Dundalk Positive Mental Health Forum presents Art Exhibition

New anti-bullying procedures announced today by Minister Ruiraí Quinn

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., has today published new anti-bullying procedures to be adopted and implemented by all 4,000 primary and post primary schools. The New Procedures and the associated Department Circular 0045/13 are now published on the Department's Website at www.education.ie
These procedures have been developed following consultation with the relevant education partners and replace guidelines that were issued to schools in 1993. These procedures have resulted from a review of the 1993 guidelines and the implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying that was published in January 2013.
The new procedures require that the prevention of bullying must be an integral part of a school’s anti-bullying policy.  Minister Quinn said “he was pleased to note the strong focus in the procedures on education and prevention strategies to deal with bullying behaviour including, in particular, cyberbullying and identity based bullying such as homophobic and transphobic bullying”.

Each school must now develop its anti-bullying policy in accordance with the procedures. The policy must be developed in consultation with parents, students, and all school staff, and aim to create a positive school culture and climate that is inclusive and welcoming of difference.

Key elements of the procedures are:
·        A strong emphasis on prevention of bullying behaviour through the fostering and
development of a positive school culture and climate that is based on inclusivity and respect
·        A school-wide approach to preventing and tackling bullying behaviour
·        A requirement that all schools must adhere to the standardised policy template for
developing their anti-bullying policy
·        Greater transparency for parents and pupils through the requirement for schools to publish their anti-bullying policy on the school’s website and give it  to the parents association
·        Making clear that the definition of bullying includes cyber-bullying and identity based bullying (such as homophobic and racist bullying)
·        Practical tips for building a positive school culture and climate that is based on inclusivity and respect
·        Clear procedures for investigating, recording and dealing with bullying. The procedures emphasise that the primary aim in investigating and dealing with bullying is to resolve any issues and restore as far as practicable the relationships of the parties involved (rather than to apportion blame)
·        Oversight arrangements that involve the School Principal reporting regularly to the Board of Management and a requirement for the Board to do an annual review of the school’s anti- bullying policy and its implementation.  Confirmation that the annual review was done must be provided to the parents association and published on the school website.

All schools are required to immediately commence the necessary arrangements for developing and formally adopting an anti-bullying policy that fully complies with the requirements of the new procedures. This is expected to be completed by each school as early as possible in the 2013/14 school year but in any event by no later than the end of the second term of the 2013/14 school year.
Minister Quinn said that “the procedures give a great opportunity to reinvigorate and strengthen our approach to preventing and tackling bullying in schools”.  He went on to say that the procedures are written in a user-friendly manner and focus in a very practical way on what schools must do to prevent and deal with bullying. The key is to get the basics right across all 4,000 schools.  Many schools already do this well and the new procedures will underpin and improve what they already do. For those schools that are not as good at dealing with bullying the new procedures provide a bullying policy template and practical guidance and tips so that they are clear on what they have to do. Arising from the commitments in the Action Plan on Bullying, the Department’s Inspectorate will be placing a stronger focus on the actions schools take to create a positive school culture and to prevent and tackle bullying.

The new procedures are designed to give direction and guidance to school authorities and school personnel in preventing and tackling school-based bullying behaviour amongst its pupils. The procedures will also help to deal with any negative impact of bullying behaviour within school that occurs elsewhere.
These procedures apply to all recognised primary and post-primary schools and to centres for education (as defined in the Education Act 1998) that are attended by pupils under the age of 18 years.   Where a school caters for vulnerable adults these procedures also apply to those adult learners. School authorities and school personnel are required to adhere to these procedures in dealing with allegations and incidents of bullying.
The new procedures define bullying as unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical conducted by an individual or group against another person (or persons) and which is repeated over time.  These procedures make clear that this definition includes cyber-bullying and identity-based bullying (such as homophobic bullying and racist bullying).

 

 

World Suicide Prevention Day today Sept 10th

World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world. The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health, to host World Suicide Prevention Day.

Click below to see the video of this year's IASP president's address.
http://youtu.be/ollRR2x6JnA

The theme for this years World Suicide Prevention Day is " Stigma, a major barrier to Suicide Prevention"

According to the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention, it is estimated that 507 people died by suicide across the country in 2012.  There are significant social and regional differences with certain parts of the country showing much higher rates of suicide than others and a high proportion of young men  taking their own lives: for every 10 suicides in Ireland, 8 of them are men.

While there is an increasing awareness of suicide in communities and a willingness to provide assistance from many agencies and groups  to those who come forward asking for help, there is still a major problem with the stigma attached to suicide.

