The Irish teacher Instagram community is fantastic and there are so many wonderful accounts sharing their ideas, help, and connecting with other teachers.
Category Archives: Blog
Teaching News, Tips and Ideas for the Primary School Teacher in Ireland
A list of the main course providers for teacher EPV day summer courses. Sometimes, you may have a specific topic or area in mind that you would like to learn about e.g., to improve your Irish Grammar, or to learn about the Science of Reading, so you may wish to look across all of the providers to see if there are any courses available on this topic
A new version of the Student Support File which incorporates planning for meeting a child’s learning and additional care needs into the one document has been suggested by the NCSE.
It has become extremely popular for teachers to have a social media page where they share ideas and resources and connect with other teachers. I don’t mean teachers who use social media only for their personal lives and interests, but teachers who have a social media account where it is clear from the name/ profile/ posts that they are a teacher, and the account is being used to connect with other teachers, share ideas and resources, or promote their own teacher resources.
In this post I will share some of the resources that I have found helpful for anyone who is looking to learn (or brush up on) a modern foreign language.
In March 2023 a new framework for the curriculum at primary level was launched.
The framework is a document which sets out the purpose structure and content for the redeveloped primary curriculum for primary and special schools.
The aim of this blog post is to provide information to primary school teachers on the main things they need to know about post primary, what they can do to help their students transition successfully, and where to find resources.
Simple ideas for the whole school for celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge.
At the end of January 2022, the department changed the terms under which online teacher professional development courses operate without consultation.
Below is a list of acronyms that are regularly used in Irish education. The purpose of this post it simply to assist teachers who may come across these acronyms, rather than to give a commentary on them!
Having started out as one of many sellers on a resource sharing website, I now run my own successful website, and below I will share some tips and advice which I feel is important for teachers who want to start a successful side hustle.
A brief overview of the main things to know about the new maths curriculum for primary schools which will be rolled out in the coming years.
Some resources for helping you to learn more about trauma informed schools. I suggest books, podcasts, and social media pages that you can follow to learn more.
A very brief overview of where things currently stand with the redevelopment of the Primary School Curriculum and the main changes that can be expected.
In short, yes. As things currently stand, primary teachers still have to do 36 Croke Park hours per year, however 10 of them can now be dedicated to “planning and development work other than on a whole-school basis”.
Some of the myriad of teaching jargon and current issues explained. To help with interviews or just teachers who want to be kept informed.
This blog post will outline what written planning and preparation is needed by language support/ English as an Additional Language teachers in Ireland, as well as hi-lighting the relevant documents to look at and showing where you can find resources.
An overview of the written preparation (planning) documentation needed in special class and special schools in Ireland
From January 2012 all primary schools were instructed to increase them time spend on literacy and numeracy each week. These are the updated time allocations:
Below is a list of excellent books, CDs, websites and other resources which have poems as Gaeilge for primary school children.
Whether you are a new teacher getting ready to start your first-year teaching, or an experienced teacher who is changing class, there are many things you can do now to make September less stressful and to get off to the best possible start to the new school year.
Below you will find a list of simple suggestions for how a school/ teacher can encourage students to use and enjoy the Irish language throughout the school day.
With the publication of the Primary Language Curriculum in 2015 and its revised version in 2019, prescriptive themes are no longer listed. The following are the themes that I use for teaching Gaeilge and the period of the year that I would them.
Below is a list of books, CDs, websites and other resources which have songs in Irish for children at primary school level. The resources cover all class levels from Junior Infants – 6th class.
What are the new guidelines on planning for primary school teachers? It’s a question that I am sometimes asked, but not as much as you would imagine. This is because it went under the radar for many during Covid-19 and school closures, but the Department released new guidelines in relation to the above in April 2021. The following is a brief summary of that main things that you need to know. The full document, as well as FAQs and webinars can be found on the NCCA website.
