Hot school meals: Junior infants served same portions as those in sixth class
Tackling portion size to help reduce food waste generated by scheme, says Department of Health official
Primary Level
News and advice covering the primary level education system.
New Deis Plus plan for Ireland’s most disadvantaged areas needs to be bold
If Deis Plus is watered down, it will be horrifically depressing for everyone within education
Variation in primary teachers’ proficiency in Irish ‘a matter of significant concern’
Department inspectorate found ‘apparent lack of confidence’ among many teachers using Irish in English-medium schools
Ireland remains locked into the anglophone world. Will we ever make the multilingual leap?
Language specialists doubt whether existing educational policies can deliver on State’s linguistic competence deficit
Irish-language education policy ‘ignores elephant in the room’, advocacy groups warn
Patron body says ‘little progress’ made on similar goals announced 20 years ago
Say ‘goodbye’, not ‘day day’: why parents should speak to their child like an adult
The inclination to continue parentese well past babyhood is patronising to kids
‘I was horrified that any parent would give a nine-year-old a smartphone’
Ask Brian: More than a quarter of primary schoolchildren and a third of secondary school students are now using artificial intelligence
UK students are abandoning languages and the arts. Let’s make sure it never happens here
When governments signal that some subjects matter less, the cultural and human cost is far greater than imagined
‘Silent sidelines’ at children’s matches: How utterly depressing that this is where we are
Jen Hogan: Adults’ behaviour is having a detrimental effect on children playing a game. Just let that sink in
Pay increases for childcare workers to take effect this month
Pay deal provides 10% increases to thousands of staff in creches and after-school childcare centres
‘I wouldn’t eat them myself’: Your verdict on free hot school meals
Some parents raise concerns about food waste and meals’ nutritional value, while one supplier argues the scheme is underfunded
Ireland’s small schools are dying – but it’s not too late to save them
Years of austerity and poor choices by successive governments' choices have left many rural schools overcrowded, under-resourced and fighting for survival
Idea that Irish schoolchildren can simply ‘opt out’ of religion class is a myth
What we will have now is teachers saying 'Christians believe Jesus was the son of God' in one lesson, followed by 'Jesus was the son of God' in the next
Hot school meals scheme: A vital resource or ‘low quality’ food?
The Irish Times wants to hear your thoughts on the programme
More than one in five pupils missed over 20 days of last school year, data show
Figures still above pre-pandemic levels despite overall reduction in chronic absenteeism
School meals: How do French and Irish food for pupils compare?
Nantes pupils dined on melon, Gouda cheese, cheese tart - and that’s just the starters
Are school wellbeing programmes doing more harm than good?
Some studies suggest one-size-fits-all mindfulness and mental-health programmes may even increase difficulties among young people
McEntee rejects ‘misinformation’ about sexual orientation elements of new primary curriculum
Fifth and sixth class children should ‘understand what basic attraction is and respect each other’, Minister says
New primary school curriculum includes emphasis on language skills and Stem subjects
Updated specifications include fresh guidance on arts, social and environmental and health learning
Principal calls for checks on school attendance for children in emergency accommodation
Checks on accommodation centres raised in context of child going missing in Donabate, Co Dublin
What do the President, Kim Kardashian and I have in common?
Jen Hogan: I never anticipated that one day, Kim Kardashian and I might take a similar stance on educational issues
Children in low-income families are most exposed to unhealthy food, report finds
Unicef says children from low-income families and communities most exposed to unhealthy food environments
School secretaries and caretakers strike: Union agrees to withdraw industrial action and enter talks
Fórsa says ‘key element’ of agreement is a commitment to negotiate comparable pension entitlements to those of teachers and SNAs
Teachers should refuse to pass pickets of secretaries and caretakers
The unions have over 86,000 members between them. If they stopped working, the strike would soon end
‘Our absence impacts the children’: School secretaries and caretakers continue strike over work conditions
Secretary says she wants ‘dignity’ and to retire not into poverty
Some primary schools lose hot meals amid issues of procurement and food safety
Provider withdraws from several small schools over rules and viability
School secretaries and caretakers to begin indefinite strike after talks fail
Dispute relates to exclusion of secretaries and caretakers from public-service pension scheme
Schoolteacher who defrauded colleagues of €2,000 barred from teaching for at least five years
Inquiry heard respondent dishonestly took money from teacher and SNAs for goods never provided
Ireland tops school class-size ‘league of shame’
More than 40,000 Irish pupils are in classes of 30-plus, with 22.5 average, well above EU figure
Cost of starting secondary school in Ireland now tops €1,100
Many parents worried about costs, with only 34% saying they will be manageable
Paper payslips for school staff to be dropped to save €3m a year
About 144,000 current and retired school staff are issued payslips by the Department of Education
Back to school costs: Handy tips you can use to ease the financial burden
It’s an expensive time of year, but resourceful use of WhatsApp uniform swap shops and taking stock of usable existing items are among ways of cutting back
Game-changing dyslexia screening tool tested in Irish schools
Alpaca uses AI to detect early risk signs without adding to teachers’ workload
Some schools are relying on deposit return scheme to stop them going broke
More is being spent on free hot meals for students than on education itself
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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