiar with the web and sending
emails
Yes ■
No ■
School Address/Seoladh na Scoile
I enclose a €40 booking fee
■
Please make cheques payable to INTO and return to
course co-ordinator
Signed/Sínithe
Home Address/Seoladh Baile
Date/Dáta
Phone/Fón (School/Scoil):
Phone/Fón (Home/Baile)
Please note:
Early receipt of
application forms
are essential in
order to reserve
a course place.
29
INTO ANNUAL CONGRESS
Memorable Year
for the INTO
I
n his presidential address
to INTO Annual Congress,
Denis Bohane reflected on
what he said was a truly memorable year for himself as
President of the INTO and for all
INTO members. He said the
class size campaign had been a
source of immense pride to him
as it galvanised parents,
management and teachers
together in common cause. He
said that while the
Government, and in particular
Minister Mary Hanafin, had an
excellent record in the area of
special education, resourcing
educational disadvantage and
newcomer children, the children in our classrooms only get
one chance and he was glad to
see progress made on the
contentious issue of class size.
Denis went on to caution
that, even though progress was
being made on class size, there
was much more to be done on
the agenda for primary education. He said that Ireland
remained bottom of the class
when it came to educational
spending and is failing to use
the wealth of the economy for
the benefit of education. He
said that it was time to put
primary education first and
that the level of local fund raising was in effect a stealth tax
which should be confined to
the dustbin of history.
He also called for adequate
support where it is needed most
in areas of educational disadvantage. He said that treating
schools as commercial entities
and levying local changes on
them simply added insult to
injury. He called for the
payment of such charges
directly from exchequer funding.
Moving on the President
demanded regulation in relation to the situating of phone
30
masts near schools. He said that
we must be prepared to adopt a
pre-emptive approach like
other countries.
Denis then went on to speak
on an issue in which he has had
a particular interest throughout
his career, namely support for
development education in the
developing world.
He said that there was
increasing evidence that child
labour is being used to produce
clothes that is marketed in this
country and he called on
primary schools to ensure that
their school uniform policy is
child labour proofed. He said
that no school in this country
should have a school uniform
policy that even inadvertently
condones child labour.
Denis then took issue with
the recently published review of
teaching practice in the
colleges of education entitled
Learning to Teach.
He said there were serious
concerns about the adequacy of
the assessment, the criteria
used and the findings drawn.
He said the key issue about the
number of children in classes
was ignored and that the report
really showed the extent of the
Departments own neglect of
teacher education.
He called for the introduction
of a four year B. Ed. programme
and the roll out of an induction
programme for all newly qualified teachers.
The President then called for
appropriate resourcing for the
implementation of the EPSEN
Act, continued support for
initiatives on educational
disadvantage and the development of appropriate teaching
materials to cater for the
number of children with
diverse backgrounds now
enrolled in primary schools.
He also called for the newly
established support centre for
the Irish language in Baile
Bhúirne to be properly
resourced in order to provide
appropriate materials for the
teaching of the language.
In conclusion Denis paid tribute to the work of Comhar Linn
INTO Credit Union for their
magnificent support of the
Gambian Teachers Union.
He also paid tribute to
members of the INTO involved
in development education projects in the Third World.
Denis Bohane, INTO President, welcomes Mary Hanafin, TD, Minister for Education and Science to Congress
Northern Minister
Designate Addresses
Congress
C
aitriona Ruane, who
has been appointed
as Minister for
Education Designate in the
Northern Assembly,
addressed an INTO conference for the first time.
She said there was a challenging education agenda to
be pursued in Northern
Ireland and that she placed
particular emphasis on
North/South co-operation
and relationships.
She looked forward to
working with the parties in
Education including the
INTO to ensure the best
possible future for pupils in
Northern Ireland.
Challenges for Teachers
I
n a wide ranging address
on behalf of the fraternal
delegates Professor Tom
Collins, Head of Education at
NUI Maynooth and
Chairperson for National
Council and Curriculum and
Assessment addressed issues
facing teachers in schools
today and future challenges
in an increasingly diverse
Irish society. The next issue
of InTouch will carry a
detailed report on his speech
which is also available as part
of the web cast archive on
the INTO website.
Prof Tom Collins
31
Moving Forward Together
I
n a wide ranging address
to INTO Congress this
year, Minister Mary
Hanafin TD outlined a
number of areas where
progress had been made in
recent times. She said the
creation of more teaching
posts is an absolutely essential
part of helping all of our children to achieve more in
education. She said that using
the bulk of the  extra
primary teachers employed
since  to target children
with special needs and those
from disadvantaged areas was
the right thing to do. She also
said that the main staffing
schedule had now been
reduced in the current school
year and would be again next
September. She further
confirmed that, if returned to
Government, , additional
teachers would be used to
reduce the schedule to a level
of : as well as to cater for
increased enrolments.
Referring to the level of investment in school buildings and
infrastructure the Minister
said that changing times
require new approaches and
to this end a new model of
primary school patronage is
being piloted from September
 under the County Dublin
VEC. She also said that
increasing school funding will
be a priority.
Turning to Special
Education the Minister said
that the past few years have
seen nothing short of a revolution in provision for children
with special needs. She said
she really appreciated the flexibility and willingness on the
part of mainstream class
teachers in meeting the challenge of welcoming these children into schools. She said she
was currently considering the
report of the NCSE on the
implementation of the EPSEN
Act. She also said that she was
determined to acknowledge
32
and value the role of special
schools.
Turning to support for the
Irish language the Minister
said a  strong team of
cuiditheoirí is being put in
place to support teachers in
schools and that other initiatives included summer camps
in disadvantaged areas to
strengthen the role of Irish.
The Minister also said that the
pilot scheme for substitute
cover for principals release
days has been well received
and will be reviewed in
consultation with the INTO to
see if it should be continued
and expanded. On a further
positive note the Minister said
it was very encouraging to see
that first preference applications for primary school
teaching under the CAO had
increased by % this year
including a % increase in the
number of men putting teaching as their first preference.
In conclusion the Minister
said she believed it is now
more important than ever to
prioritise education. She said
that education created the
Ireland that we are and will
shape the Ireland we will
become.
Putting Primary First
I
n his response to Minister
Hanafin, INTO General
Secretary, John Carr said
that he warmly welcomed the
commitment of the Minister to
continue to reduce class size if
returned to Government. He
acknowledged the additional
teachers and resources for
special education, educational
disadvantage and newcomer
children which had been
prioritised by the Minister
because she believed it was
right. He said that the INTO has
campaigned to rid the country
of overcrowded classes because
we believed it was the right
thing to do also. John said that
the INTO was a campaigning
organisation and that, while a
lot of progress had been made,
we would continue to
campaign to build a society to
match our economy.
Acknowledging the progress
made in the establishment of
the Teaching Council and
ensuring that every child is
taught by a fully qualified
teacher John said, however that
there was still a long way to go.
John also said, that the necessity to increase the number of
educational psychologists,
speech and language therapists
and other specialists must be
addressed as waiting lists mean
that children are now being
offered a service when it is too
late. He believed it is now time
THE LIMERICK
CONNECTION
Pictured at
the Mary
Immaculate
College stand at
Congress are:
Tom Kennedy,
Vice-President
Student Union,
INTO President,
Angela Dunne,
Deirdre Carroll,
MIC Alumni,
and Máiréad
Horan, CDU
John Carr, INTO General Secretary, addressing Congress
to refocus our attention of the
teacher in the classroom. He
called on the Department to
appoint a teacher to a school
when the school had the appropriate enrolment number
rather than waiting for a year
and for the Gaelscoil schedule
to be applied to all small
schools as a matter of priority.
The General Secretary also
said that teaching must
continue to be an attractive
and rewarding career with a
worthwhile career structure
and to this end he outlined the
key demands made to the
benchmarking body.
Turning to school leadership,
he said the INTO was demanding significant changes to
ensure our principal teachers
are valued and rewarded. He
said, particularly in smaller
schools, salary allowance levels
do not reflect in any way to
duties and responsibilities of
principal teachers and that this
must change.
Turning to other issues, John
called for complete funding for
schools and an end to what
effectively is a local education
tax through fund raising. He
also said that the INTO wants
on-going investment in IT
including teaching materials,
up to date equipment and
appropriate technical support
at local level. He also said we
must get serious on early childhood education and develop a
universal early childhood
education and care system in
schools. In conclusion John
thanked the Minister for her
attendance at the past three
Congresses and for what she
had done to date in primary
education and wished her well
for the future.
Primary Substitute Salary
Amendment to Closing Dates for the Payment
dates of 17 May 2007 and 14 June 2007
Please note the following arrangements with
regard to the closing dates for the payment
dates of  May  and  June  payrolls
which will apply to Primary Substitute Teachers.
Failure to submit substitute salary claim
forms on or before the closing date will result
in a delay in the payment of primary substitute
teachers.
Payment Date Payroll Period
17 May 2007
200720
14 June 2007
200724
Closing Dates
03 May 2007
31 May 2007
33
INTO ANNUAL CONGRESS – MEDIA
Congress in the media
A brief selection of the nation wide coverage
   primary
school principals are
ready to resign their
posts and return to the classroom, according to one of the
most comprehensive surveys to
date of school leaders. High
levels of stress in coping with
an ever-increasing workload is
cited as the single biggest
factor that makes them want to
resign.
Results of the Irish National
Teachers’ Organisation survey
point to an increasing crisis of
leadership in Irish schools as
principals feel weighed down
by administrative, educational
and leadership roles.
The Irish Times
Tuesday,  April 
O
PRIMARY TEACHERS are demanding a
ban on the erection of mobile
phone masts in the vicinity of their
schools.
Children's health is being put at
risk by unregulated capitalism, the
opening session of the INTO heard
last night.
The union, which, has ,
members in the Republic, is
demanding regulations to prevent
the siting of masts near schools. It
also wants an independent agency
to measure the effects of radiation
from the masts. INTO president
Denis Bohane told the conference
that there was strong evidence
around the world of health risks
associated with exposure to electric
and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation.
He said relying on information
from the mobile phone companies
themselves was like "asking Jaws
if it is safe to go back into the
water.”
Irish Independent
R   clothes
have been challenged to prove
that school uniforms are not
being made using child labour
in the developing world.
Primary schools teachers say
that questions are being asked
34
about how retailers can
produce lower cost school
uniforms.
“Every year there is a big fuss
about the high cost of school
uniforms,” said INTO President
Denis Bohane.
“But there is no focus on the
fact that in some shops children can be dressed to go
back to school for practically
nothing.
He said it was time that all
parents buying uniforms asked
the question: “How can this be
done?”
He challenged parents to
stop and think when buying
school clothes as they may be
subsidising child labour and
denying children in poor countries an education.
The Star
HEALTH AND CRIME are, by
common consent, the issues on
which the coalition parties are
most vulnerable in the general
election campaign. But lately a
third public service issue has come
to prominence, in an area in which
the Fianna Fail party in particular
has often prided itself on its
achievements. Figures compiled by
the INTO show that parents
contribute one third of the running
costs of primary schools. The
Organisation reckons the
average annual cost per child as
€. Of this, the state
supplies only €.
Irish Independent Editorial
Monday,  April 
T
  
a stinging attack on local
authorities for imposing
service charges on
underfunded primary schools.
President Denis Bohane of
Irish National Teachers’
Organisation claimed that
money used to pay for water
and waste levies is depriving
pupils of much-needed
resources.
Speaking to  delegates at
the Organisation’s annual
conference in Cork, he said: ‘It
is an obscenity that already
underfunded schools are being
hit with ever-increasing
demands by local authorities
for waste collection charges.
“Water meters are being
installed in school buildings
throughout the country simply
to levy additional charges.
Every Euro taken out of a
school account to meet these
charges deprives a young child
of a book, a classroom of a
poster, a school of a vital learning resource.
“To those councilors who are
part of this I say: ‘Shame on
you.’
“The simple truth is that
schools are being targeted as
cash cows by local authorities.”
Daily Mail
 April 
THE GOVERNMENT has been slated for
its pledge of € million for ICT
(information and communication
technologies) in primary schools
because it equates to just € per
child per year.
At the Irish National Teachers’
Organisation (INTO) conference
Education Minister Mary Hanafin
said she knew ICT in schools is still
“nowhere near where we want it to
be”.
