Gaelscoil’s timetable for English ‘insufficient’

THE English literacy of pupils in a Kerry gaelscoil has suffered because of the school’s policy not to teach English to infant classes, Department of Education inspectors have found.

This is just one finding of a report given to the school after parents complained in 2004 that pupils were not being taught English in junior and senior infants.

The inspectors visited Gaelscoil Mhic Easmainn in November 2005 and February last year. The Department of Education had previously refused a Freedom of Information request from the Irish Examiner to release the report and correspondence with the school on the issue. The report’s findings and recommendations have now been seen by the Irish Examiner.

Last night, a school spokesperson said the report has been sent to its legal advisers and it would make no comment until receiving their response.

Department officials concluded the timetable provision for English in junior infant classes, in the past and at the time of writing in February 2006, could not be viewed as sufficient to realise objectives outlined in the primary school curriculum.

“The allocation of time for the teaching and learning of English has a significant effect on pupil outcomes in English. It isapparent that pupils at each of the three class levels evaluated have substantial deficits in all areas of English,” they wrote.

The findings come the week Education Minister Mary Hanafin is expected to tell gaelscoileanna and Gaeltacht primary schools that English must be introduced no later than the second term of junior infants.

The report also found:

* The 10-15 minutes a day of rhymes and listening to stories introduced for infants after complaints from parents is not the same thing as teaching English.

* The school’s English plan does not deal in detail with the implications and needs arising from an immersion approach in early classes, particularly any provision for compensatory or accelerated teaching at any other stage of the school’s work.

* The lack of a specific policy on discretionary time, as provided for in the primary school curriculum, is a serious omission.

“Bearing in mind the centrality of language in the curriculum and the needs of children in their first years in primary school, it would seem appropriate that the discretionary time, or at least some substantial amount of it, should be devoted to the teaching of English notwithstanding the school’s commitment to the teaching of Irish as the first language of the school,” the report states.

The inspectors found the teachers work conscientiously and with commitment on pupils’ behalf, and are skilful and enthusiastic.

They recommended the board of management provide more time for teaching English to junior and senior infants so at least the minimum half an hour a day as recommended in the curriculum is provided. They also recommended the school ensure there is adequate consultation with parents about the school plan for English and that there is appropriate communication and involvement of parents with aspects of their children’s teaching and learning in English.