POST-PRIMARY SCHOOL

Have your say on the Junior Cycle Curriculum - this blog opened in April 2010 and allows you to post your ideas and comments on the Irish Junior Cycle Curriculum.  Get typing!

www.curriculumonline.ie	Curriculum Online is the NCCA's site for parents and teachers at all levels - it details the syllabus for every subject at Early Childhood level, Primary level, Junior Cycle (second level) and Senior Cycle (second level).  The syllabus for Foundation, Ordinary and Higher level subjects at both Junior and Senior Cycles can be found here.  Links to other countries' curricula are also given.
www.ncca.ie	The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has been in existence for nearly 30 years and was established on a statutory basis in 2001. Their mission is to advise the Minister for Education and Science on curriculum and assessment for early childhood education and for primary and post-primary schools. Click on the" Information for Parents" as well as "Inclusion" tabs for more information. There are good multi-lingual guides for understanding standard scores and STen scores.
www.scoilnet.ie	Scoilnet is the Department of Education and Science's official portal for Irish education. It is responsible for the promotion and use of the Internet in education under the Government's ICT in Schools Programme. Launched in 1998, the website is managed on behalf of the DES by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE).   Scoilnet is easy to use and has separate parent, student and teacher sections. The parent page features a whole section on Special Needs.
www.ncse.ie	The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is a statutory body established under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (EPSEN) 2004.  It sanctions teaching and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) resources for schools in order to support children with special educational needs. It also carries out research on the provision of Special Education. Note that the NCSE has now launched it long-awaited appeals process. However there is no independent appeals process. Find out here about the role of the Special Education Needs Organiser, i.e. SENO (not to be confused with SNA!) as well as the name and contact details of your local SENO. Bear in mind the roll-out of the EPSEN Act has been put on hold, so keep an eye on this site for developments.
National Educational Psychology Service	The National Educational Psychology Service (NEPS) is described on this section of the Department of Education website (www.education.ie). It works in partnership with teachers, parents and children in identifying educational needs.  A range of services aimed at meeting these needs is offered, for example, supporting individual students (through consultation and assessment), special projects and research.  NEPS for the Mid-West is located at Punches Cross, Rosbrien Road, Limerick. Tel 061 430027 and at Francis Street, Ennis, Co. Clare Tel 065 6865904. The Regional Director is Gabrielle Greene. A parent’s first point of contact often is their child’s teacher or School Principal however.
www.sess.ie	The Special Education Support Service (SESS) site is a very useful one for parents although its target audience is teachers. It is essential reading for a parent involved in home schooling. The site includes a regularly updated list of training courses, Department of Education circulars as well as very useful definitions of various diagnoses that you may find in your child’s psychology report or school report, e.g. specific learning disability, specific speech and language disorder, levels of general learning disabilities and so on. Its “resources” and “documents and publications” tabs are also very useful.
www.newb.ie	The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established in 2002 under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 and has a statutory function to ensure that every child either attends a school or otherwise receives an education. The Board also has responsibility for children who are being educated outside of schools (e.g. at home) and 16-17 year olds who leave school to take up employment. You must register your child with the NEWB if you are proposing to home school.   Click on "Your Guide to Home Education" button or choose the "Parent/Guardian" section for more information. Their links section is particularly comprehensive.
www.sentech.ie	SENTech is the website of Ann Jackson, the National Technology and Special Needs Advisor employed by the Special Education Section of the Department of Education. "The service offers advice and information on most aspects of Assistive Technology (AT) and ICT that can be employed to support the education and learning of students with special needs in Irish schools."
www.projectiris.org	Project IRIS - Inclusive Research in Irish Schools - is a three year research project aiming to carry out an in-depth study of special and inclusive education in Ireland. It is funded by the NCSE.

More to come on access to post-primary schools, SNAs, resource hours, NEPS and other supports...