InTouch June 2003 - INTO - Irish National Teachers` Organisation

InTouch
Irish National Teachers’ Organization
Cumann Múinteoirí Éireann
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●
School Leadership
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INTO/EBS
Handwriting
Competition
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Issue No 50 June 2003
ISSN 1393-4813
Sick Leave
Standardisation
of School Year
LDS
Hedge Schools
Busy Bee
pg 17
pg 24
pg 22
EDITORIAL
Contents
News..........................................................................................3
INTO/EBS Handwriting Competition .....................................4
Conditions of Employment .....................................................5
Legal and Industrial Relations ................................................6
Communications, Principals & Social Inclusion...................7
Education..................................................................................8
Equality .....................................................................................9
Professional Development ....................................................10
Benefits ...................................................................................11
INTO Website.........................................................................12
CEC and Head Office News ....................................................13
Media Report..........................................................................14
School Leadership.............................................................15-17
Teacher to Teacher...........................................................18-21
Tips....................................................................................22-23
The Irish Hedge School..........................................................24
Identifying Dyslexia...............................................................26
Book Reviews..........................................................................27
Comhar Linn...........................................................................28
Notices....................................................................................29
Cover pic: Members of INTO
Benefit Funds Committee.
Pictured from left to right Bill
Donnelly, Vincent Cronin
(Cathaoirleach), Martina Johnson,
Anne Kennelly and Joan Ward.
Photographer: Moya Nolan
General Editor: John Carr
Editor: Tom O’Sullivan
Editorial Assistant: Lori Kealy
Editorial Team: Cecilia Power,
Grainne Creswell
Advertising: Mary Bird Smyth,
Advertising Executive, Merrilyn
Campbell, Booking co-ordinator.
Design: David Cooke
Photography: Moya Nolan, Photodisc,
Digital Vision, Image 100.
Correspondence to: The Editor,
InTouch, INTO Head Office,
Vere Foster House, 35 Parnell Square,
Dublin 1. Telephone: 8722533.
Fax: 8722462. LoCall: 1850 708 708
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.into.ie
InTouch is published by the Irish
National Teachers’ Organization and
distributed to members and educational
institutions. InTouch is the most widely
2
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 ensure
that the information contained in this
publication is up to date and correct, no
responsibility will be taken by the Irish
National Teachers’ Organization for
any error which might occur.
Except where the Irish National
Teachers’ Organization 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 off ered.
School leadership: a
challenge to be shared
E
ducational change over the last decade or so has impacted
on all teachers. All teachers have played their part but for a
variety of reasons change has impacted disproportionately
on the principal teacher. This is partly because the principal
teacher is at one and the same time a teacher, the school leader
and the de facto manager. The end result is that many principal
teachers find themselves more and more concerned with responsibilities that more properly lie with the board of management.
The main focus of the principal teacher should be upon leadership
and should be concerned with influencing, directing, exemplifying
and motivating change that is educationally worthwhile.
Leadership does not mean acting as a conduit for top down,
imposed change. It involves making vision real through the formulation of goals and the establishment of priorities and is at all
times centrally concerned with teaching and learning.
Principals need professional development opportunities that
focus on primary school leadership. They need full-time
secretaries and caretakers freeing them from the burden of every
day management. In all schools but particularly in smaller schools,
the principal needs release time. School leadership is too important to leave until teaching and routine management tasks have
been undertaken. The ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign is focussed on
this and we must be militant only in our zeal for reform.
But maybe along with demanding changes in these areas it is
time to open up debate on structural issues within the primary
school. Along with demanding a professional level of resourcing
there is a case to be made that perhaps the biggest potential
resource already exists in schools.
Every primary teacher already has a leadership role being
responsible for the teaching and learning of groups of thirty or
more children. Instead of leadership being seen as a function of the
individual principal perhaps it is time to see school leadership as
the function of the teaching team in the school in which all teachers have a role and a valuable contribution to make in the context
of shared leadership.
In many schools today school leadership is shared. In many small
schools particularly shared leadership is simply not an optional
extra. It is important that we as professionals engage in this debate.
Failure to confront the issues that challenge us will result in imposed
solutions that have been shown in other countries not to work.
Primary schools have unique organisational structures.
Principals are not chief executives. Teachers are not functionaries.
Primary schools are staffed by teams of professional teachers. If, in
a concept of shared leadership, every teacher is empowered to
contribute to that leadership then the ability of the school to meet
modern demands is enhanced.
School leadership in Ireland is at risk because of inadequate
management structures. The challenge for Government is to
provide the resources necessary for
school management and the challenge for
us is to envisage a new concept of school
leadership where power, responsibility
and professional control are shared.
Intouch June 2003
N ATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Benchmarking and
Supervision Money
T
he notice in the May
edition of InTouch in relation to the payments of
the arrears from Benchmarking
was based on information
given by the DES to the INTO at
the time.
Due to a technical financial
requirement of the
Department of Finance the
money could not be paid in
May. The DES has now
confirmed that the payments of
arrears will be included with
the salaries of Thursday,  June.
In a separate development,
the circular on supervision was
due to issue at the end of May.
Following intense representations from the INTO, the DES
says it intends paying the
supervision money not later
than  August providing
completed forms are returned
immediately by schools.
Modernisation Talks
T
alks have concluded on
the Guidelines for standardisation of the school
year /. The outcome
allows for the following schedule next year in primary
schools:
● Schools open on September .
● Mid-term break  October –
 October.
● Christmas holiday closing on
 December and re-opening
 January
●  days to be taken for a mid
term break on  and 
February.
Closing for two weeks at
Easter from Friday,  April.
This allows for  other days
for closure at local
management discretion. In
schools under Catholic
Patronage this will be  where
they close on  December.
These days cannot be used to
lengthen any of the above holidays or breaks.
This arrangement is without
prejudice for the following
years.
●
Top of the world
Staffing Appeals
A total of 66 appeals have
been made to the Staffing
Appeals Committee in
accordance with the criteria
of Circular 19/02. Only 3
have succeeded, 3 others
have been referred to the
Special Education section
of the DES for further
consideration and 60 have
been rejected.
The INTO has raised the
criteria being used by the
staffing appeals committee
directly with the Minister
for Education and Science
who has agreed to look at
this matter again. The CEC
has decided to take action
in a number of schools
where an additional teacher
is warranted on space
grounds.
The CEC has also decided
to pursue a number of cases
for developing schools in
relation to the level of
enrolment that must be
reached, prior to the sanctioning of teachers.
A group of
delegates
making use of
their half day
at Congress to
climb Ben
Bulban
Memorial in Mayo School
BFC Role
T
he Benefit Funds
Committee consists of five
members elected on a
divisional basis. The role of the
Committee is to provide
support to members and their
dependents in accordance with
relevant rules. Advice is also
given on a number of matters
relating to social welfare health
services and medical insurance.
The Committee deals with
financial support to members
on the following basis:
. Grant on the death of a
member.
Intouch June 2003
. Benevolent Funds Grants to
disability and other hardship
cases.
. Spouses’ and Orphans’
annual grant.
. Grants on the death of a
spouse of a member.
. Legal expenses as set out
under INTO rules.
The BFC makes a report to
Annual Congress each year
outlining the amounts paid
from the various funds to
support members and their
dependents.
INTO President Sean Rowley, pictured with members of staff at
Bohola NS, Co Mayo, at recent memorial service for the late
Michael Healy, Principal of Bohola NS who died suddenly in
January 2002. Pictured l to r: Teresa Mulligan (Principal), Marie
Conlon, Sean Rowley (INTO President), Anne Gavigan and Áine
Henry.
3
N ATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INTO/EBS Handwriting Competition 2003 Winners
Category 1 (Infants)
st: Conan O'Sullivan, Réalt na
Mara NS, Tuatha Ó Siosta,
Cill Áirne, Co Chiarraí.
nd: Annie Rose Ní Dhuiginn,
Gaelscoil Cheatharlach, Carlow.
rd: Niamh O’ Donnell,
Cloontuskert NS, Lanesboro,
Co Roscommon.
Category 2 (1st and 2nd classes)
st: Shauna Ferguson,
Our Lady’s Meadow, Durrow,
Co Laois.
he winner of the national
draw for the data projector
was: Gaelscoil Carman,
Pinewood, Wexford Town.
T
The three co-ordinators to be
drawn out for a weekend away
were Brian Dillon (Limerick),
Alice O'Connell (Cork D.) and
Michael O'Malley (Mayo).
Winners of INTO/EBS Handwriting
Competition being presented
with their prizes on 17 May
at EBS Head Office.
Photographer: Mark O’Sullivan
nd: Rachel Murphy, Light of
Christ GNS, Dunmore East,
Co Waterford.
rd: Dean McSweeney, Soil
Mhuire NS, Schull, Co Cork.
Category 3 (3rd and 4th classes)
st: Ellen McEntee,
St Mary’s NS, Threemilehouse,
Co Monaghan.
nd: Ronan O’Gorman,
St Mary’s BNS, Grange Road,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.
rd: Zara Donnelly,
Primate Dixon PS, Coalisland,
Co Tyrone.
Category 4 (5th and 6th classes)
st: Denise Martin, Scoil Mhuire
na Trocaire, Hale Street, Ardee,
Co Louth
nd: Mary Healy, St Mary’s NS,
Kilruheighter, Templeboy,
Co Sligo.
rd: Sarah Murphy, St Michael’s
GNS, Arklow, Co Wicklow.
Category 5 (Special education)
Conor Dunne, Edmund Rice
School, St Joseph’s School for
Deaf Boys, Navan Road, Cabra,
Dublin .
Mark Walsh, St Thomas’ NS,
Thomas Hynes Rd, Newcastle,
Galway.
Áine Friel, Croaghross NS,
Portsalon, Co Donegal.
4
Competition
Illustrated right are examples
of the handwriting of
John Carr,
Catherine Byrne,
Anne McElduff,
Billy Sheehan and
Tom O’Sullivan.
Can you identify which is
which? Send your entries on a
postcard to Grainne Creswell,
INTO Head Office,  Parnell
Square, Dublin .
All correct entries will be
entered in a draw for a set of
Prim Ed Resource books for
schools.
Hint: the signatures of the 
people are on page .
Intouch June 2003
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOY M E N T
Sick Leave Entitlements
T
eachers are allowed a
maximum of  months
( days) leave of
absence because of illness in
any period of four consecutive
years. This period is calculated
retrospectively from the
current date and includes certified and uncertified sick leave.
In calculating the  days’ sick
leave allowed, intervening
Saturdays and Sundays are
counted where a teacher is
absent on both the previous
Friday and the following
Monday.
Similarly, where a teacher is
absent both before and after a
vacation period, these vacation
periods are included for the
purpose of calculating the 
months allowed.
A teacher can, at any stage,
request the DES to furnish a
statement of his/her sick leave.
Enquiries regarding sick leave
should be addressed to the
Primary Payments Section,
Department of Education and
Science, Cornamaddy, Athlone,
Co Westmeath.
Sick Leave Uncertified
A teacher is allowed to be
absent for a total of one calendar month, ie  days in a calendar year, due to personal illness
without supplying a medical
certificate ( days include
intervening Saturdays and
Sundays).
Not more than three consecutive school days sick leave are
allowed on an uncertified basis
at any one time. As and from 
March , substitute cover
may be provided for teachers
on uncertified sick leave.
Where a teacher’s absence is
likely to exceed three consecutive school days a medical
certificate must be supplied by
the fourth day. When a teacher
takes a period of uncertified
sick leave and then takes certified sick leave the medical
certificate should cover the
total period of the absence ie
from the first day of the
absence.
Sick Leave – Certified
A teacher must supply medical
certification to his/her principal/chairperson in respect of
any absence due to illness
which exceeds three consecutive school days. A substitute
teacher may be employed in
every case of certified illness
irrespective of the duration of
the illness.
previously paying modified PRSI
and who incurs a break in service will be liable to pay PRSI at
Class A on resumption.
A Career Break, Maternity/
Adoptive Leave, Sick Leave,
Parental Leave or other authorised absences do not constitute a break in service for PRSI
purposes (DES Circular /)
Sick Leave and Holidays
An article on sick leave and
holidays was published in the
May  edition of InTouch.
Sick Leave and PRSI – Class A
Contributors
(See also panel below.)
A teacher appointed to a
permanent or temporary post
on or after  April, , pays
PRSI at the full rate (class A)
unless the teacher was paying
modified PRSI contributions
elsewhere in the public sector,
immediately prior to the
appointment. Teachers and
other public servants in service
prior to that date pay a modified rate of PRSI (Class D).
A teacher, who was
Sick Leave and PRSI – Class D
Contributors
There is no requirement on
Class D contributors to submit
certificates to the Department
of Social, Community and
Family Affairs. Medical certificates should be forwarded to
the DES via the board in the
usual way.
Holiday Arrangement
INTO Head Office will be
closed for summer vacation
from Monday  July to
Friday  August inclusive.
The office will re-open on
Monday  August.
SICK LE AVE FOR CLASS A PRSI CO N T R I B U T O R S
F
ull salary will continue to be paid
provided that you adhere to the
following steps when you are absent
on sick leave.
Step 1: Meeting the requirements of the
Department of Social, Community and Family
Affairs.
(A) If you are absent on sick leave for more
than three consecutive days, you must
immediately complete a form for
Disability Benefit (available from your
GP). You must ensure that this form is
signed by your GP. It should be forwarded
to the Primary Payments Section,
Department of Education and Science,
Cornamaddy, Athlone, Co Westmeath,
once you have been out on sick leave for
more than three consecutive days (a
completed Disability Benefit form must be
submitted to Primary Payments Section in
respect of each separate sick leave
absence).
On receipt of this form, the Primary
Payments Section completes part of it and
forwards it to the DSCFA (Disability
Intouch June 2003
Benefit Section, Store Street, Dublin ).
The claim for the disability benefit must
be submitted by Primary Payments
Section to reach the DSCFA within seven
days of the start of your illness hence there
is an urgency to submit the claim form to
ensure continued payment of your full
salary.
The DSCFA refunds monies directly to
the Department of Education and Science.
In the event that a cheque is forwarded in
error to you by the DSCFA, you must send
it to: Primary Financial Section,
Department of Education and Science,
Cornamaddy, Athlone, Co Westmeath.
(B) Should the sick leave absence
continue beyond the first week, each
subsequent weekly disability benefit form
within each sick leave period must be sent
directly by you to the DSCFA at the address
stated on the form. The DSCFA will
continue to refund monies to the
Department of Education and Science on
a weekly basis.
