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A NEW report has described the standard of teaching and learning at Cranny National School as being of a very high standard. The whole school evaluation by the Inspector for the Department of Education and Skills focused on the quality of teaching and learning in English, Irish, mathematics and drama.

Published last week, the report found that, “Throughout the school, very effective differentiation strategies are used. Accordingly, lessons are very well matched to pupils’ levels of ability.”

Apart from the high standard of teaching, the report states, “A positive atmosphere pervades the school.

“Pupils are very well behaved and they engage in all activities diligently and with enthusiasm.”

According to the report, “The classrooms are well-maintained and provide stimulating and supportive learning environments. An abundance of helpful materials relating to many aspects of the curriculum is displayed.”

The report also makes a number of recommendations. It states, “The Board of Management is advised to assume a more pro-active role in school self-evaluation and in overseeing the quality of teaching and learning in the school and the standards achieved by pupils.”

The Board was also advised to compile and distribute and annual report on the operation of the school “as a means of enhancing communication with the general parent body”.

The report also recommends greater emphasis on drama.

According to the report, “The Board of Management of the school was given an opportunity to com ment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response.”

Cranny National School currently caters for 26 pupils and has two mainstream class teachers.

At the time of the evaluation, there were no pupils enrolled in first class or in fourth class.

The report stated, “The principal provides dedicated leadership to the school.

“She is committed to instigating improvements in teaching and learning through the use of a range of appropriate approaches and initiatives in each class.”

It continued, “She ensures that the school is well-resourced and that organisational and curriculum plans are implemented consistently.”

The report states that pupils “approach their learning with diligence”.

FRENCH TEACHING lessons at St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe have been described as “well structured” by the Department of Education.

Inspectors visited the school and monitored the teaching of the subject, after which they made various recommendations.

According to the inspectors, the lessons are “well structured and paced” and instructions to students are clear.

There are three French teachers at the school.

It stated that there is a good atmosphere in classes, along with a good classroom management, with students “purposeful” in their work.

“However, in a small number of instances, more time could profitably be spent on preparation for an exercise before the students begin to work on it on their own.

“The modelling of answers or the use of a cloze-type exercise as a preliminary activity would provide support for students and would lead to a more successful learning experience.

“This is of particular importance when dealing with mixed-ability classes.

“Some students may need extra assistance from the teacher while the more able students could be encouraged to work independently by checking their answers against the relevant verb tables in the text book.

“Monitoring students’ progress through checking whether students found an exercise easy or difficult would also help in gauging the effectiveness of an activity,” stated the inspectors’ report, which was published last week.

“Where students are found to be having difficulty with a particular concept or with a key element such as numbers in French, this could form the basis for a concerted effort by all the teachers to address the issue over a period of days or weeks,” added the report.

A number of significant strengths were found during the evaluation. It found that there is a strong com- mitment to the provision of modern foreign languages in the school and the majority of students study a foreign language. The report also noted positively a mentoring scheme that is in place to assist new teachers and the target language is well used by the teachers for classroom communication and for teaching lesson content.

The teaching of grammar is a particular strength at the school, while there is a good emphasis on oral assessment in the senior cycle, according to the report.

THE quality of teaching Construction and Wood Technology at St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart has been described as “very good” by Department of Education inspectors.

According to an evaluation carried out, effective learning takes place, while the subject plan represents a very good start on which to base further planning.

The report recommended that “further development of active methodologies should be used to further improve students’ learning”.

“Well structured lessons were conducted at an appropriate pace. Lesson content was presented very competently. Demonstrations of practical skills were of a high standard.

“However, more opportunities should be created for students to participate more actively in their learning. Well structured group work in theory lessons should be used to encourage more collaboration between students who should then be enabled to share with the whole class,” stated the report.

“Learning was effective. Students were interested and fully engaged in classroom activities showing appropriate levels of knowledge and understanding of the subjects. Students approached the subjects with enthusiasm and inquisitiveness and on occasion made contributions that indicated a high level of engagement,” it added.

It recommended that closer supervision should be provided for students who are allowed to use more hazardous machines such as the band saw.

Planning for the lessons observed was described as “very effective” and included the use of a wide range of resources including digital resources and ICT equipment.

“Good use was being made of the overhead projector, notably in a CS theory lesson. While this was effective, it is suggested that the transparencies in use could be scanned for use with the data projector to increase their flexibility as a resource,” added the inspectors.