However, INTO General
Secretary John Carr accused the
government of “investing for the
age of the biro” instead of putting
sufficient funds into creating digitally literate pupils.
“While the topline figure of €
million seems impressive, in simple
terms it is €, per school or
€ per classroom or € per
pupil per year,” he said.
Irish Examiner
A ’s INTO , the union’s equality
committee claimed homosexual, transgender and bisexual
teachers are being forced to
mask their sexual orientation
due to fear of repercussions.
“Staff rooms should be a
place for everyone and their
sexual orientation should not
be a bar to them either in
promotion or in allocation of
classes. The person should be
treated as a teacher,” said
principal Kieran Griffin.
Irish Examiner
Thursday,  April 
T
HE IRISH NATIONAL TEACHERS’
ORGANISATION has said it
favours a broad-based
education system which would
allow children of all denominations
a religious education in Irish
schools.
Yesterday at the INTO conference, the union’s General Secretary,
John Carr said: “We must face the
reality that within the primary
education system, many of our
schools give little or no formal
knowledge or understanding of our
relationships with some Christian
or non-Christian religions. We
cannot as a State continue indefinitely to build different types of
schools to accommodate diversity
in every part of Ireland. We have to
find a new way of addressing the
needs of all children within our
education system.”
Irish Examiner
Thursday,  April 
INTO P D B
set the tone in his speech,
warning that children were
losing out by being crowded
out. The applause was deafening.
INTO General Secretary, John
Carr then announced, putting
words in the Minister’s mouth:
“It gives me great pleasure to
announce that capitation will
be doubled under this next
government.” Guffaws of
laughter broke out.
As it turns out, Mary Hanafin
agreed with him, later saying
that this was, in fact, her intention.
Irish Independent
Wednesday,  April 
INTO ANNUAL CONGRESS – MEDIA
OVERCROWDED CLASSROOMS will
remain at the top of the agenda
until “our classes are brought down
to international best practice
levels,” INTO General Secretary
John Carr told delegates. While
welcoming Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern’s commitment to reduce
class sizes in primary schools, he
said: “We, along with the parents,
will wait to see when class sizes will
actually reduce.
“What use is economic growth to
children who have to wait for years
for a speech and language therapist? What use is a massive exchequer surplus to a child who comes to
school hungry? So expect us to go
on campaigning, for while we have
made progress and of that there is
no doubt, there is still a lot to do to
build a society to match our economy.”
The Irish Times
Wednesday,  April 
  EPSEN
(Education for People
with Special
Educational Needs) Act ,
every special needs student in
the State is entitled to an individual education programme
that suits their needs. But
according to John Carr, INTO
General Secretary, this is
simply not happening at
primary level because the
resources are not there to run
the programme.
“There are large numbers of
children with special needs
whose requirements are not
yet being met and this needs to
be worked on,” he said. “We
have the framework in place
but this has to be available to
every child in the country.”
Sunday Tribune
 April 
U
THE SUCCESS OF its campaign for
smaller class sizes had unsettled
Minister for Education Mary
Hanafin and forced the
Government into an embarrassing
U-turn on the issue. Last month,
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced
, extra primary teachers. It
was a bolt from the blue and it
came only days after Ms Hanafin
had appeared to rule out a commitment on anything like that scale in
the Seanad.
She is entitled to feel some sense
of frustration with the INTO.
During her two years in office she
has enjoyed a very good working
relationship with John Carr and
other senior figures in the union.
She has delivered on many of the
INTO’s key priorities.
When she left the rostrum after
her speech yesterday, John Carr
showered the Minister with praise
and spoke of her great contribution.
But Mary Hanafin could be
forgiven for listening to this
through gritted teeth; the truth is
that the INTO campaign on class
size cast the Minister as the villain
in the eyes of both the public and
parents. This was not the way a
Minister would wish to be
portrayed during the run-in to an
election.
It remains to be seen whether the
Minister has been damaged by the
class-size controversy. Until the
issue surfaced, she was breezing
through the education brief. She
has a strong record of achievement
in the brief, but she has not enjoyed
the class-size controversy.
The Irish Times
 April 
B   – by
colleagues and parents –
should be dealt with by a statutory independent authority
instead of school boards,
primary teachers say.
And colleges should provide
more training to help combat
bullying, which was a serious
issue for teachers – Kathy
McHugh – who chairs the
teachers’ union INTO equality
committee – said.
A recent INTO survey said up
to  per cent of teachers had
experienced bullying in the
past six months.
Some  per cent of them had
considered leaving their jobs,
and up to  per cent said they
had changed schools because
of bullying problems.
“People are taking time off
because of stress and money
has to be spent on getting a
substitute teacher in to cover
for them," she said.
“If more training is put into
combating bullying at college
level, teachers can learn how
to deal effectively with the
problem.
Irish Daily Star
 April 
T
HE LARGEST – and generally
most politically astute
union, the Irish National
Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), has
concentrated its fire on class sizes.
Or, to put it another way, on
muscling the government into
hiring more teachers. With some
success, too – in his address to the
recent Fianna Fail ardfheis, the
Taoiseach promised to hire another
, teachers, while last week
Minister for Education Mary
Hanafin promised to double the
capitation grant for primary school
pupils. With these victories in their
schoolbags, the INTO will be back
for more.
Sunday Business Post
 April 
I  , I said to the
Minister, which is carried in
the papers today, that she
would go from being a good
Minister to a great Minister if
she implemented all of the
areas that I said in my address
should be implemented – from
class size, to doubling the
grants for running of our
schools, to delivering for principals, on ICT in our schools
and bringing in universal early
childhood education.
John Carr on RTE Radio 
Drivetime Programme
PARENTS ARE BEING FORCED to pay an
education 'stealth’ tax to make up
the shortfall in State funding for
primary schools. A new survey
revealed that parents are paying a
third of the day-to-day running
costs of schools.
The survey was carried out by the
Irish National Teachers’
Organisation, whose General
Secretary John Carr said: “This
means that for every €2 the state
pays, parents have to pay an additional one euro.”
Schools make up the shortfall
through voluntary subscriptions,
charity walks, readathons, race
nights, golf classics, social evenings
for parents, raffles, cake sales, sales
of work, book sales, school lotto,
Christmas Concerts and school
plays or shows.
Mr Carr said: “Parents pay taxes
to fund education. They should not
have to pay at the double.
“Education is not a charity and it
is time the state funded the real
costs of education.”
“There must be real increases for
schools,” he added, and called for a
doubling of the grant to primary
schools to match what was being
paid to second level schools.
Irish Independent
   calls for
the State to isolate % of
the country’s wealth so
that it can be solely used on
education.
The proposal was made by
Professor Tom Collins at the
three-day annual congress of
the INTO, which began in Cork
this evening.
Professor Collins is the
Chairman of the National
Council for Curriculum and
Assessment and Professor of
Education at NUI Maynooth.
He told delegates this would
bring around €bn into Irish
education and would bring
Ireland in line with countries
like Denmark and the United
States. Ireland currently
spends .% of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) on education.
RTE News
T
35
Resolutions Adopted in Public
CL A SS SIZE
Jane Flannery,
Youghal
Billy Sheehan
Asst General
Secretary,
Head Office
Congress, noting the slight improvement announced in class size by the
Minister for Education and Science:
a. resolves that the INTO continues
to campaign vigorously in partnership with primary school parents
and management in order to ensure
that substantial reductions in class
size are achieved for all classes,
including multiclass, consecutive
classes and single classes;
b. calls upon the government, as an
immediate measure, to further
improve the staffing schedule to
ensure that class sizes in Ireland
are in line with European norms;
c. demands that schools with sufficient numbers on roll on 
September to warrant an
additional teaching post be
allowed to appoint immediately;
d. further demands that pupils with
recognised special educational
needs in mainstream classes
should have a weighting in the
schedule which fully reflects the
educational needs of all children
in the class.
SCHOOL LE ADERSHIP
Anne McCabe,
Dundalk
Fergal
Fitzpatrick,
PDC
36
Noting the increasingly complex
nature of the role of the principal
teacher and the unprecedented
increase in workload arising from
legislation, curriculum revision,
administration and pastoral care,
Congress demands:
a. that Benchmarking  remove the
anomaly in allowances between
primary and post primary principals and deputy principals and
also the anomaly in posts of
responsibility between first and
second level schools;
b. that all staff be included in
determining the allowances of
principals and deputy principals;
c. that teaching principals be
allowed take up special education
posts in their schools;
d. that administrative time for teaching principals, facilitated by dedicated supply panels, be the
equivalent of one day per week in
smaller schools, increasing on a
graded basis up to the appointment
of an administrative principal;
e. a step down facility for principal
teachers which would recognise
their service within the school for
seniority purposes and provide for
appropriate pension and lumpsum entitlements.
FUNDING
Congress deplores the totally inadequate funding of primary education
and calls on the CEC to negotiate with
the DES to:
a. immediately double the capitation
grant which, at its current rate
does not meet the operational
costs of schools;
b. ensure that the first moiety of the
grant is paid by the  September
each year and the final moiety is
paid by the  February each year;
c. introduce on a phased basis
increases in funding which will
end the disparity in per capita
funding between primary and
second level schools;
d. seek to make schools exempt from
public charges such as waste and
water charges which are currently
charged to schools at commercial
rates;
e. explore a new system of funding to
meet the operational costs of
schools to replace the current
flawed and outdated capitation
grant system.
CHILDREN WITH ENGLISH A S AN
ADDITIONAL L ANGUAGE
Congress demands that a properly
funded and resourced system of
support be put in place to help all
teachers who have in their class,
children whose first language is
neither English nor Irish, this support
to include:
a. the provision of comprehensive
inservice training for language
support and mainstream class
teachers;
b. the supply of translation services
to schools;
c. access to language support for
these children which is not
restricted to a maximum of two
years as at present.
PENSIONS
Congress demands that:
a. the CEC enter into discussions
with the TUI and the ASTI to
launch a joint campaign against
the setting of the retirement age at
 for all new teachers entering
the profession;
b. teachers, who give over  years’
service, be entitled to receive
pension benefits for every additional
year in fulltime employment;
c. all substitute work undertaken by
qualified B.Ed/NTs be recognised
by DES for both incremental and
pension purposes;
d. increases granted to serving
teachers under Benchmarking 
be fully applied to the pensions of
retired teachers.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
a. prior to the full implementation
of the EPSEN Act all schools be
given adequate resources, funding
and inservice to implement the
various requirements of the Act;
b. children with severe dyslexia,
severe phonological awareness
disorder, or a standard deviation
of  below the norm relating to a
language disorder be included in
the categories recognised for lowincidence hours;
c. in light of the extremely long waiting lists for HSE, Psychiatric and
Clinical Psychological services,
psychologists, both Educational and
Clinical, would be able to recommend children for low-incidence
hours without having to have
proof of continuing consultations;
d. all specialist services such as
speech, occupational and psycho
therapy required by special needs
pupils in primary schools be
provided by qualified specialists in
these fields;
e. medical services be provided by
qualified medical personnel to
pupils with certified medical
needs in primary schools.
NEWLY QUALIFIED TE ACHERS
Congress notes that under the
Teaching Council Act (), the
Council is required to establish
procedures and criteria for the probation of teachers and in light of same,
demands:
a. that the CEC:
(i) examine all issues relating to
probation including proposals for
reforming and improving the
current process;
Session
(ii) explore the advantages and
disadvantages of establishing a
new model for probation;
(iii) consider the practical consequences of any proposed changes
having particular regard to workload and resources;
(iv) report to Annual Congress
;
b. that the National Pilot Project on
induction be extended immediately to provide support for newly
qualified teachers when they enter
the profession.