In summary of A and B, therefore the
initial Disability Benefit claim is
forwarded by you to the Department of
Education and Science and subsequent
weekly benefit claims in relation to the
same episode of illness should be
forwarded to the DSCFA.
Step 2: Meeting requirements of the
Department of Education and Science
In addition, when you are absent on sick
leave for more than  consecutive school
days, you must also submit a separate
medical certificate to your board of
management who will forward it to the
Department of Education and Science,
together with the Substitute Teacher’s
Salary Claim Form. If the Substitute
Teacher’s Salary Claim Form is not accompanied by the relevant medical certificate,
the substitute teacher will not be paid by
the DES until such time as the certificate
is submitted.
It is important to note that each time
you are absent on a separate period of sick
leave for more than three consecutive
days the procedures outlined in Steps  (A
and B) –  above must be adhered to.
5
L E GAL & INDUSTRIAL REL AT I O N S
Bullying in Schools
B
ullying, both in and out of schools,
is a problem of great concern to
pupils, parents/guardians and
teachers. Tackling it requires close
co-operation between schools and parents.
Bullying can be physical, verbal or
emotional and may be carried out by
groups or by an individual. It can often
be a hidden activity and with classes of up
to  can be difficult to detect.
Recent media reports concerning cases
of alleged bullying in schools have put the
issue in the national spotlight and have
highlighted the importance of each
school having an anti bullying policy in
place. All children are entitled to an
education in a safe, secure environment
free from the threat of bullying or actual
bullying.
In order to protect the rights of children
the principal teacher and the teaching staff
should draw up, in consultation with
parents, a Code of Behaviour which
includes a section on bullying. It should be
submitted for approval to the board of
management and once agreed should be
circulated to parents.
When dealing with incidents of bullying
behaviour reported by either pupils, staff,
or parents/guardians teachers should at all
times take a calm, unemotional problem
solving approach.
A copy of the Report Guidelines on Countering
Bullying Behaviour in Primary and PostPrimary Schools was circulated to each
school with Circular /’
It should be reviewed by the school staff
at regular intervals.
It is not possible to compile a definitive
Code of Behaviour/ Anti Bullying policy that
will apply to all schools. Approaches must
take account of the particular needs and
circumstances of individual schools.
Drawing up or reviewing an Anti-Bullying
Policy
Guidelines on Countering Bullying
Behaviour in Primary and Post-Primary
Schools were issued with Circular /’.
Extracts from these guidelines, which were
issued to assist schools in devising school
based measures to prevent and deal with
bullying behaviour in schools, are outlined
in the INTO Handbook. (Appendix .)
Circular /’ reminded school authorities of the importance of having in place
school-based measures to prevent and deal
with bullying behaviour as outlined in
Circular /’. Schools were urged to
include specific measures to counter bullying behaviour in their Codes of Behaviour
and Discipline.
The INTO publication, Your Child in the
Primary School – Tips for Parents may be
Anne McElduff, Assistant General Secretary,
Legal and Industrial Relations Department,
INTO.
useful to teachers in the compilation of a
code of practice. This booklet is available as
a free download from the INTO website at
www.into.ie
The Stay Safe Programme contains a
section on bullying.
ADVICE TO TE ACHERS ON DEALING WITH INCIDENT S OF BULLY I N G
Alleged incidents are best
investigated outside the classroom situation to avoid the
public humiliation of the
victim or the pupil engaged in
bullying behaviour.
●
In any incident of bullying,
the teacher should speak
separately to the pupils
involved, in an attempt to get
both sides of the story.
Interviews should be
conducted with sensitivity and
with due regard to the rights
of all pupils concerned.
●
●
If a group is involved, each
member should be
interviewed individually
followed by a meeting with the
group. Each member should
be asked for his/her account of
what happened to ensure that
everyone is clear about what
everyone else has said.
● When analysing incidents of
bullying behaviour, teachers
If it is concluded that a pupil
has been engaged in bullying
behaviour, it should be made
clear to her/him how s/he is in
Pupils who are not directly
involved can also provide very
useful information in this way.
6
should seek answers to questions such as what, where,
when, who and why. This
should be done in a calm
manner, setting an example in
dealing effectively with a
conflict in a non-aggressive
manner.
●
●
breach of the Code of
Behaviour.
● The bully should be helped
to see the situation from the
victim’s point of view.
Each member of the group
should be helped to handle
the possible pressures that
often face them from other
members after interview by
the teacher.
●
Teachers who are investigating cases of bullying behaviour should keep a written
record of their discussions
with those involved. It may
also be appropriate or helpful
to ask those involved to write
down their account of the
incident.
● In cases where it has been
determined that bullying
behaviour has occurred
teachers should meet with
the parents or guardians of
the two parties involved as
appropriate. Explain the
actions being taken and the
reasons for them, referring
them to the school policy.
Discuss ways in which they
can reinforce or support
the actions taken by the
school.
●
Arrange follow-up meetings
with the two parties involved
separately with a view to
possibly bringing them
together at a later date if the
victim is ready and agreeable.
This can have a therapeutic
effect.
●
Intouch June 2003
CO M M U N I C ATIONS, PRINCIPALS & SOCIAL INCLUSION
Release Time for Teaching Principals
A
s part of the consultative
process with members
on a number of issues
relating to school leadership,
the CEC approved the following
proposals in order to generate
discussion about the development of release time for teaching principals. Members are
asked to submit their views to
Standing Committee  of the
CEC c/o INTO Head Office, or by
email to [email protected]
Model  – The Current Situation
At present the number of
release days is based upon the
number of permanent/ temporary teachers on staff. There is a
divergence of opinion between
the INTO and DES as to which
teachers can be counted. The
DES wishes to count
mainstream class teachers only,
thereby excluding concessionary posts, learning support,
resource and other ex-quota
staff. The INTO has advised
members that all such staff
should be included when determining entitlement. The present allowance is between  and
 days and the stated target of
the CEC is to secure the equivalent of a day per week under
this model.
The difficulty in securing
substitute cover on a random
basis for days during the year
has meant that it is not possible
for some principal teachers to
avail of their full entitlement
under this model. Some principal teachers have tried to alleviate this by taking a number of
days together and so increase
the possibility of getting a
substitute.
Model  – Multi-Tasking
There are a number of schools
where shared services are
currently provided. A learning
support teacher, a resource
teacher, a resource teacher for
Travellers, a support teacher, a
rural co-ordinator for Breaking
the Cycle, and a home-schoolcommunity liaison co-ordinator are amongst the posts that
may interact with the school for
part of the day.
By careful planning and timetabling it would be possible to
incorporate release time for a
teaching principal into a similar system. For example a school
could have  hours resource
time during the week, a further
 hours learning support, and
 hours principal teacher
release. This would mean the
principal acting in all these
roles during the week and not
taking a mainstream class. The
shared post could incorporate
other activities such as homeschool liaison rather than
learning support or resource in
some situations.
A number of difficulties arise
in this model. There would be
many varieties of the combination of posts required to imple-
ment it. Most, if not all, of the
combinations would require
arrangement and agreement at
local level. Changing circumstances, such as an increase/
decrease in resource time,
would require adjustment by
local agreement. The DES has
adamantly opposed the principal teacher serving in nonmainstream posts. It would,
however, obviate the need for
substitutes.
Model  – The Supply Option
Under this model a supply
teacher or supply panel would
be dedicated to release time for
teaching principals in an area.
This has been proposed previously but no agreement has
been reached on an allocation
of posts to this concept in
staffing deals in recent years.
With the INTO proposal of
a day per week release time,
it means that one supply
teacher could cover  principal
teachers in an area. On the
present allocation of time it
means one supply teacher
covering between  and 
principal teachers. (There are
currently c , teaching
principals). The phasing in of
such a system would require
agreement on a specific
number of posts each year over
an agreed timeframe.
A variation on this model
would allow for a supply teacher
to job-share the class teaching
with a specified number of
principal teachers in an area.
Model  – The Cluster
This model is based on the clustering of a number of smaller
schools within an area. One
(administrative) principal
teacher oversees the operation
of the schools, visiting each on
a rotational basis. Senior post
holders have responsibility for
the school in the absence of the
principal teacher. The numbers
required in a cluster could be
based on the equivalent for an
administrative principal
currently eg  classes plus 
pupils or a combined total of 
teachers (P+).
This would require a number
of additional posts to allow for
the administrative
appointments. It would,
however, abolish the substitute
requirement. It would also
increase the level of allowance
for the basic school/cluster size
but decrease the overall
number of principalships available.
Model  – Rationalisation
This model would see a process
of amalgamation of smaller
schools to an agreed size which
would then allow for administrative principal teachers. Such
a process would also require a
number of posts to be committed from staffing negotiations
each year.
Proposed North – South Summer School
T
he North South Summer School for
school leaders is jointly organised by
the RTU, Belfast and LDS. the summer
school is a two-day event commencing on
August  and will accept application
from principals and deputy principals.
Where: Stranmillis College of Education,
Belfast.
When: August  and 
Theme: Leadership for learning: The
summer school will examine theories and
practices on learning and will explore how
Intouch June 2003
they may be applied in classrooms and
schools. the conference aims to support
the school leader’s role in learning process.
Topics Included: Proposed workshops to
be included are: Multiple Intelligence,
Assessment for Learning, ICT as a Learning
Support, Learning Styles, Cooperative
Learning, Theories of Learning.
Places: A maximum of  places are
available to participants,  from NI and
 from ROI.
Cost: Subject to funding all costs includ-
ing travel and subsistence will be
provided free of charge to participants.
Hotel accommodation will be provided
on the evenings of August  and .
Presenters: Professor John West
Burnham, NCSL, will be a lead presenter
at the conference. Lead professional in
the above areas will lead presentations
and workshops.
Further details available from the LDS
office based in Clare Education Centre,
Ennis.
7
E D U CAT I O N
Aiseanna Teagaisc na Gaeilge
A
r iarratas ó mhúinteoirí sna
scoileanna Gaeltachta agus sna
scoileanna lánGhaeilge, agus de
bharr brú ón INTO, cheadaigh an Roinn
Oideachais agus Eolaíochta ochtar
Dearthóir maraon le Comhordaitheoir
Náisiúnta don scoil-bhliain -
chun Áiseanna Teagaisc a dhearadh do
mhúineadh na Gaeilge sna Scoileanna
Gaeltachta agus sna Scoileanna LánGhaeilge.
Is múinteoirí le taithí leathan ar
mhúineadh i Scoileanna Gaeltachta agus i
scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge iad na Dearthóirí
agus tá siad ar iasacht óna gcuid scoileanna
chun cúrsa comhtháite Gaeilge a ullmhú.
Tá an tionscnamh faoi stiúradh na Roinne
Oideachais agus Eolaíochta agus Ionad
Oideachais Dhún na nGall. Tá coiste
stiúrtha curtha ar bun maidir le stiúradh na
hoibre trí chéile.
Is í Máire Uí Dhufaigh an
Comhordaitheoir agus is iad seo a leanas na
Dearthóirí:
● Gobnait Uí Chonchubhair (Co Chiarraí)
● Anna Ní Chartúir (Co na Gaillimhe)
● Uinsionn Ó Domhnaill (Co Dhún na
nGall)
● Siobhán Ní Dhúill (Co na Gaillimhe)
● Siobhán Mhic Gearailt (Co Chiarraí)
● Máire Ni Ghallcobhair (Co Átha Cliath)
● Áine Ní Shíoradáin (Co na Gaillimhe)
● Brídín Nic Úiginn (Co Dhún na nGall)
Cuireadh tús leis an tionscnamh seo i mí
Mheán Fómhair  nuair a fostaíodh
ceathrar Dearthóir. Tar éis do na Dearthóirí
nua-cheaptha seo comhairle a fháil ó
shaineolaithe oideachais agus
teangeolaíochta chuaigh siad i mbun oibre
ar chúrsa na Naíonán Shóisir.
Ba chuid lárnach den obair an tástail a
déanadh ar na ceachtanna. I mí na Márta
 roghnaíodh deich scoil Ghaeltachta
agus deich scoil lán-Ghaeilge chun páirt a
ghlacadh i Scéim Phíolótach.
Beidh cúrsa "Séideán Sí" na Naíonáin
Bheaga sna scoileanna i mí Meán Fómhair
na bliana . Is cúrsa cuimsitheach
comhtháite atá sa phacáiste seo agus tá an
t-ábhar ag teacht leis na prionsabail agus
leis na cleachtais atá molta i gCuraclam
Gaeilge na Bunscoile.
I measc an ábhair atá sa chúrsa seo tá:
● Lámhleabhar an Oide don Chúrsa
Comhtháite, ina bhfuil clár teagaisc
bliana do mhúineadh na Gaeilge
● Leabhar don Dalta
bunaithe ar na ceachtanna i Lámhleabhar
an Oide
● Póstaeir a théann leis
na ceachtanna
● Pictiúir-chártaí a
théann leis na ceachtanna.
● Dlúthdhioscaí sna
mór-chanúintí
● Puipéid
● Leabhair Mhóra
● Leabhair Bheaga
● Luaschártaí
● Leabhar Foghraíochta/
Réamhléitheoireachta/Peannaireachta
don dalta
● Leabhar Cúnta an Oide don Fhoghraíocht
/ Réamhléitheoireacht/Peannaireacht
Is próiséis chasta í an obair atá idir lámha
againn agus caithfimid a chinntiú go bhfuil
na hÁiseanna ag teacht leis na prionsabail
chomhaimseartha a bhaineann le
múineadh agus le sealbhú teanga. I measc
na saineolaithe a roinn a gcuid saineolais
linn go dtí seo tá: John Harris agus Tina
Hickey (ITÉ), Dónal Ó Baoill (Ollscoil na
Ríona, Béal Feirste) Pádraig Ó Duibhir,
Margaret Rossiter agus Jane Kelly (PCSP)
maraon le hoifigigh na Roinne Oideachais
agus Eolaíochta agus an NCCA Fuaireamar
comhairle chomh maith ó Phól Mac
Fheidhlimidhe ón Áisionad i mBéal Feiriste
agus ó dhaoine eile atá ag plé le cúrsaí
scríbhneoireachta/foilsitheoireachta do
pháistí. Ba mhór againn chomh maith an
teangbháil a bhí againn le hOiliúnóirí agus
le Cuiditheoirí atá ag freastal ar scoileanna
Gaeltachta agus ar scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge.
Tá tábhacht ar leith leis na struchúir nua
atá bunaithe i gcás an tionscnaimh seo
agus leis an gcomhoibriú proifisiúnta atá á
fhorbairt idir na comhpháirtithe
éagsúla.
