Hello! Goodbye! Tips for passing on your class to a new teacher
As we head for the final stretch in the school year, here’s a helping hand with what to have a think about as you pass your class on to their next teacher.
School Leader Thoughts
Our school leader authors share their plans, projects and approaches.
Guest school leader author, Aoife, breaks down how she has been facilitating the transition to the new Primary Curriculum Framework and shares some ideas and resources for keeping staff informed and aware of the changes and opportunities.
After two years of managing the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme, our guest school leader author shares their tips and experiences to help maximise this initiative and the budget.
As we head for the final stretch in the school year, here’s a helping hand with what to have a think about as you pass your class on to their next teacher.
So, you’ve been informed of an inspection? Don’t panic! We had a curriculum evaluation recently and although we had the initial fear of the ‘cigire’, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience for us. Read on to find out some helpful tips to approach the visit with ease.
With an increased focus on wellbeing in our schools, it is very important to ensure that the voice of the pupil is heard. To this end, we recently introduced a Student Council in our school. We have learnt so much during this process and it has been a really positive initiative in our school. Here is our story so far.
Like many schools, we identified a need to open an autism class in our school. We wanted to provide an autism specific environment within our mainstream school for our autistic pupils to thrive in. We felt this was an important journey to share.
All schools must have a Bí Cineálta policy in place for September 2025. One of our school leader writers, has kindly shared how they put the Oide training into action in their school and engaged staff, parents and students in their policy development process.
Aoife has been a classroom teacher for over 20 years but has recently taken the leap into leadership. She now considers herself an NQDP (Newly Qualified Deputy Principal). Here is her story.
Play and Playful Learning
Children learn best when they are having fun. We have been working with teachers and play based learning experts to unpick the opportunities for playful learning experiences in the new curriculum.
Escape rooms have become a popular activity for families and people of all ages, transforming problem-solving into a fun adventure. You can harness this excitement with your students. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to create your own maths escape room for your class.
The Maths curriculum does not change much of ‘what’ children learn, but it aims to improve ‘how’ children learn maths. This includes more learning through play and problem solving. It also provides more opportunities for children to be creative, take risks and be challenged. Here are ten ways you might put those ideas into action.
Playful learning not only helps children to grasp complex ideas but also helps to foster a love for the subject. With the new focus on 'Maths Talk', key ideas and concepts can also be explored playfully in other topics and areas of the curriculum. Teacher author, Gillian, shares her ideas on making maths more playful.
Unlike story starters, which aim to provide a specific opening line, writing prompts offer broader themes or concepts for children to explore. Effective writing prompts are open-ended questions or statements that help make up a toolkit designed to inspire creative, persuasive or narrative writing.
In the world of education, fostering creativity and imagination is just as important as teaching facts and figures. One of the most effective ways I have found to achieve this is through the use of playful story starters in the classroom. These tools not only stimulate children’s creativity but also enhance their writing skills, language and vocabulary, critical thinking and overall engagement.
The 100th day in school will arrive around now for most students. To celebrate this milestone, here are some great, easy to implement ideas with a mathematics spin from guest author, Roisin.
These activities and ideas can help turn your classroom into a dynamic space where learning feels like play, play feels like learning and where engagement, attainment, creativity and collaboration are boosted and celebrated!
January can be a particularly challenging month due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather, which may impact energy levels and motivation. Thankfully, playful activities can help to stimulate energy and curiosity, countering those mid-winter doldrums and helping to kick start a new year.
Assessing and evaluating play can sometimes be challenging because it often involves unconventional learning experiences that are less structured than traditional methods. However, much like using a less traditional method of teaching, assessment methods can take many forms and include a variety of techniques.
Successfully integrating playful learning into teaching involves creating an environment where both teachers and children can engage with content in an interactive, enjoyable and hands-on way. Here are some of the approaches I have been exploring with my senior classes.
"Play should be in every classroom, for every child, every day." That’s the ideal and the theory in the new Primary Curriculum Framework but how do we make it a reality in every classroom – especially in upper primary?
The research into play and learning consistently highlights the profound role of play in fostering cognitive, social, emotional and physical development in young children. Assistant Principal and Play and Learning Specialist, Gillian Corbally, outlines what we know, and what she learned in her own older classes, about this powerful connection.
Special Education Teaching
Our guest school leaders and SENCO principals share their ideas for effective SET
Starting a role in SET may seem overwhelming, but with the right information and a collaborative approach, you can create a positive and impactful learning environment for those in your care.
Timetabling in special education requires thoughtful planning and continuous collaboration with class teachers. The goal is to integrate support seamlessly into the overall educational experience, ensuring children receive a well-rounded and inclusive education.