BENCHM ARKING
Congress:
a. notes the comprehensive case
made to the Benchmarking Body
on behalf of members by the three
teacher unions;
b. endorses the demands for:
(i) an increase to and re-positioning of the common basic scale to
maintain the high standard of
recruitment and retention in the
teaching profession;
(ii) the restructuring and extension
of qualification allowances in
recognition of the importance of
continuing professional development;
(iii) a substantial increase in the
allowance paid to holders of postgraduate qualifications of Masters
level or higher;
(iv) parity of allowances between
first and second level principals
and removal of the bottom three
bands of the principals’ schedule
in recognition of their leadership
and management roles in primary
schools;
(v) an increase in promotion
allowances to all post holders;
(vi) payment of an allowance to
teachers working in schools designated as disadvantaged, schools
for young offenders and high
support units;
c. reaffirms the approach of the CEC
to the benchmarking claim and in
particular the necessity to maintain the common basic scale and
unity of purpose for all teachers;
d. condemns recent attempts to
undermine the position of the
teacher unions and fracture the
common basic scale for primary
and post-primary teachers;
e. demands that the report of the
Benchmarking Body be issued as
soon as possible and be
implemented not later than the
ending of the current national
agreement.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Congress:
a. acknowledges the need for continuing professional development of
teachers;
b. demands that all mandatory
inservice be held within school time;
c. calls on the CEC to negotiate with
the DES, third level institutions
and the Department of Finance in
order to put in place structured,
modular and flexible programmes
of professional development for
practising teachers which lead to
additional professional qualifications attracting credible allowances.
SUBSTITUTE COVER
Congress demands:
a. full substitute cover for all
approved absences;
b. the provision of supply panels of
qualified teachers to cover such
absences.
CARETAKERS AND SECRETARIES
Congress demands that all schools be
entitled to a full-time secretary and
caretaker, paid directly by the DES, on
a salary scale commensurate with
similar grades in the civil service.
ICT
Congress, while acknowledging the
extension of broadband to schools,
notes that schools have received no
funding for ICT since  for hardware, software or technical support.
The INTO demands immediate negotiations with the DES to produce a
coherent policy document on ICT in
education to provide:
a. comprehensive in-service training
for teachers on the integration of
ICT in curricular delivery in the
classroom;
b. for the purchase of software in
general and development of
indigenous digital resources;
c. a five year framework for funding
to enable maintenance, upgrading, repairs and technical services;
and
d. a budget of € million for a five
year catch-up plan for ICT integration in primary schools.
BULLYING AND HAR A SSMENT
Congress, noting with concern
evidence that workplace bullying
and harassment is an ongoing issue
for schools and recognising the
right of all employees to dignity at
work:
a. believes that every board of
management should uphold the
right to dignity at work in its policy
and practice;
b. demands that schools be actively
encouraged and supported in the
inclusion of a clear policy on
sexual orientation in their equality
and anti-bullying statements;
c. calls on the DES and school
management bodies to enter into
discussions with the INTO to
devise or update appropriate
procedures to help prevent and to
deal with complaints of workplace
bullying;
d. calls for the provision of training
in dignity at work issues, policies
and procedures for all involved in
school management;
e. seeks consultation with and training for school employees on these
matters;
f. affirms an approach seeking informal resolution and rebuilding
relationships in all procedures;
and
g. demands the implementation of
the recommendation of the Expert
Advisory Group on Workplace
Bullying ie, that complaints which
cannot be resolved locally may be
referred for determination to a
statutory authority.
Peter McGrane
CEC,
District V
Kathryn
Crowley
Dublin City
South
John Boyle,
CEC,
District VIII
VEC PATRONAGE
Congress notes the proposal that
some Vocational Education
Committees have indicated their
interest in becoming patrons of
primary schools.
Congress instructs the CEC:
a. to take appropriate legal advice on
any possible implications of these
proposals on the conditions of
service and employment of INTO
members; and
b. to report to Congress  on this
matter.
Nora
O’Callaghan,
Cork City
South
37
Resolutions adopted in Public Session (Continued)
E ARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Emer Nelligan,
Limerick City
Kieran
Brosnan,
Portlaoise
Congress:
1. calls on the Department of
Education and Science:
a. to provide an appropriate learning
environment for all children in
infant classrooms, in order to
facilitate the implementation of a
play and activity-based
programme as envisaged in the
Primary School Curriculum ;
b. to provide an optional three year
infant programme for all children
who require such a programme;
c. to expand the Early Start
Programme as part of a universal
early childhood education provision for three year old children;
2. demands that children in Infant
classes who have obvious learning
or behavioural difficulties should
be able to access their required
resources prior to being formally
assessed at seven years of age.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION
Congress directs that the CEC in
consultation with the managerial
authorities demand that the
Government amend the planning
legislation so as to ensure that the
educational accommodation needs of
an area are provided for before residential zoning is granted. Congress
deplores the lack of forward planning
on the part of DES which necessitates
the long term use of expensive temporary accommodation and demands
that all temporary accommodation be
eliminated within five years.
ENROLMENT
a. the Education Welfare Act be
amended to allow for the removal
of a pupil’s name from the school
register following notification to
the NEWB when that pupil has
been absent for a period in excess
of one calendar month during the
school year;
b. dual-enrolment be officially recognised for children with special
needs who would benefit from it;
c. a new system of enrolment and
attendance records be devised.
SAL ARIES AND ALLOWANCES
Congress demands:
a. an Honours Primary Degree
Allowance for teachers who
obtained a BA degree prior to the
specialist teachers’ degree
award;
b. that all B.Ed teachers qualified
prior to  now be granted the
Honours Allowance, in light of the
fact that Mary Immaculate College
of Education now only offers
Honours Degrees;
c. that the starting salary for
Hibernia Graduates be the same as
that for other Graduates with a
primary teaching qualification.
VOTING RIGHT S
Congress demands that the
Government enacts legislation to give
effect to the  referendum which
was supposed to extend voting rights
in Seanad Eireann elections to graduates from all Irish Universities.
STANDARDISED SCHOOL
CLOSURES
Congress demands that the flexible
days holidays, which are outside the
standardised closings, can be taken at
any time that school management so
decides.
Other Congress
Business
A
Johnny Bracken, Principal Officer in the DES, shares a lighter moment at Congress
with Dr Sara Fitzpatrick of the NCCA, Emma Dineen of the CEC
and Sheila Nunan, Deputy General Secretary
38
s well as discussing and debating a
wide variety of resolutions, INTO
Annual Congress also adopted a
number of reports. These included the report
on the accounts of the Organisation
presented by Sheila Nunan, General
Treasurer, on the Monday night as well as
reports from the INTO Education Committee,
INTO Equality Committee and INTO
Principals’ and Deputy Principals’ Committee
on their activities over the last year.
The report of the Benefit Funds Committee
outlining the work they do was also adopted
on the Monday evening.
On the Wednesday morning the Annual
Report of the Central Executive Committee
on activities undertaken on behalf of
members during the course of the past year
was presented and adopted by delegates to
Congress.
Copies of these reports are also available
on the INTO website at www.into.ie
Local Organising Committee
Members of the Local Organising Committee pictured at INTO Annual Congress.
Friends First
sponsor Equality
Conference
Colin O'Regan, Business
Development Manager, Friends
First Finance, presenting cheque
for sponsorship for Equality
Committee to Kathy McHugh,
INTO Equality Committee and
Sheila Nunan, General Treasurer,
INTO.
Women power
For the first time in the history of the INTO the Cathaoirligh of our National Committees
are all women. Pictured are: Mary Cawley, Education Committee, Martina Johnson, Benefit
Funds Committee, Angela Dunne, INTO President and Cathaoirleach, CEC, Valerie
Monaghan, of the Principals’ and Deputy Principals’ Committee, and Kathy McHugh,
Equality Committee.
39
NORTHERN NEWS
Review of special education needs (SEN)
T
he SEN Review team has
continued to meet during
the course of the year.
The Review which is being led
by Marleen Collins from
Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) has continued its
work investigating the future
vision and structures of Special
Educational Needs and Inclusion.
The aim of the Review is to
reduce bureaucracy and improve
the consistency of provision
and access to support. Currently
in Northern Ireland the area of
Special Needs has become an
ongoing paper chase. The level
and type of support available to
the pupil and the teacher varies
from area to area.
The review has drawn on the
experiences of a wide range
professionals. Input was
provided from those involved in
● pre-school provision – play
groups and nursery units;
● mainstream primary and post
primary teachers;
● special needs teachers;
● special schools;
● Education Department and
ELB officers;
● educational psychologists;
● occupational and speech and
language therapists; and
● paediatricians
The Review has looked at special
needs under the following
headings:
● Identification and
assessment.
● Pre school and early identification.
● Capacity building and inclusion.
It is hoped that the Review will
bring about the kind of changes
called for at successive INTO
Northern Conferences. All
proposals should be work
proofed and reviewed to ensure
that they are effective.
A new funding model is
envisaged. This would indicate
that the schools would be given
responsibility for the majority
of funding. They could then
source support from the ‘area
level’. If this was not suitable
40
due to the complexity of the need
the school could move to the
next tier – the ESA. It is envisaged that statementing could
be restricted to children with
very complex long term difficulties requiring multi-disciplinary support. These proposals
are all dependent upon how the
balance is struck between the
tiers. Devolving the money
down to the school could give
the principal the ability to react
to the needs of the pupils and
staff. However, it could also
become an impossible burden
where the principal becomes
the gatekeeper, fire-fighter and
clerical officer combined.
The many changes that are
happening in education at the
moment will undoubtedly have
a significant impact. These
include the merging of the
Education and Library Boards
into the Education and Skills
Authority (ESA). The changes
made to the EAL support services as well as the preference for
maximised supported autonomy for schools (MSA) would
raise some significant
concerns. These can be divided
into the following six areas:
. Recent changes in special
needs have increased the
workload of principals significantly. These changes require
the principals to have a much
greater working knowledge of
the complexities of individual
conditions and difficulties.
At a time when principals are
already struggling with workload issues is it realistic to make
even more demands?
. Currently LMS distorts the
work of schools, it hinders
cooperation and collaboration. Effective support for
special needs could be developed through cooperative
and collaborative practice.
How will maximised supported
autonomy (MSA) help encourage schools to work together?
. While it is recognised that the
pupils require additional
support and there are mecha-
teaching workload. Time
should be specifically allotted
to allow the SENCo to meet
the demands of this post.
What changes will be made to
ensure that the role of SENCo is
developed in a meaningful and
effective way?
Mary Dorman, Northern
Committee
nisms in place to provide
this. Many teachers are
concerned about the lack of
effective support for teachers
as professionals. Teachers
have to juggle the needs of all
the children in their care.
Often the training is focused
upon the individual needs.
Support is also needed in
contextualising that need in a
classroom.
How will the needs of the individual teacher be provided for in the
new arrangements?
. Maximised Supported
Autonomy will mean that the
individual schools will have
maximum control of their
own budget. They could also
become the new gatekeepers.
More control of a smaller
‘cake’ is not really an advance.
What measures are being taken
to ensure that money delegated to
schools will be enough to meet the
needs of children who have SEN?
. It was envisaged under the
original Code of Practice that
the role of SENCo would be
undertaken by a senior
member of staff. The practise
in Northern Ireland has been
inconsistent. There is specific
training available to principals and vice principals but
no specific training for those
undertaking the role of SENCo.
They are often expected to
fulfil this role alongside a full
.As the Department of
Education is now responsible
for pre-school education it is
logical that the protection and
support of the Code of Practice
be extended to the children
and staff in these settings.
Recent reports have highlighted the particular issues
of playgroups. Early identification of SEN is very important and this should usually
be done before the child
reaches formal education.
This puts an important
burden on pre-school settings.
We feel that all such settings
should be teacher led to
ensure true equality of provision for children and staff.
What procedures will be put in
place to ensure that all children
in preschool receive the same
equality of opportunity?
It is important to note that the
future of education in Northern
Ireland is based on the understanding that every teacher is a
teacher of special needs. The
effect of the SENDO legislation
and increased parental choice
will make this more and more
the reality in every classroom.
As part of the process we would
appreciate feed back from
members of INTO. Many changes
are already underway. How are
these changes impacting you?
What issues do you see as a
priority for this union? How well
equipped do you feel to meet
the additional needs of SEN
pupils within the requirements
of the Revised Curriculum.
Members can contact me at
mmlksdorman@aol.co.uk or
forward information\queries
via Northern Office all feedback
would be greatly appreciated.
Mary Dorman, Northern
Committee
■
NORTHERN NEWS
Job applications – an enhancing
experience?
M
any individuals apply
for teaching
positions in schools
only to be informed that they
have not been shortlisted
because the Board of Governors
have deemed they did not meet
the necessary requirements
when the essential or desirable
criteria were enhanced. This
causes consternation for
members who contact INTO
when they fail to be shortlisted.
Can a prospective employer
enhance criteria used in a
recruitment and selection
process?
The short answer is ‘Yes’.
However the employer must
clearly state on the job advertisement that the criteria may
be enhanced and indicate the
type of enhancement that may
be applied eg, “enhancement
may be based on additional years
teaching special needs”.