Sa chúrsa seo déantar freastal ar
na páistí a thagann ar scoil le
beagán Gaeilge chomh maith leo
siúd a bhfuil an Ghaeilge ó
dhúchas acu. Tá aitheantas ar leith
tugtha do cheist na gcanúintí.
Tuigimid gur cheart go mbeadh
páistí na Gaeltachta bródúil as a
gcanúintí féin agus as an saibhreas
ar leith a bhaineann lena gceantair.
Caithfear a rá áfach, go gcuireann
an tuiscint seo le castacht na hoibre
agus is minic a bhíonn crua-cheisteanna maidir le canúintí le freagairt
againn sula dtugaimid faoi ghnéithe áirithe
den obair.
Tá áthas orainn a rá go bhfuil an obair do
na ranganna eile ag dul ar aghaidh ar
bhonn córasach leanúnach. Tá ábhar na
Naíonáin Mhóra críochnaithe againn agus
beidh an pacáiste ar fáil aimsir na Nollag
. Tá tús curtha cheana féin le cúrsa
Rang I.
Tá súil againn go mbainfidh múinteoirí
agus daltaí araon tairbhe agus taitneamh as
ár saothar.
Máire Uí Dhufaigh (Comhordaitheoir
Áiseanna Teagaisc na Gaeilge)
Mentoring New Teachers
Would you like to become a
Mentor?
The Primary strand of the
National Induction Project is
organising a summer course on
Mentoring - July in St Patrick’s
College, Drumcondra. The
course is recognised by the DES.
It is hoped that the Induction
project will be further extended
following the initial pilot, a
report of which will be
presented at a seminar in
spring . The summer
8
course on mentoring will assist
experienced teachers to
develop the knowledge and
skills to support newly qualified
teachers in their schools. It is
INTO policy that all newly qualified teachers should be entitled
to a professional induction
programme.
The INTO was instrumental,
along with colleagues in the
other teacher unions and third
level colleges, in establishing
the pilot project on induction
which is currently taking place
in the greater Dublin area
under the auspices of St
Patrick’s College of Education
(primary) and UCD (postprimary). Full details about the
course and application forms
are available from Mairéad
Dunne, National Induction
Project, St Patrick’s College,
Drumcondra, Dublin . Email:
[email protected] or
tel  .
Ted Motherway, former Chairperson, Education Committee
presenting the Education
Committee’s Report to Congress.
Intouch June 2003
E Q UA L I T Y
In each issue of InTouch over this school year, one of the nine grounds on which
discrimination is outlawed has been outlined. This article concludes the series:
The Nine Grounds: No 
R ACE
I
t is illegal to treat a person
less favourably than another
on the basis that they are
“of different race, colour,
nationality or ethnic or
national origins (the ‘ground of
race’)” (Equal Status Act ,
Section ).
in the meat sector and in agricultural employment. Case files
related to race revealed “equal
pay claims, illegal deductions
from pay, excessive working
hours, lack of holiday pay,
denial of access to maternity
rights, harassment and
dismissal”.
Employment Equality
Race is the ground on which the
Equality Authority has had its
second greatest amount of casework activity. At end , the
Authority had handled 
cases of alleged racial discrimination; only gender-related
cases were more numerous.
One important case decided at
the Equality Tribunal was Eng V
St James Hospital.
Discrimination was found
concerning the treatment of a
Malaysian doctor employed as
an unpaid intern, who did like
work with doctors of Irish and
other nationalities in paid
intern posts.
The Equality Authority has
identified particular difficulties
Equal Status
In access to services, cases
alleging racial discrimination
are the third most common
category (after Traveller
community and disability
grounds). Very few such cases
have been heard before the
Equality Tribunal, however.
One which was decided upon
last year was Sajjadi V The
Turk’s Head. Here a -year old
Irish citizen, originally from
Azerbaijan, was denied admission to a public house.
Following hearing, the Equality
Officer, found in favour of the
complainant and ordered
payment of €, “for the
distress, humiliation, loss of
amenity and other effects of the
discrimination”.
Schools
The Equality Authority Annual
Report  remarked that a
“greater awareness of the
potential of the provisions of
the (Equal Status) Act is emerging”. It cited an increase in the
number of files on schools – 
Clockwise from above left:
● INTO Guidelines on
Interculturalism in Education
(curriculum resources
included) (www.into.ie, see
under PDU documents).
● Building an Intercultural Society
(The Equality Authority
(www.equality.ie).
● Celebrating Difference, Promoting
Equality (sample lessons
included) from CEDA at Mary
Immaculate College
(061-204549).
● The kNOw Racism
Symbol/Badge
(www.knowracism.ie).
Intouch June 2003
new files in  – arising
across several of the grounds.
The Act (Section ) prohibits
discrimination by schools in
four separate areas
– admission,
– access to a course or facility,
– any other term of participation, and
– sanctions.
Certain exceptions are
allowed for, the main one relating to preferential enrolment
on the religion ground in
denominational schools. More
limited exceptions apply on the
gender, age and disability
grounds but the full provisions
of anti-discrimination law
apply on the race and other
grounds.
See elsewhere on this page
details of the new INTO
Questions and Answers guide
to the equality legislation.
This article offers general
information and is not a legal
interpretation of the Equality
Acts.
Q&A
– On the Way
The INTO will publish a Question
& Answer booklet on the equality legislation this summer. The
booklet, which will emphasise
the relevance to teachers and
schools of the Employment
Equality and Equal Status Acts,
is the first guide provided for
schools on equality law.
Further details of the Q&A
booklet, including how to order
copies, will be carried in the
September InTouch.
Mary Culhane, Chairperson, INTO
Equality Committee, presenting
the Report to Congress 2003
Equality &
School Planning
Research Help Call
Nexus Research is seeking to
document examples of good
practice approaches to equality
in schools. The focus is on how
schools have provided for
inclusion of students with
disabilities, those from minority ethnic backgrounds and
young gay people, in such areas
as admissions policies, antibullying, health and safety
procedures, curricular and
extra-curricular activities and
home-school liaison.
The project (Equality
Authority funded) aims to
produce resources for use in
various contexts including
school planning.
Nexus invites schools that
have done work in any of these
areas to contact them with a
view to discussion about documenting the work.
Contact Eoin Collins at
Nexus, tel -, or
[email protected].
9
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & TR ADE UNION TR A I N I N G
Have you chosen a summer
school/course yet?
W
hy not combine your summer holiday
with your attendance at an INTO
Summer School and savour the pleasures of locations ranging from Dublin, Kerry, Sligo,
Galway, Monaghan and Cork. Or you may choose a
location nearer home and participate in a
course/summer school on one of the following
topics Gaeilge, Intercultural Education, ICT,
Primary Science, the Arts, PE, Learning Support
and Caring for the Earth.
The May issue of InTouch included the contact
details of the Co-ordinators of all our summer
courses and summer schools. Their details, along
with a booking form, are also available on the
INTO website. To access go to www.into.ie , select
– Professional Development and Trade Union
Training and click on – Summer Programme.
Additional ICT
course
ICT: A Tool for
School Leaders
We are delighted to announce
that an additional course in
‘Practical Projects in ICT in the
Classroom’ has been added to
the INTO Summer Programme.
Details are as follows: Branch:
Dublin City North. Venue: San
Carlo SNS, Leixlip, Co Kildare on
- July. Co-ordinator: Pat
Crowe,  The Walled Gardens,
Celbridge. (h)    (m)
  
Please note the correct dates for
this pilot course are  - 
August. Participants require
basic word processing skills and
to be able to use e-mail. This
course will take place in Marino
Institute of Education. The coordinator contact details are:
Professional Development Unit,
INTO Head Office,  Parnell Sq,
Dublin . Tel:  . email: [email protected]
Thank You
We would like to thank all the
designers and tutors of the Lifeskills for Teaching and Learning
summer course who, since ,
have contributed to the successful delivery of the Lifeskills course.
The course will not be taking
place this year but we hope that
it will form part of future INTO
Summer Programmes. We would
also like to thank the facilitators of the Dynamics of School
Leadership Summer School
whose contribution over the
years made this an extremely
worthwhile summer school. We
are exploring different models
of providing professional development opportunities to principals in the future.
Trade Union Training
Training for New Branch Officers
 new branch cathaoirligh and
secretaries who took up office
after INTO Congress at Easter
participated in a training seminar in the Tullamore Court
Hotel, Tullamore on - May.
The seminar was designed to
assist Branch officers in taking
on their new duties and
10
responsibilities as cathaoirligh
and secretaries and provided
opportunities for the development of knowledge and skills
related to their new roles.
The seminar proved that
INTO activists believe in working hard and playing hard with
plenty of ceol agus craic after
the formal sessions had ended!
INTO Summer
School
Designers/
Facilitators
Seminar
A seminar for summer school
designers/facilitators took place
on  and  May, , in the
Tullamore Court Hotel. 
summer school designers/facilitators participated at the seminar where they planned the
content and structure of the
summer schools. They were
joined by six tutors from the
three cúrsaí Gaeilge.
Practical
Projects with INTO Tutor
ICT in the
Training
Classroom
Seminars
Tutor Training Training seminars were held
A tutor training seminar for the
tutors of Practical Projects with
ICT in the Classroom summer
course took place in NUI,
Galway between  and  May.
 new ICT tutors joined with
the experienced cohort of
tutors at the seminar where
they prepared for the delivery
of the revised ICT course. The
course will take place in 
venues nationwide during the
first week of July and the last
week in August.
Dates for
your Diary
- September
Staff Representative Tutor
Training
- October
Principals’ Fora Officers
- November
Branch and District
Officers
- November
Branch and District
Officers
during the week of  May,
 in Tullamore for the
Primary Science tutors and for
the Intercultural Education
tutors. The tutors had an
opportunity to prepare for the
delivery of the courses and
meet with their tutor partners.
Heritage
Review 2003
A Review of the Heritage in
Schools Scheme has recently
been undertaken on behalf of
the Heritage Council by the
consultancy firm Motherway
Begley. The Review indicates
the very successful nature of
the scheme and makes recommendations for its future
expansion and promotion. We
look forwarding to working to
develop this vibrant scheme to
its full potential. Don’t forget it
is not too late for you to book a
visit from one of the specialists
listed in the Heritage in Schools
Directory 2003 either for the
end of this school year or even
the new school year!
Intouch June 2003
INTO BENEFIT S
Benefits and Discounts for INTO Members
Your suggestions are valued
W
e continuously strive to bring
you new benefits each month. In
the past year we have had a vast
increase in the number of benefits and
discounts available to members.
In order to increase the value of your
INTO membership we would welcome your
suggestions for new benefits.
Just send your suggestions on a postcard
to Benefit Suggestions, The Benefits
Section, INTO Head Office,  Parnell
Square, Dublin  by  June .
■ All suggestions received will be entered
into a draw for a € voucher for River
Island.
■ Remember the future of discounts is up
to you – Use them to sustain them.
June Competitions
April Competition Winners
PC LIVE!
Congratulations
to Francis Quill of Holy Family
BNS, Tralee, who won a
weekend for  at the Clarion
Hotel, Limerick, compliments
of the Clarion Hotel.
We have  copies of a CDROM
called Learn Internet Now to give
away compliments of PC Live!
The CD provides comprehensive coverage including:
● What the Internet is and how
it works;
● Setting up and choosing an
Internet Service Provider;
● Surfing the World Wide Web;
● Search Engines;
● News and Chat Groups;
● E-mail and other communication tools;
● On-line shopping and Ecommerce;
● Creating and registering a
web site;
● On-line marketing and selling; Internet tools and technologies.
This would be useful for
teachers who are teaching
students about the Internet or
who just want to update themselves.
To be in with a chance to win
one of these CDs please put
your name, address and teacher
number on a postcard and send
it to PC Live! Competition,
Benefits Section, INTO Head
Office,  Parnell Square,
Dublin  by  June, .
Don’t forget INTO members
can avail of a % discount off
the annual subscription to PC
Live! magazine To avail of this
offer call ()  or log
onto
http://www.pclive.ie/discount
Don’t forget you too can avail
of a special offer of € pps
for  nights bed, breakfast, one
evening meal and a complimentary bottle of wine at the Clarion
Hotel, Limerick, by calling the
reservation line on
() 
or emailing
[email protected]
and quoting ‘INTO’.
Congratulations
to Mary Fennessy of Scoil An
Linbh Íosa, Naas who won a
Digital Camera sponsored by
AIB to promote the relaunch of
the INTO/AIB Visa card.
Application forms for the new
improved AIB/INTO Visa card can
be obtained from the Benefits
section in INTO Head Office.
Invitation
Exclusive Customer Evening
for INTO Members
CLERYS
We have a € Shopping
Voucher for Clerys to give away
to one lucky member courtesy
of Clerys. So to be in with a
chance to win put your name,
address and teacher number on
a postcard and send it to:
The Clerys Competition,
Benefits Section,
INTO Head Office,
 Parnell Square, Dublin 
by  June, .
Summer Holidays
If you are planning your
summer holidays or thinking
about getting away don’t
forget you can get a .%
discount off flights and a %
discount off selected package
holidays with the INTO
Intouch June 2003
Online Travel Club.
For further details log onto
www.into.ie
and select:
● The INTO;
● Benefits;
● INTO Travel Club.
Friday 13 June 5.30pm – 8pm
* Please bring this invite to avail of discounts on the evening*
Complimentary wine and cheese will be served
in the Tea Rooms on the newly refurbished 1st floor
10% Discount will apply to the following items:
Kitchen shop, casual dining, small appliances, ladies fashions
(all own bought fashion brands located on the 1st floor under the
European Collections area, excludes concessions),
childrenswear, accessories, luggage, millinery,
ladies and mens (own bought) footwear,
men's branded casual wear, gifts, china and crystal, lingerie,
swimwear, beds and carpets.
15% Discount will apply to the following items:
Ladies coats, men’s suits, men’s outerwear, bedroom linens,
curtains, sports, furniture
11
INTO WEBSITE
New Handbook
on CD
A
new Members Handbook
will be launched on CD
Rom with the September
issue of InTouch.
The CD will contain
information on the INTO,
Conditions of Employment,
Legal and Industrial Relations
issues and School
Administration.
It will also have a range of
utilities for using the CD.
A full outline will be given in
InTouch in September.
SMS News
A
s part of the development of the INTO
communications
strategy a deal has been
reached by INTO Head Office
and a communication
company to allow for the facility of text messaging news
items to members.
This facility will initially be
used to communicate with
the CEC and other national
committee members. It is
expected to be expanded to
include Branch and District
Officers by the summer.
Further expansion to include
staff representatives will then
be considered for the new
school year.
