Second Edition: Newsletter for Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board Schools

Easter Greetings

A statement from George O’ Callaghan CE

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank you for your phenomenal work and commitment during this very difficult time. Through your creativity, your initiative and collaboration across all areas, Limerick and Clare ETB has managed to continue to function and to provide a service at the most optimal level possible given the circumstances. Through the use of a range of technologies and remote engagement across the organisation, teaching and learning continues, engagement with students and learners continues and all support and administrative functions continue (Please refer to video to listen to the entire statement).

Message from the Director of Schools
Donncha Ó Treasaigh

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you on your very committed participation with the wonderful initiatives that are taking place right across Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board schools.

Even though we have been advised to ‘come together, by staying apart’ you have all come together to support and advise one another in helping to sustain a very impressive level of teaching, learning, assessment, care for staff, students and parents, in truly extraordinary circumstances.

We have all learned so much from the past few weeks, in so many ways, but the level of collaboration between our network of schools through Curriculum Leaders, our SENCO forum, our Digital Clusters, the SST Teams and our Principals and Deputy Principal video-conferencing call meetings means that we are responding to the needs of our communities and helping to sustain school-life, which so many depend on in their lives.

I know from the several on-line conference calls with Principals and Deputy Principals that there is outstanding innovation and creativity underway in our schools. Thank you so much for your collective efforts in collaborating with one another.

Schools are working very hard to manage distance learning, pastoral care and Critical Incidents in very challenging circumstances.

Please look after yourself and those closest to you – there is a lot of information available from our ETB on caring for yourself and your family members which you can access here.

Our weekly newsletter blog is also available to you and can be accessed on any smartphone or device for your convenience by clicking here.

Go raibh míle maith agat arís agus bíodh Cáisc álainn taitneamhach agat agus do chúraim uile.

Donncha

A word from our Learning Teaching and Assessment Support Team

Gina O Connor, Joe Lynch, Grainne Dennison
Colleagues,

Welcome to our Staff Newsletter. We hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well in your homes. It is now more important than ever that we continue to support each other through these challenging days. It is a difficult time for all and together we will get through it.

Ní neart go cur le chéile

A sincere thank you for your continuing commitment and dedication in educating our future generation. Your willingness to go above and beyond has been remarkable.

Wishing you all a Happy, healthy and peaceful Easter.

Planning Tips for Teachers

At the heart of education is the relational - Consider how to prioritise this? Share a schedule in advance of each week where you are available to answer any questions, or hold an on-line class or forum, encourage students to work remotely in small groups.

• Be flexible.
• Collaborate with your colleagues to share practice and find solutions to your problems.
• Keep it simple, start with familiar pieces of technology that are approved in your school.
• Now more than ever the principles for AFL provide a scaffold for planning online learning.
• Simply put, ask yourself:
• What do I want students to learn, (know, understand, do)?
• How will they demonstrate their learning (success criteria)?
• What digital tools can I use to best support this learning? 
• Consider that most students will complete their work on their own - consider this when designing and setting work. Imagine yourself from their point of view.

Resources For Schools

NCSE has added considerably to the Post primary online resources for children with AEN who are at home as a result of school closure www.ncse.ie.

• This link below also provides advice on relevant strategies for working with AEN Students: https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-strategies-special-education-kids-learn-home
• Teachers continue to contribute to online resources on www.scoilnet.ie
• Thanks to Shane Hastings who has created a continually updated list of resources that are free to use . The include several that support reading for pleasure, wellbeing resources, ( yoga, meditation etc) and education https://covid19.shanehastings.eu/giveback/
• NEPS: After the business of the last two weeks where both schools and students were getting used to a new reality, the format of our school days is becoming clearer. The link to the following resource by NEPS https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Announcements/plan-your-day.pdf gives a sense of what a school day might look like. One idea from a school was as part of SPHE work, each student designed and planned a calendar for their week and submitted it to their teacher as a photo. This might be a good activity to start our term after Easter, if schools are asked to remain closed (NOTE: this will be communicated via our ETB on foot of any announcements from the DES).

Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) are a key structure identified by the Government to plan and coordinate services for children and young people in every county in Ireland. Their age remit spans all children and young people aged from 0 to 24 years. The purpose of the CYPSC is to ensure effective interagency coordination and collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for all children and young people in their area.​

A dedicated page under Limerick CYPSCs webpage on COVID-19 has been set up. It collates listings of current service provision in the following areas during the COVID-19 restrictions:

· Parenting and Family Support Services (in collaboration with the Parenting Limerick network)

· Mental Health Services (in collaboration with Ciara Dempsey, Connecting for Life Mid West)

Both listings can be accessed here: www.cypsc.ie/resources/covid-19-.3097.html.

Online CPD:

Future learn has devised a free course ( commitment 2 hours per week for three weeks) titled ‘ How To Teach Online: Providing Continuity for Students.

It explores online teaching in a practical manner in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Details of this course and other can be accessed at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/teach-online

Access Issues Technology

Even though Information from the central statistics office states that 91% of all houses have internet access, students encounter different issues in relation to this access. This is generally visible through their engagement with the various learning platforms used in our schools.
Schools have supported students in relation to access by;

• Contacting non engaging students and parents of students by phone call to determine the exact difficulty
• Supplying students with technology, if practical 
• Realising that many students are using their phone as their technology and therefore reducing the amount of data students are sent/need to download to support on-line learning
• At times sending packages of work to students
• Acknowledging that a household may share one one laptop etc. and being flexible in relation to dates for submitting of assignments and time on-line 
• Considering that on-line work can take twice as long as class work and adjusting expectations in line with same 
• Starting with using familiar technology and keeping it simple
• Remembering that human relationships and contact are of the utmost importance to students at this time and using technology to support by using tools like Google meets etc. This has also been shown to improve student engagement in the learning 

Upcoming Events:

• Online Curriculum Leaders Meeting on Google Meet Thursday, 2 April at 12.15pm
• Online SENCO Forum meeting on Google Meet Thursday, 2 April at 11.30am
• Online Principals and Deputy Principals Meeting

An Cháisc/Easter

Beannachtaí na Cásca Ort & do Chúraim UileHappy Easter to you and yours’