Organisation

Organisational planning: Roles and Responsibilities

The Board of Management

It is the responsibility of the Board of Management to support and facilitate the development and implementation of the English curriculum

Parents

“Parents will also have an important role to play to the extent that they are involved in children’s language development in school”. Consultation with parents occurs at individual level throughout the school year, and at a collective level, at the meetings which are organised throughout the year. Details of school policies on language development are also outlined in the School Handbook

Principal

Oversees the development of the school plan
Consults with the BOM and parents with regard to the provision of resources
Ensures that sufficient time is made available for the teaching of English
Identifies a teacher with particular interest in English to lead staff discussion and to draw up a policy document on the teaching of English

Special Duties Teacher

Develops and co-ordinates school plan with specific reference to curriculum development, assessment, resources and record keeping
Promotes and organises Paired Reading
Liaises with parents, teachers and psychologists with regard to pupils who may have/ have special needs
Presents draft documents to the staff at meetings
Advises on the choice of reading schemes
Supports colleagues as they prepare schemes of work and implement the plan

Other Teachers

Prepare and implement balanced programme in line with the school plan which caters for the needs of each child
Implement school assessment policies and provide information on the progress of individual children
Provide information for parents with regard to the programmes being followed in English

School and class libraries

There are approximately 6,000 items in the school library. Books constitute the main part of the collection, but there are also CD’s, photocopiable masters, videos and audio tapes . The books have been obtained from 4 main sources – purchases as a result of grants from DES and BOM, donations from parents, books from the School Library Service and books from Fingal Library. When books are purchased, they are covered with Contact and catalogued. Each class receives an allocation of 200 books approximately. These books can be changed at any stage during the year by returning them to Mr Mc Guinness. Teachers are held responsible for the books which are allocated to them, and books should not be exchanged informally between classes. It is advisable for each teacher to put a system in place to ensure that books are not lost.

The Rathbeale Library is one mile approximately from the school. Every teacher is entitled to an open ticket for books, tapes, CD’s and paintings. The usual procedure is to obtain permission from the principal to bring a class to the library, and make contact with the librarian to arrange an appointment. The pupils are allowed to choose their books, but each teacher should ensure that the books chosen are suitable in content and in readability level. The books will be released to the school for a period of 3 months.

The school librarian visits the Schools Library in Blanchardstown on a yearly basis. Particular cohorts are targeted each year to receive an allocation of books.

Book fairs and book weeks.

The Parents’ Association organises a book fair every second year as part of a general fund raising day.
A book week is organised during the second term of each year

Early identification and remediation of reading difficulties

Early diagnosis is essential. “It is generally recognised that if a child is going to encounter difficulty with reading, the problem will have begun to manifest itself by the time he/she has reached senior infants”. Day–to-day observations of class teacher are very important, but formal assessments are undertaken at this level by Learning Support Teacher and /or other Resource Teachers for children with special needs (cf. Policy documents on Special Needs and Learning Support).

Planning a Learning Support Programme (See separate document)

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