Dear Parent,
The school is currently engaging in an Erasmus Programme. It provides teacher professional development. The aim is to create links with teachers and schools across Europe. Courses are designed to support a teacher’s ongoing professional development. Over the Easter break, Mrs Toal and myself travelled to Tenerife to work with teachers from Poland, Spain, Germany, Romania and Ireland (a group from Kilkenny).
The course was entitled ’Working with Disadvantaged Children’. We shadowed staff in a school for two days, working alongside teachers who specifically focus on this theme. They showcased their project which is now 30 years old and is still evolving. We also worked for a further three days engaging in workshops that teach us how to meet the needs of children in this situation.
Although we are all now experienced teachers, it is good to revisit approaches and hear how other teachers/schools respond to this situation. The course was very worthwhile and we have come back with an abundance of ideas and enthusiasm that we can customise to attend to the needs of our own school We met wonderful teachers, facilitators and children. We will keep our links with this group and monitor how things are going for them and share our own experiences.
One of the questions that I initially had, was why was this course based in Tenerife. It has one of the highest early school leaving rates in Europe and has set up this project to address the problem. When we think about this island it suggests travel and tourism. However, in the non-tourist area, where we worked, we saw the effects of immigration that is dependent on the service industry and the effects of the economic downturn not to mention the recent dire effects of COVID19.
Within the photographs that we are sharing with you, you will see our co-educators with us on a visit to Spain’s highest point which is situated in Teide National Park. I would like to thank all of those we worked with and also Mrs. McVitty who is our Erasmus co-ordinator and encouraged us all to take these opportunities for professional development.
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