Enhanced criteria should not
be potentially discriminatory
under any of the statutory
grounds eg, “based on length of
service” as this may constitute
indirect discrimination. Nor is
it acceptable to enhance criteria for matters of expediency.
Job descriptions should accurately reflect the roles and
responsibilities of the post.
Personnel specifications
should contain objective standards that are clearly set out in
the essential and desirable
criteria needed for the effective
performance of the job. In
addition, only factors which are
relevant to the job should be
considered.
practices should be operated in
an open and transparent
manner with appointment on
merit being the core principle.
Criteria set in a personnel specification should be compliant
with the Codes of Practice
developed by the Equality
Commission for Northern
Ireland. A breach of the Code of
Practice will not of itself render
an employer subject to a finding of discrimination. However,
in any discrimination proceedings before an Industrial
Tribunal, the relevant Code of
Practice shall be admissible in
evidence and a Tribunal shall
take into account any provision
of the Code which appears to
be relevant to any question
arising in proceedings before it
(Article A().
Recruitment and selection
Any member who feels that
they have been the subject of
potentially unfair recruitment
practices should contact their
INTO representative as quickly
as possible after they become
aware of the matter.
Tony Carlin, Senior Official
New maternity, paternity and adoptive
arrangements
I
f the baby is due on or after
 April  (even if your
baby is born before this
date), any Statutory Maternity
Pay or Maternity Allowance you
are entitled to can be paid for
 weeks (nine months) - an
increase of  weeks. This also
means that any Working Tax
Credit you are entitled to will
also be paid throughout the 
weeks.
This also applies to the
Occupational Adoption Pay for
adoptive parents who expect
their child to be placed with
them on or after  April .
Other changes from April :
If you qualify for Ordinary
Maternity Leave or Adoption
Leave of six months, you will
●
automatically qualify for an
extra six-month’s Additional
Maternity or Adoption Leave.
This means you can be on
maternity leave for a total of
one year, but any Statutory
Maternity Pay, Maternity
Allowance and/or Working
Tax Credit you are entitled to
will only be paid for the first
 weeks.
If you are on leave for
more than six months (the
period of Ordinary Maternity
or Adoption Leave), your
employer will assume you
will return at the end of
Additional Maternity or
Adoption Leave.
If you want to return
before the end of Additional
Maternity or Adoption Leave
(for example, when your
●
●
●
maternity pay stops after 
weeks), you will need to give
notice to your employer, see
below.
Statutory Maternity Pay or
Maternity Allowance will
start on the first day of your
Ordinary Maternity Leave.
You will be allowed to work
up to  ‘keeping in touch’ days
during your Ordinary
Maternity Leave or Adoption
Leave without losing the
Statutory Maternity Pay or
Statutory Adoption Pay for
that week, or your Maternity
Leave period coming to an
end. Neither you, nor your
employer, will have the right
to demand that you work
these days, but they can be
agreed between you.
If you want to return to work
before the end of your additional maternity or adoption
leave (see above), you must
give your employer eight weeks
notice of your return to work.
Brendan Harron,
Senior Official
41
NORTHERN CONFERENCE
Schools for the future: a critique
T
he George Bain Report
Schools for the Future has
been heralded and
welcomed by everyone from the
Education Minister Maria Eagle,
MP right down to all teaching
unions including INTO. The
question that begs to be asked
is why would a report which, if
implemented, in its entirety
and would cause such huge job
losses and rationalisation is
welcomed by all and sundry?
The answer, quite simply in
my own opinion, is that to
oppose its sentiments (which
are laudable if you ignore reality and job losses and lose your
head as a trade union) would
make one a firm sectarian. Fear
of being labelled sectarian is
what is preventing an opposition to the Bain Report. The
concepts of integration and
sharing which Bain propose are
so aspirational and wonderful
that only a die-hard could
oppose them. But any normal
parent, teacher, trade unionist,
political party or MLA would
very firmly oppose their implications if they weren’t treading
on the eggshell ground that is
Northern Ireland politics.
Everyone in Northern Ireland
(bar a recalcitrant minority at
this stage) wants to see more
integration in schooling and
more of a coming together
across the divide so to speak.
But is Bain the way forward?
Bain’s aspirational piece of
research works, or would work,
in certain interface or identifiable pockets or areas across
Northern Ireland, but not withstanding this, it is almost unimplementable in the areas that
matter from industry right
through to schooling. Bain will
not work on the Falls Road or
the Shankill Road. Not now and
maybe never. Nor will it work in
the Bogside or the Waterside.
Not now and maybe never.
Bain’s twain cannot meet here,
not at this moment in time, or
in the distant future.
Every school in these areas
can be declared integrating
schools but it will be an integra-
42
Sir George Bain with former Education Minister, Maria Eagle, MP
tion merely of their Catholic or
Protestant counterparts and
not with each other. The integration or sharing or facilitating envisaged in a “Shared
Future” simply won’t happen.
Bain’s report in this context is
contingent on the sectarian
nature of our society becoming
non-sectarian in the near or
even distant future. Bain envisages giving the same integrating status to every school based
on “Area Based Planning”.
Imagine a scenario where in
the perfect primary area there
are four schools: Maintained,
Controlled, Irish medium and
Integrated and they are all
within walking distance of one
another and each specialises in
something. Under Bain this is
ideal. Pupils can walk the walk;
talk the talk and share and share.
But in reality will that happen?
Bain by enlarge ignores the
curriculum. But for a school or
teachers to deliver a curriculum
pupils in the main need to be
on site and in school a great
deal of the time so will
Protestant, Catholic, Irish
Speaking or integrationists ever
have more than a passing
glimpse at one another?
Realistically the answer is no.
The only school in this scenario
(and be as critical as you want)
delivering the “A Shared Future”
concept, bringing pupils
together under the same roof
where friendships are formed
etc. (even if it doesn’t address
the problems in their entirety)
is the integrated school.
George Bain may well be light
years ahead of Northern Ireland
society but the integrated
movement which began in
Lagan College  years age is
still light years ahead of George
Bain. Imperfect and all as the
Integrated sector in Northern
Ireland is, it still has a recipe
that everyone needs to look at
not dismiss.
The same recipe applies
across all the other sectors but
they have a reason to exist
along sectarian lines.
Integrated education exists
merely, or supremely, because
of the will power of mostly its
parents who exercise a real
choice.
In my opinion, George Bain
doesn’t address reality, either
philosophically or intellectually. The trade union/industrial
relations’ issues that will be the
critical firefighting issues for
teachers in years to come were
inexplicably outside his terms
of reference. George Bain’s
report has taken the easy
option. He doesn’t want to
thread on the toes of the established churches so as a balance
he has come up with an ‘airy
fairy’ system, which in effect
accommodates sectarianism.
Sectarianism should not be
accommodated, it should and
must be challenged. The
accommodation of sectarianism has for far too long been a
feature of every report that has
been published on Northern
Ireland education. George Bain
has not challenged it either, his
report merely accommodates it.
The implications of the Bain
Report from a trade union viewpoint are colossal and I hope to
address them in the next issue
of Printout.
Mary
Cahillane,
Chairperson,
Northern
Committee
NORTHERN NEWS
Northern teachers face paycuts
N
orthern Committee has expressed
alarm at the continuing public
sector pay cut strategy of the
Labour Government. Teachers in Northern
Ireland have agreed a straitjacket pay parity
arrangement with that agreed for teachers
in England and Wales, contextualised for
Northern Ireland. Scottish teachers get a
better deal thanks to their union EIS
(Educational Institute Scotland).
In England and Wales, the largest teachers’ union in Europe, the National Union of
Teachers (NUT) is excluded from negotiations within the so-called “National
Agreement”. NASUWT and ATL proclaim
this to be a “social partnership” body but
the results for teachers have been less than
impressive:
● Harsh teacher appraisal arrangements.
● A miserable, below inflation two-year pay
settlement –  Sept  –  Sept  of
.%.
So much for this hybrid social partnership arrangement. Worse is to follow.
Alan Johnson, Labour Education
Secretary, has instructed the School
Teachers’ Review Body to recommend a
new pay deal to cover September  to
August , based on the Government’s %
inflation target.
Johnson also wants the extension of
performance related pay telling the Review
Body that pay progression should be linked
to “greater challenge for the individual”
teacher.
Frank Bunting, Northern Secretary
stated:
“The exclusive actions of the
NASUWT/ATL are effecting pay cut on
teachers. Now, more than ever, is the need
for united trade union action. Johnson’s
proposal for - constitutes a
substantial salary cut for teachers and this
English hybrid of social partnership is
indeed a strange development.
Caitriona Ruane, Education Minister (Designate)
N
orthern Committee representatives
met Caitriona Ruane Education
Minister Designate following her
address to Congress and welcomed her to
her new post.
Key issues raised with her included:
● More North/South co-operation on
education disadvantage and the
education of children with English as
an additional language in schools.
● Reform of the school funding
mechanisms of Local Management of
Schools (LMS).
● The ending of academic selection at  to
post primary schools.
Pictured at INTO Congress are Frank
Bunting, Northern Secretary, Caitriona Ruane,
Minister for Education (Designate) and Mary
Cahillane, Chairperson, Northern Committee.
INTO team for Belfast Marathon 2007
O
n the May Bank Holiday, a
team made up of the Northern
Secretary, Frank Bunting,
INTO Officials Deirdre O’Connor,
Alison Gilliland, Orla Walsh and Laura
Gartside from the Dublin office will
take part in the Team Relay of the
Belfast City Marathon. The team are
running in support of the Global
Campaign for Education for All which
promotes education as a basic human
right, and mobilises public pressure on
governments and the international
community to fulfill their promises to
provide free, compulsory public basic
education for all people; in particular
for children, women and all disadvantaged, deprived sections of society. If
you would like to support the
Campaign, please send donations to
any team member at INTO Head Office,
or the Belfast office.
43
TE ACHER TO TE ACHER
Ó Mhúinteoir go Múinteoir
A ‘whole school – home school’
reading initiative
Up to 5,000 books read in six weeks!
S
coil Fhursa, Cromcastle,
Kilmore West, Dublin  is
a Band  Category DEIS
school with an enrolment of 
boys. The INTO President
‘/’, Denis Bohane visited
the school recently as it celebrated the conclusion of a six
week whole-school, homeschool reading initiative.
Aim
The Home School Reading
Initiative aimed to promote a
culture of reading in the home.
The key priority for the school
was to support parents to
become actively and meaningfully involved in their children’s
literacy learning. The
programme would involve
collaboration between the principal teacher, class teachers,
learning support teachers,
home school community
liaison (HSCL) coordinator, all
parents and their children.
Operation of the initiative
All children were to be
included. It was essential therefore that a suitable selection of
books to match the reading and
comprehension levels of individual children at each class level
would be accessed by the learning
support teachers. Class teachers
sorted their allocation of books
into two,three or four categories
depending on the reading levels
in the respective classes. The
children then selected books
based on their ability and interest under the guidance of the
class teacher. The interest and
enthusiasm of the principal in
promoting and supporting the
initiative with teachers and parents
was central to its operation.
With Denis Bohane, INTO President: l to r: Martin Stynes (Principal),
Dympna Mulkerrins (Home School Liaison co-ordinator), Aoife
O'Gorman (Senior Infants teacher), Rosemary Darby, Margaret Sherwin
(parents), Áine Crawford (3rd class teacher), Lorraine Metcalfe
(SNA/parent), children: Ryan Ward and Craig Law.
their child’s reading at home.
The principal, class teachers
and HSCL were present. The
HSCL teacher made arrangements to meet with those
parents who could not attend.
The home school reading initiative placed strong focus on
reading for meaning; therefore,
support was provided as to how
parent and child might share the
stories and books orally through
talk and discussion (book cover,
predicting, making meaning
from the pictures), as well as
summarising, recounting and
critiquing individual books and
stories. Each parent received a
home reading pack containing
their child’s chosen books, a
user-friendly ‘reading strategies’
home guideline sheet, a booklet
for recording books read and a
sticker for each book read. Book
packs were exchanged on a
weekly basis. Class teachers and
HSCL provided on-going support
for parents. On average, each
child read three books per week
with their parents; in total up to
 books were read during
February/March .
