Newsletter December 2022

The B.Ed graduation took place in the Helix DCU on the afternoon of Wednesday 26^th October.  Prior to the main graduation ceremony, the Church of Ireland Centre held its own event in the DCU Chaplaincy Interfaith Centre – a service of thanksgiving combined with prize-giving for graduands and their guests.

All graduands received their Certificates in the Teaching of the Follow Me Programme and Teaching in Small Schools as well as a gift pack from the Centre. The main room in the Interfaith Centre was packed with graduands and guests.  Rev. Prof. Lodge led the service which ended with the hymn ‘One more step along the world I go’. She was ably assisted by the DCU Church of Ireland Chaplain Eric Hughes and colleagues Prof. Orla Kelly and Audrey Halpin in the distribution of a large number of prizes for excellence:

RE Certificate:  Lorraine Neary, Amy Buttimer, Emma Glenn, Hannah McHugh

Gaeilge:  Alison Hastings, Amy Buttimer, Beth Taggart, Chloe Payne, Emily Hadden,

Emma Glenn, Evana Barkley, Hannah McHugh,

Hazel Crowe, Orla Smyth, Sarah McCullagh, Shannon Agar, Sophie Morton, Zara Bailey

School Placement: Alison Hastings, Amy Anthony, Beth Taggart, Emma Glenn, Lorraine Neary

Research Project – Multigrade Teaching: Alex Kavanagh, Amy Anthony, Hannah McHugh, Rachel Webster

Research Project – Protestant School Ethos:  Alison Hastings, Bethan Tennant, Chloe Payne, Emma Glenn, Lauren Burnby

It was wonderful to meet all our graduands and their families on a very special day.  We are also delighted to learn where each of them is teaching this year and look forward to meeting them when we are on our travels doing Professional Placement supervision duties.

In September we welcomed 30 new BEd 1 students, linked with us in the Church of Ireland Centre. This year’s students come from 17 different counties – Cavan, Donegal, Offaly, Kildare, Dublin, Kerry, Mayo, Carlow, Galway, Waterford, Louth, Laois, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare, Kilkenny and Cork. We look forward to getting to know them well over the coming years.

The students work together with all other BEd students in the Institute of Education for almost all modules,  but are together as a group for Gaeilge, REMV (Religions, Ethics, Morals and Values), and the Religious Education Certificate.

They will begin their first professional placements next semester and we are most grateful to all the schools that will welcome them into classrooms, giving them their first experience of student teacher professional placement.

Dear Principals and School Staff

A big thank you for all the Professional Placements which you have arranged for Institute of Education B.Ed. students for 2022-23. The Church of Ireland Centre at DCU is especially indebted to the many schools in Dublin and around the country, and the wonderful principals and co-operating teachers within them, for facilitating and supporting our BEd 3 students this term.

Many of our partner schools in the greater Dublin area have arranged to host DCU Institute of Education BEd 2 and BEd 4 students next term. All BEd 4 students connected to the Church of Ireland Centre have now been placed. Placements for BEd 2 will also be in Dublin, while  BEd 1 will be undertaking placement, in the main, in their home localities. The experiences student teachers have in schools give them opportunities to become involved in many aspects of school life, including responsibility for class teaching, participating in team-teaching and special education, and becoming involved in extra-curricular activities.

Through your engagement with them, students experience at first hand the complexity of teaching and the variety of roles undertaken by teachers.

Professional Placements give student teachers the opportunity to learn how to teach and to learn about teaching and to be reflective and responsive practitioners who can critically reflect on their own practice and adapt and change according to learner needs. Placements are a learning experience and have many growth points for student teachers, some of whom may need particular support and encouragement at school level and from the visiting placement tutors.  Thank you for all your encouragement of student endeavours.

We hope that placements are a positive experience for the children, staff and school community.

Nollaig shona agus athbhliain 2023 faoi mhaise!

The 4^th year B.Eds had their final session of their RE Certificate in teaching the Follow Me Programme on Wednesday 2^nd November 2022.  To mark the end of four years studying their RE Programme, the Centre hosted a lunch for them in the All Hallows’ Dining Hall. The 4^th years have now completed their final semester in College and will be out in schools for the remainder of their degree.  We look forward to visiting many of them during the New Year up until Easter and to meeting many principals and teachers on our travels.

