Results 12,881-12,900 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that additional funding has been approved for the school in question and the school authority has been informed.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The project referred to by the Deputy is currently at the Design Team appointment Stage. Upon completion of the appointment of the Design Team, my Department Officials will be in direct contact with the Board of Management to commence Stage 1 of Architectural Planning, which is the initial sketch design stage. It is not possible to progress all projects within the Department's building...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Services Staff (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 534 and 535 together. Schemes were initiated in 1978 and 1979 for the employment of Clerical Officers and Caretakers in primary and secondary schools. While a small number of these staff remain in schools, the schemes are being phased out and have been superseded by a more extensive grant scheme. The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Parent and Student Charter (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My intention is to amend Section 28 of the Education Act 1998 to require every school to have a Parent and Student Charter according to principles set down in legislation that will set a national standard. As the Deputy may be aware, section 28 is the section of the Education Act 1998 that provides for parental complaints in schools. It expresses a desirability of determining appeals and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is working closely with Sligo County Council in relation to the identification of a permanent site for the school in question and potential site options have been assessed. As the Deputy will appreciate, there are commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally and I am not in a position to comment further on the site acquisition at this time. I expect...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the accommodation brief for the proposed building project has been approved and the project is currently at an early stage of the architectural planning process. The next step involves the appointment of a Design Team and my officials were in contact with the school in this regard recently. The project will now be progressed to the final stages of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: In February, 2014 the school referred to by the Deputy was sanctioned a devolved grant under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme to provide 3 new mainstream classrooms and an assisted users toilet. An application for additional funding has been received from the school authority to carry out works that were not approved by my Department. The school authority and their Design...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of the Tender Process and subject to no issues arising is expected to commence on site by the end of the summer. Once the project commences on site the construction programme set by the design team envisages that it will take approximately twenty nine months to complete the full suite of accommodation and refurbishment.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department's over-riding objective and the primary focus of the 5 Year Construction Plan is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place and that our school system is in a position to cope with increasing pupil numbers. Total pupil enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by around 108,000 additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 554 and 555 together. Average class size is not readily calculated on an individual school basis. Below is a link to a spreadsheet that shows the number of pupils in each mainstream class and the number of mainstream class teachers for each primary school in county order. Data refers to 2014/15 school year. .

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Data (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The staffing schedule at primary level operates on the basis of 1 classroom teacher for an average of every 28 pupils, with lower thresholds for DEIS Band 1 schools. Each one point adjustment to the current 28:1 schedule at primary level is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached table. Pupil Teacher Ratio 2010-2015 Level 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 First Level 15.7 16.2 16.4 16.3 16.2 Second Level 13.6 13.9 14.3 14.3 14.2

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached table. Average Class Size in Primary Schools - 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 Average class size in Mainstream Classes 24.3 24.5 24.7 24.8 24.9 The withdrawal of Resource Teachers for Travellers (Circular 0017/2011) resulted in a change in the way pupils from the Travelling Community are counted....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My focus in Budget 2015 was on obtaining the additional funding that was necessary to provide for demographic growth. The last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015. This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015. That increase has provided funding for 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs to be recruited for our schools, as well as funding important reforms. However, it was not possible to secure the funding which would be required to also increase...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing arrangements for the 2015/2016 school year are set out in Circular...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Principal duties in medium to large sized schools are carried out by administrative principals. Principal duties in small to medium sized schools are carried out by teaching principals. Circular 25/02 which is available on the Department website outlines the number of days that teaching principals may take as release time in a school year in order to assist them fulfilling their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Services (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 553 and 556 together. I can inform the Deputy that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychology services to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases receive assessment services through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Under...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Expenditure (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 554 and 555 together. The information requested by the Deputy for the years 2011 to 2015 is attached in tabular form. There are now more additional resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) supporting children with special educational needs in our schools than at any time previously. The NCSE allocated 6,454 resource teacher posts to schools for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Data Protection (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am aware of the matter referred to by the Deputy. It is not the policy of my Department to comment on individual cases. The general position is that the Board of Management is responsible for the management of the school. Any queries or complaints in relation to how individual issues are being managed by a school should therefore be addressed to the Board of Management. In relation to...