Central Role of the Class Teacher
Support for parents
Most parents attended meetings
arranged through HSCL where
the initiative was introduced; an
outline was also provided as to
how parents might best support
To ensure maximum benefit for
each child, daily focus by the
class teacher was deemed
necessary. Many teachers facilitated the ‘hot-seating’ activity
whereby one child ‘took the
chair’ while his classmates
asked questions about the book/
story he had read with his
parents. Other teachers created
space for oral sharing of the
description of the main characters, summaries and reviews of
books already read at home. Art
work/written book reviews/
summaries were displayed on
the corridors and in classrooms
based on children’s favourite
books. HSCL liaised closely with
class teachers throughout to
ascertain on-going levels of
participation by families. This
proved to be a valuable element
as it ensured the initiative was
sustained as a live issue in our
school community for six weeks.
Was the programme a success?
Parents, teachers and children
would like the programme to
have been continued longer
than six weeks. Some typical
comments:
PARENTS
“I felt I could approach HSCL or
class teacher for support and
advice when I needed it and I
valued that.”
“This made reading a fun experience – there was a good team spirit
between child, parent and teacher.”
“I’ve learned that even though
my child can’t read every word,
he could still understand and
repeat the story back to me.”
“I know now that all the playstation
games in the world will not capture
a child’s imagination like a book
does.”
“I’ve learned that there is more
to reading than just listening to
the story – recapping, asking
questions, changing the
endings: we have now set up a
new book shelf in our home.”
“I discovered that the reading time
was good bonding time between me
and my child.”
TEACHERS
“This initiative created a good
atmosphere in my classroom;
the children were so enthusiastic about changing their books.”
“The children were really excited –
they were discussing books,
making recommendations, scanning covers and text to check for
interest and suitability.”
“The children were motivated
to read their books to the end –
the hot seating was a good way
of checking understanding of
content and of encouraging
reading for meaning.”
“The enthusiasm, co-operation
and interest shown by the parents
was inspiring- all so worth-while.”
“There is a motivation to read a
wider range of books now –
some parents went and bought
the continuing series of some
books.”
CHILDREN
“I was able to tell my Mam the
story back without help!” (nd
Class).
“When my Mam and me discussed
the characters we had different
opinions. We didn’t like the same
kind of stories sometimes.” (th
class).
“All my family got involved in
my reading – Mam, Dad, my
sister. Some days the telly was
turned off for reading time.”
(th class).
■
Dympna Mulkerrins,
HSCL Coordinator
45
RETIREMENT S
Ennis
Long serving members of Ennis
Branch who were honoured at a
recent retirement function are
pictured with Branch Secretary
Dick O’Connell and Cathaorleach
Catherine Sweeney
Kilkenny
A group of Kilkenny retiring primary school teachers
pictured with officials at a function in their honour.
From left, Niamh O’Higgins, Branch Secretary;
Joan Cullinane, St Patrick’s Special School;
Lucy Byrne, Freshford NS; Catherine Kinsella, Branch
Organiser; Hanna Hogan Tullaroan NS; Gemma
McGirr, St Patrick’s De La Salle NS; Gerry O’Neill,
Muckalee NS; Claire Byrne, CEC; Mary D Lynch,
Presentation NS; Bridie Mansfield and Teresa Doyle,
Presentation NS.
Photo by Tom Brett.
Ballinamore/Breifne
INTO President
Denis Bohane
makes a
presentation
to Evelyn
Smith to mark
her
retirement as
a member of
Ballinamore/
Breifne Branch
Portlaoise
Pictured at the Portlaoise Branch retirement function are: L to R front
row: Retiring members Noeleen Pratt and John Dunne together with
David Finnegan of the INTO Principals’ and Deputy Principals’
Committee and Tom O’Sullivan, Assistant General Secretary. L to R back
row: Sheelagh Coyle (member of the INTO Equality Committee), Joan
Lochader, John Cotter, Miriam Sinnott and Portlaoise Branch Secretary
Yvonne Gleeson. Between them the teachers provided nearly  years
of teaching service. Photo courtesy of Michael Scully.
BRÍD BOWS OUT – CORRECTION
InTouch would like to apologise to Bríd Cronin for an error in the
caption of her photograph in the March issue. Bríd was a long
standing and very active member of the Killarney Branch of the
INTO and the wrong caption was inadvertently included in the last
issue. The caption should have read “Bríd is pictured with her
daughter Máire (teacher in St Oliver’s NS, Killarney), Áine,
(teacher in St Louis NS, Rathmines) and her son Padraigh (teacher
in Gorey, Co Wexford).
47
RETIREMENT S
District VI retirements
THREE NATIONAL COMMITTEE
MEMBERS RETIRE FROM DISTRICT 6
Pictured L to R are Padraigh Mac Giollarnaith, Treasurer; Maire Ní Chuinneagain, CEC;
Carmel Niland; Bill Connelly; Noel Lohan; Chairperson; Cait Ní Mhaille; Oliver Donogher,
Secretary, and past INTO President, Brian Hynes.
To lose one is unfortunate, losing two is careless,
but to lose three of the calibre of Bill Connelly
(Standing Orders), Cait Ni Mhaille (Accounts
Committe) and Carmel Niland (Education
Committe) in one fell swoop must be disastrous!
Of course delegates to District 6 will be well
aware that we have three excellent replacements.
They also be aware of the great service and hard
work put in over the years by Bill, Cait and Carmel
and on behalf of the  or so INTO members in
Galway and Roscommon, Noel Lohan
(Chairperson) would like to thank them most
sincerly for their service to the INTO in general
and to District  in particular. District  wish
them well in the next stage of their lives.
Pictured at Elphin/Stokestown retirement L to R are Maire Ní Chuinneagain, CEC; Kathleen
Brehony; Martin Tiernan; Teresa Towey; Margaret Brennan; Phia Gannon, Branch Secretary;
and Kathleen O’Dowd, Chairperson.
Pictured at the INTO function to honour recently
retired members of Mountbellew INTO Branch.
Seated: Mrs Christina Mitchell, Menlough NS, Máire
Ni Chuinneagáin, INTO CEC, Ms Mary Donnelly,
Caltra NS. Back row: Mr Tom Gavin, Chairperson, Fr P
O’Connor, PP Mountbellew, Mr Tom Greally, Sec.
Mountbellew Branch.
Su doku
The Comhar
Linn Su Doku
challenge is to
fill every grid
with one of the
digits  to , so
that all  digits
appear on each
row and each
column, as well
as in each of the
 square-shaped
cells. There is a
unique solution
to each puzzle.
Good Luck.
Solution on
page .
Dungarvan retirements
Declan Kelleher, CEC; Margaret Cunningham, Branch Commitee; Don
Sheil, Branch Secretary; Síle Murphy; Victor Mullins, Branch Committee;
49
NEWS
Protecting your personal financial
information
B
y making yourself aware
of different types of
fraud, you can prevent
criminals from stealing your
personal financial information
or money from your bank
accounts. So what can you do to
prevent your own information
falling into the wrong hands?
Be aware
Criminals may try to get your
personal financial details by
claiming to be from your bank
or credit card company. They
may ‘phone or email you saying
that there has been a ‘security
breach’ on your account and
you need to confirm your bank
account details, your PIN or
your internet or ‘phone banking registration numbers. If you
want to check if the call or
email is legitimate, phone your
bank at the number you
normally use, or the number on
your statement. Do not call the
number given in the email or by
the caller. Never enter your
details on a website that is sent
to you via a link in an email.
Regularly check the transactions on your bank and credit
card statements. If you notice
Su doku
solution
Protect your PIN
ATM to something you can
remember easily, although not
to something too easy to guess
like  or .
When you are using your
cards at an ATM or in a shop, be
careful to make sure that noone sees you enter your PIN.
You can do this by covering the
keypad with your hand and
making sure that no-one is
standing too close to you. Don’t
be reluctant to ask someone to
step back if you feel uncomfortable or think they are trying to
see your PIN.
This means not writing it down
anywhere, storing it in your
mobile phone or telling it to
anyone. When you get your PIN,
memorise it and destroy the
slip. If you can’t memorise your
number, you can change it at an
When you pay with your credit
or debit card, don’t let your
card out of your sight, particularly when you are abroad.
Credit cards can be copied in
anything that you are unsure
about, report it to your bank or
credit card company immediately.
Destroy (tear up, shred or
burn) any receipts or
statements that show your full
card number. Most retailers’
receipts just show the last four
digits of your card, but do check
before you throw them away.
Sign your cards as soon as you
receive them and cut up your
old cards when they expire.
Using payment cards
just a few seconds. If the card
terminal is not nearby, ask to go
with the staff member to the
terminal.
Don’t use an ATM if you think
it has been tampered with. If
there seems to be something
wrong with the ATM and someone offers to ‘help’ you, get your
card back and walk away.
If your card is lost or stolen,
report it to your card issuer
immediately. Do not delay in
reporting the loss, as you could
be held liable for any fraudulent
transactions that occur before
you make the report. Store the
phone number for your bank or
credit card company’s lost and
stolen card line into your
mobile phone, if you have one.
This will help you to quickly
report a lost or stolen card.
Investment ‘opportunities’
If you get offered an investment
deal, always get the name of the
firm and check if they are
authorised by the Financial
Regulator by calling  
. If you have had no previous
dealings with them, ask where
they got your details. Don’t be
pressurised by hard-sell tactics.
BOOK ON
TEACHERS’
PENSIONS
LAUNCHED
Michael
Moroney,
former INTO
General
Treasurer,
pictured with
Mary O'Rourke
at the launch
of his book on
National
Teachers’
Salaries and
Pensions 18312000. See review
in next month’s
InTouch.
51
CUM ANN NA MBUNSCOL
National Handball Exhibition Day
T
he Girls’ National Handball Day took place
on Sunday,  March in Croke Park. Six girls
from each province, three under eleven and
three under thirteen, played singles and doubles
matches having qualified from their county and
provincial competitions. A memorable day was had
by all and Cumann na mBunscol Náisiúnta is
indebted to Paul Hart, Noeleen Rooney and Paddy
Corbett for organising the day. The coiste is also
indebted to the officials from Croke Park and the
National Handball Association for their assistance
in organising this event. The boys’ day takes
place on Saturday,  April beginning at .
a.m. in Croke Park. Photographs from these and
other Cumann na mBunscol Náisiúnta organised
events are available on www.scoilsport.org.
Right: the Connacht handball team proudly wearing
their provincial jerseys
Cumann and Play Sport in School!
O
O’Reilly, Bro. James Dormer and
Ciarán Byrne. Also present on
the day to lend their support to
this campaign were Liz Howard,
President of the Camogie
Association, Cork hurler Ronan
Curran, Young Hurler of the
Year Cha FitzPatrick and Rena
Buckley, All Ireland camogie
and ladies football winner.
umann na mBunscol
Náisiúnta has negotiated a
special promotion with Irish
sportswear manufacturer Azzurri.
Azzurri, a Waterford company
is a licensed GAA kit and equipment supplier to Clubs and
Counties.
This special price offer will
run for six weeks only –  April
to  May .
Prices are as follows:
● Jerseys €.
● Shorts €.
● Socks €.
● Jackets €.
● Tracksuit tops €.
● Tracksuit ends €.
● Polo shirts €.
Allow additional €. per
embroidered schools crest.
Additionally Azzurri will
provide Sliotars and/or
Footballs to % of the order
value Free of Charge with all
orders.
For further details contact
Azzurri on  .
sales@azzurri.ie
C
NEWB Every School Day Counts
Launch in Croke Park
n Wednesday,  April
six pupils from St
Joseph’s NS, Glenealy
in the heartland of Wicklow
hurling represented all the
primary school children of
Ireland at the official launch of
NEWB’s Every School Day
Counts initiative in a sunny
Croke Park. NEWB presented
Cumann na mBunscol with
, sliotars which will be
used across the country in each
county’s camogie and hurling
finals Research has shown the
health benefits attached to
regular participation in sport.
Speaking at the launch of this
initiative Eddie Ward, CEO of
The National Education Welfare
Board, stated that sport
provides children with an
enjoyable reason to attend
school. It can enrich the quality
of their lives and help build a
strong circle of friends, as well
as helping them to grow and
develop personally, socially,
emotionally and physically.
