OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
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re : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011 
04/01/2011 10:12 - School holidays / Inservice
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Hi Helen
The Dept of Education have not yet published the school calendar for next yr. They have told us that the next 3-year school holiday dates will be made available early in 2011 on conclusion of the talks with the teachers unions. As soon as the information is issued by the Department of Education we will make it available on the following page on our website
http://www.schooldays.ie/articles/school-calendar
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
05/02/2011 14:59 - School holidays / Inservice
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No word from Department of Education & Skills as yet.
| OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
04/01/2011 09:56 - School holidays / Inservice (Locality: Tipperary)
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Does any one know what the dates are this year - is it the last week in Oct or first week in Nov?
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
01/02/2011 15:22 - School holidays / Inservice
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Dates not yet released by the Department of Education Helen. As far as we know, discussions are still ongoing with the unions - talks only started in mid January. Would expect to hear within a few weeks.
| re : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
12/01/2011 13:39 - School holidays / Inservice
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Hi
Only new but wanted to know if the days lost in school closures due to the snow are being made up by the dept of ed throughout the school year i.e. shorter Easter break????
Surely they have to make up for days closed... if not they have had nearly two weeks in some schools off caused by bad weather - this is days gone without children learning? they need to be addressed by the dept of ed surely...
Anyone else feel the same...
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
27/01/2011 10:11 - School holidays / Inservice
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Hi Cello
The Department of Education have this week issued guidelines to schools on making up lost time due to unforeseen closures (due to bad weather etc) .
"The Department’s position is that schools should make all reasonable efforts to make up for lost time due to unforeseen school closures. The severity and impact of the recent weather conditions varied countrywide and from school to school. For that reason it is each individual school authority that must assess the actual impact on teaching and learning in the school concerned. Having consulted with the school community, the final decision in relation to how to make up for lost time is a matter for each individual Board of Management/VEC."
You can read the full guideline document on
http://www.schooldays.ie/articles/Department-of-Education-Guidelines-on-schools-making-up-lost-time
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
13/01/2011 11:28 - School holidays / Inservice
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Hi
Thank you for your reply and its great to see schools having such a commitment to their parents and children attending. It was unfortunate that my son´s school did make that decision to close (total 8 days) before xmas break, due to health and safety and frozen pipes. I was just wondering do parents and children have the right to get them days back as it is a crucial year form my son (6th) and considering the easter holidays are so long I thought the dept of ed could give some of those days back. The children are out of school alot throughout the year with inservice, holidays, mid-terms and then two months summer without losing another 8 days cause of weather conditions, which was not preventable but surely those days need to be included into the school calender?
Cheers
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
13/01/2011 18:48 - School holidays / Inservice
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Cello, when you say your son is in 6th, it´s unclear whether you mean 6th Year (Leaving Cert) or 6th Class (Primary). If it is 6th Year (Leaving Cert), I would imagine that the teachers will be most anxious to get their courses finished and will be under pressure to do so. The school will obviously ensure that exam classes are prioritised, so that the courses are finished. Other non-exam classes shouldn´t suffer unduly, as all the children in the school will be treated the same and there is still plenty of time to ensure the work is done, even if it means setting slightly increased homework, which will inturn have to be corrected by the teachers.
If it´s 6th Class, then an obsession with making up days, for the sake or principle of it, which were lost due to an ´Act of God´, doesn´t make much sense. I don´t agree that schools had much of a choice in many cases, where there were burst pipes or very unsafe conditions. We were very close to closing as we had run out of salt and although I had slip slided my way to try to beg or borrow salt, I could not get any. We were lucky that the council gritted the roads around the school because if they weren´t, there would have been more serious accidents and we would have had no option but to close. Nobody WANTED to close but some just had no choice or the decision was made for them.
On the subject of changing the calendar for the existing school year, there are several families, parents and children (as well as staff) who have made prior bookings for mid-term or Easter. How do you propose to deal with that situation? Reimburse everybody for the cancelled trips? What about the situation where children are on full attendance and have prior commitments for the school breaks which would mean that they would then be absent in the scenario you are suggesting.
I would therefore prioritise exam classes but none of the other classes should suffer as it has been early enough in the school year to make adjustments that will ensure the children will not suffer.
| re : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
01/02/2011 15:17 - School holidays / Inservice
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Given that we are now in February does anyone know if the october midterm dates for primary schools has been finalised?
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
13/01/2011 00:08 - School holidays / Inservice
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I´m principal of a large primary school and like many other schools, we somehow managed to stay open. That´s no reflection on the minority of schools that just had to close on the basis of health and safety. Having said that, I was in school most weekends, checking heating at night time, shovelling snow with colleagues before 8 a.m., salting yards, texting parents early and late, taking calls from staff very late at night and as early as 6.30 a.m., liaising with Board of Management members, you name it. Throughout this time, the regular work of the school day, as well as Christmas concerts and end of year paperwork etc etc had to take place. I don´t expect any praise for that, as that was what so many teachers and principals were doing, behind the scenes, up and down the country. I am not complaining, as I value my job. It was very stressful, however, having to make the call to open the school, when conditions were often treacherous. Thankfully there were no serious accidents but if there had been, guess who would have been blamed?
I´m just hoping that after a full month of that before Christmas that we won´t have another bout of such weather this year. I was also in school on Stephens day and several times during the holidays, checking for burst pipes etc etc. Being honest, it was horrendous for schools. I am a parent also, so believe me, I understand how difficult the bad weather was for parents too. Just wondering, Cello, if you still feel the same about schools? I know of other schools that ended up having to close but teachers and staff were in and out and would have preferred if school could have been uninterrupted.
| re... : OCTOBER MID TERM 2011
13/01/2011 00:10 - School holidays / Inservice
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OP, as already stated, details of October mid-term for 2011 have not yet been released by department of Education and Skills.
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