Results 4,461-4,480 of 19,576 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: The school building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design & Build programme. The new school building project is in architectural planning stage. A pre-planning meeting with the local authority has taken place and developed design work is ongoing. Until such time as planning permission has been secured, it will not...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: Among the COVID-19 supports provided for the 2020/21 school year was the extension of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panel.Currently, there are 115 Substitute Teacher Supply Panels nationwide, with almost 330 newly appointed Supply Panel teachers employed, providing substitute cover to almost 2,300 schools across the country. The proficiencies of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panels is being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that a permanent site option for the new Killester/Raheny/Clontarf ETNS has been identified and it is in the school planning area. Due to the sensitive nature of site acquisitions in general, it is not possible to give further details at this time. It is difficult to indicate a timeframe for any site acquisition as each process is unique and in some instances complex issues can...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: On 17 February, I confirmed that Leaving Certificate 2021 examinations will proceed and students will also have the alternative option of applying for grades accredited by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), to be known as SEC-Accredited Grades. This decision was taken to provide choice and clarity for students. Putting in place both the examinations and a corresponding measure of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic my Department has issued extensive guidance material to assist schools and teachers with the continuity of learning. This guidance was developed in consultation with all relevant stakeholders including teachers, parents and learners. The guidance included provision to support the continuity of teaching and learning in response to the Covid-19...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: The Department's spending on advertising and awareness raising in relation to Covid-19 for the period 1 March 2020 to date in 2021 is outlined in the attached spreadsheet. Supplier Name Total Amount Details of service Classification 1 Classification 2 Beacon Studios €1,937.25 Voiceover work for Back to school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I would like to inform the Deputy that the school in question applied for funding under the Summer Works Scheme in 2016, Category 10 (External Environment) for the provision of improved access to the school and additional off road parking with particular reference to the school bus. No application has been submitted by the school authority in relation to improved playground facilities. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: A key part of the DEIS Plan was the introduction of a new DEIS identification process based on an objective, statistics based model. In terms of the further extension of the DEIS Programme to more schools, an extensive body of work is being undertaken in terms of the refinement of this model, including data analysis and consultation with education partners. All schools will be considered...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 May 2021)

Norma Foley: The Department’s approach to supporting wellbeing is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice first published in 2018 and refreshed in 2019. The approach proposed is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include providing children and young people with opportunities to build core social and emotional skills and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: The Government has always been guided by public health advice on what is safe in schools and that has been the case from the very beginning. The Chief Medical Officer, CMO, has made it clear in his advices to the Government that schools are places of low transmission, with very little evidence of transmission within schools, and that the majority of infections in children and adolescents...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I do appreciate that this is an issue Deputy Bríd Smith has raised on an ongoing basis. I also appreciate the difficulties for individual families. I recognise that the issues the Deputy has raised are causing particular difficulties for families. Equally, it is very important that we remember that within the education sector at every step of the way everything that we have sought to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I want to be very clear about this: where staff have been identified as very high risk, measures have been put in place for all staff to be replaced. Substantial funding has been made available for that and it has been drawn down throughout the country in recognition of the needs of specific staff who are regarded as very high risk. There is no question about staff who are very high risk...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: Access to sexual and health education is an important right for students. Social, personal and health education, SPHE, is a mandatory curriculum subject in all primary and post-primary schools. Relationships and sexuality education is required at all levels, from primary through to senior cycle. The Department has set out the content for each of these programmes in SPHE syllabuses and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: In the first instance, the primary objective within a school is to ensure that all children, irrespective of their backgrounds, beliefs or orientation, are all welcomed and all included, and that is what we wish the experience of education to be for all concerned. The Deputy specifically asked in regard to timelines. As I alluded to earlier, the NCCA is developing the updated guidelines and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. As I have stated clearly, all schools are required to have an RSE policy. That policy, we must acknowledge, is developed in consultation with the entire school community, and the entire school community includes school management, parents, teachers and students, as appropriate. A school's programme for RSE is developed and taught, as the Deputy stated, in the context of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Psychological Assessments (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: The Department of Education's NEPS provides a school-based, consultative psychological service in two ways: through the provision of an individual casework service for students and through a support and development service for school staff. Educational psychological assessments are not assigned to schools; rather, educational psychologists are assigned to schools. The NEPS casework...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Psychological Assessments (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: It is important to point out that the provision of support in schools is not dependent on a NEPS assessment or diagnosis. A new model was introduced in 2016. I appreciate the Deputy acknowledging the various strands of work in which the NEPS psychologists are involved but it is very important to note that. The special education teaching, SET, model of resourcing, introduced in 2016, is a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Psychological Assessments (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: I acknowledge, as the Deputy has, the excellent work on the ground by our schools and special education teachers. The model as introduced in 2016 is working more effectively, in that it does allow a child without a specific diagnosis to be catered for within the school environment by virtue of the hours that have been made available through the special education teacher. Since becoming...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Staff (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: Primary schools are currently provided with class teachers on the basis of one teacher for every 26 pupils, which is at its historically lowest level. Under the programme for Government there is a commitment to make further progress in reducing the pupil-teacher ratios in primary schools and to support small schools. As part of the budget 2021 measures, the Government has sought to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Staff (13 May 2021)

Norma Foley: To be clear, the primary staffing appeals board is an independent board and operates independently of the Department. There is an opportunity for appeal. I cannot comment on the specific school the Deputy mentioned as I am not familiar with it or the format of its appeal. However, we did successfully reduce the pupil-teacher ratio to 26:1 this year. We also included the three-point...