Killenaule primary school community playing its part

In 2018 St Mary’s Central National School joined the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Schools Forum.
The series of workshops that followed allowed our school to become part of a rich discussion forum which posed a number of key questions around our primary education system - where it was moving to, what it would look like and how it would be presented to future learners as we move through the 21st century.
The 1999 Primary School Curriculum consisted of a suite of 11 distinct subject areas. While the 1999 curriculum promoted the holistic development of the child and encouraged active participation and learning methodologies, the sheer volume of content has placed huge pressure on time allocation in primary classrooms across the country. The new draft curriculum strives to further develop the holistic nature of how children learn while also providing schools with the opportunity to develop inclusive practices and engage with meaningful assessment opportunities which will inform teaching and learning. The new curriculum is building on what has gone before it - enabling schools to promote flexibility of thought in children, allowing them to transfer knowledge across content areas, promote emotional intelligence and build on the ability to critically think, reflect and connect aspects of learning.
As a rural DEIS school we feel that the opportunity to contribute to a new curriculum will help reflect the reality for pupils in our school setting and the challenges they may face into the future. In doing so we believe that we can help support the development of a curriculum that responds to the unique needs of every child as they progress through their primary education.
The last two years of education in Covid times has served to highlight the need for engaging, inclusive and diverse approaches around how our children learn. The redeveloped curriculum is an exciting space to move into and one which I believe can only serve to enhance teaching and learning for all our children.
The opportunity for parents to now contribute to the Draft Curriculum is a chance for all partners in our children’s lives to have their voice heard in what will become our redeveloped curriculum.
Cliodhna Breen, principal, St Mary’s Central NS Killenaule

New primary school curriculum on the way in Tipperary for first time in 22 years

Tipperary Town school engages in new school curriculum process