This message was reiterated by
Minister for Children, Brian
Lenihan T.D. Representing
Cumann na mBunscol were
Margaret Cunningham, Jim
Cumann na
mBunscol and
Azzurri
Sportswear
Promotion
Helen Joyce of Den TV and
Katriona McFadden from
Drivetime along with Setanta
Sport ensured that the broadcasting media were well represented along with their
colleagues in the print media.
Photographs from this launch
are available on
www.scoilsport.org.
Congress
2007
nce again the Cumann na
mBunscol Náisíúnta stand
at the trade fair at Congress was
an outstanding success with
numerous visitors. All items at
the stand were free of charge
and teachers were able to
collect posters, booklets and
other GAA related material to
bring back to their schools.
There were also two free
draws. Azzurri sponsored various prizes of sports kit to the
value of €, and NEWB
donated tens packs of ten sliotars. The winners of the sports
kit will be contacted directly by
Azzurri and the winners of the
sliotars who did not collect
their prize at the stand should
be receiving them in the post
shortly.
O
Cha FitzPatrick, Liz Howard, Brian Lenihan, Margaret Cunningham,
Ronan Curran, Rena Buckley with pupils from Glenealy NS.
53
NEWS
Teachers’ All Ireland Soccer Tournament
M
ore than  primary
teachers participated
in the annual all
Ireland indoor soccer tournament organised by Limerick
primary teachers in March last.
The competition attracted a
wide variety of teams in three
categories:
Men’s Open.
● Woman’s Open.
● Men’s Over .
Competition was very tight
over the weekend. In a closely
fought final of the Open
Competition, the Flat Out team
based in Kildare overcame the
Mighty Men of Munster.
In the women’s competition,
last year’s winners, High Flyers,
were beaten in the final by Las
Chicas.
In the over  competition,
last years beaten finalists
●
Limerick Veterans overcame
the challenge of the Raheny
Team.
Next year marks the th
anniversary since the beginning of this tournament and
plans are already in train mark
the event.
MIGHTY MEN OF
MUNSTER
Front l to R: John Mullins, Aidan
Shea, Noel Joy, Dennis Casey
Back l to r: Jonathon Rahmone,
Joe Houlihan, Neil B. Foley, Aidan
Rynne.
FLAT OUT
Front l to r: Fergus McHugh,
Padraig Trimble, Fergus Carey
Back l to r: Cathal Fenton,
Damian O' Sullivan, Aódán
Mahony, Francis Noone
LAS CHICAS
Front l to r: Elaine Grandfield,
Maura Barry, Joanne Doherty,
Claire O'Dowd, Anne Keohane.
Back l to r: Fiona O'Donoughue,
Michelle McAdoo, Maria
Marrinan, Lucy O'Connell.
HIGH FLYERS
Back l to r: Nicola Corcoran, Brid
Burke, Mary Delaney,
Louise Roddy.
Front l to r: Louise Keegan,
Caitriona Ni Dhonnchu,
Denise King.
RAHENY
Front l to r: Paddy Courtney
Charlie Keeney Michael Dillon
Back l to r: Robin Booth- Noel
Ellis-Jerome Murphy-Diarmuid
O'Ceallaigh
LIMERICK VETERANS
Front l to r: Pat O’Gorman,
Ciarán Crowe,Mike O’Sullivan,
Barry Lordan
Back l to r: Liam Dillon, Tom
O’Dwyer, Flan clune, John
Nelligan, Brian Dillon
55
NATIONAL NEWS
Scéalta Náisiúnta
Minority Ethnicities and Minority Languages in
Irish Education – June Conference
T
he participation of minority ethnic
groups in the Irish education system
schools is nothing new, and unfortunately not well handled in the past. The
laissez-faire assimilation of Vietnamese
refugees in the late seventies led to their
dropout from education, and the history of
discrimination and under-achievement of
members of the indigenous Travelling
community has been well documented.
These issues have been eclipsed more
recently, however, by the wave of immigration to Ireland of foreign-born persons who
may/may not have English as an additional
language (EAL). Census  figures
released in March  put this figure at
approximately one in ten persons living in
the Republic of Ireland.
Concerns about the quality of education
for students of minority ethnic and/or
language heritage now face Irish schools on
a much more widespread and immediate
scale. Mainstream class teachers are dependent on language support teachers to take a
small number of their students for a limited
period each day. Currently EAL students are
allocated two years language support. After
this time a language achievement test will
determine the continuation of this support.
International evidence shows that it takes a
minimum of four years for EAL pupils to
reach grade-level proficiency. Thus those
who do not speak English as their first
language are currently at an immediate
disadvantage due to this deficit model of
support, where the first language skills of
the pupil are unrecognised and unused.
Proper maintenance of children’s first
languages is internationally regarded as
crucial to their additional language learning and their academic progress through a
new language. While arguments may
suggest that not all children’s first languages
can possibly be catered for, this should not
preclude the availability of training in
Language Aware Teaching Methods, the
appointment of multilingual classrooms
assistants, or the funding of first and second
language teaching programmes for minority
ethnic communities.
Other supports to teachers such as the
Intercultural Guidelines for Primary Schools
(NCCA, ), which deal with anti-racism,
for example have been sent to schools without supplementary professional development for teachers. Therefore their impact
has been unexamined and potentially
diluted. The current debate about language
and capacity issues is crucial to developing
proper support for all children in our
schools. However, not only has the issue of
supporting minority languages been left
out of the picture (neglecting the proven
academic advantages this brings), the
connection to debates on race and ethnicity, and to those of institutional racism in
education is often weak and unsatisfactory.
A major concern should be that second
generation children, who may/may not
grow up  years from now as multi-lingual
or English-only speakers, will languish in
the residue of ineffective efforts to tackle
racist/deficit/pathologising assumptions
about their parents’ generation.
The constraints on schools and teachers, as
well as the lack of professional support given
to schools raises important questions about
how the education system views the wider
changes happening in our society. Does the
education system view change and inequality
as something being done to it, or something
it constantly contributes towards? Given the
under-achievement of black and minority
ethnic students in western education
systems, what will make Ireland any different?
Thursday,  June  sees an important opportunity for primary teachers to
participate in a conference on ethnic and
linguistic diversity in schools in St Patrick’s
College, Dublin . We
regard this as an important event in terms of
informing a wider
number of teachers about
key messages on the
learning of language and
multiple ethnicities in an
international education
context. Another key aim is for
attendees to get
involved and
contribute their experiences.
The keynote speaker will
be Professor Jim Cummins, an
Irish-born professor at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of
Toronto. He is widely respected as one of
the world’s foremost experts on the
language development and literacy development of learners of English as an additional language. Other speakers will offset
Professor Cummins’ work with their experiences and knowledge of the Irish context,
including the experiences of students,
teachers and parents.
Further details are available on
www.spd.dcu.ie/memlconference.
Places are limited. If you wish to attend the
conference, please book your place in
advance by emailing memlconf@spd.dcu.ie.
The fee is €, and € for students and the
unwaged (fee includes lunch). Primary
teachers are permitted by the DES to attend
the conference provided they have received
prior approval from their board of management and suitable arrangements are made
for the performance of the teacher’s duties
in his/her absence at no additional cost to
the DES. Pupils of affected classes must
attend school on this day.
■
Karl Kitching, St Patrick’s College
Education Department and Rory
McDaid, St Gabriel’s NS.
57
TIPS
Nodannas
T
ús maith – leath na
hoibre, nó sin mar a
mhaíonn an seanfhocal ar aon nós! Is
minic a ghlacaimid
le comhairle an tseanfhocail
chéanna, go háirithe agus scrúduithe sa mhullach orainn, nó
ag tús na hathbhliana, agus
dea-nósanna á leagadh amach
don bhliain romhainn! Bhuel
anois, ar mhaith leat tús maith
a chur le forbairt na Gaeilge
duit féin, don rang, don
scoil? Más amhlaidh bí
linn ar an gCeathrú Rua
Mí Bealtaine – Deireadh
Seachtaine Tús Maith!
Tá cuiditheoirí Tús
Maith níos mó ná sásta
tacú leat. Ní neart go
cur le chéile!
Tháinig Tús Maith ar
an saol faoi Cháisc
anuraidh nuair a sheol
an tAire Oideachais,
Mary Hanafin, an clár
úr nua seo ag
Comhdháil Chumann
Múinteoirí Éireann.
Tugadh cúram an chláir seo
don Chlár Tacaíochta don
Churaclam Bunscoile, le
cur i gcrích i mbunscoileanna na tíre. Tá
aidhmeanna ar leith ag Tús
Maith:
● Cumas teanga an mhúinteora
a fhorbairt chomh maith le
misneach agus muinín sa
Ghaeilge a spreagadh.
● Forbairt ghairmiúil an
mhúinteora a éascú.
● Oiliúint ar Churaclam na
Gaeilge.
Ag tús na scoilbhliana , chuir Tús Maith deiseanna ar fáil do mhúinteoirí
aonair, d’fhoirne scoile agus do
phríomhoidí i dtrí phobal
scoileanna (gnáthscoileanna,
scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge,
scoileanna Gaeltachta) a riachtanais éagsúla a bhaineann le
cumas na Gaeilge a chur in iúl.
Léiríodh go soiléir an dlúthcheangal idir chumas teanga an
mhúinteora a fhorbairt chomh
maith le misneach agus muinín
sa Ghaeilge a spreagadh agus
múineadh agus foghlaim na
Gaeilge ar scoil. Bhí comhairliúchán agus comhpháirtíocht
ag croílár na hoibre seo i
gcónaí. I measc na moltaí a
bhaineann le feabhas a chur ar
An Turas
go dtí seo!
chumas na Gaeilge, d’aithin
múinteoirí agus cuiditheoirí
iad seo a leanas:
● Ceardlanna teanga iarscoile a
stiúradh a bheadh dírithe ar
riachtanais teanga na múinteoirí/scoileanna.
● Ceardlanna gréasáin sa
Ghaeilge a reáchtáil agus a
sholáthar go réigiúnach
dírithe ar leibhéil chumais
éagsúla.
● Grúpaí comhrá a fhorbairt
chun deiseanna a sholáthar
do mhúinteoirí an Ghaeilge a
úsáid mar ghnáth-theanga
agus iad i mbun caidrimh
lena chéile go neamhfhoirmeálta.
● Ceardlanna cruinnis a
sholáthar dírithe ar mhúinteoirí ar mhian leo
gramadach níos cruinne a
bheith acu agus deis a fháil a
gcuid scileanna a fhorbairt.
● Tuiscint, líofacht, cruinneas
agus saibhreas na Gaeilge a
fhorbairt trí mhúnlóireacht
agus trí mhéantóireacht
ranga agus trí fhóraim plé a
chothú agus a spreagadh.
Deiseanna a sholáthar chun
ábhar amháin nó codanna
d’ábhair a mhúineadh trí
Ghaeilge.
● Seirbhís eolais cuimsitheach
agus tacaíocht leanúnach a
sholáthar ar bhonn reigiúnda
trí áiseanna tacaíochta idirlín,
cúrsaí gairmiúla oiliúna,
seimineáir agus cruinnithe
dírithe ar mhodheolaíochtaí
teanga, ar churaclam agus ar
fhorbairt teanga.
● Cursaí cumais sa Ghaeltacht.
● Cursaí samhraidh.
● Ceardlanna do phríomhoidí/
bhainistíocht inmheánach
scoile a sholáthar chun
idirphlé breise a dhéanamh
maidir leis na sainriachtanais
phleanála, forbartha agus
tacaíochta don Ghaeilge.
Cúiseanna ilréimseacha atá
mar bhunús leis an ngéarchéim
agus sa tslí chéanna, beidh gá le
cur chuige ilghnéitheach agus
le réimsí éagsúla feabhais – mar
atá molta thuas – chun dul i
ngleic leis na dúshláin a
léiríodh.
Tá Tús Maith i mbun oibre, ag
●
tacú libh, ó shin sna ranganna,
sna scoileanna agus sna h’ionaid
oideachais. Talamh úr le treabhadh gan amhras – ach
beimid ag súil go mór leis
an bhFómhar.
Tá Deireadh Seachtaine
ar leith á reáchtáil
againn ar an
gCeathrú Rua, úú Bealtaine.
Cloistear an port
céanna ó mhúinteoirí go minic… I’d
love to spend a
weekend/week in
the Gaeltacht to
polish up my Irish,
but it’s too expensive/at the wrong
time of the year….