On Wednesday 23^rd November a group of 2^nd and 4^th year BEds participated in a Service of the Word which included the re-dedication of the altar table and two oak chairs originally commissioned in 1934 by Canon Hodges the then principal of the Church of Ireland Training College.  These were originally placed in the Chapel in the College.  When the College moved to Rathmines, the Chapel furniture was given to St. Mary’s in Donnybrook.  That church closed in 2020 and they gifted the furniture back to us in the Church of Ireland Centre in DCU.  It is now located in part of the All Hallows’ College Chapel.  It was re-dedicated by Archbishop Jackson.  The reflection was preached by Rev. Prof. Anne Lodge.  Mrs. Jacqui Wilkinson read the Gospel and organized the students to lead the intersessions.  The service was followed by lunch in the All Hallows’ Dining Hall.  You can read more about the rededication here:
https://dublin.anglican.org/news/2022/11/25/original-kildare-place-altar-furniture.

The following week, the first service of Communion was celebrated by Rev. Prof. Anne Lodge.  A group of 4^th year B.Ed students and the Church of Ireland Chaplain Eric Hughes took part.

Six world faith communities produced short podcasts giving accessible responses to major moral questions from their perspectives.  The scripts were written by faith leaders and voiced by young people who are members of the Bah’ai, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities in Dublin.  They address questions of poverty, slavery and human trafficking, racism and inter-religious conflict.  The podcasts explain these issues and also outline what their faith teaches about how we should address and resolve these problems. 

This is a joint initiative between the Church of Ireland Centre in DCU, Dublin City Interfaith Forum and the Irish Institute for Catholic Studies.  The creation of the podcasts was funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation.  The podcasts were recorded by HBV Studios in Clarehall in Dublin.  They are available to download: https://www.dcif.ie/copy-of-thought-leadership

The RE Cert course is for practising teachers in protestant primary schools who did not train in CICE or through the BEd DC004 track linked with the Church of Ireland Centre in DCU – so do not have the Follow Me Cert.

The RE Cert is again being offered as an 5 session course starting the in  February 2023 with 4 afternoon/ evening online sessions and three webinars. Information will be sent to schools at the start of January, or contact Jacqui if you would like further information or the application form.

Teachers currently teaching Follow Me or with a minimum of one year classroom experience teaching Follow Me are eligible to complete the course which builds on this necessary experience.    

Separate to the RE Cert course but part of the programme for those undertaking the course are three webinars.

These webinars are planned for  February, March and April 2022 and are suggested as CPD for schools. They will run from 3.30-4.30pm

Full details and registration forms will be sent out in January.

8 February:  Storytelling in RE – ideas and resources

8 March:  Teaching Easter in the primary school: resources and practical tips

26 April: Outdoor learning in RE and church visit resources.

On the evening of the 9^th of November CIC and the IPPN co-hosted a second small schools’ webinar.  This year the focus was on the launching of 9 videos by leaders of small Irish primary schools sharing different aspects of their experience.  The podcasts focus on small school leaders themselves telling their own stories of ‘leading from the middle’, reflecting the realities of their multiple roles, the relationships in their schools, their concern for the children in their care, their pride in their small school and wider community. The podcasts explore a range of issues including life for the newly appointed principal, realistic management of multiple roles, developing children’s self-esteem, building a truly inclusive community, fostering positive relationships across the school, managing a re-opened school under a new patron. 42% of all our primary schools in Ireland have 4 classroom teachers or less. In those schools, the principal is generally part of the teaching team as well as doing all of the leadership work.

Geoff Southworth (2004) published a study entitled Primary School Leadership in Context. In this book, he coined the phrase ‘leading from the middle’ to describe the work of school leaders in small primary schools where the school leader was both a part of the teaching team and also the school leader with all the management and administrative responsibilities. These podcasts explore the messy reality of ‘leading from the middle’.

Our videos include material from Carolyn Good principal of Carrigduff NS in Bunclody, Janet Twigg, previously the principal of Christ Church NS in Waterford, Karl Lawless the principal of Drumcondra NS, Kevin Toomey the principal of St. John’s NS in Shannon town, Lesley Denniston the principal of All Saints NS in Mullingar, Shireen Rowntree the principal of Ballymoney NS and Stacey Allen the principal of Lindsay Road NS.  We are so grateful to each of the school leaders who gave the time to share their insights and expertise.  We have more videos planned and in the pipeline.

