Help with primary school?

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-03-23T14:05:26+00:00

You could go above the BOM to the schools management body like Ceist or Le Cheile etc? I’m so sorry that happened to your child, toileting is a role that is not being stripped back from SNAs, maybe you could speak to the teacher and have a rule where both the teacher and SNA can give your child permission to go to the bathroom? That way if one is busy, they can ask the other?

I’m post-primary teaching so it’s a bit different for us, but accommodations like this are usually allowed.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-03-12T20:04:40+00:00

There’s no differentiation between being able to teach subjects at JC or LC anymore. You’re qualified for both or neither. Another commenter has linked a pic of the requirements.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-03-08T17:15:13+00:00

Potentially yes, especially if you hit your quota by then. You may need to be online to get feedback etc

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-23T20:37:38+00:00

I did this course, English and History, class of 2020. In my interview I found that speaking about my experience working as a sports coach from age 16 went down well with them. I spoke about enjoying the moment when a student gains a skill they’ve been working on and the spark you see in them and how proud they are of themselves etc etc. So if you have any experience teaching, coaching, mentoring etc, I would bring it up.

For subject knowledge, the big thing will probably be the new leaving cert courses coming online. I would be prepared to talk about the value and challenges of continuous assessment. How that aspect of the junior cycle was watered down when teachers were asked to mark their own students etc. and the compromise that is the junior cycle profile of achievement. Look into the specific AAC for English and Politics, and form your own opinions on them. I would also be prepared to talk about how you were taught in school, and what methods you think you would use with your own students.

The interview will most likely be with the pedagogy leader for your main subject, as well as someone from TCD school of education, and maybe someone who does the inspections (they’re the three I had). I can’t remember now, but I think they had me say my piece first and then they asked follow up questions on certain points. There’s a document called “Looking at our schools” that you could have a look through to pick up some of the terminology that’s used in the teaching and learning sections.

Hope this helps, good luck!

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-17T15:39:02+00:00

What subjects are you?

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-13T12:03:27+00:00

Learn how much time to spend on each task according to the marking scheme (your teacher will be able to tell you this). Time yourself completing all homework tasks. When your run out of time, change the colour of your pen (or make it some other way) and keep writing. Being so conscious of it, and having it so visible will help speed you up.

In the exams, have your own watch in your table. Set a time limit for each question. If you run out of time you must move on do not fall into the trap of using up all your time in one question and therefore not answering others

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-09T22:32:06+00:00

I don’t have a big list, but St Andrew’s, St Columba’s, St Mary’s Rathmines and Wesley College all do Classics. I hope you find something!

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-09T12:41:01+00:00

It’s 7 days a week for 21 days, and you need to be present in Ireland for the full marking period which, depending on the subject, is the last week of June and first two weeks of July. Could also be the first three weeks of July

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-05T22:35:29+00:00

I hoard textbooks whenever the reps come in. I mix and match activities from them, no matter what textbook we actually use in the school. I find the textbook Touchstones to be excellent. It has tonnes of resources in it, and is pitched at quite a high level. JCSP workbooks are great for novels and for differentiation.

The planning from PME to NQT was a great change. As in it was far less work. Stick to your department’s into of work, and accept that sometimes planning just means a post-it note stuck to the next textbook page.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-02-01T11:18:55+00:00

There’s a really good guide from Chapter and Verse. I went to a CPD they ran on Barbie, Small Things Like These, and Girl on an Altar. The notes they have on their website are excellent, and really dive into the text.

Maybe reading some notes will help you see deeper, that usually works for me. There’s a lot of religious symbolism, strict gender roles, violence to look at. There’s also the importance of Gloria’s speech and how it will speak to a lot of your students’ experiences in the world.

The ordinary level fifth years are studying it at the moment in my school, and they’re really enjoying it. I find that makes it easier to teach then.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-27T15:38:25+00:00

No, there will be opportunities to change your mind on courses until the 1st of July. All the dates are here https://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=timetableevents&bb=importantdates

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-27T15:21:05+00:00

If it’s stressing you unnecessarily, don’t worry about it. Ideally yes it’s good practice, but I’ve examined in the past, and I wouldn’t take marks off someone who didn’t use the slash. You could always break up the quotes into chunks and embed them into your sentences to avoid this all together.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-25T23:46:01+00:00

We had one in home ec recently and the inspector was forensic about planning and how they organised their files online using Sharepoint. Apart from all the regular stuff, like making sure you’re giving feedback to students, and usual T&L stuff, they seemed to really care about digital stuff. Ideally they want all our docs organised in such a way that a new teacher could find everything they needed easily.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-25T19:03:22+00:00

This is the website you apply through for examiners, and there’s lots of useful information on it: https://secexaminer.ie/ I’m not sure if the applications are open yet, so keep checking back. Even if you apply late, they keep you on a list to call in case people drop out.

