Courses Archive

In this webinar participants will learn about the range of apps within GSuite for Education. The main differences between GSuite for Education and a personal GSuite account will be explored. Google Classroom will be introduced. Participants will learn to create their Google Classroom, invite pupils to the classroom using a class code, share classroom access with support teachers, send notifications/tasks/assignments to pupils.

Biography

Martin Hanly graduated from St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra in 2001. He has taught in a variety of settings from urban to rural, private to public and advantaged to disadvantaged. Martin graduated with a Masters of Education in 2010. He has facilitated PDST Technology in Education summer courses for the past 4 years. Martin is a teaching principal in a four teacher school in Co. Westmeath. The school has embedded the use of Google for Education in all classrooms from 1st to 6th class in the past three years. At present Martin is a Support Teacher in Edmonton NS, Killucan. Martin is presently facilitating webinars for numerous Education Centres on the use of Google for Education to support face-to-face teaching and remote learning. 

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Oral language is our earliest form of communication, and it is essential as we use it daily to communicate our needs. Language is crucial to learning as it gives a child entry to a world of knowledge, unlocking the world of the imagination, reading, providing skills to write and helping us grow as individuals. However, without language, a word gap ensues and with children being away from the classroom for the past few months, the ‘word gap’ between some pupils, unfortunately, will have widened.  It is imperative to close this gap, but as teachers, how can we help prevent this early catastrophe? We can help by expanding children’s vocabulary. Through this Webinar, I aim to provide teachers with practical ideas on how to build and expand upon primary children’s vocabulary at this crucial time. It is based on my resource ‘Language for Living’, but all ideas are adaptable to all class levels, including EAL/ SEN without the resource.

Biography

Julieanne Devlin is a teaching deputy principal. She is currently teaching a multigrade classroom of 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th classes. She qualified with a Bachelor of Education from St. Patrick’s College in 2002, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from St. Patrick’s College in 2004 and a Master of Science from Dublin City University in 2007. She specializes in the area of oral language and vocabulary development. She has spoken internationally on the topic in addition to delivering CPD training and seminars in numerous Education Centres countrywide and talked about ‘closing the word gap’ at the IPPN Conference in Citywest January 2020. She also hosted a popular home-school blog throughout the pandemic with up to 2000 unique visitors per day. (www.julieannedevlin.com). Julieanne is the author of Language for Living (Tip of the Tongue), a whole school oral language and vocabulary development programme for primary schools which is being used throughout the UK and Ireland published by TTS Education in the UK. In recent years Julieanne has been working on developing Nibbler’s Aistear Adventures, the only full programme for Aistear developed, thus far, in Ireland and is published, designed and illustrated here in Ireland by www.eduhub.ie. Julieanne is passionate about teaching, the progress of her pupils and the resources she has created for other teachers and their classrooms.

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Give the best to your students - Training in Administration & Scoring of Your WJ IV test. 

What you’ll learn

• what the WJ IV is useful for
• benefits of using the WJ IV over other tests
• how to administer & score the WJ IV test accurately
• common pitfalls & mistakes examiners make when using the test
• modifications to make for disabled clients
• how to create and print tailored reports for clients
• how to navigate the scoring platform
• how to use the scores to apply for Reasonable Accommodations in Ireland
• how to use the scores to apply for JCQ Access Arrangements in the UK

"A tool is only as good as the person that uses it" - this course has been designed to instil confidence and competence in all users of the world renowned WJ IV Achievement Test - UK & Ireland edition. Participants will be given a thorough overview of the psychometric test and its applications and be given a step by step guide on how to administer and score all 11 subtests of the WJ IV. There are short quizzes and exercises to complete along the course to help consolidate learning. It is expected that everyone that takes course will own a copy of the WJ IV test of achievement so that they can work through the material with the tutor.

Biography

Your Instructor: Rebecca Good: Rebecca is a senior chartered Educational Psychologist with over 15 years experience in the field. She is the director of a busy assessment practice in Dublin, Ireland has delivered training courses in the area of assessment and learning across the globe. Rebecca has much experience working with both public and private bodies and is passionate about supporting teachers and parents in the area of psychology and assessment so that they can provide the best support to those students that need it most.

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This course is suitable for both Primary and Post Primary Teachers.

This webinar offers an introduction to Restorative Practice through a trauma-informed lens, seeking to move conversations beyond behaviour management and towards the importance of connection and relationships. This understanding may be especially relevant in this time when trauma is now a collective as well as an individual experience that our schoolos need to process. Relationships are and always have been key! Reconnecting and building responsive relationships is at the heart of a restorative approach and what our lovely schools need now more than ever.

