Results 4,321-4,340 of 19,968 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The site identification and assessment exercise for Educate Together Secondary School, Wicklow Town is ongoing and a potential property has been identified. An architectural consultant has been appointed to commence an assessment of this potential property. I wish to assure you that the provision of a permanent location for this school is a priority for the Department. Given the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Circulars (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: In November 2020, circular 0074/2020 issued to all schools advising school principals of the requirement to put in place appropriate contingency measures, to include a Communication and Learning Platform, to ensure that there would be continuity of teaching and learning in the event of a full or partial school closure. While those circumstances are no longer envisaged, such platforms remain...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application from the school in question under the Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. The purpose of my Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Equality Issues (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: A proposal issued to staff representatives last year to establish a new grade of adult educator, with a standardised pay scale aligned with the Youthreach Resource person scale. This grade will apply to tutors employed in ETBs to deliver FET programmes, who are currently employed under a variety of terms and conditions. The provision of a pay scale will allow for incremental progression and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The assessment of skills in spoken Irish forms an integral component of the overall Irish language learning experience at Junior Cycle and occurs in a number of ways. Students' oral language skills are formally assessed through Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs), the second of which is entirely based on students’ oral language competence. The CBA is linked to ongoing classroom...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The project for the school referred to by the Deputy currently has planning permission and will, along with a number of other projects with planning permission, be brought to the level of employer-led design with a Design Team assigned to do so under the supervision of my Department’s Project Manager. This building project will provide a new 16 classroom primary school and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: In May 2023, I announced that adjustments will be made to the assessment arrangements for students due to sit State examinations in 2024. These are the same as the assessment adjustments that applied for students sitting the 2023 examinations, and the August 2021 adjustments, but updated as relevant. These arrangements were communicated to schools on 18 September, and can be found at the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 and 229 together. The school campus building project referred to by the Deputy is assigned to my Department’s Design and Build programme which uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender and construction. This campus project will deliver a new 1,000 pupil...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department has very recently received an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The Department has set out the Continuum of Support framework to assist schools in identifying and responding to pupils’ needs. This framework recognises that special educational needs occur along a continuum, ranging from mild to more significant, and from transient to long term, and that pupils require different levels of support depending on their identified educational needs. Using...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The current Physical Education (PE) curriculum was introduced as part of the Primary School Curriculum (1999). The PE curriculum is for children from junior infants to sixth class. It provides a balanced range of activities for children through the six strands; Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games, Outdoor and adventure activities and Aquatics. The primary curriculum is currently undergoing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers is to provide a 4 classroom Special Education Needs base, general purpose room and ancillary under my Department‘s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project was devolved for delivery to the school authority and it has appointed a design team to progress the project. I wish to advise the Deputy that the Stage 1 Design Report...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department’s Circulars 10/2001 for Primary teachers, 29/2007 and 29/2010 for Post-Primary teachers. The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC). To qualify for an award of incremental credit, a teacher and their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department approved significant capital funding for the school in question under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. The project approved was for 1x Art room, 1x Textiles room, 1 x Universal access wc, 1x Science laboratory and prep area and 2x Special Education Classrooms. This project was devolved to the school authorities for delivery and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: On 5th March I announced details of a new ground-breaking scheme which provides free schoolbooks to Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. More than 212,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 post-primary schools, will benefit from the new scheme. The investment of €68 million in 2024 significantly increases the funding that is currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Uniforms (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: Ultimately, decisions on school uniforms are a matter for individual schools and Boards of Management. Taking the above into account, the Department’s Circular 0032/2017, was issued to the Boards of Management of all recognised primary and post-primary schools and to the Chief Executives of the Education and Training Boards. This Circular sets out the principles of cost-effective...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The information requested by the deputy is attached in tabular format in respect of payments to staff of my Department. I can confirm to the Deputy that all severance or redundancy payments to which staff in my Department were entitled were calculated and processed by the National Shared Service Office in accordance with DPENDR guidelines. In relation to the aegis bodies, a list of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Budgets (6 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 94 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to...