The two keynote speakers were Dr. Ciara O’Donnell and Prof. Patricia Mannix-McNamara who discussed several aspects of the videos.  They were very taken with the leadership given by principals who also teach and the particular insights that this gives them as leaders.

The webinar was recorded and can be viewed, along with the nine videos, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3G5sLnCE6A&list=PLbtKxPWD1y1loGVbIpJDn92N_j4AY1rcz

Students on the Church of Ireland Centre’s pathway study the B.Ed programme along with their classmates in DCU. Certain elements of the programme are unique to them. 

• The CIC students do the majority of their School Placements in Protestant primary schools. 
• They study the RE Cert to prepare to teach the Follow Me religious education programme used in Protestant primary schools and learn about the ethos of those schools. 
• They take modules that study Christianity from a reformed perspective, look at world faiths, explore social and moral issues, and study the RE programmes and cultures of all types of Irish primary schools.
• They follow the specialism to prepare them to teach in small schools and multi-level classes.  The aptitudes learned in this specialism benefit all those studying to be primary teachers.  There are five modules in this specialism:
• teaching in multi-level classes
• inclusive classrooms
• early years teaching
• project-based learning in the classroom and the school
• teaching and leading in small schools

Application

Application is made via the CAO.  Applicants need to include DC004 in their CAO choices by 1^st February on the year of entry in order to be considered for eligibility. 

Eligibility

Students on this pathway need to demonstrate a knowledge of, and willingness to support, the Protestant ethos of these primary schools.  Such knowledge and connection can include attendance at primary or post-primary schools under Protestant patronage, active engagement in a range of social and other clubs and activities (e.g. GFS, BB, GB, Church youth club). It can also include engagement with a parish or church or religious network in any of the Protestant traditions .

Eligibility is assessed by a separate application form sent out from DCU in the Spring. References will be sought to  assess eligibility. 

General Information

There are a maximum of 32 students per year given places in this stream in 1^st year. The published points vary from year to year due to the small number of places on offer. This means it is impossible to pinpoint accurately from year to year.

FOR more information on on the application process check the DCU Prospectus online.
https://www.dcu.ie/courses/undergraduate/institute_of_education/bachelor-education-restricted-entry.shtml

and keep an eye on the CIC website for updates
https://www.dcu.ie/church-of-ireland-centre/Applying-for-BEd-Church-of-Ireland-Centre-pathway-DC004.shtml

Anne Lodge is the contact point for any queries about the DC004 / Church of Ireland Centre pathway through the B.Ed in DCU.  Please email her on: anne.lodge@dcu.ie

The school community recently received a PSYCHED award in recognition of their engagement with mental health promotion. PSYCHED is an initiative of Healthy Cities and Counties, supported by the Health Service Executive and University College Cork.

Like all schools across the country, we’ve witnessed the evolution and development of ‘Student Voice’. What started with the first Green Schools Committee was replicated with other initiatives such as the Active Flag scheme. The formation of our Student Council placed Student Voice at the centre of our school and has been a resounding success. The pupils take it very seriously and at the start of each year, the class will listen to those who would like to be a part of the Student Council talk about their ideas and reasons why they want to be elected. We also use our discretion to place pupils in the role who might need a boost or to try and give a turn across our various student committees to as many as possible over their time at the school. It’s important that it never turns into a popularity contest.  Our Student Council meets with the Principal regularly and brings ideas and suggestions from their classes to the group. A boy and girl from each class from 1^st up to 6^th sits on the Council for the year. They will take time to talk to their class about ideas and issues before each meeting and will bring the top 3 most important things to the agenda. The 6^th Class Students chair the meetings and at the end of each meeting, decisions are taken and a task list is generated- we may have decided how to run the dress up day or to go back to the classes and ask for opinions on an issue. The Student Council here also run their own day in the summer term each year and in the past have held events such as ‘Random Act of Kindness Day’ or ‘Crazy Hair Day’. They usually raise some funds for a charity, a surprise pupil treat or even decide on something they’d like to buy for school. We have several rainbow coloured buddy benches around the yard with SC plaques on them, we’ve had surprise ice cream vans announced by the SC over the intercom and charity donations made.