A NEW report has praised the standard of Mathematics in Cluain an Átha National, describing it as a particular strength. Findings of the Department of Education and Skills whole school evaluation report of the Inagh School were published last week. The report praised teachers, stating they “are highly dedicated to the welfare of the pupils and work very hard to achieve the best possible learning outcomes”.

The report states that the school has a number of strengths. It found that “very effective organisational strategies have been developed to cope with the challenges of multi-grade teaching”. The report continues, “Commendable standards are achieved in the curriculum areas evaluated, with particular strengths in mathematics. The Board of Management contributes in a praiseworthy fashion to the provision of a safe, well-resourced and pleasant learning environment for pupils.” According to the report, “Parents are very supportive of the school and indicate high levels of satisfaction with overall school performance”, while “pupils interact with each other and with adults in a confident and respectful manner and are adept at working independently”.

The evaluation focused on the quality of and learning in English, mathematics, Irish and history. The school has an enrolment of 29 students with two mainstream class teachers. The report states that enrolment has declined since the last evaluation was carried out but is expected to remain close to the current figure for the foreseeable future.

In a submission, the Board of Management says it “is delighted with the findings of the report”. They thank “the inspector for his encouragement and advice. We appreciate the respect which he showed to us during the evaluation process.”

The report “recommended that school self-evaluation practices be formalised to include the setting of specific and measurable targets”. The report continues, “It is recommended that the teachers continue to build capacity to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning”.

In their response, the Board says it is implementing the recommendations of the inspection with regard to school self- evaluation practices.”

The submission states, “ICT infrastructure has been upgraded and ICT facilities within the school continue to be developed. Staff training in integrating ICT into teaching and learning has commenced.”

THE Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme is well co-ordinated at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point. That’s according to the findings from a Department of Education inspection, the details of which were published last week.

The report pointed to several strengths of the programme. These include that teachers are encouraged and facilitated within the school to attend relevant continuing professional development sessions; that guidance provided in the context of programme choice is appropriate to the needs of the students and that additional educational needs of students are well supported within the programme.

“The co-ordinating structures are operating very effectively. The joint co-ordinators liaise closely with school management and the programme teaching team and they discharge their duties very effectively,” stated the inspectors.

“Students displayed very positive attitudes to their work and to learning, and this was borne out by the quality of the work they produced in their tasks and key assignments,” they added.

It stated that policy and practice in the school regarding communication with parents supports effective links with the homes of LCA students.

“Parents receive meaningful feedback regarding the progress of the students by means of the session results issued by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) in addition to which school reports are issued. Parent-teacher meetings are held annually and letters are issued if a student is at risk of not being awarded a credit due to non-attendance.

“The school newsletter provides in- formation on the progress of the programme and letters are sent to parents as the need arises to provide additional information,” stated the inspectors’ report.

According to the report, the written LCA plan is “coherent and forms a very good basis for further development”.

Two joint co-ordinators form the core programme team and meet regularly to plan, monitor and evaluate its implementation. The programme is evaluated annually in line with “good cyclical practice”, said the report. This evaluation is done by the co-or- dinators in conjunction with the team and students.

“There is evidence that the programme has benefited from evaluation and review, and it is reported by the school that morale among the students has improved, largely due to the inclusion of more suitable elective modules. These changes have been introduced in the past two years in response to the expressed interests of the students. This responsiveness to change by the LCA co-ordinators and team is a strength of the implementation of the programme in the school,” stated the report.

NEW figures show that since 2009 Clare County Council has issued 201 statutory notices instructing the removal of temporary dwellings from unauthorised encampments around the county. The figures, contained in a new report on Traveller accommodation in Clare, come as communities express frustration with Traveller encampments in areas of Ennis and Barefield.

11 caravans were parked between Barefield village and a section of road leading onto the M18 on Thursday. A spokesman for local residents said there had been a build of rubbish in the area over the past week. “We’ve been absolutely pestered. We don’t deserve that. We’re trying to keep the village tidy. We heard from the council that they got something like 45 calls about this. It seems that there is one law for Travellers and one law for the rest of us.”

According to the spokesman, temporary dwellings can be removed from the side of the road under the local government sanitary services act; the planning and development act and the road traffic act.

Councillors also expressed concern over developments at Barefield at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council. Cllr James Breen (Ind) said action needed to be taken to prevent caravans parking at the side of the road.