In his address yesterday to the  Console World Suicide Prevention conference, President Michael D Higgins remarked that  "It is time for our society to start talking openly, honestly and without fear about issues of marginality, exclusion, insecurity and the vulnerabilities they bring with them.The stigmatized person is devalued, rejected and scorned.  But, the greatest tragedy of all is that stigma keeps people from seeking help. "

The Dundalk Positive Mental Health Forum which was formed during 2013 in Dundalk aims to make people aware of the various groups and associations which are available when someone is faced with a mental health issue. SOSAD, SHINE, GROW, The Outcomers, are just some of the groups which actively provide information, counselling, or just someone to talk to.

During the first week in October there will be a series of events organised by the Dundalk Positive Mental Health Forum to mark World Mental Health Week 2013.
Further details to follow!

Louth and Meath Education and Training Board are running a FREE ECDL course with online job seeking skills in Bettystown/Laytown for anyone who is long term unemployed (12 months or more)

Children with special needs to benefit from 118 new classes

Today  I welcomed the announcement that 118 new classes are to be added to schools across the country this month for children with special needs.

This announcement by the NCSE goes hand in hand with Minister Ruairi Quinn's publication of proposed legislation to deal with the inequalities in the admissions process in schools, specifically for children with special needs. As the Labour Seanad Spokesperson for Education and a member of the Oireachtas Education Committee, I am constantly engaging with numerous experts on the issue of special needs education, and the general consensus is that equality and mainstreaming for special needs children must be supported with the appropriate educational infrastructure. This is why I am delighted to welcome this announcement by the NCSE.

“The 118 new classes announced will be added to 113 mainstream primary and post primary schools across the country. The addition of these special classes means that over 5,000 children will have the opportunity to attend a special class within a mainstream school.

I hope to see this number and the level of support for children with special educational needs increase over time and I will continue to work with Minister Ruairi Quinn on the issues of disability, special needs education and equality to this end. In the meantime, I look forward to discussing how we can better improve our schools for special needs children with members of the Down Syndrome Education Equality Advocates group at Wednesday's Education Committee.

County Louth achieves fantastic results in Tidy Towns Awards

Heartiest congratulations to Moynalty in Co Meath which has been declared Ireland’s Tidiest Town.  The beautiful village captured the overall award and €5000 with a winning score of 315 points.

The towns and villages of Co Louth also made their mark in the competition with Blackrock , Tallanstown, Dundalk and Drogheda earning Gold Medal Awards and €900 in their categories.

Tallanstown also took the County Award for Louth with a prize of €1000: Knockbridge won a Silver Medal Award (€700) and Highly Commended in the County Awards (€800)

Ardee won a Bronze Award and   €400 in  Category D

Blackrock , along with their Gold Medal were Commended in the County Awards (€500), and took the Climate Change Award and €1000, awarded by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government. The Blackrock Tidy Towns Committee have been working tirelessly all year not only on ensuring the village was looking in tip top condition but also have put a huge amount of work into their Climate Change project. They have certainly done us proud this year!

 

The Endeavour award went to Louth Village with an  improvement of 10.185% on last year

Best Bring Bank Award went to Dromiskin Tidy Towns along with €1000 and the

Failte Ireland Tourism Towns award and  €1000 went to Drogheda.

 

You can see all the marks awarded in Co Louth below

 

Reaghstown                          296

Greenore                               281

Stabannon                             273

Annagassan                          260

Kilkerley                                 259

Grange                                   256

Philipstown                             216

         

CATEGORY B

Tallanstown                            312

Knockbridge                           308

Castlebellingham-Kilsaran      268

Dromiskin                               268

Omeath                                  248

Kilcurry                                   243

Louth                                      238

Baltray                                    224

CATEGORY C

Carlingford                             284

Collon                                     274

Dunleer                                  266

Tullyallen                                264

Clogherhead                          254

Termonfeckin                        226

CATEGORY D

Blackrock                               307

Ardee                                      297

CATEGORY H

Dundalk                                  303

Drogheda                                302

 

 

 

Maths Week : taking place across the country October 12th to 20th

Next month the eighth annual Maths Week will take place throughout Ireland. It will open with "Maths in the City" in Dublin on October 12th and continue until the 20th with "Gathering for Gardner: Celebration of Mind".

Martin Gardner has done wonderful work through his books and articles in Scientific American to popularise maths and enhance public awareness and understanding of it.

 

Maths Week was started in 2006 on the initiative of Eoin Gill of Waterford IT. It has grown with breathtaking speed to become the most successful event of its kind in the world. All the third-level educational institutes in Ireland, north and south, are partners. And Maths Week is supported by a large number of learned bodies, research institutes, museums, heritage centres and technological agencies.

 

Maths week is all about raising the profile of the subject and getting across the idea that it is an interesting and rewarding subject to study. It can even be fun!

 

Thousands of teachers from almost 2,000 schools registered with Maths Week last year,

and more than 130,000 school pupils participated. Thousands more members of the public attended events.