This facility allows for text
messages to be sent directly
to the mobile phones of those
members listed in the contact
groups.
In view of the increasing
pace of change and the necessity for getting accurate information to members as quickly
as possible the CEC views this
as an important development.
Handwriting Resources
Email, not
Snail Mail
D
uring the course of last
year branch secretaries
were asked to forward
the email addresses of
schools/staff representatives
for use by head office in
communications directly to
schools.
A significant number of
email addresses have now been
put on a databases and it is
intended to begin utilising
those addresses from
September next.
Updates on information and
news items will be forwarded
directly to schools on a monthly
basis.
It is also intended to use this
facility to conduct surveys of
members on a variety of issues
and policy areas.
Work will continue over the
summer on facilities to allow
branch and district officers to
complete forms online and
return them directly to head
office for processing.
In a related development the
INTO website continues to
expand the number of pages for
information available for
members.
The September edition will
contain the completed outline
of the information on the
website for the next school
year, including policy
templates and resources for
schools.
12
I
n conjunction with National Handwriting
Week and the INTO/EBS Handwriting
Competition the INTO website has available
lesson plans for both junior and senior
students.
For junior classes the lessons are aimed at
developing skills and following patterns, senior
students can learn from Egyptian hieroglyphics
and study the history of writing.
The lesson plans can be found at the
following URL: http://www.into.ie/html/
interactive/reshandwriting.htm which is available either by clicking on the ‘Classroom
Resources’ button on the front page
of the website and then ‘Handwriting Lesson
Plans’, or by clicking on the handwriting logo
which is located further down the front page on
the right hand side.
School Building Row Escalates
A
s outlined in the last
edition of InTouch, the
CEC has decided on a
campaign of action in relation
to primary school buildings
over the coming months.
Committees have been established at local level with a
view to identifying a number
of schools in each district
where building work is
urgently required and no
progress is being made.
The CEC has also decided to
lobby politicians at local level
in advance of the preparation
of the estimates for next year’s
budget with a view to ensuring that adequate provision is
made to deal with the growing
crisis in primary schools.
General Secretary, John Carr,
expressed serious concern
about the politicisation of the
school building problem
following the release of documents to Paul McGrath, TD,
under the Freedom of
Information Act, which were
then published by The Irish
Independent. The documents
showed concerns being
expressed by civil servants in
the DES in relation to the
Primary Building Budget and
interference in the prioritisation of school building projects.
The full text of the INTO
reaction has been posted on
the INTO website at www.
into.ie
Free Downloads
S
eaghan Moriarity has advised us of some
useful free software that will not stop working after  days.
Gerry Olltwits Freeware: http://www.kidsdomain.
com/down/ (Mac as well as Windows).
Downloads: www.downloads.com (all types of
software, mostly  day demos).
Free Downloads Centre: http://www.
freedownloadscenter.com/ (Over , software
titles available for free download – not
educational only).
Note: INTO do not recommend nor endorse these
sites or software.
Intouch June 2003
C E N T R AL EXECUTIVE CO M M I T TEE – HE AD OFFICE NEWS
Motions for ICTU
T
he ICTU Biennial
Conference will be held
in Tralee during the first
week of July. Each union may
tackle two motions for the
Conference. The CEC has tabled
the following motions:
deemed appropriate; and
d instructs the Executive
Council to enter discussions
with the Government in
order to ensure that funding
for staff and resources for
special educational needs
remains a priority.
Special Education
Conference
a notes the commitment in
Sustaining Progress that the
Education for Persons with
Disabilities Bill would be
enacted by summer ;
b demands that all such legislation is accompanied by
appropriate provision of
resources and personnel in
order to adequately address
the diverse and appropriate
educational needs of pupils;
c supports a flexible response
to the identified needs of
children with disability,
which includes a continuum
of provision through inclusion in mainstream schools,
the development of special
classes and an expansion of
special school provision, as
Inequality and Education
Conference
. Notes the commitments in
chapter five of the
Partnership Agreement
‘Sustaining Progress’ on
‘Delivering a Fair and
Inclusive Society’, including
those commitments on NAPS
and targeted programmes;
. deplores the widening of the
gap between rich and poor
over recent years and the fact
that Ireland is now an
extremely unequal society by
international standards;
. commits ICTU and affiliated
unions to monitor closely the
implementation of antipoverty measures and to
review their effectiveness
during the period of the
THE SOCIAL SIDE
Pictured after the opening session
of Congress this year were;
Eamon Stack, Chief Inspector,
Catherine Byrne, General
Treasurer, Gerry Malone,
then INTO President and
John Dennehy, Secretary General
of the DES.
DECISION
MAKERS
Tom Lillis, Retired Teachers’
Association addressing Congress
Intouch June 2003
Angela Dunne,
District X,
Máire Ní
Chuinneagáin,
District VI and
Jim Higgins,
District IV at a
recent CEC
Meeting.
Partnership Agreement;
. recognises the potential of
the education system to play
a key role in tackling exclusion;
. believes that the rate of early
school leaving of up to ,
students annually at transition to second level, and
, before securing a qualification, is one indicator of
educational inequality;
. supports a focus on early
years education as an effective part of a targeted antipoverty initiative;
. condemns education cuts
which curb implementation
of school attendance/education welfare legislation, leave
children in disadvantaged
communities short of qualified teachers and halt the
expansion of targeted
programmes; and
. instructs the Executive
Committee to campaign
publicly to secure increased
investment in primary education as part of its work for inclusion and against inequality.
Assistant’s
Cause
A
s this issue of InTouch
is looking at school
leadership, we
thought it might be timely to
reprint a letter from the Irish
School Weekly at a time when
the CEC comprised only principals and two reserved
places for assistants.
 March, 
Dear Sir, – Your recent articles in the ISW re the position and prospects of
assistant teachers should
attract the attention and
awaken the feelings of all
assistants throughout
Ireland. Nobody will have the
temerity to dispute that
assistant teachers labour
under two main grievances –
viz, insecurity of tenure and
low salary. As regards the
first, take a case in point – A
and B are two sisters. A is
principal of a small school
for two years; it is amalgamated; and A is put in class
styled ‘The Privileged
Assistant’. Her sister B has
given many years of long and
faithful service. The average
falls below  through no
fault of hers. What is the
result? While A, of a few
years’ standing, is
‘privileged’, her sister B, who
has grown grey in the service, is informed that her
services are no longer
needed, and no privilege is to
be extended to her.
Are not the assistants to
blame in this matter?
Considering their numerical
strength, why not demand
equal representatives on the
CEC? Are we to be content
with two representatives on
the CEC, while, at the same
time, we keep the
Organization floating? Let
the Assistants make a
reasonable demand on the
CEC by insisting on equal
representation, and if not
granted, organise themselves
– Yours, etc
West Cork Assistant Teacher
13
MEDIA REPORT
INTO Media Co-ordinators
In the Media
2002-2003
The following are Media
Co-ordinators for Districts  - .
DISTRICT VIII Vacant
DISTRCIT IX
Patricia Slavin, The
Northumberlands, Lr Mount St,
Dublin .   (h)
DISTRICT X (LAOIS, CARLOW,
WICKLOW, KILKENNY, WEXFORD)
Niamh Campion (Co Laois)
St Joseph’s GNS, Mountmellick,
Co Laois.  (s)
Margaret Keegan (Co Carlow)
Iona Drive, Rathnapish, Carlow
  (h)   (s)
Katherine Kelly, Kennedy Park
NS, Wexford.   (s) 
 (h)
Anthony Byrne (Co Wicklow)
Scoil Iosagáin, Coolgreany,
Gorey, Co Wexford  
(h)   (s)
Email: scoiliosagain.ias@
tinet.ie/[email protected]
DISTRICT XI (CLARE, TIPPERARY,
WATERFORD)
Dick O’Connell (Clare) ,
Edenvale, Kilrush, Co Clare 
 (h)   (s)
  (f)
[email protected]
Joseph Conway,  Roselawn,
Tramore, Co Waterford 
 (h)   (s)
Email: [email protected]
Christy Carroll (Sth Tipp)
Mountain Road, Clonmel, Co
Tipperary   (h) 
 (s)   (f) Email:
[email protected]
Geraldine Kirwan, Belmont,
Nenagh, Co Tipperary 
 (s)   (m).
Fionnuala Corcoran, Boheraveroon, Thurles, Co Tipperary
  (h)   (s)
Email: [email protected]
DISTRICT XII (CORK)
Noel Coakley, The Gables,
Ballydehob, Co Cork (h). Scoil
Bhride, Ballydehob, Co Cork 
 (h)   (s) Email:
[email protected]
Ger Stack, St Enda’s, Kilcrea
Park, Magazine Road, Cork
  (h)   (s)
Email: [email protected]
Mairead Allen (Cork City Sth)
The Old Farmhouse, Gortnaclough, Ballinhassig, Co Cork.
  (h)   (s)
  (m) Email:
[email protected]
DISTRICT XIII (LIMERICK, KERRY)
Julie O’Connor (Kerry) Holy
Family NS, Balloonagh, Tralee,
Co Kerry (s)   (h)
 (s)
Joe Lyons (Limerick) Scruthán,
Barnakyle, Patrickswell,
Co Limerick   (h)
  (s) Email:
[email protected]
DISTRICT XIV
Michael Mangan, , Grace
Park Heights, Drumcondra,
Dublin .  (s) Email:
[email protected]
DISTRICT XV
Kaye Nolan , Thormanby
Lawns, Howth, Co Dublin (h) St
Paul’s JNS, Ayrefield, Dublin .
  (h)  (s)
Email: [email protected]
DISTRICT XVI (CORK)
Patricia Crowley (Nth West Cork)
Glounminane, Lombardstown,
Mallow, Cork  (h) 
 (s)
Kayren Hayes, Inishfree, Church
Street, Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
  (h)
Alice O’Connell (Cork City)
, Brooklawn, Rushbrooke,
Cobh, Co Cork.   (h)
  (s)  
(m) Email: [email protected]
NORTHERN COMMITTEE
Patricia O’Farrell, Poplar Hill,
Stewartstown Road, Coalisland,
Co Tyrone   (s)
Email: patriciaofarrell@hotmail.
com
Patricia Slavin,
Mick Mangan,
and Peter Darcy
at Media
Co-ordinators
Seminar in April
We need to bring the ridiculous
maximum class size of  in disadvantaged schools down to .
Gerry Malone in Argus, May 
The acute teacher shortage in
the system reflects failed educational planning and a great
disregard for the importance of
education in the early years of a
child's development.
Catherine Byrne in The Laois
Nationalist  May, .
How can teachers be expected
to implement all aspects of the
curriculum when they do not
have the basic facilities to do
so?
Declan Kelleher in Clare
Champion  May, 
First Communion could be
renamed the Second Last
Communion because there is
only one more day in Church for
most young people – and that’s
for Confirmation, according to
an outspoken Jesuit (Peter
McVerry SJ).
Irish Independent  May, 
Irish schools face a raft of legal
suits for failing to stop
playground bullying.
Sunday Times  May 
You’d want to be on Lucozade all
day long to be doing that (teaching the tuiseal gineadach and
long division) from  to ..
Sheila Nunan RTE , the Late
Late Show  May, 
This (supervision) is particularly
difficult for teaching principals
who are basically expected to be
in two places at the one time.
Noreen Flynn CEC on TV3
News  May 
You’re on Lucozade; the kids are
on Red Bull
Pat Kenny in response.
You would think that the Irish
National Teachers’ Organisation
(INTO) the union representing
primary school teachers, would
know this better than most. But
no INTO seems to imagine that
Catholic schools are stuck in the
 ’s still teaching children a
narrow little version of Irish
Catholicism.
Sunday Times  May, 
Generally speaking, the extent
of supervisory cover at schools
has to be a matter of common
sense, especially when talking
about the context of youngsters playing in the yard and
outside the confines of the
school building itself.
Irish Examiner  May, 
An extra payment of up to
€5,000 per annum should be
paid to teachers who work in
disadvantaged areas, according
to a report from a Government
Committee.
The Irish Times  May, 
The INTO last night criticised the
decision (to release school
inspection reports) warning that
the publication of ‘crude’ league
tables could damage the school
system.
The Irish Times  May, .
Last night, INTO General
Secretary John Carr said: “Any
attempt to force schools to
14
curtail enrolments based on
pupils' birthdays or to refuse to
have these children at all this
year will be firmly resisted by
the INTO.”
Irish Independent  May 
The two biggest Christian faiths
have united with Muslims in
opposing primary school teachers’ proposals for a more diverse
religious curriculum.
Irish Independent  May, .
Mr Crowley said schools were
unaware of their obligations
under the Equality Act and they
needed to ‘go further’ in a
commitment to accommodating diversity on religious
grounds.
The Irish Times  May, 
Department accepts defeat as
school building programme
collapses
Dublin Daily  May, .
Intouch June 2003
SCHOOL LE A D E R S H I P
Profiles in Leadership
The demands on school leadership continue to increase. InTouch asked a
number of teachers in various roles to give their views. This month we include
some of those and further profiles will be carried in the next school year.
The Juggler
I
hear you knocking but you
can’t come in. At the third
knock on the door in the first
twenty minutes, I think of the
song. The start of another day
as a teaching principal.
Someone once said that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. At this point I am
applying the same contradiction to teaching and principal.
Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy
the challenge but I resent the
amount of my time spent away
from my class during a teaching
week.
Changes like the introduction
of limited release time (providing I can find a sub) and
increased grants for ancillary
staff have helped. I now try to
organise administrative tasks
on release days but the urgent
and the immediate keeps over-
taking the priorities. While I
now have the help of a part
time secretary and caretaker
the paperwork for myself and
the board of management in
employing them is a further
drain on my time.
If I had three wishes to
improve my situation they
would be:
. That all partners would realise
that the primary purpose of a
school is to educate the
pupils, not build a mountain
of paper. The endless
demands for policies to justify
every action is taking the
creativity and spontaneity out
of our lives. Our motto should
be “our school, our situation,
our solution”.
. That we could see and use a
logical sequence for assessing, acquiring and deploying
■ “I still enjoy the
challenge but I
resent the
amount of my
time spent
away from my
class during a
working week”
resources for special needs.
There are too many uncertainties at present and the
work involved is overly
bureaucratic in my view. If we
are to cater for our pupils
with special educational
needs then the support structures must be put in place at
local level.
. That all ancillary staff would
be employed on a full time
basis for schools or clusters of
schools. The demands on
Boards of Management, who
are all volunteers, have
reached unmanageable
levels. If the DES is regionalising them, why not not do the
same for support staff for
schools?