NEPS will be presenting the webinar: “A Developmental Approach to Spelling: An Introduction to the Words Their Way Programme”. The Words Their Way Programme adopts a word study approach to spelling which moves away from the traditional system of spelling teaching, instead emphasising the value of teaching pupils processes and strategies for examining and thinking about the words they spell, read and write. An assessment is given to determine where to begin teaching. Based on assessment results pupils are given words to study in order to discover the common attributes. In this manner pupils are actively constructing their own knowledge of spelling patterns. Pupils learn features by completing activities such as word sorting, word hunts, games and drawing and labelling. Pupils work individually, with partners, and in small groups to encourage cooperative learning.

NEPS has overseen the implementation of this new approach to spelling in a number of Dublin, Cork and Wexford schools and it has had very positive outcomes.

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Jacinta Kitt Webinar Series

Webinar 1:  Proactive caring for yourself - Tuesday, 15th September 2020

TIME:          4.15pm to 5.15pm 

VENUE:      Online via Zoom

Webinar 1:  Proactive caring for yourself 

This Webinar suggests that we have a role to play in caring for ourselves and that it involves accurate self-assessment of what you can and cannot do, it also involves communicating assertively, managing stress and improving our self awareness.

Jacinta M. Kitt

Jacinta is a Lecturer\Researcher and an Organisational Advisor. She is a former primary teacher. She lectures part-time in Trinity College on the M.Ed. programme, in Marino Institute of Education on the B.Sc. and B.Ed. programmes and provides guest lectures for other colleges. She also provides professional development training and presentations for schools, colleges and various other public and private organisations. The focus of much of this work is the characteristics, skills and benefits of creating and maintaining a positive/effective work environment. 

Her Masters thesis had workplace bullying in schools as its theme and she is an acknowledged expert on that subject. She conducts awareness sessions on bullying in schools and workplaces. Her focus is on prevention and minimisation of negative and inappropriate workplace behaviours and on the links between organisational culture and climate and the prevalence of those behaviours. Providing strategies for improving how we communicate/ interact with each other in every environment is the theme of much of her work. She regularly works with school principals on the impact of their behaviours, relationships and emotions on school effectiveness.  

She frequently speaks at conferences and seminars on workplace environment related topics. She provides expert witness reports to tribunals and court cases relating to employment law. She is the author of a recently published book entitled “Positive Behaviours, Emotions and Relationships…. The Heart of Leadership in a School”.

Assistive Technology Webinar Series for Teachers & SNAs

SEN - Using a Windows laptop to support writing difficulties

This webinar will highlight the benefits of using the accessibility settings in Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365 to support writing for SEN, including voice recognition, dictation, word prediction and spelling and grammar supports. Attendees should have access to a laptop running windows 10 and an activated version of Microsoft office (preferably office 365 but not essential). During the webinar, we will explore all the built-in accessibility features available in the Windows 10 operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Attendees will also see demonstrations of other freeware during this webinar. This webinar will specifically focus on writing supports for laptop users. Additional webinars for other assistive technologies and on different operating systems (GSuite, iOS) can be made available on request.

The Irish Primary PE Association was founded in 2002 by and for primary teachers who were particularly interested in the subject of Physical Education. The IPPEA is an association dedicated to heightening awareness of Physical Education issues in primary schools and it aims to represent and support the needs of primary teachers involved in Physical Education.

The IPPEA have  published a guidance document (August 2020) for the teaching of Physical Education  in response to Returning to school: Curriculum guidance for primary school leaders and teachers (July 2020). Physical Education, as part of children’s overall Well-Being, has been identified as a key focus area in the initial re-entry to school.

Susan Marron (Lecturer, DCU) and Caitriona Cosgrave (Primary Teacher, Raheny) Co-Chairs of the IPPEA, will present a webinar to:

(1) share this IPPEA guidance document

(2) provide helpful examples to support you, and your planning and teaching of Physical Education while observing public health advice

(3) explore and address queries teachers may have in relation to Physical Education during Covid -19

Register here

Seesaw is a digital portfolio tool which allows pupils to store their work in an online space and gain feedback from their teacher. It can be used on a computer (PC) or tablet. It effectively enables teachers to set tasks or assignments and include instructions or templates for students to use at home. There is also an extensive bank of ready made activities in Seesaw which teachers can use as they are or they can be edited.