Some of our SC were fortunate last term to take part in the first BEACONS event run by the NCCA. This involved 3 schools with pupils, staff and parents along with representatives of all the education stakeholders, taking part in a facilitated discussion on the future of education in Ireland. A report  and video on the day has been produced. https://ncca.ie/media/5550/beaconsreport_publication_0522-1.pdf  https://vimeo.com/714095702

When we need to seek the thoughts of pupils on formal policies and procedures such as Child Safeguarding or Anti Bullying, we do that with the Student Council. School Self Evaluation discussions have also taken place in our meetings. I’ve been pleasantly surprised again and again by the really useful and considered input from the children. Of all the committees I’m involved with, I enjoy the Student Council the most and I would rate it as one of the most effective and practical committee also! We talk about the issues raised by the SC at BOM, PTA and Staff meetings and act on them where possible. Usually the issues raised are very minor and we can easily take them on board but the impact of those small changes are major. The children feel listened to, respected, empowered and valued. They learn to prioritise ideas and suggestions, come up with solutions and put together plans. Of course, it all take a bit of scaffolding but it’s amazing what can be achieved. It is definitely an easy thing to start up and can be adapted to any size school or context.

We have been very lucky to have Tara Power, Drama in Education Practitioner and Lecturer, as our artist in Primary School, a scheme sponsored by Tipperary County Council.

Her workshops are engaging, lively and exciting. Tara uses process drama and a method called ‘Mantle of the Expert’. Pupils are fully incorporated into the world of drama and they thoroughly enjoy it when Tara moves in and out of role, as different characters in the lesson.

It’s refreshing to see pupils using their creativity and problem-solving skills to engage in tasks and activities.

For the final term of school last year, the senior pupils (3^rd to 6^th class) were very busy taking part in the Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP). This programme allows children to develop their entrepreneurial skills by researching, creating, marketing and selling their very own product. To begin our journey, we met with a local entrepreneur who is the owner of ‘The Cobbler’ shop in Clonmel town. He explained how and why he created his business and told us all about the necessary skills to use to be successful.

After this, we brainstormed various suggestions for products that we could create and sell. In groups the pupils pitched their ideas and showcased sample products to the ‘Dragons’ in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style presentation. In true entrepreneurial spirit, everyone performed admirably well and adapted and overcame the difficulties that were presented on the day even when the electricity happened to temporarily go during the event!!

Once we had decided on the products to create and sell, the pupils conducted market research to determine the price to charge for their goods and busied themselves creating their products. As well as this, the children created posters to market the sale day. It was here where all the children’s hard work came to fruition as they sold their baked goods, handmade bookmarks and plushies. On the 14^th of June we had a celebration over Zoom where RTE presenters, Dáithí O Sé and Miriam O’Callaghan; Kerry All-Star, David Clifford; Minister for Education, Norma Foley T.D., and CNN Correspondent, Donie O'Sullivan congratulated us on our hard work. It was a lovely way to finish off the school term. Well done to all involved!!

The 4th and 5th class children of Holy Trinity NS, worked on a heritage pilot programme

Heritage Keepers, facilitated by the Burrenbeo Trust and funded by the Heritage Council of Ireland. They created an intriguing and attractive treasure hunt of the historical benchmarks around the town of Westport in Co. Mayo.

These benchmarks denote height above sea level and were engraved on buildings all around the country by the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s when the first detailed mapping of the country was undertaken.

The children participated in a series of place-based learning workshops with Mary Dillonfrom Burrenbeo. They explored their natural, built, cultural and environmental heritage through a local lens. In the last workshop the children had the task of deciding on an actionthey could take themselves to preserve, protect, promote or enhance their local heritage.

The children were keen that what they would do would be appealing to other children and the discovery of a curious ‘crow’s foot’ marking engraved on a cornerstone at the back of their own historic school building provided the key to this aim.

Having identified this crow’s foot mark as a mapping benchmark the children were led to the OS 6’ and 25’ historic maps of Ireland and they could see how there had been a network of them linking every street and laneway across the whole of Ireland. Using 21st century technology to view 19th century maps the children navigated the streets of Westport, iPads in hand, painstakingly pinpointing where crows’ feet are still visible.

Working together with their teacher and a local graphic designer they decided the layout and content of the Trail brochure. The Crow’s Foot Trail of Westport is now available as an A3 folding map and brochure and in digital format as a downloadable pdf at www.holytrinityns.com

The project has received tremendous public recognition and support and both Westport Chamber of Commerce and Mayo CoCo Heritage Office have come onboard pledging financial support to reprint the brochure.

