It could be a busy summer for primary teachers who are preparing for the introduction of the revised curriculum in September. A range of newly designed in-service courses, which are expected to cater for up to 3,000 teachers, has been drawn up for the summer months by the INTO. There is widespread concern among teachers about implementation of the revised curriculum. The union's in-service programme "is trying to anticipate what teachers are going to need" for the change, says Catherine Byrne, assistant general secretary of the INTO. "The areas of most change," says Byrne, "are in science, Gaeilge and the environment." The union will advertise and invite applications for the courses in the forthcoming issue of its magazine, In Touch.

"We looked at the revised curriculum and asked where are the flash points and where are teachers going to need support," Byrne explains. Among the new programmes offered by the union for in-service is Caring for the Earth, developed earlier this year by the INTO and the Blackrock Education Centre, Dublin. It aims to encourage teachers to be critically aware of their local environment and to engage in active learning with their pupils. "There's a huge interest in this area," Byrne explains. There will be places on two courses, with room for 100 teachers on each - one in Rathfarnham, Dublin, and one in Castlebar, Co Mayo. The newly designed in-service courses on the teaching of the Irish language and on the teaching of science are also expected to attract a large response from teachers. There will be two courses on An Muinteoir agus an Gaeilge, which will run simultaneously in the early part of July in Dun Chaoin, Co Kerry, and in Indreabhan, Co Galway.

The two science in-service courses, which have been developed in collaboration with the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Technology and Design, will run over five days in July in UCC and in Wexford town. This is the first time the union has collaborated with a third-level institute to devise an inservice course, Byrne says.

This year, Byrne explains, "we've shifted the focus and we're going to run summer schools and encourage teachers to combine their summer holidays with in-service."

Up to 85 per cent of INTO membership are women, she says. "For them to get involved in professional development they have to take account of the family. It has suited them to take the children to a place where there are creche facilities. And we've tried to have them in nice areas also."

One of the demands at the union's recent congress, where the revised curriculum was hotly debated, was that an agreed number of in-service days and school planning days be made available to teachers on all aspects of the curriculum. Many teachers threatened not to implement the programme unless the new curriculum was introduced on a phased basis and they were given ample time for preparation. They also are seeking resources to be put in place to help them deal with it.