I still have enthusiasm and
vision for our school but the
demands made on schools in
recent times seems designed to
ensure that if it ain’t broke then
it soon will be!
Enough is enough?
Geraldine Wallace is a
teaching principal in St
Mary’s BNS in Limerick City.
■
The Diverse Deputy
“
S
he’s not available at the
moment but I will get the
Deputy Principal for you …”
“Sorry for disturbing you but
the Principal isn’t available …” I
know you are busy but can I talk
to you …” “My teacher sent me
to you …” “Can you cover this
meeting for me …”
These are just a sample of the
phrases I hear throughout the
day. Being deputy principal of a
large designated disadvantaged
school is both diverse and challenging. The number of knocks
on my door can vary between
one and a hundred (slight
exaggeration but only very
slight!) There is no place to hide
– and believe me there have
been days when I’ve tried!
Trying to describe the multiIntouch June 2003
■ “There is no way I can predict the
type of day I am going to have. I
have to be prepared for
everything…”
faceted tasks involved is not
easy. There is no way I can
predict the type of day I am
going to have. I have to be
prepared for everything, the
injured child, the teacher
who needs particular books,
the colleague who has a very
challenging child to teach,
the ADHD student who
requires medication on a
daily basis, the child who
necessitates time out from
their classroom, the pupil
who is upset because someone
has threatened them, the
teacher who looks for guidance
the principal who seeks
support. There are also
demands from outside agencies, reports to be sent, policies
to be written, surveys to be
filled, phone calls to take and
meetings to attend.
This is not where it ends
because not only am I deputy
principal of a thirty-three
teacher school with over four
hundred students and nine
special needs assistants, I am
also a full time resource
teacher. This means there are
IEPs to be written and updated,
children to be tested and
weekly plans to be prepared
and followed through, not
forgetting the most important
task of all – teaching the children. When I sit down (which
isn’t often) and think of my job,
climbing Carrauntohil comes to
mind – a tough up hill struggle
but exciting rewarding and
satisfying.
■
Jan O’Sullivan, Deputy
Principal of Moyross NS,
Limerick.
15
SCHOOL LE ADERSHIP
PROFILES IN LE ADERSHIP
A Principal’s Special Needs
S
Scoil Chiarain is a special
school for children with
Mild Learning Disabilities. We
accept children aged  to 
from the North Dublin area,
city and county. we currently
have  students on roll. Most
of our students have come from
mainstream schools, many
having completed primary
education and needing fulltime support for their postprimary placement.
The curriculum is adapted to
each child’s individual needs
and reflects the provision in
both primary and post-primary
mainstream schools, adapted to
meet the level and pace of
learning of each student.
Students in post-primary
classes do not take the State
Junior or Leaving Cert exams
but instead take a wide range of
FETAC courses where they build
up portfolios of work which are
examined by an external assessor and certificates are awarded
on leaving school.
■ “I never realised that so much time
went into begging for resources,
pleading with agencies to provide
statutory services and hounding
officialdom to sanction necessary
changes”
I became principal of Scoil
Chiarain three years ago. I had
mixed feelings when I accepted
the job – astonishment (that I’d
been selected!), excitement and
a lot of trepidation. I loved
teaching and I didn’t particularly want to leave the
classroom, perhaps the day to
day office routine would be
boring and mundane. Boy, was I
wrong! What routine? It’s like
playing catch-up. I never
realised that so much time went
into begging for resources,
pleading with agencies to
provide statutory services and
hounding officialdom to sanction necessary changes.
Part of the job I find most
difficult is telling parents that
we cannot accept their child
into the school due to lack of
available places. This year we
had  applicants for  places.
A huge amount of time and
energy goes into, processing
application, meeting parents
and professionals and showing
them around the school. This
time is important though if
people are to make the right
choices for their children.
I’m extremely fortunate to
work with a marvellous team
of  teachers,  SNAs, 
specialist part-time teachers
and ancillary staff. However,
the decision not to provide
NEPS psychologists to special
schools until all mainstream
schools are covered, the lack of
consultation between the
Departments of Health and
Education to provide additional
necessary supports such as
psychiatry, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, etc and the
rigidity that prohibits a special
school having Disadvantaged
status angers and frustrates me.
I look forward to the day when
all necessary resources are in
place and I can get the rest of
the job done – supporting
children and teachers in the
classroom.
■
Valerie Monaghan is
Principal of Scoil
Chiarain, Glasnevin, Dublin.
Irish National Teachers’ Organization
A Leading Service Organization
Temporary Official – Dublin based
Organization Profile
The INTO is the largest teachers’ organization in Ireland representing the trade union and professional interests of more than
, members in the Republic of Ireland and Northern
Ireland.
The core mission of the INTO is to provide a quality service to
members on employment and professional issues.
Arising from a vacancy due to career break, applications are
invited for a management position as a Temporary Official in the
Professional Development and Trade Union Training Section of
the INTO at their Head Office in Dublin. The post will be effective
until  August .
Profile of Successful Applicant
union training programmes. S/he will be expected to have a thorough working knowledge of the affairs of the INTO, to possess
excellent communication, negotiating and interpersonal skills
and to work effectively in a team environment, showing commitment and initiative.
The successful applicant will have good management potential
and will combine commitment and sound judgement with
initiative, creativity and flexibility in responding effectively to
the needs and queries of members.
S/he will have an understanding of current issues in primary
education, and have a third level qualification in a relevant discipline, as well as having appropriate professional experience.
Applicants should also be proficient in the use and application of
Information and Communication Technology.
The successful applicant will be responsible for the development
and implementation of professional development and trade
Application forms, job description, and conditions of service are available from:
The General Secretary, INTO,  Parnell Square, Dublin .
Tel: (). Fax: () . Email: [email protected]
Completed application forms must reach the General Secretary by  pm on Tuesday,  June, 
The INTO is an equal opportunities employer.
16
Intouch June 2003
Responding to the Leadership Challenge
T
he experience of school
leadership in Irish
primary schools has
changed dramatically in recent
decades. Over this period, leadership of primary schools has
become more complex and one
can argue more demanding for
those who lead. As schools
continually assume a greater
role in the management of their
own affairs, the task of leadership spreads and deepens. This
is clearly evident in the accumulating portfolio of post-graduate programmes relating to
school leadership and from the
emergence of a range of support
organizations and services
available to school leaders
today. Unfortunately, it is also
reflected in the reduction of
applicants seeking the position
of principal teacher in primary
schools.
Leadership Development for
Schools (LDS) is a national
programme aimed at providing
personal and professional
support for school leaders. In
LDS’s initial document School
Leadership – A Profile there is
explicit recognition of some of
the key challenges facing school
leaders today. These include:
● Promoting and supporting
teaching and learning at a
time of rapid change.
● Responding to the economic,
social and cultural changes in
society as they impact on
schools.
● Developing and improving
schools.
● Availing of the rapid technological and global changes
that offer new opportunities
to students and teachers.
● Accommodating for the
inclusion of a much wider
range of pupils.
● Promoting risk taking and
developing innovative and
flexible solutions to problems
and challenges.
● Initiating and supporting the
continuous personal and
professional development of
staff.
● Encouraging and supporting
policies and practices that
Intouch June 2003
create greater gender equality
in schools.
● Familiarity and compliance
with new legislation and
increased accountability at
school-based level.
● Linking with and accessing
support and guidance across
professions and services and
developing and maintaining
an extended network of
contacts and support.
In recent years many countries have developed local
and/or national programmes to
provide professional development for school leadership.
Typically those seeking such
programmes fall into three
categories:
● Aspirant leaders who are
currently leading from the
classroom and who wish to
assume a more formal leadership role in the schools.
● Newly appointed school leaders.
● Established school leaders
who require continuous
renewal and support.
LDS has produced a framework document that proposes
the gradual introduction of a
range of programmes and
initiatives, designed at supporting all forms and levels of leadership in schools in light of the
challenged highlighted above.
The initial LDS programme
Misneach is a programme of
induction for first time principals. This programme is
designed at assisting new principals to walk the tightrope of
their early period in a new role
as well as allowing participants
develop a personal platform of
skills, competences, knowledge
and values that will guide their
future actions and behaviours
as principals. The LDS team in
consultation with relevant
stakeholders and practitioners
in schools have designed the
programme.
The Misneach programme is
a multi- dimensional
programme of personal and
professional development
delivered through an interlocking variety of media. These
Zita Lysaght and Paddy Flood,
primary members of the LDS
team
include:
 residential sessions.
● Participation in an online
virtual learning environment.
● Mentoring.
● Portfolio building and reflective practice.
It is also hoped to introduce
an internship dimension to the
programme in the near future.
●
In the school year, /
the vast majority of first-time
primary principals have availed
of the programme and by the
summer will have participated
in two residential programmes.
LDS invites and encourages all
first-time principals appointed
since September  to avail
of the Misneach Programme.
The programme is also available to acting principals who
will be in this position for a
one-year period. All costs for
residential sessions and substitute cover for teaching principals are covered by LDS. All
first-time principals and acting
principals are asked to make
contact with LDS by returning
the accompanying registration
of interest slip on this page.
Applications should be
returned to The Administrator,
LDS, Clare Education Centre,
Government Buildings, Kilrush
Road, Ennis, Co Clare.
Misneach: A Programme of
Induction for first-Time Principals
I ________________________ (name) would like information on
and an application form for the Misneach programme for FirstTime Principals.
Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
School: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tel: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Email: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Leadership Development for Schools, Clare Education Centre,
Government Offices, Kilrush Road, Ennis, Co Clare.
17
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
Death by a Thousand Policies
I
suspect it is a mark of the
onset of geriatricity when
one begins to bang on
about the good old days. You
know the patter – summer days
were endlessly sunny, wafered
ice-cream tasted magic and you
got into the flea-pit to watch Kit
Carson for thruppence. That
sort of thing…
Teaching, too, had a savour of
innocence about it and was a
craft employed in tiny rooms
with big classes by teachers
with even bigger hearts. My
principal at the time was as
laid-back as the then emerging
prince of cool in American
music – J J Cale. He reclined in
his office each morning with
the Indo, his fags, a flask of tea
and a packet of Farley’s Rusks.
We joined him in the fog at
eleven to drink tea and have
him brief us on the great
matters of the day – international, national and, of course,
local.
Being neophytes, we had
Diplomas to secure. We were at
times concerned but he had a
nice line in reassurance. “Ah,
sure, bigger eejits than ye got
Diplomas!” He was right, of
course, and we settled into the
ré órga of our teaching careers.
Then somewhere along the
road, things got a bit tough in
places and some were saying
over and over again that kids
were going ropey. Discipline
was breaking down and help
was needed from the
Department. Enter the oul’
Department, aclaí go leor, with
their answer. And that, I think,
was when it first happened.
They advised us to devise our
own Discipline Policy.
It was, of course, a natural
adjunct of the democratizaton
of schools with boards of
management being charged
with responsibility for their
own patch. Prior to that,
teacher after teacher at
Congress after Congress
implored the Department to do
something about discipline.
And it did… it advocated a
policy.
18
■ “…I have little doubt that keeping a
teacher preoccupied with policy,
planning and peripherals does little
to increase that same teacher’s
energies for the actual job of
teaching”
And so, with one gargantuan
leap, the Department was free!
Meanwhile, back in the
schools, we were all beavering
away at compiling the policy,
drawing on all the democratic
strands we knew. In fact, we got
so exercised with the business
that we stopped complaining.
Anyway, there was no point in
moaning because now it was
our baby and we teachers know
that we never complain about
our own baby.
The Department, of course,
couldn’t help noticing the hush
and it dawned on them that the
call for a policy had acted as a
sort of anaesthesia on the
chalk-wallahs. It kept them out
of mischief, so to speak. And
they constructed, in a perfectly
reasonable fashion, a new
aphorism – spare the policy,
spoil the teacher. Thus ever
since, with the coming of each
new moon, they allow another
spectral policy to flit from the
turrets of Cornamaddy to visit
itself on every school abroad
throughout the land.
On a serious note, though, I
have little doubt that keeping a
teacher preoccupied with
policy, planning and peripherals does little to increase that
same teacher’s energies for the
actual job of teaching – and
very little time to engage in any
type of reflective practice about
her/his own work. This is a view
supported by Zeichner and
Liston* when they mention
“…the various ways in which
teachers have been constrained
by cultural and institutional
forces, including attempts to
micromanage schools by state
departments, the influence of
textbook companies, school
district policies on curriculum,
instruction and staff development, the structure of teachers’
work, which includes such
factors as large class sizes, and
little planning time, and the
forms of reasoning and rationality that underlie these and
other efforts to control teaching
and teachers.”(p)
It seems to me then that,
amid the frenetic flurry of
policy, the actual teacher can
get left behind in a morass of
bureaucracy and can succumb
to professional death under the
blows of a thousand policies.
However, the ability of teachers
to reflect on, to sift honestly
and to discard what is irrelevant to our real work is probably the single most important
skill that we possess.
Zeichner and Liston again give
us hope:
“The literature on education
reform and school restructuring
is quite clear about the way in
which teachers have limited and
at times have deliberately
subverted the school reform
efforts of external agents.”(p 43)
So, the next time an edict
comes down the line to me, I’m
going to apply an good honest
appraisal of its relevance to me
and my work. Such honesty
must surely be the best policy.
*Zeichner, KM and Liston, DP
(1996) Reflective Teaching: An
Introduction. Mahwah, New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Joe Conway is District XI
Representative on the
Education Committee.
■
Intouch June 2003
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
Some end of year tales
R
ecently I was asked to compile a
picture quiz for a children’s table
quiz. So I looked up all the newspapers I had at home and cut out
assorted photos of famous people I
thought the children would know.
I had Simon Casey, the ‘You’re a Star’ runnerup, Mary Harney, our Tanaiste, Ann Doyle the
newsreader and Crimeline presenter, Cian from
Westlife, John Moloney our TD, councillor for
another little while and undertaker, Mary
McAleese our President, the singer Britney Spears
and into the centre of all those I stuck in the
pope.
I wondered was the quiz too easy or too difficult, so I did a spot check in my school.
Everyone, without exception, knew Simon
Casey, the ‘You’re a Star’ runner-up, from infants
to sixth class. Some knew others, but I had the
most amusing and intriguing answers when I
pointed out the photo of the pope to the
children.
Some knew him … a very small minority.
“So, what does a pope do?” I asked one of those
who recognised him.
“He blesses people”.
“Just blesses people, nothing
else?” I enquired.
“Yea, I think so,” she
answered.
One girl looked at
him and asked, “Is
he in Coronation
Street?”