The meeting also heard that resi- dents of Fioruisce on the Gort Road in Ennis are concerned after four caravans moved into the area over the past month. Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said children are at risk by dogs and speeding cars while an area of the housing estate was being used as a “toilet”. Cllr Brennan said it was time for the council to act and to get rid of the caravans.

According to a report prepared by Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Housing, Social and Cultural Services, 201 statutory notices instructing the removal of temporary dwellings from unauthorised encampments were issued in the past two years.

The report explains, “In most cases, the occupiers of the temporary dwellings were previously accommodated by this council or another housing authority and/or they have refused offers of accommodation. There are currently five unauthorised roadside encampments being addressed.”

In relation to the existing legislation, the report states, “In the course of implementing the legislative framework on unauthorised encampments the council has identified some weaknesses in the provisions which need to be addressed. These issues were recently highlighted to the Clare Oireachtas members and have also been referred by the council to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with a view to securing a review and revision of the roads and housing legislative provisions.”

GARDAÍ say an investigation is ongoing into the armed robbery of the Bank of Ireland in Kilkee on Thursday afternoon and say that several people were involved in the incident.

Two men arrested in connection with the incident were released without charge on Saturday night. The two, aged 26 and 31 – who are from west Clare – were arrested in the Doonbeg area on Thursday night, just hours after the incident which took place shortly after 2pm.

During the incident, one man stood at the door of the bank carrying a sawn-off shotgun while another as- sailant threatened staff with a knife.

More than € 8, 500 in cash – including some £2,000 in sterling – was stolen by the gang. No shots were fired and nobody was injured. There was one customer in the bank at the time.

The two arrived at the bank on a high-powered motorbike and travelled along the side of the O’Curry Street premises before entering the building. They made their getaway on the same vehicle.

Members of the Regional Armed Support Unit – which is based in Galway – were called in to assist gardaí in the investigation and gardaí say every effort will be made to solve the crime.

Gardaí have recovered most of the cash stolen, along with a motorcyle and helmets but have not yet located the weapons.

“A file will be sent to the DPP in relation to this,” said a senior garda spokesman. “We believe that there were a number of people involved in planning and implementing this. Our investigations are continuing.

“We have made very substantial progress in it. We are appealing for members of the public who were in the area before, during and after this incident to contact us,” he added.

“We have video footage. One of the men was wearing a green jacket. There might have been a rugby world cup logo on it, and he had white gloves. “The other had a grey jacket and black woollen gloves,” he said.

Gardaí say that the incident is isolated in that it is “completely unrelated” from recent incidents in which burglaries have been carried out in east Clare and Ennis.

The head of the Clare Garda Division Chief Superintendent John Kerin praised gardaí involved in the investigation of this crime.

“I am very pleased with the very proactive and professional response by gardaí, who were assisted by the Divisional and Regional Units,” said Chief Supt Kerin.

FOLLOWING on the launch of a government initiative called the ‘The Gathering’ to bring over 300,000 tourists to Ireland in 2013, a West Clare councillor has launched his own plan boost tourist numbers into the county.

At Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Gabriel Keating said his plan “to fly UK tourists for free into Shannon Airport with Aer Lingus on a pilot basis during off peak periods” would represent “a massive off-season boost for Clare tourism”.

Cllr Keating’s plan is that March 19, 2012, to April 16, 2012, and again from September 17, 2012, to October 15, 2012, visitors from the UK would be able to avail of free flights on Aer Lingus routes into Shannon Airport.

“The introduction of this scheme,” Cllr Keating said “would provide a much needed off season boost for our hotels, B&Bs, car rental industry, restaurants, pubs and tourism provider’s right across the county.

“Given the success that the reduction in the VAT rate has had in our hospitality sectors and the genuine efforts by our tourism providers to provide value for money, this initia- tive would play a significant part in extending our present summer season well into October. And of course, it would also help to boost passenger numbers at Aer Lingus and Shannon Airport.

“The success of this scheme could be achieved by undertaking a major promotion in supermarkets in the UK i.e Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Sainsbury’s etc. What I am proposing is that a similar scheme be introduced in their UK chains,” he added.

The one stipulation for UK visitors planning to avail of these free flights would be that they would have to spend a minimum of four nights in Ireland.

