Anseo.net - If I were the Minister for Education

With one in 50 Irish people contracting COVID19 in the last 2 weeks alone, the tracing service unable to cope with demand and hospitals becoming overwhelmed with COVID19 cases, we need to seriously look at the facts about whether schools are safe right now and make decisions that have impacts well beyond the classroom. In this episode I try to do that. This is a public episode. If you'd like to di...

This is a recording of a short talk I gave at the recent ISAG webinar on school closures, where I gave my experience about working in the system. Apart from having the complete inability to pronounce ISAG properly, I spoke about the reality of remote learning, especially for families who could not access it. I'd highly recommend watching the full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8cG...

Micheal Martin still insists that “schools are safe” and it's the movement of the million people getting to the schools that's the real issue. However, this is not the only dumbfounding thing he has said this week. Earlier when he announced schools would extend the holidays for 3 days, (not closed, remember!) he said that the 3 days could be used for principals to prepare for reopening and they wo...

Christmas - a time for giving...each other the COVID19 virus. Yes, the lifting of restrictions did not pan out as the government had hoped with cases about to hit over 2,000 per day at this time of recording, hospitals beginning to near capacity, and testing centres are now beyond capacity so now you only get tested if you have symptoms if you are a close contact. It sounds like a perfect time to...

Just what you need for your drive home for Christmas, another 2020 review! I've compiled 20 moments in primary education in 2020 and look forward to next year and my hopes for 2021. Sit back, relax...actually, this won’t be relaxing, so just sit back and grimace your way through the top 20 moments in primary education in 2020. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subs...

This episode is about a school. A school where over 10% of their pupils have had a positive diagnosis of COVID19. A school where its Board decided that they needed to close the building to stop the spread of the virus. A school that was then told to open back up on Monday morning. And apart from the question as to whether the school should open or close, it asks the bigger question - who actually...

In case you missed it, today has been designated GRMA day, a day dreamed up to make people say thank you to people working in schools over the last number of months. The idea is that at 11am on Friday, everyone in schools is being asked to play a video where various people are going to thank teachers, SNAs, secretaries, caretakers and anyone else that works in a school. In this episode I'll be try...

Back in my day, the only way we learned our tables was by learning them off by heart. The motivation of doing so was to avoid being humiliated by your teacher and class. Some of you are old enough to remember games like the “Stand Up, Sit down” game where the goal is to remain standing by answering a maths fact. Thankfully things have moved on but why was learning tables by rote such a bad idea? I...

I often compare the Primary Education System to the decorations you find in the attic. Every time you try to untangle a knot, a new knot appears and after a while, you just chuck them over the tree and hope nobody notices the mess. The problem is that I've never managed to make that analogy in December. Until today. Join me as I untangle 3 news stories that hit the headlines and which knot is resp...

Primary school teaching is most likely one of the least diverse professions in the country. In this episode I explore why this is the case. I don't think there are too many surprises as to why but what can we do about it? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonmlewis.substack.com/subscribe

Does it annoy you when someone who isn't a teacher calls themselves a teacher? If you're in any way sensible, it probably doesn't. In this, less-than-serious episode, I'll be taking a break from serious issues and trying to find out whether we should trademark the title of teacher, or change it to something better. Lead Thought Classroom Evangelist, anyone? This is a public episode. If you'd like...

There are some terms that give any teacher the fear. Put the letters WSE together and you’ll get a wave of panic. Drive-by does something similar. Principals also have another term that brings the fear to them - it’s called a Section 29. In this episode, I’ll be arguing that if I were the Minister for Education, I’d be scrapping them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ot...

Back in March/April, most schools had come up with a plan for remote learning with the schools closed and all. It only took the Department of Education 6 months to come up with a circular for communication and remote learning. Here's my live reading of the circular, where I slip from apathy to outrage in 30 minutes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

It's probably be fair to say that education is no longer the sole function of primary schools these days. Over the last decade or so, schools have now taken on functions of meal-providers, counsellors, psychologists, occupational therapists, web safety gurus, sex educators, religious missionaries, dieticians, social workers, attendance officers, and so on. For every ill in society, it seems that s...

October 23rd. A fairly insignificant date. But to principals this year, it was the date they couldn’t wait for as it was to signal mid-term break, and for most of them, their first day off work since mid-February when there was a small mutterings about a virus that had come from Wuhan in China and seemed to be causing problems in Italy where bunches of teenagers were skiing on their transition yea...

Since 2011, schools have been inundated with new initiatives from the Department of Education. However, other agencies have also dumped their workload on schools too. In this episode I point the finger of blame while proposing a solution that if a new initiative is to come into schools, one must be removed first. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Schools are to remain open in Level 5 but can we do it safely? In this episode, I explore what's been happening over the last few days and ask the Twitterati what they think we need to do to keep schools open safely. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonmlewis.substack.com/subscribe

If you work in a primary school, one thing you can probably be sure about is that the Department of Education will pay you. Well, that is unless you happen to be the school secretary or another member of what is affectionately called ancillary staff. In probably one of the least controversial episodes of this podcast, If I were the Minister for Education I would ensure that Secretaries would be pa...

While I don't think anyone was expecting much from this year's budget, at least none of us were surprised. Here's my reaction. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonmlewis.substack.com/subscribe

Any time an important circular or guidance document is released by the Department of Education, I do a live reading of it to try and make sense of it for myself, but also, hopefully to explain it to you. It might save you a bit of time reading it yourself too! This document was released very quietly by the DES today about planning for remote learning. I wonder why! This is a public episode. If you...

Homework is still one of the most divisive things you can talk about. If you surveyed everyone in the country about whether they think you should scrap homework or not, you’d get a 50-50 response. In this episode, I’m going to explore homework at primary school, some of the reasons why teachers and parents and society seem to want to keep it, despite all the evidence, and I’ll be arguing that if I...

On Sunday evening, NPHET announced they were recommending that Ireland moved to Level 5 restrictions. My Monday, the government had rejected the recommendation and imposed Level 3 on the country. But what would school look like at Level 5? I asked Anseo.net listeners and these are their thoughts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

Have you ever wondered what happens at these consultations when the Department of Education meets with all the education stakeholders? I always did and wondered what it would look like. And one day, I got that chance. I was invited to represent one education stakeholder regarding a new Department of Education initiative. I went in expecting to be one of about 8 people, maybe fewer. However, as soo...

The most popular post I've ever published was this week and I didn’t even write it. It was from a principal who had a positive COVID19 case in his school and his experience of how it was dealt with. In this episode, I’ll be reading his experience and adding my own thoughts. I’ll also be talking a little bit about the DES requiring principals to be on call 24 hours a day and how inspectors have aga...

To me Flat Out Busy refers to the agencies and organisations that spent their summers scurrying around scurrying, attending Zoom meetings about meetings, and making statements about statements that they were going to make. They were neither fully good or fully bad and they had the best of intentions but for all the time since lockdown, they didn’t actually manage to achieve very much. This is a pu...