I told her I
didn’t look at
Coronation
Street but that
maybe he
was in it.
“Who’s he
married to
in
Coronation
Street?” I
wondered aloud.
“Don’t know,” she
replied.
I’m not surprised
that she’s
confused
as she looks at four soaps a week.
Another child told me he was a special priest
who cures warts.
“Where does he live?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
And I suggested maybe Tullamore or even
Rathdowney as she goes there to see her Granny.
“Oh no, farther than that,” I was told.
“He puts holy water on the warts and you give
him money.”
One child, nine years old, did not know who he
was and when I said he was the Pope, Pope John
Paul, he exclaimed. “A pope, what’s a pope?”
Well, what indeed!
Our school and the boys’ school beside us have
been teaching French for a few years now. One of
the boys told me recently he was in a French play.
“So, what are you doing in this play?” I asked
him.
“I’m holding up number  on a card,” he told
me.
So I asked him what was number  in French.
After much hair scratching and deep thinking
he told me it was six.
“Can you count in French?” I asked him.
“Oh yea, Miss I can,” he assured me.
So after more hair scratching and
further deep thinking he starts,
“Aon, do, tri, ceathair, cuig,
se, seacht,”
A little knowledge…
Sheelagh
Coyle, St
Joseph’s NS,
Mountmellick, Co
Laois. Sheila is
also District X
representative on
the INTO Equality
Committee.
■
■ I had Simon Casey, the
‘You’re a Star’ runner-up, Mary
Harney, our Tanaiste, Ann Doyle
the newsreader and Crimeline
presenter … Mary McAleese our
President, the singer Britney Spears
and into the centre of all those I
stuck in the pope.
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
Time to reform the Irish Exam?
A
monthly meeting has been taking
place in Club Na Múinteoiri
comprising of teachers who have
trained outside the Irish Republic, (Irish
nationals both North and South, UK, Europe
and outside EU). The topic for discussion
has been the Irish language requirement
and the standard of the SCG exam.
These teachers are expected to pass the
exam within a five year time frame and will
receive a reduced salary after the five years
if the level is not achieved.
All the teachers who attend the meetings
would like to stress that they are passionate, experienced, enthusiastic and well
trained professional teachers. They are very
willing to learn Irish however they do not
understand the relevance of the current
exam level required for a national primary
school teacher.
The high attendance at these meetings
has raised many concerns including questions that need to be answered. These
include:
importance of the Irish culture and
heritage within Irish schools. We believe
that a lowering of the level of the exam will
not lower the standard of Irish being taught
in national schools.
Currently some teachers without the SCG
exam are using other colleagues’ expertise
whilst they use their own subject specialism with that teacher’s class, ensuring that
the children get the best possible Irish
language education. These teachers on
returning to their classrooms are continuing the Irish curriculum by using basic
commands and instructions as part of daily
classroom life. Many of these teachers
already have Leaving Certificate Irish and
above. They are more than capable of
teaching their own Irish. Yes these teachers
are able but, because of the current SCG
exam, they are having to leave the Republic
of Ireland and are taking their expertise to
other countries.
Who is replacing these teachers?
The ludicrous situation whereby ,
teaching positions are filled by non-qualified primary teachers.
● Over , children are being taught by
a person who is not a qualified primary
teacher.
(John Carr - INTO Congress )
●
Why do national school teachers require an
unrealistic level of Irish that is well above
that required to teach a national primary
school child?
We all agree and recognise how important
it is to teach, maintain and highlight the
Who is allowing this scandal to continue?
Solutions need to be sought and one possibility is a more comprehensive programme
for teaching Irish to teachers trained
outside the Republic of Ireland.
● Beginners classes that progress
adequately each year.
● Withdrawal of the restrictive time scale.
● Training teachers how to teach Irish to
national school children through games,
rhymes, big books etc; in line with the
new curriculum guidelines.
● Free Gaeltacht courses that run parallel
to your Irish learning.
All current Irish in-service is in line with
the newly implemented Irish Curriculum,
however the exam is not a reflection of this.
In the interim we will have had a meeting
with John Carr and Deirbhile Nic Craith and
look forward to updating the magazine on
our progress. If you wish to make a
comment on this article or find that you are
in a similar situation please contact us.
The next meeting of the group will take
place in the Teachers’ Club on  June at
pm.
■
Written by a lobby group of teachers
qualified outside the Republic of
Ireland, who can be contacted at: [email protected]
Scrúdú Cáilíochta – Review
A review of the Scrúdú le
haghaidh Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge
(SCG) commenced in October
. Angela Dunne (CEC) and
Deirbhile Nic Craith, Education
Officer, represent the INTO on
the review committee. The
INTO’s approach to the review
has been based on:
● The principle of equivalance
between the Gaeilge ghairmiúil course in the Colleges of
Education and the SCG;
● The necessity to ease the
process of obtaining the SCG;
● Ensuring that the syllabus and
assessment process is appropriate to the needs of the
primary teacher in relation to
the Gaeilge curriculum.
Since Provisional recognition
was first introduced in , the
INTO has succeeded in obtaining a number of significant
improvements.
Notwithstanding that there are
still issues to be addressed, the
following have been achieved:
● Teachers with provisional
recognition now have  years
within which to obtain the
SCG (extended from  years).
● SCG now available twice a
year (October and April).
● Each module can be taken
and passed separately.
● Candidates may take the
exam in one of four venues.
● Candidates can appeal their
results and may view their
papers
An interim review was
presented to the Department
last autumn, which have
resulted in a number of minor
amendments to the current
examination which will take
effect from September . In
terms of a longer term review
the review committee is
currently preparing an outline
syllabus. In relation to the
COMPETITION HINTS
syllabus and assessment of the
SCG, the following issues are
being pursued by the INTO.
● A comprehensive syllabus to
include: Teanga, Módhanna
Múinte, Feasacht Cultúir,
Léamh & Scríobh, Litríocht.
● A specific course to be
commissioned to meet all
aspects of the syllabus, and to
be available at different levels
throughout the country, free
to teachers.
● The training of teachers to
deliver courses.
● An extended role of such
teachers to advise and guide
candidates for the SCG.
● An assessment system which
would be a combination of
written exams, classroom
based assessment, project,
and certificates of attendance.
● Cúrsa Gaeltachta – fully
funded and during school
time.
See p. 7
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
INTO Separated Teachers’ Support Group
I
n the Autumn of :
Maurice Kearney, Tadhg
Mac Pháidin and myself,
Fiona Poole, got together to
discuss the possibility of setting
up a group to cater for the
needs of separated primary
teachers. The climate at that
time was hostile to separated
teachers at a professional level
as the majority of primary
schools were under Roman
Catholic religious management.
The social and legal climates
were equally cold and forbidding.
Tadhg Mac Phaidin, as a
member of the INTO Benefit
Funds Committee, felt there was
a need to be met. Maurice, an
active member of Navan Branch
INTO, agreed. As a separated
person myself since , I was
aware of the needs and hostility
to separated teachers professionally and socially. Like Tadhg
and Maurice I too, in my role as
branch and district officer, as
president and CEC member,
gave advice, support and help to
those who were in need.
November : We were
ready to go. Maurice chaired
the first meeting and I took over
and stayed in the chair until
. Rose Cullen was our first
secretary. The group was set up
to cater for the needs of separated primary teachers. We
have since extended our
membership to include single
parents, widowed and divorced
teachers. Due to the lack of this
specialist facility in the other
teacher unions there was an
immediate demand from
second and third level teachers
to attend our meetings. This
was agreed to on foot of a
modest subscription being
paid. It remains unchanged to
this day. The ASTI now makes a
small yearly contribution to the
funds.
In the early days each
member attending meetings
contributed p towards circularising, though the branches
and districts, would-be
members. Following appeals,
branch and district committees
answered our call for funding.
Intouch June 2003
The CEC expressed no interest
and made no input until 
but have since been hugely
supportive. The members
appreciate these responses, as
without them the group could
not exist. The officers did not
get any expenses initially but I
am happy to state that they now
get a modest sum towards their
expenses. Thank you branch,
district and CEC committees.
We have spent the INTO
members’ contributions wisely
and well. We produce a comprehensive professional brochure,
which is distributed to branches,
districts, education centres and
social aspect. Since  the
INTO President attends and
addresses the meeting. This is
seen as a great honour by the
members and is appreciated in
her/his busy schedule. A social
evening is held in June and
greatly enjoyed by members
and friends. All activities are
advertised in InTouch.
The group runs an excellent
programme of talks, lectures,
seminars and social activities
designed to meet the needs of
the members. It offered wellsupported summer courses, in
 and  but, due to ignorance or denial of its need, DES
■ It is a great help to members as all are
aware of the particular difficulties
and problems that can apply.
to congress. We have built up a
well-stocked modern library
and indeed compiled and
distributed a booklet of valuable and informative articles.
I recall, with a smile, the
lengthy discussion we had
when choosing a name for the
group. The group meets five
times a year in the Teachers’
Club in Dublin and, when
necessary, individual members
host country people. The group
thanks Tadhg for providing this
most suitable and convenient
venue. STSG meets twice a year
in venues outside Dublin in
order to facilitate people who
cannot afford to travel or to stay
commercially in Dublin. This
also lessens the cost of child
minding and facilitates people
on a regional basis. Generally
speaking, the local branch and
district officers and CEC
member have an input on these
occasions. The AGM incorporates a business meeting and a
did not sanction it in . This
rejection was rather ironic as we
view modern Irish society and
the configuration of families. We
were quite definitely ahead of
our time. However, the group
continued with its educational
programme facilitating secretaries in taking courses of relevance to the group. It also
awards an Adult Education
Grant to one or two applicants
each year. The applications are
judged and assessed by an
outside assessor. The group has
also heightened awareness of
the INTO and its role in improving the conditions of teachers to
its members. As a result motions
for congress are formulated and
discussed and presented by
members at their local branch
meetings for adoption for
discussion at annual congress.
The group has achieved some
substantial benefits for members:
● One consultation, free of
charge, with a solicitor on the
STSG contact details
Chairperson:
Michael McKee
Vice- Chairperson: Emily Higgins
Secretary:
Ciaran Lankford
Treasurer:
Breedge Conway
   
   
   
 
STSG list.
Day off with pay to attend
court hearing (obtained
through lobbying CEC).
STSG has made contributions
and submissions.
● To Telecom reference
nuisance phone calls.
● To the Roman Catholic
Church authorities reference
the presentation of the family
in the religious instruction
programme.
● To DES reference family
stereotyping in texts.
● To the CEC reference the need
for and role of a welfare officer.
● To Minister Mervyn Taylor
concerning the allocation of
pensions.
● To branch and district meetings, when requested.
● To radio, national and local,
and to the press.
In the early days the pain of
acknowledging one’s situation
was evident in the faces of new
members. Therefore, we had a
slot, ‘Private Time’ at every
meeting, where friendships
were formed, pain expressed,
support given and where stories
of walking round and round
Parnell Square, fearing the visibility of the ‘caste’ mark on
one’s forehead, were told. Now
nearly fifteen years later we
have had lifelong friendships
formed, weddings celebrated,
babies born, professional and
personal advancement earned
and confidence and support
given by and to all. The INTO
Separated Teachers’ Support
Group is the only such specialist
group. It is a great help to
members as all are aware of the
particular difficulties and problems that can apply.
To date we have had five
chairpersons and five
secretaries, female and male.
All the members owe them a
great debt of gratitude as they
have given generously of their
time and ideas. Please let the
group know of your needs so
that we can continue to be of
help and support.
Written by Fiona Poole,
STSG, retired teacher and
former President of INTO
●
■
21
TIPS
Rainbow Bee
Materials
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Cardboard
Newspaper
Wallpaper paste
Scissors
Cellophane
Masking tape
White paper
Glue
Treasury tags
Marker
. Cut out  circles from white
paper for eyes. Draw the eye
with a marker and glue in
place.
Ideas for the Classroom
Instead of individual
backgrounds, make a classroom
frieze of a rainbow and place
the bees around it.
■
Elaine Butler,
Fun Time Art,
Westbarrow House,
Royal Oak, Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.
Pre-class prep
a. Make sure you have all materials for the number in your
class.
b.Introduce the project by
telling the children that they
are to imagine that the bee
they are about to make has
flown through a rainbow and
turned all the colours of the
rainbow. When they paint
their bee invite them to paint
it as colourful as possible eg
wavy colourful lines, circles
etc.
c. This will need to be done over
two sessions
How to make it
. From the cardboard cut out
an oval shape for the bee’s
body (cm x cm). Cover in
 layers of papier mache
using newspaper and wallpaper paste and leave to dry for
a few days.
. Cut out a rectangular shape
(cm x cm) from the cellophane. Twist it in the centre
to make bow like wings. Tape
to the top of the dry papier
mache body with masking
tape.
. Attach  treasury tags with
masking tape at the bottom
of the bee’s body for legs.
. Paint bee as you wish with
bright ‘rainbow’ colours.
Allow to dry thoroughly.
22
Intouch June 2003
TIPS
Let’s Listen 11
Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods
T
he pieces for these lessons are taken
from the collection Classics for
Children, a set of  CDs, issued by
Decca, Catalogue number  -, available from Virgin priced at approximately
€.. However, the pieces featured are
also available on many other recordings,
and may already be in your school.
Cuckoo in the depths of the Woods from
Carnival of the Animals
Composer: Camille Saint-Saens, -
Background information for the teacher
Camille Saint-Saens was born in Paris. He
was a child prodigy, who excelled in Latin,
archaeology, botany, astronomy, as well as
music. His greatest love, however, was
music, and he excelled as a piano player
Woods, and Aquarium. Saint-Saens was
afraid that the composition would affect his
reputation as a serious composer, so he
would not allow it to be publicly performed
during his lifetime. Nowadays, it is SaintSaens’ most popular work.
When using Carnival of the Animals with
children, it is best to use individual pieces
from the suite, rather than expecting
the children to concentrate on the
entire suite. In previous editions
of InTouch, we explored
Elephant and Fossils. This
time, we are going to
listen and respond
to Cuckoo in the
Depth of the
Woods.
the
piano
and the
clarinet.
● The recording
should be played
often in the following
days/weeks. Children
could be asked to respond in
different ways, eg by counting
the cuckoo calls, pointing to the
instruments on an instrument chart,
painting the picture it evokes in their
■ Tell the children that the
clarinet plays the cuckoo’s call
Possible
presentation for Middle
Classes
and composer, creating his
first composition at the age
of three years, and
giving his first public
piano recital at
the age of
eight! In
adult life
he
worked
as a
composer and
performer, and
travelled widely
giving concerts and
talks. His private life was
not happy, and his marriage
broke up shortly after his two
young sons died within a few
weeks of each other.
