Tin Whistle Lessons, Ceili Dancing Lessons, Drama etc

mumof2

Are these compulsory - ie part of the curriculum? Im getting fed up (and broke) from having to pay for these every term!!:mad:

D4RK ONION

mumof2 wrote: »

Are these compulsory - ie part of the curriculum? Im getting fed up (and broke) from having to pay for these every term!!:mad:

Well music, PE (dance) and drama ARE a part of the curriculum, but you shouldn't be have to be paying extra towards them to my knowledge? All teachers should be able to teach 'em. I'm not sure though, could be entirely wrong.

byhookorbycrook

All of the above would be part of the curriculum, so you should not have to pay if they are done during school hours. In some schools, no teacher may feel confident to teach dance and so an outside teacher might be brought in. The DES don't like it though.

mumof2

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

All of the above would be part of the curriculum, so you should not have to pay if they are done during school hours. In some schools, no teacher may feel confident to teach dance and so an outside teacher might be brought in. The DES don't like it though.

Ok, its probably a case of not enough teachers in the school (only about 80 pupils and 3 teachers) but, still why should we parents have to pay for something which is part of the curriculum? I can understand if none of the teachers within the school are musical or sporty that they need to obtain outside help, but shouldn't the school be paying for it not us?

They don't even have PE, just tin whistle, ceili and swimming are the ones we have to pay for.

Who could give me the right info on this, as Id like to find out more about my rights as a parent v the school!

Thanks

Insect Overlord

Dance and Aquatics are just two strands from the P.E. curriculum. The class should be getting other P.E. experiences over the course of the year as well.

pooch90

Couldn't you just tell the principal you don't want the child taking part and opt them out of these activities?

D4RK ONION

mumof2 wrote: »

Who could give me the right info on this, as Id like to find out more about my rights as a parent v the school!

Thanks

Your child should be receiving a full rounded education, as per our curriculum. These are viewable on the net, and you can get an idea of what your child should be taught day to day.

Music

Drama

PE

byhookorbycrook

"Shouldn't the school pay for this?"

Schools are grossly underfunded, so the school paying for it means that parents will end up paying one way or another.What do the parents' assoc think?

mumof2

There isn't a parents association - only a board of management which consists of the parish priest and 2 other parents - one of whom doesn't even know if he is still on the board:rolleyes:

Telling the principle isnt an option in my opinion unless I have backup of other parents or concrete evidence that I (and other parents) are being charged over the top for the school curriculum activities. (government funded or not).

Thanks for the links D4RK ONION.

Appreciate opinions everyone.:)

byhookorbycrook

Every school should have a parents' assoc. Maybe this could be the catalyst to start one?Parents are equal partners in education and need to have a voice. In our school, we swop for different classes, so the teachers who are excellent at music (every child learns a trad instrument from senior infts up) takes music.Some of our teachers are excellent at gymnastics, again,teachers swop.

That said, tinwhistle isn't rocket science, once you can bang out Fáinne Gheal an Lae, you could keep pace up to second class at the very least.

D4RK ONION

Yeah, I'm really surprised none of the teachers in the school can play a bit of tin whistle. I'm pretty sure everyone and there dog can play that thing in Clare (for better or for worse :P)

mumof2

I might suggest it to the principal about starting up a parents association and try and bring it in a positive way to her (eg suggest that we can do school funding which is not being done at all for this school in any shape or form, except via the community funding - threshings etc), or she may just turn around and say there aren't enough numbers in the school to facilitate one....Im being negative about her, but she hasn't exactly been a pillar of support towards me and my special needs children either but thats another story........

I will try and do some extra research on parents associations and running one, altho I seriousely doubt I'd have the extra time.......but one can only try.

Thanks again for ideas.:)

waster81

mumof2 wrote: »

Ok, its probably a case of not enough teachers in the school (only about 80 pupils and 3 teachers) but, still why should we parents have to pay for something which is part of the curriculum? I can understand if none of the teachers within the school are musical or sporty that they need to obtain outside help, but shouldn't the school be paying for it not us?