Topics covered will include:

• Getting started with Seesaw
• Setting activities for students
• Communicating with students and families
• Moderating student work

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This course will outline how to help keep pupils engaged and motivated while online learning by providing useful and meaningful feedback. This will include giving feedback on SeeSaw, and other ideas for peer and group feedback while distance learning. Some assessment strategies will also be outlined in the course, for example the use of Kahoot, Socrative and Mentimeter. This course will help participants to become more confident in the use of ICT for feedback and assessment. 

Biography of Presenter

Originally a Kerryman, Paul O'Callaghan is Deputy Principal of a 1:1 iPad school in Lucan, Co. Dublin. A regular tutor with the PDST and part-time lecturer, Paul facilitates courses with the PDST Technology in Education team. Paul is passionate about creativity, inclusion and smart technology integration in education.

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This webinar focuses on best practice in working as a Special Needs Assistant. This webinar will focus on SNAs’ role in supporting pupils’ care needs, as well as supporting pupils in developing greater levels of independence. This webinar will present a range of evidence-based strategies to support best practice in the role, as well as allow time for engagement.

 Biography

Dr Claire Griffin is an Educational Psychologist and lecturer in Educational and Developmental Psychology at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick. Claire originally worked within primary and special education settings and in residential care centres for persons with intellectual disabilities. Claire completed her PhD in 2018 through University College London. This research explored the preparedness and deployment of Special Needs Assistance when supporting the behavioural care needs and independence development of children in primary schools. Claire’s research interests include inclusive education, psychological and educational assessment, positive behaviour support and the voice of the child in education.

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This hour long interactive online meeting via Zoom will be faciliated by Jack Durkan a former Primary School Principal who is now an associate with both the IPPN and the PDST Leadership team and Jody O' Connor associated with PDST. It will be an informal meeting taking a look at the reopening of schools in September and give principals the opportunity to discuss the practicalities around the opening of their school through break out rooms and open discussion.

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This webinar will explore a vast array of practical, simple and adaptable games that can be used to reinforce Gaeilge in the primary classrooms. These games will help bring your Gaeilge lessons to life, and help you provide your pupils with child-centred, fun and inspiring learning opportunities as Gaeilge. All games/activities explored during this webinar are adaptable from Junior Infants to Sixth Class and can be easily used in both T1 and T2 schools.

Biography

Aislinn Nic Pháidín is a primary school teacher, teaching in Gaelscoil Átha Í, Co. Kildare for the past six years. Aislinn is very enthusiastic about the Irish language, but has recognised the lack of resources and supports for both parents and teachers when it comes to ‘múineadh na Gaeilge’. As schools began to close earlier this year, Aislinn immediately identified the challenge of supporting Irish at home. Her love for the language, and enthusiasm to provide children with fun, attractive and purposeful learning opportunities as Gaeilge, led to the creation of Scéalta le Spraoi. She runs this social media initiative across Facebook, Instagram and Youtube in an attempt to bridge the gap and make the language more accessible and child-friendly. 

Register Here

The Irish Primary PE Association was founded in 2002 by and for primary teachers who were particularly interested in the subject of Physical Education. The IPPEA is an association dedicated to heightening awareness of Physical Education issues in primary schools and it aims to represent and support the needs of primary teachers involved in Physical Education.

The IPPEA have  published a guidance document (August 2020) for the teaching of Physical Education  in response to Returning to school: Curriculum guidance for primary school leaders and teachers (July 2020). Physical Education, as part of children’s overall Well-Being, has been identified as a key focus area in the initial re-entry to school.

Susan Marron (Lecturer, DCU) and Caitriona Cosgrave (Primary Teacher, Raheny) Co-Chairs of the IPPEA, will present a webinar to:

(1) share this IPPEA guidance document

(2) provide helpful examples to support you, and your planning and teaching of Physical Education while observing public health advice

(3) explore and address queries teachers may have in relation to Physical Education during Covid -19

Register here

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In the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, it is more important than ever for schools to focus on student well-being and resilience. Many students have been impacted in different ways, and may be struggling with strong emotions including anxiety, fear, disappointment and grief.
Research on resilience shows us that with support and skill development, resilience can be
strengthened and developed as a result of these challenges.

Schools can help students through this process through nurturing positive relationships and
developing skills such as emotional regulation, enhancing positive emotions and building self-
efficacy.

This webinar will explore practical suggestions from Positive Psychology, which is the science of well-being.

Tutor: Fiona Forman (M.Sc. Applied Positive Psychology, Co-author of Weaving Well-Being, Author of Wired for Well-Being)

Register here