May 2009
INTO in the News
NI Minister meets with local Principals (Meath Chronicle)
30th May 2009
Northern
Ireland's Minister for Education, Caitriona Ruane, visited Navan on
Friday and met with principals of local schools as well as with a large
number of other education providers. The Sinn Fein Minister met with
the principals of a number of local primary and secondary schools,
parents, a delegation from the INTO...
Miriam Lord’s Week (Irish Times)
30th May 2009
O’Rourke’s holy war
On
a serious note, Joe O’Toole, who is a former president of the Irish
National Teachers’ Organisation, said on Wednesday that “every single
proposal” he ever advanced on child protection was opposed “right, left
and centre.” He cited a number of examples, including the Stay Safe
programme, which is now in primary schools...
Teachers' pensions under threat (Belfast Telegraph)
29th May 2009
Teachers'
unions are predicting a crisis in Northern Ireland schools as the
result of new legislation, which they claim could see pensions slashed
by up to a third...
Today's Lesson
(Irish Independent)
27th May 2009
The
number of teachers applying for the position of principal in primary
schools has been decreasing over the past 10 years. This is bad and
unhealthy for teachers, pupils and everyone in school communities…
O’Toole claims Catholic bodies tried to stifle sex education programmes (Irish Examiner)
27th May 2009
Claims
that two secretive Catholic organisations have been involved in
attempts to shape Department of Education policy are to be raised in
the Seanad. Independent Senator Joe O'Toole, a former president of the
Irish National Teachers' Organisation, told the Irish Examiner he
intends to call for an investigation into the possible role of
organisations such as Opus Dei and the masonic Knights of Columbanus in
stifling the Stay Safe education programme intended to inform children
about the threat of sexual abuse…
The free pre-school places that could be too expensive to provide (Irish Daily Mail)
25th May 2009
Parents
of young children living in urban areas such as Dublin and Cork may
miss out on the Government's new 'free' pre-school year...
Term Time Holidays (Irish Times Supplement)
23rd May 2009
Term-time
holidays: where's the harm? Many parents will have winced at the
North's education minister being castigated this week for taking her
child out of school during term. Is it really so reprehensible to take
your child out of school for a sneaky trip...
Successful INTO Education Fair Returns (Northern Standard)
21st May 2009
Craobh
Mhuineachain INTO will hold its Annual Education Fair on Thursday,
May 28th from 2pm-6pm in the Conference Centre of the Four Seasons
Hotel, Monaghan. Once again, all proceeds made from the companies
exhibiting, are going to the INTO's Spouses and Orphans Appeal...
Local schools under attack (Argus)
20th May 2009
Teachers lash out at budget cutbacks
Local schools are under attack...
Teachers angered by classroom cuts (Argus)
20th May 2009
Broken Promises Paint Bleak Future
INTO
members are very incensed at the current situation in schools with
regard to the cutbacks in education,' according to Ms Ann McCabe,
Dundalk branch secretary...
NI Education Minister in row over Cyprus trip with daughter (Irish Times)
20th May 2009
Education
Minister Caitríona Ruane has rejected accusations of hypocrisy, and
calls for her resignation, following a report that she took her child
on an official trip to Cyprus during school term time...
True extent of the damage will emerge (Irish Times)
19th May 2009
Aidan Gaughran is a primary school teacher in Clonmel, Co Tipperary
It's
a little strange for a primary teacher to be penning an end-of-year
report given that summer in the primary sector is still a good bit over
the horizon. Despite the fact that the focus of the education world
shifts to the State examinations, it remains business as usual for half
a million primary school pupils and their teachers...
Schools being pushed to the limit by baby boomers (Irish Independent)
19th May 2009
Ireland’s baby boom is putting the school system under severe strain as school enrolments continue to rise…
Third of schools have slow broadband (Irish Examiner)
16th May 2009
A
third of the country’s schools have an unreliable, slow broadband
service which breaks down regularly and prevents pupils from using the
internet effectively in class, according to a report to Education
Minister Batt O’Keeffe...
It’s like Waiting for Godot at times (Irish Examiner)
16th May 2009
Pat
O’Callaghan is principal of Burncourt National School a two teacher
school in south Tipperary where 35 boys and girls find the internet a
vital research tool, particularly for subjects like geography, history
and science…
Psychologists help schools after tragedies (Irish Times)
16th May 2009
The
educational psychological services are assisting schools “in response
to a number of tragedies in Kildare”, according to the Department of
Education…
Questions over number of prefabs in the county (Clare Champion)
16th May 2009
There could be as many as 600 prefabs in Galway schools...
Westmeath girl in award for handwriting skills (Westmeath Examiner)
16th May 2009
A
Westmeath girl has won an award for her creative handwriting at the
2009 EBS Building Society/INTO National Handwriting Competition...
In a class of her own (Carlow Nationalist, Kildare Nationalist & Laoise Nationalist)
15th May 2009
Sheila
Nunan is the first woman to be elected general secretary of the INTO.
She follows a proud family tradition – her grandfather held the same
post for many years...
Catholic run schools may soon be handed over to State (Irish Times)
15th May 2009
The
Department of Education and the Catholic hierarchy are exploring the
possibility that some Dublin schools may no longer be controlled by the
church…
Local girl knew the write way to win an award (Drogheda Independent)
13th May 2009
Sarah
McGuiness from Presentation Primary NS, BaJlymackenny Road, Drogheda,
recently walked away with second prize in the third and fourth class
category of the 2009 National Handwriting Competition...
Kiberd on 4 (4FM)
13th May 2009
Ireland is near
the bottom of the latest OECD league table on the provision of early
childhood education. Interview with Sheila Nunan (INTO).
Ireland near end of pre-school table – report (Irish Times)
13th May 2009
The
Republic is near bottom of the latest Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) league table on the provision of
early childhood education. A new report shows that participation rates
for three-year-olds in early childhood education in the State are among
the lowest in the countries studied…
Derrybeg Principal Retires (Donegal Democrat)
12th May 2009
Many people attended a retirement function in honour of one of the most respected teachers in Gaoth Dobhair...
Clare schools get very little, too late (Clare People)
12th May 2009
The
Clare branch of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) has
accused the Minister for Education of repackaging and re-selling a
scheme that is well past its sell-by date...
Kiberd on 4 (4FM)
8th May 2009
An €80m school refurbishment programme gets underway this summer. Interview with Sheila Nunan (INTO).
Over EUR80m to be spent on school revamp scheme, says Minister (Irish Times)
8th May 2009
Mor than Eur80 million is to be spent on a refurbishment programme for about 1,000 schools this summer…
1,000 schools to get revamp but 300 denied funds (Irish Examiner)
8th May 2009
ALMOST
1,000 schools have been approved to have building works carried out
during the summer holidays — nearly two years after they applied…
INTO: Special Needs Classes Must Stay (breakingnews.ie)
The
Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) has said the decision to
close 128 special classes in primary schools without warning must be
reversed…
Joe Finnegan (Northern Sound)
6th May 2009
John Carr (General Secretary, INTO) discusses a surge in enquiries concerning early retirements by teachers.
Kildare Today (KFM)
1st May 2009
Sheila Noonan
(General Secretary, INTO), Adrian Kane (SIPTU) and entrepreneur Robert
Redmond discuss funding for education and teachers.