 

From October 12th to 20th  there will be a wide variety of events for students of all ages. Hamilton Day, which commemorates the discovery of quaternions by William Rowan Hamilton, is on the Wednesday, and distinguished mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose will present the Royal Irish Academy Hamilton Lecture at TCD. The annual Hamilton Walk, organised by NUI Maynooth, will visit the site of the great man's discovery on the same day.

School teachers and college lecturers volunteer time and expertise to organise and present events during the week. Moreover, professional presenters give lectures, run workshops and manage fun events that are invariably "sell-outs". This year, the leading US maths populariser, Stanford University's Prof Keith Devlin, and Dr James Grime of the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University will give lectures.

 

 

You can log on to www.mathweek.ie to register your school to participate in the many events that will take place.  You will also find puzzles and interesting facts on the website.

 

A quick look at the map today shows that already in Co Louth the following schools are registered :

Rampark NS

Bay Estate NS

St Oliver and St Francis NS Blackrock

Dundalk Grammar School

De la Salle College

Muchgrange NS

Kilkerly NS

Scoil Muire gan Smál NS

€400,000 available for local environmental projects

Local groups interested in carrying out environmental projects can avail of government funding announced by Minister Phil Hogan. €400,000 is to be made available under the 2013 Local Agenda 21 Environmental Partnership Fund.
Applications must be made by 30th September, and further information and application forms can be accessed at www.environ.ie


 What is it for?

· For small scale, non-profit local environmental projects
· Examples include awareness-raising initiatives, community gardens, waste reduction and rainwater harvesting
· Funding from the Department is matched by local authorities
· Applications to local authorities (forms available at www.environ.ie) by 30^th September 2013
· Further information www.environ.ie

MMR and 4:1 vaccination for Junior Infants will commence in October

From October 2013, the HSE school vaccination teams will deliver the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and 4:1 (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio) booster to all children in the Junior Infants classes of the Dublin/North East region.
During the past year there have been reports in the media of large outbreaks of measles in Ireland and Europe.  These outbreaks have occurred because many young people have not received the recommended two doses of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine at 12 months and the booster at 4-5 years of age (pre-school).

Since 2010, Ireland and the HSE are committed to the World Health Organisation’s European strategy to eliminate measles by 2015.  In this regard, the 2011/2012 statistics on the uptake for MMR2 at 4-5 years of age are 72-76% in the Dublin North East region, with the target uptake of  greater than 95% not having been achieved.


Much of the evidence from international literature and the HSE's experience in other regional areas in Ireland indicate that the best way to achieve a greater than 95% uptake of MMR2 (pre-school booster) is through a school based approach
 
The current process of vaccination for the pre-school booster at the GP surgery in areas where this service is not currently school based will cease from October 2013. 


You can view further details from the circular which has been sent out to primary schools here:
www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active.../cl0043_2013.pdf
 

Update on the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA)

 The BSCFA entitlements of some 115,000 families in respect of 207,000 children issued in the week commencing 15 July, with no application form required.

Applications from customers who did not receive an automated payment are now being processed from a centralised unit in the Department’s office in Letterkenny.  Some 61,500 additional applications have been received and an acknowledgement has issued by text to the 94% who requested one. 

 

A total of 44,000 manual claims have been processed to date, including all claims received in June, July and the first week in August.  The BSCFA section is processing claims which were received on 7^th August at present.

 

 Payment in respect of these claims will issue on a daily basis, so it is expected that the majority of customers will have their payment within four weeks of applying.

 

Some 85% of customers who are expected to qualify for payment of BSCFA in 2013 have now been paid and a total of €40.9million has already been paid out in respect of this scheme for 2013.

 

 

Forms are available from youe  Local Office, via SMS (text "Form BTSCFA" followed by your name and address to 51909) and on www.welfare.ie. 

A phone bank is operational to deal with queries on the scheme.  The LOCALL number is 1890662244.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact my office on 01-6183522 if you need any further assistance. 

 

Are you registered to vote in the October referenda?

If you are not or if you are unsure, the Referendum Commission has launched a voter registration app on Facebook to help you out.

The page allows citizens to check if they are currently on the register, making them eligible to vote in the upcoming referenda on the abolition of the Seanad and the establishment of a Court of Appeal.

The deadline to register for the 4 October votes is 17 September.

If you are not on the register, the app provides the forms required, which then need to be forwarded to the appropriate local authority.

One of the primary functions of the Referendum Commission is to encourage people over the age of 18 to vote.

“A vote on changing our constitution is a very serious matter,” says Chairman of the Referendum Commission, Justice Elizabeth Dunn. “This is one of those occasions where a major decision is not made by the Government, the Oireachtas or the Courts. It is solely for the people to decide and the outcome is determined only by those people who vote. I would encourage people to check the register to ensure that your voice is heard.”


Check out the app here.