The Fifth Annual CEIST Educational Conference was held in the Killahsee House Hotel, Naas on the 30th September and 1st of October.
The CEIST Education Office were greatly encouraged with the number of School Principals, Deputy Principals and Chairpersons of our Boards of Management who attended this year’s conference, which proved to be our biggest attendance to date.
Our conference provides an opportunity for our School leaders to network and share ideas. It thankfully proved to be an enjoyable and beneficial conference, with inspiring key note speakers and some very useful workshops from our presenters.
CEIST would like to very much thank our keynote speakers and workshop presenters for their time and energy given to the conference.
We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to the three excellent school choirs who particpated at the conference. The three schools were Ard Scoil na Tríonóide Choir, Athy, Presentation Secondary School Choir, Kildare Town, and St. Mary’s College Choir, Naas.
We have included an image gallery and workshop presentations are made available for download below.
CEIST Conference Programme 2010
Click here to download Conference 2010 Brochure.
Worshop Presentations
1) “Joining the Dots: One Year On”. Amalee Meehan, Faith Development Co-ordinator, CEIST, Nora Quane, participant Mercy Mounthawk and Moira Hunter, St Mary’s Mallow.
Joining the Dots: Faith, Life, Teachers, Teaching and Theology is a school based programme in theology and spiritual renewal for teachers. There are no fees, no travel and no exams. It involves about 90 minutes one evening a week for six weeks. Teaching can be so life-giving but it can also be draining. Joining the Dots offers soul time – an opportunity to catch your breath, to reflect on your life experience, to ask good questions, and to remember that even if we are tired of looking for God, God never tires looking for us.
Initiated in Mercy Mounthawk by Amalee Meehan and John O’Roarke, the second pilot took place in St Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow. In each case, approximately 15 teachers from a host of different subject areas took part. This semester it will run in 2 different schools around the country. Click here for further details on Joining the Dots, or to read feedback from previous participants.
2) “Special Education Needs Delivery in Challenging Times”. Clare Ryan, Principal, St. Leo’s College, Carlow.
In the current climate of diminishing resources there remains a moral and professional imperative to support students with SEN. Despite the tardiness of Government to implement EPSEN coupled with the depletion of supports, each school is confronted on a daily basis with students who exhibit a vast spectrum of need. This workshop explored the CEIST school’s capacity to respond in order to ensure positive outcomes for the students in our care. Maximising resources, the deployment of SNA’s, supporting the gifted child, the sharing of information, transfer from primary to post-primary, working with parents etc were all considered.
Special Education Needs Delivery in Challenging Times Presentation
3) “Experiences of using technology for teaching and school administration today”. Sonas Innovation.
With 2010/2011 being the school year where technology is brought into the classroom, the next question is what will we do with this?
The workshop illustrated two case studies: The first is CEIST school, Scoil Chríost Rí in Portlaoise, where a new school building afforded the opportunity to use new information infrastructure.
The second is another CEIST school who has chosen to have an online communications and collaboration system for all staff.
4) “Current Legal Issues”. David Ruddy, B.L.
(A) Codes of Behaviour
The National Educational Welfare Guidelines, Section 29 Appeals, Recent Case Law.
(B) Admission and Participation Policies
Section 29 Appeals and recent case law.
(C) Disciplinary Procedures for Teachers and School Principals (Circular 60 / 09)
Current Legal Issues Presentation
5) “Risk Management / School Maintenance”. (Chairperson BOMs) Allianz plc.
Managing potential risks in a school and implementing preventative maintenance are just some of the responsibilities in the busy role of a School Principal, Deputy Principal and Board of Management. The workshop provided an overview and helpful tips in how to ensure that your school is operating in a safe environment and also looked at how to implement some preventative maintenance and security measures to avoid unnecessary claim costs and cause serious disruption to school life.
Risk Management/School Maintenance Presentation
Photo Gallery
Ard Scoil na Tríonóide Choir, Athy getting ready to sing on the opening morning of the conference.
Presentation Secondary School Choir, Kildare Town performing at the start of the 2nd day of the conference.
Pictured above after singing at the end of the conference, St. Mary’s College Choir, Naas.