It has been decided to re-schedule the ICT Webinar that was due to take place on 15/11.

I hope that you had a pleasant mid-term and managed to get a good rest in preparation of the term that lies ahead. I'm aware of the fact that we have scheduled an ICT Webinar to take place next Wednesday the 15th of November and wanted to take this opportunity to write to you regarding this event and our concerns regarding funding in the ICT area in schools.  

As you may or may not be aware since our last meeting in May, the ACCS Officers requested that I focus my efforts in assisting the In-School Management group in putting together an ICT element to the conference that takes place in Cavan at the end of the month. This work has proven particularly successful, and we have created workshops that will concentrate on the area of social media including working with Tik Tok and Webwise. These workshops will allow us to reach a large audience of principals and deputy principals.

The other factor that has been a consideration for ACCS over the past few months has been the uncertainty around the issuing of the ICT grant to schools and whether a payment would be made at any stage during this academic year. Our understanding is that the DE does intend to make an ICT grant payment to schools during this academic year and we feel that once the exact timing of payment is known, we will be in a better place to proceed with considering and discussing further development of ICT in our schools and classrooms. 

Accordingly, I am suggesting that we postpone our webinar that is scheduled for Wednesday the 15th of November and that we convene as a sub-committee early in the term after Christmas when hopefully we will be in a better space to discuss new avenues and developments that can be incorporated into our schools and classrooms in the ICT sphere.

Paul Thornton,

Chairperson