Saint-Saens wrote Carnival of the
Animals while on holiday in Austria in .
He referred to it as a “grand zoological
fantasy”. It is a suite, or collection of musical pieces, each portraying a different
animal. It includes Elephant, Swan, Wild
Asses, Tortoises, Kangaroos, Cuckoo in the
Intouch June 2003
●
●
●
●
Talk to the class about
●
the cuckoo. Discuss its nesting
habits, and its distinctive call.
● Teacher tells the class that they
are going to listen to a piece of music,
which is called Cuckoo. Ask what they
expect to hear. They may suggest that
they will hear the cuckoo’s call. Tell them
to listen very carefully to see if they are
correct.
Play the recording through. The children
will be delighted to hear the cuckoo’s call.
Tell the children that the clarinet plays
the cuckoo’s call, while the two pianos
represent the dark mysterious woods.
The clarinet is usually positioned at a
distance from the pianos, to suggest the
elusive quality of the cuckoo. The real
title of the piece is The Cuckoo in the
Depths of the Woods.
Play the piece again, and tell the children
that the piano chords represent the trees
and the woods. Ask them to count how
many times they hear the cuckoo’s call –
(Answer:  times in all)
Discuss the instruments heard – this is an
excellent piece to focus on the sound of
●
imaginations.
Compare this piece with Elephant, also
from Carnival of the Animals.
Possible presentation for Junior and Senior
classes
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
The class teacher is the best person to
modify above for his/her class.
Younger children may like to move to the
music – walk slowly through the mysterious woods, and stop every time they hear
the cuckoo’s call.
They could hold up a picture of a cuckoo
each time the cuckoo calls.
They may like to discuss the sound of the
piano and the clarinet.
Senior classes may like to devise their
own pictorial scores to represent what is
happening in the music – pictures of
footprints among trees to represent walking in the wood, and pictures of the
cuckoo each time it calls.
They will be able to decide what instrument families the clarinet belongs to –
woodwind.
The most important thing is to enjoy the
music and to make it a pleasurable experience for the children.
Mary Ryng, Cork.
■
23
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
The Irish Hedge School
-
“The best teacher… soon attracts all the scholars …”
I
t has long since been demonstrated by
historians what a rich harvest we can
reap from a careful study of our history.
Many are the lessons we can learn from the
mistakes and failures; victories and
successes; of the great and ordinary, who
have gone before us. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in a study of our predecessors in the teaching profession, the Irish
hedge schoolmasters of the /th
centuries. There were, of course, some
brave women who entered the teaching
profession during these difficult times, but
more still decided against it due to the
severity of the lifestyle.
The hedge schools were an illegal
network of mainly Catholic schools that
had their own origin in the th century
but really only took root in the th century,
following the passing of the Penal Laws of
. These laws proscribed Catholic
education and prohibited parents from
sending their children abroad to be
educated. Teachers were now forced underground to engage in what P J Dowling, in his
pioneering work The Hedge Schools of Ireland
(), called “a kind of guerrilla war in
education”. For the next  years teaching
was done surreptitiously, in makeshift
schools, hidden away from the public gaze.
The safest area was considered to be on the
sunny side of a hedge and it was from this
location that they derived their name. So
popular was the name that the masters
retained it, even after the Penal Laws had
been repealed in .
24
The indigenous schools were of course
‘pay schools’ and were recognised as such
in official quarters. They were completely
independent of the state. Parents paid per
subject per quarter. The general rates of
payment were:
Literature 1s 8d,
Reading 2/-,
Writing 2s, 3d
Latin 11/- to 12/-,
Arithmetic 4/- to 7/- (Depending on
master’s reputation).
Considering that the average daily wage
for a labourer was a shilling and considering the crushing weight of taxes the poor
laboured under, between rack rents, tithes
and priests’ dues, we begin to understand
just how highly valued this education was.
The masters, for their part, were prepared
to accept payment in kind from hardpressed parents, items such as flitches of
bacon, miscawns of butter or baskets of
eggs, in lieu of fees.
Well might one wonder what prompted
the masters to join in such a precarious
profession. In the first decade of the th
century, if they were caught teaching, they
could have been fined £, imprisoned for
 months, banished to the Barbados or
hanged. They could also look forward to a
life of struggle, supplementing their
meagre fees by measuring land or carrying
out legal transactions or perhaps working
as migrant labourers. Sporadic
employment was their lot. Peter Gallegan
from Kells, Co Meath, taught in  different
locations over a  year teaching career and,
for one third of the time, he had no school
at all. Poverty forced him to part with  of
his precious manuscripts to Eugene
Finnerty in Edinburgh University. We can
understand what a bitter blow this must
have been for him from a comment he
made on one of his manuscripts when he
referred to the “vast quantity of ink and
pens” that “have been used in the work ,
together with the price of candles in the
winter season”.
Chronic insecurity became a hedge
schoolmaster’s constant companion as RL
Edgeworth noted in the early th century
“the best teacher… soon attracts all the
scholars and the inferior master is obliged
to give way”. Competition was, therefore,
keen and professional rivalry acute, especially as there were  hedge schools per
parish in Ireland, with an even larger
number in the towns. Little wonder then
that the master advertised his school in a
most extravagant style, claiming expertise
in a wide range of subjects, while referring
to himself as either a professor or a philomath, the best of the mathematicians.
Modesty counted for little, especially when
a master’s livelihood depended on his
reputation. His immediate concern was to
impress parents with his erudition. In
conversations with them he was careful to
use words which were “truly
sesquipedalian”, ones that were “dark and
difficult to understand”, often interspersed
with Latin quotations. (Wm Carleton, Traits
Intouch June 2003
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, ).
Another strategy used was that of undermining the professional integrity of rivals
by caricaturing them. This tactic was used
by the poet/hedge schoolmaster
Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara as he
railed against his uncultured competitors,
teachers such as ‘Giddyhead O’Hackett’,
‘Coxcomb O’Boland’, and ‘Buffoon
O’Mahony’, ‘Tatter O’Flanagan’, ‘dirty, puffy
John O’Mulrooney’, ‘Bleary-eyed
O’Cullenan’ and ‘Giggler O’Mulcahy’.
Teaching did have its compensations
however, not least being the enormous
status enjoyed by men of learning in Irish
society. Next to the lord of the manor, the
parson and the priest, the hedge schoolmaster was the most important man in the
parish. He was a central figure in the local
community, being master of ceremonies at
all wakes and funerals. He also had the
satisfaction of having his scholarly achievements recognised by parents who conferred
honorary titles such as “The Great O’Brien
par excellence”, or “the bright star in mathematical learning” on the most deserving
teachers.
The key to the success of the hedge
schools lay in the close, symbiotic relationship that existed between parents and
teachers. The schools operated on truly
democratic principles, as parents selected
the hedge schools of their choice, decided
the subjects they wanted taught and
provide the English reading books for their
children. They could rest assured that the
masters would respond favourably to most
of their requests. This is obvious from the
agreement reached between the two partners in education that the master would
give  lessons of individual instruction to
each child each day. The masters also
agreed to provide a non-denominational
education to accommodate Protestants and
Presbyterians alike. This was a remarkable
achievement in a country which was
‘convulsed by sectarian zeal’ (Bishop JW
Doyle, Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin).
When parents required instruction in the
Classics for their sons who were intended
for the priesthood, the native schools filled
the breach up until  when the first
seminaries were founded in Ireland.
Similarly when parents requested that their
children should be taught English as
opposed to Irish, the masters overcame
their own scruples and dutifully complied.
This was a pragmatic decision as many of
them were noted Irish poets and the majority of them spent their leisure hours transcribing ancient Irish manuscripts. They
also respected parents’ wishes when they
allowed works of fiction, fantasy and fairy
lore to be read in their school, a decision
which drew the wrath of some conservative
groups in the country down upon them, at
this time.
Much can be learned from our predecessors in the teaching profession. The most
successful ones were undoubtedly good
teachers, men of learning, with scholarly
achievements to their credit. But what
really set hedge schoolmasters apart was
their sense of compassion for the poor,
their respect for cultures and religions not
their own, while still treasuring their own,
their generous response to the various
demands of society and their acceptance of
parents as partners in the educational
process. However, their greatest achievement by far was their placing of the child at
the very centre of all educational activities
and their ensuring that learning was
carried on continuously in this country for
well over a century in a happy, homely, if
somewhat unstructured environment.
Teachers today continue this proud
teaching tradition, just as generations of
teachers before them have done. But we all
have one thing in common and that is the
great debt of gratitude we owe to the hedge
schoolmasters of the th and th
centuries,who made enormous sacrifices to
ensure its continuance through the bleak
years of the Penal Laws and afterwards, and
who succeeded in handing on to us an
educational legacy of real and lasting
significance.
■
Toni McManus lectures in the
Education Department, Trinity
College and in Froebel College of
Education, Blackrock. Her book The Irish
Hedge School and its Books, - (Four
Courts Press) was published in April 2002.
Obituary
T
he untimely death of Áine Boyle the
former principal of St Fiachra’s
Junior School, Beaumont, has left all
those who knew her mourning the loss of
a very great lady.
Áine (nee Walshe) was born and raised
in Kilmaine, Co Mayo. She received her
early education in the local national
school. Her secondary school years were
spent between Coláiste Bhríde,
Falcarragh, and Coláiste Mhúire,
Tourmakeady. Having completed her
teacher training in Carysfort College, Aine
took up a teaching post in Gortjordan NS
in her native Mayo.
During a summer spent teaching Irish
in Loch an Iúir, Aine met Seamus Boyle.
They subsequently married and Aine
joined the staff of St Colmcille’s NS,
Swords.
In January  Áine was appointed
principal of St Fiachra’s Junior School. She
opened the school with eight classes and
five teachers already appointed. Down
through the years Áine welcomed
Intouch June 2003
hundreds of children to
St Fiachra’s, always
maintaining the very
personal touch of
being able to greet
each child by name.
Throughout the
years Áine oversaw
many building, refurbishment and replacement projects. Her tenacity, strength of
purpose and sheer hard work ensured the
success of each venture.
Áine had a very modern, open-minded
and positive outlook. She embraced
change willingly and was indeed
frequently to the forefront in the implementation of new programmes and ideas.
Under her stewardship she build up a
vibrant successful school while at the
same time enriching the local community
and parish.
Her many acts of kindness and caring
were carried out discreetly, alongside her
duties as principal of a busy school. These
have been remembered and relayed with
admiration and gratitude to her staff and
family since her passing.
Áine bore her illness with great
courage, privacy and dignity, and
displayed admirable optimism at all
times. Her vitality and zest for life were
always present and stayed with her up
until her final short illness. It was indeed
a fitting tribute to Áine’s rich, fruitful and
selfless life, to witness the huge
attendances at her funeral and Mass in
the parishes of Beaumont and Malahide.
Hundreds of tributes and messages of
condolence have been received at her
home and school.
Déanann muid comhbhrón lena fhear
chéile Seamus, lena páistí Darragh,
Bronagh agus Naoise, lena deirfiúr Maura
agus a dearthaireacha Mick agus Ray.
Ní bheidh a léithéid ann arís.
Solas na bhflaithis di.
■
Written by Margaret Lyons
25
T E ACHER TO TE A C H E R
Identifying Dyslexia
How can I tell if a child may be
experiencing a specific
learning/reading difficulty or
dyslexia?
As teachers or parents we have
all come across the child who is
experiencing difficulty with
reading, writing, spelling or
maths, who does not appear to
progress as quickly as their class
peers or even worse, does not
seem to make progress at all.
Then someone mentions
dyslexia and you wonder if this
is the possible cause of the
child’s difficulties.
Children are born with
dyslexia but it doesn’t become a
noticeable problem until they
start to use words, and sometimes other symbols. People in
all socio-economic groups and
at all intellectual levels are
affected by dyslexia, and the
degree to which the learning
process is affected can vary from
slight to very severe. It can afflict
up to % of the population. It is
also thought to affect boys more
than girls in the ratio of :.
Although there is no cure for
dyslexia, skilled specialists and
hard work can alleviate the
adverse effects of dyslexia. Other
conditions such as ADD often
exist alongside dyslexia but are
not the cause of it. School failure
as a result of dyslexia may cause
some children to become
distractible, inattentive, and
impulsive but they do not necessarily have ADD.
The recent Report of the Task
Force on Dyslexia () has
highlighted the Irish situation.
It assesses current educational
provision and support services,
and makes recommendations for
the development or adjustment
of existing policy approaches.
The Task Force defines the
term dyslexia as being:
A continuum of specific learning difficulties related to the
acquisition of basic skills in reading, spelling and/or writing,
such difficulties being
unexpected in relation to an individual’s other abilities and
educational experiences.
Children experiencing
dyslexia can be helped most
when their condition is identified early. Good progress in
reading is usually linked to a
highly structured programme of
teaching, often including a
multi-sensory approach.
Children make progress in
spelling but seldom to the same
extent as in reading and make
much more limited progress in
the development of their writing. Children with dyslexia do
learn but they learn differently.
Dyslexia can be diagnosed
with certainty by a psychologist
who, in addition to other tests
will calculate a person’s
expected reading age with their
IQ and age. The difference
between this and the actual
reading age as measured with a
reading test, gives a measure of
the reading difficulty. In Ireland,
as in other countries, set criteria
are set out to identify dyslexia
and to determine if special
educational provision is
required. This criteria, includes
whether achievement as measured by a standardised, norm
referenced test, is low and
whether general ability is in the
average range or higher. The DES
currently has set a cut off point
of the nd percentile. However,
there has been much criticism
in relation to these approaches
as many children are excluded
from accessing services because
of scores falling outside specified cut off points.
It is hoped in a later submission to give ideas in relation to
teaching programmes suitable
for children experiencing
dyslexia.
■
Article was written by Ann
Marie Casserly (Learning
support Teacher in Sligo) MA
(Education), B Ed, Dip in
Remedial Education.
References
Department of Education and
Science.  Report of the Task
Force on Dyslexia. Dublin:
Government Publications Postal
Trade Section.
Fawcett, A J and Nicholson, R I
. The Dyslexia Early Screening
Test (DEST). London: The
Psychological Corporation.
Singleton, C, Thomas, K and
Leedale, R (). Cognitive
Profiling System. Nottinghamshire:
Chameleon Educational Ltd.
W H AT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS OF DYSLEXIA?
he following list may help in the identification of dyslexia, especially if they
are exhibited over a long period of time.
However, many children will display some
of these characteristics in their natural
progression through school.
