ACCS/Info Bulletin 12/22
1. Department of Education Engagement regarding the Ukraine Crisis.
2. The Inspectorate, Current and Planned Work.
3. Department of Education School Governance Section Update.
4. SEC Updates.
5. Allocations.
6. School Roll Out of NIMS Status Update.
7. Procurement: High Spec PCs for use with Solidworks in Design Communication Graphics Senior Cycle Course.
Beir bua is beannacht agus tá súil againn go bhfuil Seachtain na Gaeilge faoi lánsheoil agaibh. Bain taitneamh as bhúr n-iarrachtaí an Ghaeilge agus cultúir na Gaeilge a chur chun cinn sna scoileanna againne.
1. Department of Education engagement with education stakeholders regarding the Ukraine crisis.
The Department of Education has issued the attached letter to school Principals outlining the Government commitment to delivering a humanitarian response to welcome people fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking protection in Ireland. Some of the key elements particularly relevant to education include:
· Children arriving from the Ukraine to Ireland are beneficiaries under a Temporary Protection Directive which assures their right to education in the public education system, along with other rights for a temporary period, on the same basis as EU citizens.
· If a family approaches your school seeking a school place and you have capacity to offer a place to the child or children, please do so.
· To ensure accurate data of the number of students registering in schools please register the child as quickly as possible on P.Pod.
· If there is demand for places for children from Ukraine that your school cannot meet please:
o Support the family by contacting another local school if possible.
o Provide them with the details of the Tusla support service: www.tusla.ie/tess/get-in-touch/#EWO
o Contact the Department helpline for principals on 057 9324461 or email Usupport@education.gov.ie
· Among other useful resources listed are:
o NEPS guidance for schools https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/e003e-supporting-children-and-young-people-in-a-time-of-war/
o NCSE regional supports https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list
o EAL resources for post-primary https://www.pdst.ie/post-primary/literacy/eal
o NCCA’s EAL Resources primary and post-primary (attached)
Resources to support teaching and learning: English as an Additional LanguageThe guidance also includes Information for families arriving from Ukraine in Ukranian and Russian available on gov.ie/Ukraine, costs of attending school and school transport. The DE is engaged with education stakeholders on an ongoing basis planning and preparing for the arrival of potentially significant numbers seeking access to education in Ireland.
2. The Inspectorate, Current and Planned Work.
The Inspectorate of the Department of Education has advised of the following planned work and engagement with schools for the remainder of this academic year.
Up to Easter:
Incidental Inspections.
a. 2 days’ notice
b. Emphasis is on advice and supporting teachers and school leaders
c. In a small sample, collection of data for national research purposes on anti-bullying and timetable
d. Optional additional; advisory visit
Urgent follow-through or SEN-related inspections, a small number of CPSI inspections.
Following Easter:
Circular to schools.
Current inspections, plus subject inspections at post-primary.
Emphasis on teaching and learning, learning about how schools are tackling Covid learning loss.
No whole-school type inspections until Autumn.
3. Department of Education School Governance Section Update.
The DE Governance section reminds schools of the following three important issues in planning for the next academic year.
1. A reminder re the prohibition on charging fees as part of the school admission process. All schools in the ‘free scheme’ are reminded that it is also not permissible to seek payment of fees or financial contributions for learning materials or activities as part of the admission process. Contributions towards learning materials or activities may be sought at a later stage as part of the normal arrangements and preparations for the start of a new school year.
2. A reminder in relation to the importance of the care and safety of all students, staff and visitors to the school. This requires the obligation to ensure that:
a. There is a Safety Statement in place.
b. First aid supplies and training for first aid is kept up to date.
3. Schools are asked in consideration of their leadership teams to also take on board a role for an Energy/Sustainability Champion in Schools. This is one of the proposed actions under the climate action plan.
4. SEC Updates.
Leaving Certificate Construction Studies and Engineering Day Practical Skills Examinations 2022:
The SEC will be issuing a circular on Leaving Certificate Construction Studies and Engineering Day Practical Skills Examinations 2022 later this week. This will give schools detail on the arrangements for these examinations, which are being run for the first time since 2019 and will highlight a change to the arrangements for the marking of the Day Practical components this year.
Changes for 2022 Examinations:
For 2022, the arrangements for the marking of both the Project and the Day Practical will see both components securely retained in schools and marked by
teams of visiting examiners who will visit schools in June. The marking will be conducted over a nine-day period from 7 to 17 June.
Schools will be required to provide the required secure storage space for the practical examination test pieces in the case of both subjects. These test pieces will have to be stored securely until after all appeals processes have been executed.
The marking of the project and practical components will take place in parallel during the marking period, this means that four designated SEC appointed examiners will visit schools during this period.
State Examinations Commission Form (CEN 1 Form):
To facilitate the planning for this year’s Leaving and Junior Certificate Examinations the SEC request the schools return the Centres Form, CEN 1 Form, at their earliest opportunity.
Examiners:
ACCS supports the SEC request to school leaders to encourage teachers to participate as examiners and superintendents to facilitate the State Examinations for both our Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate students. The rescheduling of the Orals and the Music Practical to take place over Easter greatly reduces the loss of tuition time due to teacher absence. Examiners will also be required for Home Economics, Art and LCA tasks over the coming weeks.
5. Allocations.
We anticipate that the Teacher Allocation Letters for schools will issue at some stage next week.
6. School Roll Out of NIMS Status Update.
Letters to all Community & Comprehensive schools issued in the past week by the State Claims regarding the deadline for the roll out of the online incident reporting system notes that 50% of our schools are now live on NIMS and are inputting incidents directly onto the online system.
The SCA highlights that from the 4th of April the paper system will no longer be available to schools when reporting incidents. From this date each school must have at least one NIMS user live on the system. As outlined in the webinar hosted by the SCA on our behalf earlier this year, school information regarding IP addresses and identified users will be required by the SCA in order to complete the set up for each individual school. All identified users have access to the 40-minute NIMS eLearning course to support their work in using the system. The letter to schools outlines all necessary steps for individual schools to complete for set up on NIMS.
7. Procurement: High Spec PCs for use with Solidworks in Design Communication Graphics Senior Cycle Course.
See attached order form and note from Tom Lonergan, National Coordinator - Technology Integration, PDST Technology in Education about price increases after 31st March 2022. [Note: This price increase is for DCG Tower PCs only and not for DCG Laptops]. The price increase from the current price may be 30% or even greater, and is due to global factors, such as increased component/chip/production costs, and increased transport costs due to the global energy crisis. Datapac are the only approved supplier of DCG Tower PCs.
Tá sos tuillte ag gach éinne anois agus bain taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine fada. Táimíd ag tnúth le buaileadh libh ag an gComhdháil.
Le gach dea-ghuí
Is mise,
le mór mheas,
John Irwin, GENERAL SECRETARY.
Addenda:
1. Letter for Schools re Ukraine (English)
2. Letter for Schools re Ukraine (Irish)
3. EAL Resources Primary and Pot Primary NCCA