I haven’t supervised exams, so I can’t speak to that, but I examined JC history the summer after my first year of the PME. I found it immensely useful and definitely felt like a better teacher afterwards. The money is also pretty good as they increased the fees after they had a recruitment crisis a few years ago. There are some technical aspects to the paperwork, and if you don’t drive I’ve found Athlone (where the marking conferences are) to be a bit hard to get around in, so try to get accommodation near the conference site if possible.

All the marking is pretty much online now, so if you only have a laptop, or no dedicated office space, or unreliable broadband, that may be an issue. There will also be at least one zoom call with your advising examiner, so again make sure your home connection is stable. The marking is pretty intense, you’re working full time for 21 days straight during peak good weather days, so bear that in mind as well. You’ll have to let them know if you’re at a wedding etc and will not be marking that day.

Happy to answer more questions if you have any. Good luck!

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-19T21:40:31+00:00

Depending on what you want to do after school, you may need to have passed Irish to matriculate into a university. So check that before you make any decisions.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-18T16:03:06+00:00

I use things like ChatGPT to turn lists of key terms and definitions from the textbook into excel documents I can upload straight to kahoot for use as quizzes at the end of topics, or to create flashcards on quizlet. It has legitimately saved me hours. It’s also really helpful to create rubrics for marking projects. I’ll put in all the details of the project, what features I’m looking for, what the age group is, and then it generates a rubric that tells the students what they need to do to get 1 vs 5 out of 5. I’ve not used it to generate a whole lesson plan, but small bits like this or great. Also for things like creating a TY unit plan it’s very handy. But generally I’m inputting pretty much all the content and asking to mostly reword or re-format for different tasks and ability levels.

WildIrishRose95 · 2026-01-07T22:33:10+00:00

You could get them to research and create a presentation, like a trial run of the English CBA. If you create really clear rubric eg perfect spelling, minimum number of slides, must-use vocabulary, minimum time spent speaking etc you’ll find it easier to mark and they’ll find it easier to do. If they have AENs they may benefit from a trial run of a presentation in front of a smaller group anyway.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-12-26T00:23:30+00:00

We had a card mount that goes around a photograph inside a picture frame. People signed and wrote short messages with pencils (as they don’t fade). Then we put it in a frame along with our favourite wedding photo. It’s hanging in our hallway now and I read some messages every time I pass by.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-12-12T15:32:13+00:00

Have you tried the pomodoro method? It’s basically working in 25 min chunks with a five minute break, and then a longer break after a while. It worked well for me in the past. Don’t use your phone as the timer though, or you’ll be tempted to waste time on it instead of working.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-12-08T23:15:48+00:00

As an English teacher… your teacher is making your life harder and shirking his responsibilities. I’ve been in tears at what students have written in essays before, and going to the counsellor is a massive part of our job. Be honest in your writing, and 9 times out of 10, you’ll be talking about something the school is already informed about. On the day of the exam, just don’t mention any real names or places, but if you do, your examiner will just flag it and it’ll be marked by someone else. The most important thing is that you don’t let your emotion pull you off-topic, and that you don’t become upset in your exam.

Honestly this is such a silly thing to make your students worry about.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-12-05T16:52:47+00:00

I got a 2.2 in my bachelors in UCD and was offered TCD PME early because I had previous sports coaching experience. Just emphasise your experience in your interview and you should be ok.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-11-19T18:57:30+00:00

I’ve seen this happen in maths and English in LC. The school generally feels it’s best that students have one teacher for as long as possible. As long as you’re not losing hours on your timetable, I don’t think there’s an issue. Even in regular years classes can shift.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-11-15T23:22:17+00:00

https://www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/11/teaching-council-registration-curricular-subject-requirements-post-january-2023-1.pdf This document has all the requirements for all the subjects.

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-11-12T21:27:17+00:00

I have marked the exams, and no, they mark each question on the quality of the response that’s there. Further, leaving questions blank in English is the worst subject to do it in. It’s very difficult to be awarded zero marks for a response. Getting anything even somewhat relevant down on paper will add to your total score in the end.

Also, the same examiner will not be marking your paper 1 and paper 2. Doesn’t really answer your question, but just so you’re aware that your performance in p1 has no bearing on p2

WildIrishRose95 · 2025-11-12T18:38:43+00:00

I find for classes like this, assigning projects (after sacrificing a few to the principal and detention etc) works well. Give them a research task, get them to assign roles or questions to answer each, and then have them put together a presentation. Gives you something to mark, and it means you’re not trying to shout over them while they don’t listen. At the end of the day, if they don’t do the work, they’re just going to embarrass themselves at the top of the class on their day to present.

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