T
Pre-School
. Speaks later than most children.
. Pronunciation problems.
. Slow vocabulary growth, often unable to
find the right word.
. Difficulty rhyming words.
. Trouble learning numbers, alphabet,
days of the week, colours, shapes
.Extremely restless and easily distracted.
. Trouble interacting with peers.
. Poor ability following directions or
routines.
. Fine motor skills slow to develop.
. Finds it difficult to blend letters together.
. No expression in reading: comprehension poor.
. Is hesitant and laboured in reading,
especially when reading aloud.
. Fails to recognise familiar words
. Makes consistent reading and spelling
errors including letter reversals (b/d),
inversions (n/u), transpositions (was/
saw), and substitutions (house/home).
. Transposes number sequences and
confuses arithmetic signs (=,+,-,x, /)
. Slow recall of facts.
. Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily
on memorization.
. Impulsivity, lack of planning.
. Unstable pencil grip.
. Trouble learning about time/poor time
keeping.
. Poor coordination, unaware of physical
surroundings, prone to accidents
Ages  - 
. Slow to learn the connection between
letters and sounds.
. Makes poor reading progress, especially
using look and say methods.
26
Ages  - 
. Reverses letter sequences (soiled/solid,
left/felt). Produces phonetic and bizarre
spelling: not age/ability appropriate.
. May spell a word several different ways in
one piece of writing.
. Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root
words, and other spelling strategies.
. Avoids reading aloud.
. Trouble with word problems.
. Illegible writing or difficulty with handwriting.
. Awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip.
. Avoids writing compositions.
. Slow or poor recall of facts.
. Difficulty making friends.
. Trouble understanding non-verbal social
cues (body language, facial expressions.
. Has poor personal organisation
. Performs unevenly from day to day
. Employs work avoidance tactics such as
looking for books, using the toilet regularly.
A child who has a cluster of these difficulties together with some abilities may be
dyslexic.
There are a number of diagnostic tests
that teachers can use in the early screening
of dyslexia. These include the Dyslexia
Early Screening Test (DEST) and the
Cognitive Profiling System (CoPS).
Intouch June 2003
BOOK REVIEWS
Cyril’s Woodland
Quest
Sorry, Walter
by Judi Curtin
By Eugene McCabe
T
his is Eugene McCabe’s only book for children. It is the whimsical tale of orphaned
Cyril Squirrel who set out on a great quest
to find true love. In the course of his adventures,
he meets with a gallery of animal character – the
rogues, the villains and the virtuous – from his
good friends Charlie
Badger and Cedric and
Cynthia Swan to the
Mafioso King Rat and his
henchmen. Cyril is the
likeable hero, who
triumphs over adversity
and prejudice to take his
new bride back to his
home in Drumard.
Beautifully illustrated in
black and white, it is
entertaining and salutary
tale from one of Ireland’s
foremost writers.
Published by O’Brien
Press Cyril’s Woodland
Quest costs €.
Reviewed by
Bernadette Melia,
Scoil Iosagain,
Coolgreaney, Co Wexford.
■
M
aeve’s life seems to have ground to a
halt! She has one friend in the world, a
bunch of smug or mad collegues and,
worst of all, her parents are on a match-making
mission! To alleviate the boredom, she decides to
join a creative writing group and so begins the
correspondence with Walter (her tutor) which,
of course, is never aired publicly.
Her second big adventure is her house-swap
which lands her in Canada
where excitement and
love await her.
The author, Judi Curtin,
comes from County Cork,
which forms the setting
for Sorry, Walter. She
studied English and
German at UCC, then
trained as a primary
school teacher. she now
lives in Limerick with her
husband and three children.
Sorry Walter is available
at bookshops nationwide
or you can buy on-line at
% discount by visiting
the website
www.gillmacmillan.ie
Sophie Hits Six and Sophie
is Seven
by Dick King-Smith
S
ophie hits Six and Sophie is Seven, are
part of a series of books following
the day to day adventures of the
aforementioned Sophie.
Sophie is determined little girl, who
loves animals and wants to be a farmer
when she grows up. She has older twin
brothers and is a self confessed tomboy,
her definition of which is “a high spirited
girl that like romping about”.
We follow Sophie’s exploits from her
sixth to her seventh birthdays, as she gets
some kittens and a white rabbit, called
Beano, (short for Albino), as pets, enters
the sporting arena on school sports day,
visits a farm, performs in the school
concert and takes horse riding lessons.
Sophie is the creation of Dick KingSmith, (author of The Sheep Pig, later to be
filmed as Babe), and she reminded me of
George, of The Famous Five books.
Indeed, on one book cover, she looks
Intouch June 2003
like a miniature version of
George, complete with
tousled hair, jeans and
red wellies.
The books have an old fashioned, charming feel to them
and reminded me of much
loved books from my own
childhood. David Parkins’
pen and ink illustrations are
beautifully drawn.
There are seven short
chapters in each book, and
they could be used as a
relaxing end of day story, read aloud to six
or seven year olds.
Published by Walker Books, each book
costs STG£..
■
Reviewed by Regina Halpin,
Archbishop Ryan NS, Balgaddy,
Dublin.
27
COMHAR LINN
Dublin West
Team: Winners
of the Comhar
Linn Quiz at
Congress 2003.
Questions &
Answers
Q
I am taking care of my incapacitated
mother who requires on-going care. I
am considering employing a person to assist
me. What tax relief, if any, is available.
L to r: John
O’Flaherty, Noel
Morgan, Gerry
Malone (former
INTO President),
Cathal
O’Riordáin,
Mary O’Flaherty
and Owen
McCarthy
(Comhar Linn).
An allowance of €, is claimable in
the current tax year where you employ a
person to take care of a family member who
is totally incapacitated. The relief is available
at your marginal rate of tax. It is worth noting
that the definition of ‘totally incapacitated’
has not been defined.
A
WINNERS OF APRIL 2003 DRAW
TIP
Further details are available on the Revenue
Website on www.revenue.ie where you can
download the relevant Form HK1
Car – Toyota Corolla Anne Mc Guire,
Bohermeen NS, Navan, Co Meath
WEEKEND for Two plus  All Ireland
Football Final Tickets Thomas O’
Shaughnessy, Ratoath Mixed NS,
Ratoath, Co Meath
WEEKEND for Two plus  All Ireland
Hurling Final Tickets Kay Butler, St
Patrick’s JNS, Corduff, Blanchardstown,
Dublin .
CASH – €. Bernadette Clear, Clonaghadoo NS, Kilcavan, Geashill, Co Offaly.
Crossword No. 61
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, by Friday 25, July ‘03
Name :
Across
1. This part of the fish is the last word in
France! (3)
3. Cocktail you buy in a hardware shop? (11)
8. Gordius, you dog! (6)
9. It's understood to make a mischief-maker
legal. (7)
10. Sharp stone makes strong material. (5)
11. Be quiet and massage the bush. (5)
13. If returned before the finish, it shows
one the devil. (5)
15. Remove the jumbled tax cert. (7)
16. Put this on the car to distract oil reps.
(7)
20. To dub this a misgiving is in order. (5)
21. Get the saint to help make one sober.
(5)
23. Motor travel in the ship's hold. (5)
24. Behold, an all right union to investigate!
(4,4)
25. How brave, to give Father some
jewellery! (6)
26. As an ancestor, she is a fine parent. (11)
27. Gee - a French weapon!
Down
1. Close buddies - who happen to be sprinters? (4,7)
2. I turn ten into what's good for you. (7)
3. The saint swallows a little bonbon. (5)
4. Six teed up - and lived! (7)
5. Regrets about fifty regulations. (5)
6. These clergymen provide six motors. (6)
7. Track found finally in Beirut. (3)
12. Musical instrument made by Coopers?
(6,5)
13. Looked to a return of decaf. (5)
14. Opted to make a place of storage. (5)
17 and 18. The Reno pupils' grant is redistributed to provide help for the
less able. (8,7)
19. Temple makes Father go with Father. (6)
22. Expired about the right to have
removed moisture. (5)
23. Possibly a rich piece of furniture. (5)
24. Ship's diary written in wood? (3)
Solutions - In Touch No. 60
Across
1. Back a horse 6. Slob 10. Wares 11. Old
Master 12. Ascends 15. Theta
17. Wadi 18. UFOs 19. Sorry 21. Forearm 23.
Fatwa 24. Stop 25. Rule
26. Totem 28. Natural 33. Essential 34.
Ditty 35. Mead 36. Drawbridg e
Down
1. Bowl 2. Carysfort 3. Aisle 4. Ovoid 5. Side
7. Lithe 8. Barbary Ape
9. Baptism 13. Nero 14. Sweeten 16. Gulf
Stream 20. Retracted 21.
Farming 22. Rust 27. Tosca 29. Allow 30.
Under 31. Pier 32. Pyre
Address :
WINNERS OF CROSSWORD NO.59 WERE
MARTHA O’SHAUGHNESSY, BALLINA, CO. MAYO AND
SEAMUS Ó RINN, ROCHESTOWN, CORK
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Intouch June 2003
NOTICES
COPY DATE
ME/CFS
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■
Copy you wish to have
considered for publication
in the September issue of
InTouch should arrive in Head
Office by  August.
S TS G
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STSG (Separated Teachers’
Support Group). Open to
widowed, divorced, and single
parents. Social, Saturday, 
June at  pm. Venue: Teachers’
Club,  Parnell Square, Dublin
. New members most welcome.
for further info please contact
Ciaran Lankford at () 
or () . email:
ciaranlankford@hotmail.com
NATIONAL GALLERY
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SUMMER EVENTS.
Children’s Sunday Talks
(June/July/August): Sundays at
. consisting of a lively and
informal discussion by a Gallery
tutor and children age -
years about one painting in the
collection. Adm. Free.
Art Express (July-August): Each
Wednesday at  pm.  minute
talk in the Lecture Theatre
followed by a programme of
light classical music performed
by Flute Legers in the Shaw
Room. Everyone welcome.
Adm. Free.
Contact Education Department
National Gallery of Ireland for
further info about these and
other courses. Tel:  .
SAFETY FOR CHILDREN
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The Launch Pad was set up
to promote the use of car
seat restraints amongst children and their parents. How
often have we seen children
loose in the front or rear of a car
whilst their parents are driving
or just popping down to the
school / shops? To educate
these children and their
parents we need your help.
Educational material and
posters are available on our
website at
www.thelaunchpad.aviondesign.com, to assist you in keeping all our children safe.
Intouch June 2003
Irish and international poets
and fiction wriers.. On Friday, 
June at  am in the Hugh Lane
Gallery, Eoin Colfer, children’s
writer and primary teacher will
read from and discuss his work
with Robert Dunbar. Adm. Free.
Further info about this and
other events on www.dublinwritersfestival.com
The Irish ME/Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome Support
Group has launched a new
booklet entitled The Irish ME
Tips Collection. This booklet
containing practical tips on
living with ME costs € from the
Irish ME/CFS Support Group, PO
Box , Dublin . Email:
[email protected] Tel: 
.
PRIMARY TEACHERS’
MATHEMATICS ASSOC.
MICHAEL CROWE
EPILEPSY FUND
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A social evening will be
held in Club na Muinteoirí
on Friday,  June at . pm at
which all monies collected will
be presented to the Irish
Epilepsy Association. This will
be an evening to remember and
celebrate Mick’s life so we look
forward to seeing his many
friends – from far and wide – on
the night.
CMR APPEAL
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The  INTO appeal for
Sick Children in Crumlin
Hospital was launched in last
month’s InTouch. This year’s
collection will go towards the
building of a specialised
Resource Centre for children
with Cystic Fibrosis.
Tickets have already been
sent to staff representatives.
Each ticket costs € and the
lucky winners will receive:
st prize: Toyota Avensis.
nd prize: €,.
rd & th prizes: €,.
th & th prizes €,.
th, th, th & th prizes:
€,.
Please return completed
ticket counterfoils and
subscriptions to Georgina
Markey, INTO Head Office, in
the prepaid envelope supplied,
by  June, . Further tickets
may be obtained, if required, by
contacting Head Office. The
draw will take place on Friday,
 June, .
DUBLIN WRITERS
FESTIVAL
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The Dublin Writers
Festival runs from  to 
June and will feature over 
Advance notice of conference and call for presenters/workshops.
The second annual conference of the Primary Teachers'
Mathematics Association will
take place on Saturday, 
October,  from : am to
: pm in Coláiste Mhuire
Marino, Griffith Avenue, Dublin
. All teachers are welcome.
Details e-mail primarymaths@
ireland.com or telephone 
 . Members will receive
a newsletter in September with
details of presenters and workshops.
If you are interested in
presenting a paper or in leading
a workshop at the conference
you are invited to submit a
proposal by  June. To receive
a proposal form, please e-mail
[email protected] or phone
  .
R AI
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Call for Papers
The Annual Conference of
The Reading Association of
Ireland will take place in
Church of Ireland College, 
Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin
from  to  September, .
The theme of the Conference
Providing a Language-Rich
Curriculum will allow for the
presentation of papers, workshops, seminars, discussion
and debate on the place of
language in the school curricula at first, second and third
levels.
Though language is central to
all that goes on in education,
the conference organisers
would especially welcome
presentations dealing with
language in the arts – music,
art, drama etc.
Inquiries and paper proposals
( words) should be submitted to: Robert O’Connor,
President, Reading Association
of Ireland, St Mary’s BNS, Grotto
Place, Booterstown, Co Dublin.
Tel:  . Email: [email protected]
YEAR PLANNER
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The school year wall planners for / are
being posted with this issue of
InTouch. An extra copy has been
included for your staffroom.
Please retain your copy of
the wall planner as copies will
only be available for new
members in September.
INTOUCH DELIVERY
■
INTO’s membership
records are updated from
DES data and, because of this,
our records are usually one
month behind those of the DES.
Some schools will find that
they will not receive the correct
amount of magazines in the
September and October mailshot, due to teachers changing
schools.
Please note that InTouch will
not be sent to new members in
your school until their application form has been received
and processed in Head Office.
Schools should also note that
the number of magazines INTO
sends to the school is written
on the bottom right side of the
address sheet. If you have any
query regarding incorrect
amount of magazines received
please contact Reiltin Bowes at
INTO head office: Tel 
 or email her at
[email protected]
We have been working with
An Post and SDS over the last
number of years to ensure
InTouch arrives promptly. If you
have a query regarding late
delivery please contact
Grainne Creswell in head office
or email [email protected]
HOLIDAY CLOSURE
■
INTO Head Office will be
closing for summer holidays on Friday,  July at  pm
and will reopen at  am on
Monday,  August.
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