“What I am proposing is that we start thinking outside of the box when it comes to tourism promotion and in this regard Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Shannon Development should support this proposal and introduce a pilot scheme in conjunction with Aer Lingus,” continued Cllr Keating.

“It is time for change in the way we sell our country abroad and in the manner in which we disperse our marketing funds so that we maximise the benefits for our local tourism sector and revive passenger traffic at Shannon Airport,” he added.

CLARE County Council has spent € 20 million on Traveller accommodation in Clare over the past 10 years, according to a new report.

The council has invested in 10 group housing schemes and one temporary site in the county that were put in place over three Traveller accommodation programmes since 2000. According to a report prepared by Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Housing, Social and Cultural Services, the capital cost between 2001 and 2011 has been € 20 million.

The report provides a detailed breakdown of all costs associated with Traveller accommodation incurred by the council.

It shows that maintenance costs of Traveller accommodation are “high relative to other accommodation provided by the council”.

Ms Kinsella explains that the council incurred high security costs on the Beechpark group scheme in Ennis, which was the subject of criminal damage and remains the subject of threat and intimidation since 2010.

The report adds, “Efforts to let three refurbished houses in this scheme are ongoing but unsuccessful due to intimidation and threats within the Traveller community. While the council has reported all such incidents to the Gardaí, victim statements have not been lodged with the Gardaí.”

The report states that a total of five units of accommodation have been destroyed by arson attack in the last 22 months (Beechpark, Ashline, Ballymaley). “Tenancy sustainment over time is an ongoing challenge and the turnover of accommodation units is a further driver of maintenance expenditure,” the report adds.

According to the report, “several hundred thousand euro have been incurred in defending these complaints, in addition to an inestimable staffing cost”.

Ms Kinsella states that in 2009 the council instituted judicial review proceedings to prohibit the Equality Tribunal from proceeding with hearings.

She continues, “Approximately 1,300 complaints were referred to the Tribunal by Ms Heather Rosen on behalf of Travellers. As each complaint carries a potential award of damages of € 6,000, the council is exposed to significant potential cost. To date 73 decisions have been issued by the Tribunal and all these cases were dismissed.”

In terms of staff resources the report shows that “five full-time and one part-time staff are deployed to work exclusively on Traveller accommodation issues, the majority of the focus being on resolving and responding to matters in respect of Travellers who have been accommodated by the council”.

It continues, “The council’s capacity to continue to commit this dis-proportionate level of resources, in the context of our overall housing stock of 1, 500 units and of ever diminishing staff resources is seriously limited.”

A SMALL number of Traveller families are causing a lot of concern and costing Clare County Council a lot of money, a meeting has heard.

Those were the comments made by County Manager Tom Coughlan at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council. Mr Coughlan was speaking after a new report revealed the high cost incurred by the council in providing Traveller accommodation over the past 10 years.

Mr Coughlan told the meeting that a small percentage of families in Clare were behind many of the problems associated with accommodation including, vandalism and intimidation of council staff. Mr Coughlan said Clare County Council had led the field when it came to providing Traveller accommodation.

He said that the last specific piece of Traveller legislation had been introduced 23 years ago. He suggested that it was now time to examine legislation in the area of Traveller accommodation, saying further discussion and debate on the matter would be helpful to local authorities.

Commenting on figures that show that 1,300 complaints have been referred to the Equality Tribunal, Mr Coughlan said that if all cases are heard individually “it will take up a lot of council time and resources”.

Mr Coughlan paid tribute to staff working in the council’s housing section, saying that the job can be “extremely difficult and demoralising”. “There is a limit to the amount of money and staff the council can put into this,” he added. At the meeting, councillors expressed concern at the rising costs of the programme. Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) pro- posed that the council stop spending money on Traveller accommodation until such time as new legislation is introduced. “It’s high time they were taught a lesson,” he added. Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that while Travellers have rights and entitlements, they also have duties and responsibilities. “But it seems to me that with elements of the Traveller community, it’s all a one way street.” Commenting on the council’s report, which shows that the percentage of rent collected for Traveller accommodation is low, Cllr Arkins said rent should be deducted at source from Social Welfare payments. “There are only so many times you can get two fingers in the face,” he added. Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the figures contained in the report were very “disheartening” given the council’s ongoing commitment to providing Traveller accommodation. Cllr James Breen (Ind) said the gardaí should be invited to speak on incidents of vandalism and arson at Traveller accommodation at the next council meeting.