The Heritage Keepers Programme is now up and running for 2023 and is open to schools and community groups to apply for mentoring and funding for their own local projects. https://burrenbeo.com/hk/

For almost 150 years our school was known as Rathkeale Number Two National School. As you can imagine there were all sorts of connotations with the number 2… Second rate, Why not number 1? Where is the Number One school? and so on. We wanted people to know that there was and is nothing second rate about the school. This prompted a discussion amongst the staff, parents, pupils and board of management. We also got to thinking about how we could make our presence better known in the town. People knew of the Number Two school but didn’t really know much about it. Some thought it was a private school, to others it was just the school over the bridge.

One of our first decisions was to brighten the outside of the school building. We discussed colours that would enhance the building and finally decided on a mural and a crest. The children were consulted on what they would like to see painted on the school to brighten it up. Various suggestions were suggested from cartoon characters to leaves/nature. Finally with the help of one of our parents, a local interior designer, and her family a design was created, mythical and imaginative creatures. We didn’t want something that would date. Our new crest was a combination of pupils’ suggestions amalgamated by teacher, Ciara Looney.

The painting took place in phases over most of the past school year as weather conditions needed to be right so that the paint would take correctly. We’re delighted with the new look of the school and it certainly has been a hit in the town of Rathkeale as the bright paintings draw your eye to the school once you come over the bridge from the town. We were inundated with positive feedback from the local community as well as the school family.

With the new look we also began to think about a new name. After much consultation with parents, pupils, staff, board of management, parishioners and the patron we asked for a short list of suggestions and put the suggestions to a vote. The almost unanimous favourite was Church Street National School. Once we had decided on the new name we went about changing it officially with the Department of Education.

To celebrate the new name and new look we held a Relaunch Day last summer. The weather couldn’t have been kinder to us and a huge crowd descended on the school, the largest crowd seen in Church Street in a long time! The local newspapers featured photographs of the day and we also featured our school on Virgin Media News.

This year we look forward to celebrating 150 years of education in Church Street and look forward to the next 150 years.

Claire O’Neill is  Deputy Principal of St Michael’s Church of Ireland National School, Blackrock, Cork. She recently  featured on the 2022 DCU Institute of Education Dean’s List of graduates. This award recognises academic achievement ranking in the top 5% of graduates. Claire completed an M.Ed. in Autism.

The just-published book combines Claire’s teaching, coaching and parenting experience to create a guide to support parents, teachers, and other professionals to identify and develop each autistic child’s unique strengths. The guide includes strengths-based activities to support growth, wellbeing and happiness.

Please see the Jessica Kingsley website for more details: https://uk.jkp.com/products/the-strengthsbased-guide-to-supporting-autistic-children

This book is available for pre-order from local bookshops and from www.amazon.co.uk.

The Centre was delighted to host the Mother’s Union of Dublin & Glendalough for their conference addressing Violence against Women and Girls in the DCU All Hallows’ Campus on Saturday 26^th November.

Rev. Prof. Lodge launched a report in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin entitled But the Lord Looks on the Heart, part 2.  This report details research with international persons who have become actively involved in their local Church of Ireland parishes.  A full report on the launch and the report can be read here: https://dublin.anglican.org/news/2022/10/24/new-cultural-diversity-report-gives

Rev. Prof. Lodge gave a talk at a Women’s Space Ireland event on issues for schools and parents concerning SPHE / RSE.  The text of her talk can be accessed here: https://womensspaceireland.ie/articles/the-irish-education-system-gender-identity-ideology/

Rev. Prof. Lodge spoke at the November conference of the Church of Ireland Historical Society.  Her paper focused on initial teacher education in Ireland in the Protestant tradition since the foundation of the State.

The Centre wishes warm congratulations to Rev. Jane Burns, mother of Jamie Burns one of our 3^rd year B.Eds, who was ordained to the diaconate on Sunday 18^th September in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin.

The Centre was delighted to welcome Anna Sanders’ dog to a 4^th year B.Ed Research Project class on Protestant school ethos in the CIC Seminar Room on 9^th November.  The dog was an excellent student!  This was very good experience for student-teachers who may have support dogs in their classrooms in the future.