Shocraigh foireann
Tús Maith tabhairt
faoin ngearán seo a
réiteach. Ba léir go
raibh an-suim ag
múinteoirí ina
leithéid de chúrsa,
ach na coinníollacha
cearta a bheith ann
dóibh. Thugamar faoi
chúrsa a chur le chéile
chun deiseanna cainte,
athnuachana agus
cumarsáide a sholáthar do
mhúinteoirí . Beidh an cúrsa
seo breac le spraoi, spórt agus
spleodar, as Gaeilge. Agus tá an
Roinn Oideachais agus
Eolaíochta sásta íoc as!!!
B’fhearr duit an deis seo a
thapú láithreach. Is cuma cé
chomh bacach, briste, rusty,
dusty nó lofa is atá do chuid
Gaeilge, geallaimid go mbainfidh
tú taitneamh agus tairbhe as an
gcúrsa seo. B’fhiú go mór dul sa
tseans agus do Chúpla Focal a
scaoileadh amach. Tosnaíonn
an t-aistear is faide le coiscéim
amháin… Tóg í! Táimid ag tnúth
le bualadh leat ar an gCeathrú
Rua i Mí Bealtaine, i gcroílár
Chonamara, an áit is deise ar
domhain. Tuilleadh eolais chomh
maith le foirm iarratais ar fáil ar
www.pcsp.ie nó  .
Bí linn!
Tús Maith ….Leath na
hOibre!!!!!
■
Curtha le chéile af
Foireann na Gaeilge, Clár
Tacaíochta don Churaclam
Bunscoile. Tuilleadh eolais:
www.pcsp.ie
59
TIPS
Nodannas
Investigating
the seashore
S
ummer is an ideal
time to explore
outdoor habitats. A
seashore habitat
offers an exciting and
rich variety of plants and
animals for children to investigate.
If the seashore is adjacent to
the school then it provides an
ideal opportunity for all classes
to investigate this habitat at
different times of the year.
If the seashore is a distance
from the school it could be the
basis of a very enjoyable school
tour.
Before field trip
●
●
●
●
●
The trip to the seashore
needs to be planned well in
advance.
Geography Teacher Guidelines
p. ‒ has very useful
checklists for pupils and teachScoil Mhuire Caiseal seashore trip , Fanad, Co Donegal
ers.
contribute to valuable discussion back in the classroom.
It is important that the teacher is familiar with the chosen area.
Tide tables are available on the web and in most sports shops.
● Practice children’s observational skills using pictorial sources of
seashore plants and animals.
Check tide tables for the area and plan to visit one hour before
low tide.
● Check the library and relevant websites for any useful information.
● This allows for two hours on site.
Safety
● Organise enough adults to ensure that children are
supervised at all times.
● Assemble children in a circle on the beach.
● Wear suitable footwear.
● Discuss the following safety rules.
● Have spare set of clothes.
● Each adult has two groups of three children.
● Always stay with your group.
In class preparation
● Never walk ahead of adult leader.
Starting with children’s ideas
● Rehearse signal for assembly.
Ask children to draw or
● When teacher puts two hands in the air.
write what they expect to
● Each group follows suit.
see at the seashore.
● Each adult has two groups of
three children.
● These drawings will
form the basis for
● Teacher indicates point of
assessing new
assembly.
insights gained
● Whistle used only in an
and will
emergency.
Science Strand: Living things
Strand Unit: Plants and animals
Geography Strand: Natural Environments
Strand Unit: The local natural environment
61
TIPS
Nodannas
Drawing of what a child expects to find at the seashore
Observational drawing of what a child found at the seashore
●
●
●
●
●
●
What would you expect to
find on the beach?
Do all the animals move?
Describe the differences
Where will you see the
minibeasts?
Where will you find plants?
Will the plants be the same/
different as those on land?
Organisation and equipment
Each group of three children
has:
● One cream/white plastic
basin.
● One plastic sieve.
● One clipboard with identification sheet.
● One pencil.
● One thermometer.
The children take turns dipping
in the rockpools, measuring
temperature of air and water
and recording observations.
Environmental awareness and
care
Whole group sits on beach
observing, discussing features of
the seashore
●
●
●
●
●
●
How far is the habitat from
school?
In which direction did we
travel?
What towns did we pass
through?
What mountains and hills did
we see?
Guide children’s
observations using senses.
How many different sounds
can you hear?
●
●
●
●
●
●
What scents can you get?
What is moving in the habitat?
What Natural features can
you see?
Cliffs, rocky shore, sand, rock
pools
What will you find in the
sand/ rockpools?
What human features can you
see? Buildings, lighthouse,
boats.
What do people do here?
Initiating observations in the
outdoor environment
Exemplar  Science Teacher
Guidelines p.
Questioning
Teachers need to model open
ended questions. Suitable questions might include:
● Where would you expect to
see animals and plants?
● Will the species in each rockpool be the same?
● Will there be a difference
between the species on the
upper and lower shore?
Investigate
Depending on the seashore
children should develop an
awareness that different species
are found at different places.
(Science Teacher Guidelines p.).
See exemplar  p. and
exemplar  p. Science
Teacher Guidelines for more
details.
■
This article was compiled
by the science team of the
Primary Curriculum Support
Programme (PCSP). For further
ideas visit our website at
www.pcsp.ie
63
BOOK REVIEWS
Léirmheasanna Leabhar
Rian mo Chos ar Ghaineamh an tSaoil
Le Tony Bromell
T
á dírbheathaisnéis Tony
Bromell iar-Ard Mhéara
chathair Luimnigh tagtha
ar an saol le déanaí. Déanann
an t-údar cur síos an bhreá ar a
shaol bhaile, ar a shaol pholaitiúil agus ar a shaol oibre i
ngort an oideachais le daichead
bliain . Is dócha gur de bharr na
blianta a chaith sé mar léachtóir
le Gaeilge agus ansin mar chláraitheoir is fearr a chuimhneoidh
na mílte múinteoirí bunscoile a
d’imigh trí Choláiste Mhuire
gan Smál ar an mBroiméalach.
Tá cuntas iontach sa leabhar ar
an bpáirt nach beag a ghlac sé
féin i mbunú ollscoile i gCathair
Luimnigh agus ar na blianta a
chaith sé ar Chomhairle
Chathair Luimnigh. Ta seal
caite aige sa Seanad chomh
maith. Cé gur cuntas iontach
staire an leabhar seo tá an túdar ar a chompord agus é ag
dul i ngleic lena mhothúcháin
chomh maith. Tá cur-síos an
phearsanta ar an mbealach a
sciob an bás a bhean Áine agus
an tslí gur imigh se i bhfeidhm
ar féin agus ar an gclann.
Thaitin an leabhar go mór liom.
Níl sé trom nó ró léannta mar
leabhar agus tá a stíl Ghaeilge
saibhir agus soléite. B’fhiú go
mór tabhairt faoi.
ISBN   . ó Chló IarChonnachta. Bog €.
■
Léirmheas le Niamh Ni
Mhaolain, St Columba
GNS, Corcigh.
Ready for School
by Margaret Horan and Geraldine O’Brien
T
his is a parents’ guide ( pages) which
explores a range of topics. It is written by
two primary teachers who are also parents
themselves. Topics covered include readiness for
school, tantrums, friends, bullying, play, diet etc.
Teachers who are new to infants would find this
book useful. New teachers who haven’t experienced infants on their first days in school would
find some useful information here too.
The authors stress the importance of talking and
reading to children and of nursery rhymes. While
they write about the importance of play, they also
warn parents against too many organised afterschool activities. The authors tell parents to arrive
in time to collect their child. They recommend
that parents make teachers aware of any upsets
which may affect the child’s behaviour. As teachers we know those parents who believe their child
can do no wrong and so the authors remind
parents that there are two sides to every story.
Healthy food in lunch boxes is covered too. There
are good stories included to illustrate points. Much
of the information could be used by principals and
infant teachers preparing for meetings for new
parents. If all parents bought this guide it would
certainly make life easier for infant teachers.
Published by Veritas. Price €.. ISBN
.
■
Reviewed by Sheelagh Coyle, retired Deputy
Principal, St Joseph’s NS, Mountmellick, Co
Laois.
Down Syndrome: An Introduction for Parents and Carers
By Cliff Cunningham
H
ow would you begin to
care for a baby who has
Down Syndrome? Down
Syndrome: An Introduction for
Parents and Carers examines
questions that parents might
have after learning that their
new born baby experiences
Down Syndrome. While
acknowledging the challenges
that may arise, Cunningham
highlights the similarities that
exist when caring for all children. The causes of Down
Syndrome are identified and
issues surrounding personality,
behaviour, intelligence and
socialisation are explored with
great sensitivity and
clarity. Cunningham
continually affirms
the individual’s
uniqueness and
recognises the positive diversity that
exists amongst
persons who experience Down
syndrome.
Although primarily
directed at parents,
the book has real
relevance for teachers and will
facilitate an awareness of the
journey travelled by a child who
experiences Down
Syndrome before
s/he begins formal
schooling. The
importance of
selecting the educational setting most
appropriate for the
individual child is
emphasised and
much of the practical advice contained
within this book will
readily transfer to
the school environment. An
informative read, this publica-
tion will address the concerns
of parents, carers and teachers
who wish to facilitate the positive development of persons
who experience Down syndrome.
Down Syndrome: An
Introduction for Parents and
Carers (ISBN ) is
published by Souvenir Press
and is available from
www.amazon.co.uk at a cost of
Stg£..
■
Reviewed by Martin
McGrath, Scoil
Mochaomhóg Naofa, TwoMile-Borris, Co Tipperary.
65
REVIEWS
Léirmheasanna
ABC Anois
Movin’
on up
produced by Flúirse
A
ABC Anois offers a platform through which
pupils can learn
numbers, the alphabet and
over  vocabulary words
relating to the  strand units of
the Gaeilge curriculum through
Irish. There is a choice of three
dialects in which to run the
programme.
Children learn the alphabet
and to count interactively. As
pupils are required to sing
along with these sections it may
not be ideal for use in a classroom situation. However, this
element of the programme
would cause little or no difficulty in a situation where each
pupil had access to the
programme at the same time.
There are many sequencing
exercises using both letters and
numbers, which are ideally
suited to infants.
After completing exercises
relating to letters and numbers
the pupil is then led to another
section where the emphasis is
on learning vocabulary through
interactive games including a
spelling game.
Throughout the programme
the graphics are bright, cheerful and child friendly. An onscreen clock throughout the
programme is a handy resource
for the teacher who is running a
computer timetable within the
classroom. The teacher’s
section offers detailed vocabulary lists and colouring sheets
related to the vocabulary.
However, the exercises have
no repeat facility and unless a
pupil hears what has been said
the first time s/he is completely
lost. There is no correction
facility in that the pupil just
keeps trying until s/he finds the
correct answer.
The recommended age group
for this piece of software is
three to six year olds. However,
it would be a useful resource in
first class also.
ABC Anois is available to order
from www.fluirse.com at a cost
of €. (PC Format).
ABC Anois was shortlisted in
by a group of
parents at
National College
of Ireland
M
the category of eLearning
Product of the Year for the
Digital Media Awards . In
November , Flúirse were
the winners of the Livewire
Young Entrepreneurs of the
Year award in the Southern
Region.
■
Reviewed by Caroline
McCarthy, Scoil Mhuire,
Corofin, Co Clare.
StarOffice
Free software for schools
S
tarOffice is an office suite that has all the
programmes that people expect from their
office suites – Word Processing,
Spreadsheets, Databases and Presentation. It
does everything that other office suites such as
Microsoft can do.
StarOffice is considerably cheaper than any of
its competitors. A once off up front fee of less
than € pays for the licensing and that is it.
Any upgrades are made available as a free download, so there is no ongoing payment of licensing
fees. If you are an educational institute you are
able to get StarOffice for free. As can your family
for your home computer.
Documents written using StarOffice can be
Work Book Day
competition winner
opened using nearly any other
software package. The programme behind
StarOffice is written in XML. Most other office
suites are written using HTML which means that
older office suites cannot open documents from
newer office suites. For instance, a computer
using Windows 98 may not be able to open a
document from a computer using Windows XP.
As StarOffice uses XML, this does not happen. It is
one of the most widely accessible office suites
currently available.
