The School Excellence Fund-DEIS (SEF-DEIS) is an innovation of the Department of Education and Skills which enables schools to apply for funding to implement innovative programmes which are context-specific. The overarching aim of the initiative is to improve learning outcomes for young people.
We were delighted to learn of our successful SEF-DEIS application last June. Mrs Murray submitted an application with Dr Morris, the principal of St. Joseph's N.S., which focused on the successful transition of pupils from primary to post-primary and later tertiary settings. Redeemer Boys' N.S. and St. Joseph's N.S. have now formed a cluster with St. Vincent's Secondary School, De La Salle Secondary School and O'Fiaich College. The five schools are working together on the successful project 'Las an tSlí', which is Irish for 'Light the Way.' It is fantastic to be part of this as it means additional funding for the school and we are part of an elite group as only ten clusters were chosen nationwide!!
Taking a collaborative approach to transition, Las an tSlí aims to build meaningful relationships between the child, parents and teachers across primary, post-primary and tertiary sectors to ensure that transitions to post-primary, and later tertiary occur in a routine way, over time rather than being abrupt transitions.
This project aims to:
•Create safe and successful pathways for confident, connected learners
•Gain a greater understanding of the academic, emotional, social and cultural challenges students (and parents) face during their transition to post-primary.
•Articulate and attend to those challenges by developing supports in a collaborative, systematic, cross-curricular way with primary, post-primary and tertiary sector practitioners
•Focus supports on class levels 4th-6th in primary and 1st year post-primary(early intervention –type support)
•Scaffold the child’s educational journey by focusing on key basic skills in information processing, critical thinking across primary language and SESE curriculum
•Scaffold the child’s cultural journey by focusing on basic drama and theatre skills that will: promote key basic skills in communicating and working with others; develop an awareness of cultural contexts; and ensure that learning outcomes are grounded in relationships connected to family and community
•Provide focused support for parents
Below is a short video of a recent trip to St.Vincent's Secondary School for a Coding Workshop.