To effectively support children with special educational needs, SET teachers must understand the various levels of support available and how to implement them.
As a busy teacher, the prospect of diving into lengthy professional reports can feel overwhelming, however, these documents are packed with actionable insights.
After gathering all necessary information from previous teachers, arranging support time, reading relevant reports, and assessing last year's targets, it's time to prepare the new support plan for the coming year. This crucial step involves a structured approach to ensure each student's needs are met effectively.
Creating a Classroom Support Plan (CSP) is a collaborative effort between the Special Education Teacher (SET) and the classroom teachers to ensure that each pupil's unique needs are met. Here we outline the steps involved in developing an effective CSP, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and detailed planning.
Building on the foundation of a Classroom Support Plan, the next steps in providing comprehensive support to pupils with special educational needs involve creating a School Support Plan (SSP) or a School Support Plus (SSP+) Plan.
What's The Math-er?
A series of superb interviews with the leading minds in Irish mathematics education. Get ready for a deep dive into all things New Maths Curriculum!
Get inside the new Mathematics curriculum with What's The Math-er. This second episode of series two is packed with inspiration. Lisa Walsh interviews Deputy Principal and teacher, Orla Byrne, who has been working with PDST and Oide for the past seven years.
The first episode of a new season of content packed podcasts to help teachers explore and integrate the new Mathematics Curriculum. Lisa Walsh interviews maths researcher and curriculum coordinator, Dr Thérèse Dooley.
First episode of an in-depth podcast series to help you make the most of the new Mathematics Curriculum. Episode 1 features an interview with mathematics author and teacher, Patrick Neary.
Lisa Walsh interviews mathematics education expert, Dr Aisling Leavy. This broad ranging, two part interview covers STEM, using data and many other topics.
Inquiry based learning is a powerful way of learning that lends itself to many topics but it also has it's challenges. Lisa Walsh unpicks approaches with teacher, author & lecturer, Sarah Byrne
Lisa Walsh interviews Dr. Siún Nic Mhuirí in this episode. They cover Maths talk, the Maths4All project, Shape Space and Measures in the new curriculum, assessment and ideas for outdoor learning.
Teaching principal, Edward Fitzgerald, talks to Lisa Walsh in a topic packed podcast that dives deep into multigrade classroom teaching, differentiation opportunities through problem solving and supporting gifted students.
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Here’s a few ideas I have used for P.E. Each has a little Christmas spin. These will hopefully make your lessons a little more focussed and retain attention and engagement levels... and perhaps help the children to burn off some of that excited energy!
Guest author, Roisin, shares how she has introduced Money as a topic to her multigrade class and her ideas and recommendations for a classroom environment to support learning, play and real life applications for this topic.
Our redeveloped Primary Curriculum Framework places an emphasis on playful and active learning. What better place to do this than in the outdoors. Here’s hoping the sun will shine on us this Summer and we can enjoy lots of outdoor activities with our pupils.
Guest author Roisin, has been linking STEM and procedural writing with an Easter themed twist. Using the book "How To Catch The Easter Bunny", the class design and make their own traps (humane of course!) to catch the nifty creature!
Finally we have some Spring in our steps and are, hopefully, getting rid of grey skies and storms! There’s always plenty of discussion of when Spring begins - does it begin with St. Brigid on February 1st, when as the song goes ‘Brigid brings the spring’ or does it begin as we approach March when the days get longer and the time changes? You choose your own interpretation of it! Either way, here’s a few ways to bring it to life with your class this year.
While we may not be able to sort all the problems in the world from our classrooms, we can certainly do our bit for the environment. Embracing natural or sustainable materials in practical maths activities can immerse children in ideas about sustainability, recycling and our relationship with the natural world.
There has been plenty of chatter and change around play and its re-examined place in our classrooms recently. As teachers, we’re constantly evolving and adapting our classrooms and our delivery of teaching to improve practice but it can be difficult to keep up to date with changes while keeping an eye on everything else. Here is how Roisin has been coping.
With Halloween just around the corner, it is a great time of year to put a spooky slant on your P.E. lessons! Read on for some easily adaptable Halloween themed games to try over the next couple of weeks. By teacher author, Aoife.
A simple to manage resource with boundless activity potential. What's not to like? Teacher author, Roisin, shares some of the ways she uses one of her favourite practical resource discoveries.
All schools engaged with the new Maths Curriculum via Oide training in the 2023-2024 school year. It's now time to start putting the theory and ideas into practice for guest teacher author, Aoife.
Teacher author, Aoife, explains how she has used Discovery Tables in her classroom to approach some of the key ideas laid out in the new Primary Language Framework.
This is great activity to spread over the months of a school year. Guest teacher author, Aoife, shares her approach to this effective and engaging way to develop home and school links.