Response to Draft National Plan to Improve Literacy andnumeracy from the staff of Scoil AiseiriChriost,Farranree, Cork.

Professional DevelopmentWe applaud the suggestions on good quality professionaldevelopment opportunities for all teachers. Teachers shouldbe required to upskill regularly especially in newmethodologies in maths and literacy..

At the moment there is a bias towards providing moreprofessional development for Support Staff than forMainstream Teachers. Schools should be facilitated to runschool specific summer courses to address this issue.

Teacher TrainingWe applaud all the recommendations on ITE and especiallythe suggestion that at least an aggregate of one year of thefour year programme would be a school based professionaldevelopment experience.We would suggest that when teachers in training are beingassessed during their long term teaching practise that thepupils' learning is examined and not just the studentteacher's performance.

Pre SchoolWe applaud the suggestion for improvements in trainingfor early childhood care practitioners. We note the increasedreadiness for school in pupils who have attended DEIS EarlyStart Units.More Early Start places should be provided.

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TimeIt is encouraging to see that time for L1 and maths will beincreased from 7-10 hours per week. As a DEIS school wehave already adapted the content of the curriculum tofacilitate us in reaching our school based targets in mathsand literacy.SESEAgreeing with the reduction of content in SESE we wouldadd that with the exception of local studies we feel thatspecific core topics in SESE should be chosen for eachclass. This consistency would enable the development ofsupporting resources which would facilitate the teaching ofliteracy and numeracy across these subjects.

SpellingWe consider the English curriculum to be inadequate in thearea of spelling. The learning outcomes expected at eachclass level should be specified.

Cursive writingSpecify when cursive writing should be introduced andstandardise the form of cursive writing to be used nationally.

Reading AgesWe would love to have access to an Irish -based websitewhich would facilitate teachers in establishing the readibilityof a particular book for pupils.

-AistearAll schools should be provided with at least four copies ofthis and all future documents to facilitate school teams infamiliarising and assessing their suitability for use.

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AssessmentSchools like usOnline evidence of achievements of schools of similar sizeand socioeconomic backgrounds would be very useful forstaff in formulating realistic targets across curricular areas.We would like to raise our concerns regarding schoolswhere "teachers teach to the tests".

Parental InvolvementWe agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed onpage 47 and look forward eagerly to the implementation ofthe initiatives set out on pages 48 and 49, as we have foundparental apathy towards education to be one of the greatestchallenges to improving standards.

A Word of CautionIt is stated early in Chapter 7, "Parental engagement iscritically important in the early years... "While we agree with this, we find the drop off in interestshown by parents of children aged 8-12 years is detrimentalto progress.The parents' level of literacy and numeracy frequentlyprohibits them from helping with homework. However wethink it is important for parents to realise that they still have avital role to play in promoting a positive attitude to schooland that sensible practical parenting ie. ensuring healthydiet, exercise and sleep patterns, enables their children tobenefit more from school.

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DEls School InitiativesAs a DEIS School we find initiatives such as ReadingRecovery, Maths Recovery, First Steps and 'Ready,Set, GoMaths' are all geared towards the junior end of primaryschool. Our suggestion would be that similar classappropriate initiatives should be developed for use in thesenior classes. The development of such initiatives wouldaid the transition from primary to secondary.More support should be given to teachers in the teaching ofMaths.Maths Recovery and Reading RecoveryDuring the first 4-5 years of their introduction, theseinitiatives should not be at the expense of general learningsupport.In a similar vein we feel that the withdrawal of RTT posts willimpact negatively on whole school support.

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The Role of the InspectorWe feel that the role should include more opportunity forguidance and advice. S/he should consult on a regular basisand should be familiar with each school's action plan. S/heshould be aware of the targets set and the procedures thatthe school has defined to achieve these targets.At least a quarter of the contact time should be of a practicalnature. Teachers feel that more benefit would be derivedfrom a proactive approach on the inspector's part rather thanthe traditional reactive one.

Uniformity of guidance/advice should be given. Unfortunatelythis is not always the case as schools in neighbouringinspectoral areas have been known to receive differentadvice on matters relating to literacy/numeracy assessmentand standards.

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HSCLThe HSCL scheme plays a vital role in the promotion ofliteracy and numeracy development for the child by offeringsupport to the parents. The Home School CommunityLiaison service is an instrumental link between the schooland the home. We are concerned by the omission of theHSCL initiative in the National Draft Plan. We would like tosee HSCL utilised to its full potential in the promotion ofliteracy and numeracy both in school and at home.

The following are some examples of activities and servicesarranged and coordinated by HSCL in our school, which wesee as vital to promoting literacy and numeracy developmentthrough supporting parents:

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· Parents of incoming Junior Infants are introduced bythe HSCL to the 'Jolly Phonics' scheme, how it works inthe classroom and how it can be supported in thehome.

· At various stages of the children's school life, HSCLinvites parents to be trained in the use of 'Storysacks','maths for Fun Games', 'Literacy for Fun Games', 'RoryStory Cubes' and other activities both directly andindirectly related to literacy and numeracy development.Parents are invited into the classroom to engage inthese activities with their children.

· Each year HSCL promotes a 'One Book OneCommunity' project. A particular book is introduced tothe parents and the children. A huge variety of art,drama and reading activities based on the novel arearranged for both parents and children to becomeinvolved in together. The 'One Book' project isembraced by the whole school and by the widercommunity.

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· HSCL offers individual support to parents who require itaround homework, literacy and numeracy throughhome visitation and liaising with various local agenciesas well as in school initiatives such as SCP, RTT, VTT,COP, VEC, Local Literacy Initiative, Springboard, LocalLibrary Service, Local Adult Education Service, PAKT,Ogra, FAOA etc.

Going forward, we recognise that supporting parents in theareas of literacy and numeracy will be an ever growing roleand challenge of the HSCL coordinator.

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