StarOffice is available from Blackrock Education
Centre (Tel   or info@blackrockec.ie)
and from leading computer stores. Cost: Free to
educational institutes.
ovin’ on Up,
Easing the
Transition from
Primary to Post-Primary
School is written by a group
of parents attending the
National College of Ireland
‘Parents in Education’
course. Between them they
have  children and have
real-life experience of
what it is like to send many
of them off to secondary
school. Their hope is that
this book is of help to
other parents.
In it they share their
thoughts, feelings and
experiences with parents
who have children moving
from primary to secondary
school. The book contains
information on how to
choose a secondary
school, practical tips, children’s feelings, what first
year is really like, the
education system, who’s
who in secondary school.
The project was co-ordinated by Anne
Geoghegan, NCI facilitator.
For further information
please contact Blackrock
Education Centre.
Congratulations to Catherine Kinsella,
Presentation Primary School, Parnell Street,
Kilkenny, who wins € of O’Brien Press books.
67
TRIBUTES
Fintan McCarthy – An appreciation
T
he early days of August  will
forever be etched in our minds as
word filtered through of the tragic
accident in which Fintan McCarthy and his
girlfriend Sonia Rabbitte were killed while
holidaying in China.
Born in Lucan, Co Dublin, Fintan began
his teaching career in Scoil Mhuire Gan
Smal, Inchicore, in . He taught a senior
infant class in his first year in the school
and gained experience through teaching at
all levels, particularly in sixth class. In latter
years, Fintan worked as a resource teacher,
and most recently was appointed acting
Deputy Principal. Fintan was also a Green
Party councillor and committed community activist in his beloved Lucan.
Fintan’s passion for teaching and dedication to his pupils was evident from an early
stage as he immersed himself in extra
curricular activities. In addition he was
always available to attend matches or
quizzes in support of children and colleagues.
A gentleman to his fingertips,
Fintan was a model of courtesy to
all and, in particular, was extremely
supportive of new colleagues.
He had patience in great abundance with the most challenging of
pupils, the frequent visits he
received in the school from past
pupils being testament to the
esteem in which he was held.
The staff have fond memories of many
social nights, when due to political
commitments, Fintan although late in
arriving, would invariably be the last man
standing!
His professional talents came to the
fore when he completed his Masters
Degree in IT and took responsibility for
organising ICT in the school. His involvement in the ‘Empowering Minds
Project’ brought a huge level of
enjoyment to the children in his
class. The staff, pupils and school
community in Inchicore will
forever treasure Fintan’s wit,
generosity, camaraderie, thoughtfulness, and dedication. Fintan
McCarthy has indeed left us a
rich legacy.
■
Iggy Keane (Scoil Mhuire gan Smal,
Inchicore, on secondment as
Assistant National Co-ordinator School
Completion Programme)
A tribute to Jo McKenna
O
ur beloved colleague Jo
McKenna (nee O’Hagan)
died on  August .
Jo, a native of Derry City, trained
as a primary school teacher in
Mary Ward College of Education,
Nottingham, from -. She
began her teaching
career in Glendermott
Primary School, Derry,
and was Vice Principal
there when she left in
 to move to Co
Kildare with her
husband Seamus.
Jo did some substitute
work in St Conleth’s
Infant School, Newbridge, in
/ and we were fortunate
to have her appointed as a
permanent teacher in .
Jo, a gifted teacher who
enjoyed her work, taught junior
infants, senior and first class.
Since  she was our resource
teacher for children with
special needs. She
loved children in a
very special way and
her sense of fun and
good humour were
evident in her teaching.
Jo’s classroom was a
happy welcoming place
and she endeavoured
to instil in the children
a love of learning, a sense of self
belief and high self esteem.
She had a special place in her
heart for the young teachers
and, in her quiet unassuming
way, she shared her knowledge
and expertise with them.
Jo was our ‘writer in
residence’. Whenever we had
an occasion such as Green Flag
Raising or the special visit from
President Mc Aleese, Jo effortlessly composed poems and
ditties to suit the occasion.
She was an esteemed staff
member and a true colleague.
She opened up for us an awareness of life in Derry from the s
to the present time and she
loved to speak ‘as Gaeilge’ in her
beautiful Derry accent. Sadly Jo
was diagnosed with terminal
illness in November . With
the help of her loving family and
friends, she faced each difficult
challenge with such dignity,
courage and stoicism. She was a
woman of great faith.
There was a huge void in our
school as Jo’s passing but we
believe she is at peace ‘ar barr
na bhflaitheas’ and we, as her
colleagues and friends are
forever grateful to her for influencing our lives so much.
■
Your dear friend and
colleague, Ann Dempsey,
Principal, St Conleth’s Infant
School, Newbridge.
Una Darcy – a tribute
U
na Darcy died on 
August after a short and
sudden illness. She
taught for  years in Scoil
Mhuire Presentation Primary
School, Thurles, Co Tipperary,
spending most of those years in
the learning support area. Una,
a native of Thurles, completed
her primary and secondary
education in the Presentation
schools. She qualified as a
teacher at McMillan College of
Education, Bradford, Yorkshire
and taught for several years in
England before returning home
to Thurles. Una joined the staff
of the Presentation PS in 
and served here devotely and
conscientiously until her death.
She treated every child and
adult with courtesy and dignity.
She took her job very seriously
and brought great expertise
and humanity to her classroom.
Una had a great gift of being
able to take people as she found
them, and was loved and
respected by members of staff
of all ages. She was a most socia-
ble person and could talk to
anybody, anywhere. She loved
fun, merriment and
conviviality. Her sense
of humour was quiet
but could be very
mischevious.
Amid a host of excellent qualities, Una’s
most outstanding
attribute was her deep
faith and devotion.
She lived her faith with every
fibre of her being and her
example was very powerful to
us all. With that faith came
integrity that was unshakeable.
She bore her sudden,
brief and devastating
illness with dignity,
trust and patience that
characterised her life.
Una was a wonderful
colleague and friend
and is sorely, sadly and
deeply missed by all of
us in Scoil Mhuire.
■
From her friends and
colleagues in Scoil Mhuire.
69
NOTICES
Fógraí
COPY DATE
RAI CONFERENCE
RE-UNIONS
PANEL NOTICES
■
■
■
■
Copy you wish to have
considered for publication
in the June issue of InTouch
should arrive in Head Office
by  May.
MATURE STUDENTS
■
Study Business at UCD
from anywhere in Ireland.
Diploma and Degree Level
Programmes from Centre for
Distance Learning, UCD School
of Business. The programme,
run with ICTU and IBEC, offers
modules in Industrial Relations
and Human Resources. Closing
date for applications is  May.
See www.uc d.ie/quinn or email
bbs@ucd.ie for more details.
IATSE CONFERENCE /
AWARDS
■
Calling all Teachers! Irish
Association of Teachers in
Special Education Annual
Conference. St Patrick’s College,
Drumcondra, Dublin.  –  June,
. Details: www.iatse.ie.
Teachers: Do you have a pupil
with special needs? For professional support join IATSE.
IATSE Annual Awards for
Innovative Classroom Practice.
Apply now. Application details:
www.iatse.ie
Reading Association of
Ireland Annual Conference
.
Theme: Developing and
Sustaining Literacy.
Venue: Church of Ireland
College of Education,
Rathmines, Dublin .
Dates: // September.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Persons wishing to submit a
proposal to present a paper
or workshop linked to the
conference theme should
forward a  word abstract to
celinefitzpatrick@eircom.net
before  June.
Further info from
www.reading.ie
STSG
■
Separated Teachers’
Support Group. Social
Evening will be held on
Saturday,  June at . pm.
Venue: Club na Múinteoirí,
Parnell Sq, Dublin .
For further information
please contact Chairperson:
Maura Killackey:  
or  
or Secretary: Christina Henry:
  or  .
New members welcome.
TEACH IN ETHIOPIA
INTO LGBT GROUP
■
The INTO LGBT Group
meeting will be held in
Dublin on Saturday afternoon
 May. Thank you to our new
members who joined in Cork at
the March meeting.
Hope to see everyone for the
last meeting of this school year.
New members always
welcome. Confidentiality and
discretion assured. Please contact
lgbt@into.ie or phone/text
  for further details.
InTouch General Editor: John Carr
Editor: Tom O’Sullivan
Assistant Editor: Lori Kealy
Editorial Assistants; Niamh Corduff,
Yvonne Kenny
Advertising: Mary Bird Smyth,
Advertising Executive; Merrilyn
Campbell, Booking Co-ordinator
Design: David Cooke
Photography: Moya Nolan, Index
Open.
■
Vincentian Lay
Missionaries (VLM) seek
teachers* for summer courses
in English – four to six weeks
duration in Ethiopia from mid
July to mid August  (or
longer). Contact co-ordinator
for application form at
michaelcm@eircom.net or tel
 .
Web: www.vincentians.ie and
www.bruton.biz/atsi
* a minimum of three years
teaching experience preferred.
Correspondence to: The Editor,
InTouch, INTO Head Office,
Vere Foster House,  Parnell Square,
Dublin 1. Telephone: .
Fax: . LoCall:   
Email: editor@into.ie
Website: http://www.into.ie
MARINO CLASS OF ‘
Annual get together at
Dunboyne Castle Hotel on
Saturday,  June. For further
information please contact
Roberta at   or
Roisín at  .
All welcome.
AFRICAN RE-UNION – MARY I
All Mary Immaculate College
students who travelled to Africa
for Alternative Education
Experience (AEE) are invited to
attend a re-union night in the
South Court Hotel, Limerick, on
 May .
For more info contact
orlarigney@o2.ie
Panel Notices issued to
schools at the end of
March . In this regard, one
should note Paragraph . of
Circular / which states that
boards of management will not
be allowed to advertise permanent appointments for the
current school year /
after  May .
If a vacancy arises after that
date, it should be filled in a
temporary/fixed term capacity
until the end of the school year
and the vacancy should befilled
from the relevant redeployment
panel for the / school
year.
MATHEMATICS
CARYSFORT CLASS -
Reunion will take place from 
noon to pm including lunch in
Carysfort College on Saturday,
 November . Eighty
committed bodies to date!
Contact Fintan Mc Cutcheon
at fmccutcheon@esatclear.ie to
express your interest if you
have not done so already for
detailed newsletter and for
future updates.
MARY IMMACULATE COLLEGE
Cuireadh – Class of , ,
 and . Class of ,
Class .
 Year Reunion: Class of :
MIC and Clarion Hotel –  June .
, ,  and  Year reunions
(combined) – Class of , ,
 and : MIC and Hilton
Hotel –  September .
 Year Reunion: Class of :
MIC and Clarion Hotel – 
September .
For further info visit
http://friends.mic.ie to register
online or contact: Deirdre
Carroll, Mary I Aumni, South
Circular Road, Limerick.
Tel   or email
alumni@mic.ul.ie
InTouch is the most widely circulated
education magazine in Ireland. Articles
published in InTouch are also available
on our website www.into.ie
The views expressed in this journal are
those of the individual authors and are
not necessarily endorsed by the INTO.
While every care has been taken to
InTouch is published by the Irish National ensure that the information contained in
Teachers’ Organisation and distributed
this publication is up to date and correct,
to members and educational institutions. no responsibility will be taken by the Irish
■
MATHEMATICS TEACHING IN
JUNIOR INFANTS
If you/your school received an
important questionnaire
related to this issue. Dr Liz
Dunphy, St Patrick’s College,
Drumcondra, would greatly
appreciate return asap.
EQUINE ASSISTED
THERAPY
■
Following a very successful
seminar on Equine
Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP)
in October , HEALS is
pleased to announce a one-day
seminar on Equine Assisted
Therapy (EAT) on Tuesday, 
June. Venue: Keadeen Hotel,
Newbridge.
The seminar will be led by
award winning doctor Allan J
Hamilton, Professor of
Neurosurgery at the University
of Arizona and his wife Jane
Hamilton Ph.D, a practising
psychologist, certified in EAT.
For further details contact
Kevin Smith, St Anthony’s, 
Weston, Newbridge, Co Kildare.
Tel  .
National Teachers’ Organisation for any
error which might occur.
Except where the Irish National
Teachers’ Organisation has formally
negotiated agreements as part of its
services to members, inclusion of an
advertisement does not imply any form
of recommendation. While every effort is
made to ensure the reliability of advertisers, the INTO cannot accept liability for
the quality of goods and services offered.
71

InTouch April/May 2007 - INTO - Irish National Teachers` Organisation

Transcription

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