I taught in an Autism class attached to a mainstream school for the 2021/2022 school year. Prior to this I had extensive experience working with autistic students as a mainstream class teacher, resource teacher and later a SET teacher, and as the SENCo in my school which has extremely high levels of pupils with SEN. The experience of an ASD class teacher was enjoyable, and yet very challenging. Below I will document how I set up my room and some of the different resources/ approaches I found most useful and that I would recommend for working with autistic pupils.
I have taught for 10 years in a school which has a very high number of children with social and emotional skills difficulties. Explicit teaching of social skills and self-regulation skills is crucial for these children as they generally do not just “pick up” these skills through observation and interactions with others. The following are some of the best programmes that I have used over the years as a mainstream class teacher, support teacher, and autism class teacher.
In September 2021 I started in an autism class for the first time. While I have a lot of experience in working with autistic children as a SET, class teacher, July Provision tutor, and SENCO, it was my first year as an autism class teacher.
I thought given my experience that it would be an easy transition, so I was quite surprised at how overwhelming the first 8 weeks have been and how it has taken me so long to find my feet. In many ways, it was reminiscent of my first year of teaching when I just felt like I would never get on top of things.
Primary school teachers in Ireland must prepare for their teaching with written plans. These plans can be handwritten or typed. Most teachers prefer typed plans as they are faster to complete and can be edited each year if they have the same class level again.
How to write a teaching plan will depend on whether you are a student teacher, newly qualified teacher, mainstream teacher, SET teacher or and ASD class teacher! Below you will find some information on the types of plans required in different teaching rolls and how to complete them.
The requirement for written notes for primary teachers has been in place for a long time. Rule 126 of the 1965 Rules for National Schools states that teachers are required at the beginning of the school year to prepare a definite and detailed scheme of work in each subject suited to the needs of their pupils.
I coordinated Gaeilge as part of my Post of Responsibly for a number of years. Part of the role was to create a wish list of resources for teaching Gaeilge and to purchase these for the school. It gave me the opportunity to discover some of the fantastic resources that are out there for the teaching of the Irish language and I’d like to share some of these below.
Late on Friday evening, with remote teaching due to start on Monday, the Department of Education sent updated Guidance on the provision of supports for pupils with SEN to schools. The full 16 page document can be accessed here, however with most school staff now under immense pressure to get organised for a return to […]
Whether you have an Assistant Principal post interview coming up, or you are just thinking that you might take on an AP post at some point in your career, this article will point you in the right direction on the documents you should know about, and the things you should do so that you are as prepared as possible for what an AP post entails.
What started as our school’s first positive first Covid-19 case quickly escalated to a situation where multiple staff and students contracted the virus, and over a hundred families have had their Christmas ruined as a member of their family
I am a SET teacher and SENCO in a large urban primary school which has extremely high levels of children with EAL and SEN. I have taught in support for a number years, both before and after the new allocation model for SET was introduced. I have written hundreds of support plans for children with a wide variety of SEN and of various levels of severity. In this post, I will share guidance on how to prepare a classroom/ school/ school support+ plan.
First of all, you’ll need the assistive technology application form which is available from the NCSE website here (form 3). Secondly, I would advise you take a look at the Department of Education Circular 0010/2013 which outlines how the grant scheme works.
All of the government’s guidelines and resources for opening schools can be found here. There is also a helpful video for children from Infants – 2nd class explaining what school will be like and the importance of handwashing and telling the teacher if they feel ill.
This article will discuss the Primary Language Curriculum for Infants – 6th Class which was published in September 2019, and will provide some guidance in how to use and plan with it.
A child needs to have well developed listening and attention skills, as well as gross and fine motor skills before they can successfully learn to write letters and numbers. It is worth considering waiting until term 2 of the child’s first year in school to start formal handwriting instruction
A back to school campaign for the reopening of schools was launched by the Department of Education and Skills on 27/7/2020. A huge amount of information has been provided and while the detailed guidance is welcome
View this post on Instagram These are my top tips for how we as educators can help children with dyslexia. One of the most striking things I have come to realise is that by adopting strategies to improve our teaching for children with SEN, we actually improve our teaching for all children 😊. #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexiaireland […]
The following are 10 tips that should help you put your best foot forward and make sure you impress the interview board.