🚀 In the last few months, I’ve built 3 time-saving apps for schools: 🟩 Yard Duty Timetable Generator 📅 School Calendar Creator 🔁 RotaMate – rota tool for staff & shared spaces If you have any other ideas for something useful for a school, let me know #EdTech #edchatie

As the gushing tributes pour in, rememver that the Catholic Church still owes its Irish victims millions for the sexual, physical and psychological abuse and torture they suffered at the hands of its clergy, and neither Francis nor any other pope has ever done anything to help them.

Happy #IWD2025 to all my wonderful feminist friends and colleagues, to women and girls everywhere. It does seem a darkly misogynistic time of backlash these days, but, like our foremothers, we fight on - la lucha continua #feminism #speirgorm

💔 Every single year. How many kids and parents are going to have to go through this every year. #Edchatie

This got lost in the busyness a bit. Share those resources, ideas, articles etc and I'll collate tomorrow. #Edchatie #EdShareie

Thank you for sharing, Trina! Sign up here: literacy-channel.mykajabi.com/offers/z2z3M... #SoR #Ad

Great to see this space alive and kicking! Well done @trinagolden.bsky.social and thank you for everyone for their engagement. #EdChatIE

100% agree and the complete lack of respect and condescending attitude by a SENO at a recent meeting was extremely disappointing. #edchatie

Amended graphic for #edchatie April 7th now settled - am hosting. Looking for hosts and topics for May 5th and 19th next term. Drop a line. www.juliangirdham.com/blog/edchati...

🙌🏻 “The children with the greatest level of need get the greatest level of support.” That’s support AS WELL as whole class instruction, not instead of. #EdChatIE

Couldn’t agree more Dee @playfulclassroom.bsky.social So important children are supported at whole class level to begin with. Also really important that any Tier 2 or 3 intervention mirrors classroom instruction and happens in addition to rather than in place of classroom instruction

#EdchatIE 🧵 2/2 I think this is important to reflect on. Sometimes we concentrate too much on intervention when we really need to look at whole class instruction. Would love to hear others thoughts!

#EdChatIE 🧵 I have adjusted the Continuum of Support graphic to reflect the research into Mutli-Tiered Support Systems (MTSS). A very well known quote in this field is “You can’t intervene your way out of a Tier 1 problem.”

Oh I absolutely love this, an excellent exercise to undertake and credit to your staff for investing so much of themselves in it too. Reaps dividends. It is heartbreaking when I ask children who they can turn to for help in the school and they shrug or say ‘nobody gets me’. #EdChatIE

#Edchatie #EdShareie

The students are obviously on a spectrum and come with varying strengths and needs. It has brought us new families and siblings from those families in mainstream also. I've been really impressed with how the staff work with the students in our special classes also. #edchatie

😍 I'm with you Brian. It's a joy ♥️

Fully agree the SENCO role should be recognised - for all the reasons you’ve outlined and also for ease of working with SEN teams and Student Support Teams in PP - someone has to be a point of contact for the likes of me etc to undertake work and plan interventions etc. they are established in NI.

This is true, such as @clanavtra.bsky.social who are on here - maybe others too. #edchatie

Such a fascinating #edchatIE tonight - choosing to read more than type but learning so much. A question … how are schools sharing best practice in this area or are schools generally left in isolation?

Education centers are beginning to implement communities of best practice. I think they're an untapped resource. #edchatie

Big challenge I've found is the responsiveness of the DoE in terms of resources and the NCSE. Though things are improving with both. But getting responses to queries has taken too long. Better teacher training is also required, especially in the area of behaviours of concern. #edchatie

#Edchatie #EdShareie

This is an excellent website which delves into the impact of trauma and adversity on children with super resources on how to support children. #EdChatIE beaconhouse.org.uk/resources/

Thank you for hosting @trinagolden.bsky.social ! Thank you for all the #edchatie community for being part of the chat. Night Night all!

Couldn't agree more. Dept are avoiding it to avoid the cost of it but it's a scandal. For those who haven't gotten a chance to explore the new guidelines yet, I've done an explainer for primary. www.fromtinyacorns.ie/blog #Edchatie #EdShareie

On that note both NEPS and the HSE are funding those on the Ed Psych postgrad training programmes now. #EdChatIE

Agreed. I spend an awful lot of time explaining what a learning difficulty is to staff and the implications of it in the classroom. Given the prevalence rates of Dyslexia, for example, I’d be hopeful that there would be a wider knowledge and upskilling but still seems very patchy. #EdChatIE

Those who are trained earn much more in private practice than those employed by the DES.

This sharing of knowledge and expertise will be the only way that proper inclusion will happen. #EdChatie Anyone who would like info on MGLD or a school visit feel free to reach out.

I would love if teachers could be freed up one or two days a year to visit schools that are doing things well. Have Centres of Excellence for various types of Special Schools where experience and learned-on-the-job knowledge can be shared and distributed. #EdChatie

Agree. Any training I have done has been on my own time to try and figure out how best to serve my students. Nothing done for us at a whole school level. Have access to a great Padlet but other people’s experiences would be more beneficial #edchatie

The exceptional review process is not fit for the education system and the allocation of SNAs in growing schools. It's deeply frustrating #edchatIE

Definitely. It seems that schools have to spend so much time justifying any spend. #edchatie

A lot of teachers who have plenty of experience in SEN would love to become EPs etc. Same for SNAs but there are no professional pathways to becoming an education psychologist, physiotherapist etc. we could also adopt the paraprofessional model they have in the US. #edchatie

Very few training places for OT in Ireland. that's leading to a points race. My daughter looks like she's off the the UK in September to study. #edchatie

10 minutes left to go on a chat we could have for weeks. Let's finish the hour on a high. Share a resource, idea, blog, article, page to follow that helps support additional needs. Add the hashtags #Edchatie #EdShareie and I'll pull them all together in a padlet tomorrow and share.

Trust schools. If we say we need more set/sna support then give it to us. Invest in support for schools. #edchatie

Preaching to the converted here, Trina! I talk to schools about ‘blocks of intervention’ especially for academic needs. Review and then determine need for more or change in intervention. Allows then for a child to be maybe ‘discharged’ and a more ‘in need’ child to receive support, CoS. #Edchatie

The shortage of multidisciplinary professions should be classed as crisis. There are huge barriers to becoming a qualified OT/SLT/EP etc. I know a few people who would love to change careers but it costs €22000 to do the professional conversion courses. #edchatie

Well one thing is happening already… an audit of the summer course programme. Fingers crossed it improves. 🤞🏻

There probably is concern that this could be perceived (by the powers that be) as a solution to replace one-to-one therapy sessions in the long-term. I really hope not.

It sounds like staff shortage is a significant problem in both fields too. It really is an uphill struggle to optimise support for AEN at the moment.

It’s not a sustainable position. There’s too much work to be done and taking 4 kids in a day for an intervention that isn’t proven to work just doesn’t cut it anymore. #EdChatIE #ReadingRecovery

Nurture classes, sensory circuits, music - small portable speakers - giving children the opportunity to choose their music to regulate before learning. Gives them a sense of control.

Teacher knowledge and professional development. It’s not where it needs to be. #EdChatIE

Absolutely! These initiatives can take up a huge amount of resources and time. Who is benefiting? Are the chn with the greatest level of need getting the greatest level of support? #EdChatIE

I agree. Labels are important & necessary. But they don't change the child. They can help us understand but the child has the same needs the day before and day after an assessment In a system so inherently unequitable, where money can get you the magic paper, we have to think beyond it #Edchatie