March 14th

Inniú Dé Céadaoin: Lá breá te (30C). Beagán gaoth.

Far be it from us to bore you with the minute details of our school visits, you will have to read the 15,000 word report for that! We would much prefer to share with you the joys of travelling the highways and byways, always on the right road but not always in the right direction. Never the driver or navigator's fault, it's those computer printouts.

Eventually got to visit Dallas Primary School (somewhere in outer space). It is a school in a disadvantaged area with 270 pupils and 80 Kindergarten pupils. The former are funded by The Dept. of Education, the latter by The Dept. of Social Services, yet both are on the one premises with the one principal. 60% of their pupils do not speak English as their first language. 80% of their parents are illiterate in their mother tongue. Some interesting observations:

• School starts at 9.00am and finishes at 3.15pm, yet the teachers are mandated to work from 8.30 to 4.30.
  
• Teachers have three meetings every week for one hour after school for various forms of planning.
  
• As well as ESL the school also provides LOTE (language other than English) support for two hours a week. In this case, Arabic, Turkish and Italian.
  
• ESL support is classroom based, rather than withdrawal.
• PTR Infants 21 max; scaled to Senior Classes 29 max.

Air of calm and serenity prevailed. Children and staff working happily together. Due to the challenges and demands of the work, teachers who have worked in this school are highly sought after in other schools.

Nath na Seachtaine:

"No hat, no play."
(Shaded rest area provided for the hatless few!)