They don't even have PE, just tin whistle, ceili and swimming are the ones we have to pay for.

Who could give me the right info on this, as Id like to find out more about my rights as a parent v the school!

Thanks

For god sake absolute sick and tired of the attitude of people always looking o blame somebody.

Its not the principals fault you have to pay for swimming, thats the department of education that dont provide enough funds, guess some would want the teachers to pay for it.

And teaching the tin whistle is not obligatory, so if you dont want your child to learn how to play it then dont pay for it.

Ceili is also not obligatory dance is which encompasses a wider range of dance. If you dont want your child doing it dont pay for it.

I doubt they arent doing any pe im sure your just lumping that in to add weight to your argument.

You could always give up your free time to teach tin whistle if you feel that strong about it.

But I guess you expect somebody else to do that as well

E.T.

mumof2 wrote: »

Ok, its probably a case of not enough teachers in the school (only about 80 pupils and 3 teachers) but, still why should we parents have to pay for something which is part of the curriculum? I can understand if none of the teachers within the school are musical or sporty that they need to obtain outside help, but shouldn't the school be paying for it not us?

They don't even have PE, just tin whistle, ceili and swimming are the ones we have to pay for.

Who could give me the right info on this, as Id like to find out more about my rights as a parent v the school!

Thanks

You've got things a bit confused there - aquatics is one of the strands of the PE curriculum. When schools take children swimming they are covering this strand. Other strands (games, athletics, dance, gymnastics, outdoor and adventure activities) are usually covered when the swimming lessons are over. You can have a look here and see what's included in the curriculum if you like:
http://www.curriculumonline.ie/en/Primary_School_Curriculum/Physical_Education/Physical_Education_Curriculum/

Schools technically don't have to take children for swimming lessons, to be honest, I think most teachers would be happy not to. It's a huge responsibility regarding child safety in many ways. Aquatics is a full strand, but if there is no pool near a school then they just teach the theory aspects of it.

Regarding your question about the school paying for swimming, tin-whistle etc, a lot of schools can barely pay the electricity bill at this stage. There have been so many cutbacks in the last few years that schools are really struggling. Many teachers buy a lot of their own classroom materials themselves. I completely agree that it's ridiculous that the Department has swimming as part of the curriculum when they don't fund it in any way. If you don't want your child taking part, just say so.

mumof2

E.T. wrote: »

You've got things a bit confused there - aquatics is one of the strands of the PE curriculum. When schools take children swimming they are covering this strand. Other strands (games, athletics, dance, gymnastics, outdoor and adventure activities) are usually covered when the swimming lessons are over. You can have a look here and see what's included in the curriculum if you like:
http://www.curriculumonline.ie/en/Primary_School_Curriculum/Physical_Education/Physical_Education_Curriculum/

Schools technically don't have to take children for swimming lessons, to be honest, I think most teachers would be happy not to. It's a huge responsibility regarding child safety in many ways. Aquatics is a full strand, but if there is no pool near a school then they just teach the theory aspects of it.

Regarding your question about the school paying for swimming, tin-whistle etc, a lot of schools can barely pay the electricity bill at this stage. There have been so many cutbacks in the last few years that schools are really struggling. Many teachers buy a lot of their own classroom materials themselves. I completely agree that it's ridiculous that the Department has swimming as part of the curriculum when they don't fund it in any way. If you don't want your child taking part, just say so.

I think the swimming lessons is a fantastic strand in the PE curriculum. I just wish the school did PE once or twice a week instead of just 6 - 10 weeks in the year.

Its not that I don't want them taking part, its that I can't afford to pay the lessons every term!!:(



@ waster81 :

If your referring to post no 4 I refer to the school as being government funded - so nowhere was I blaming the principal!!!

I wouldn't expect the teachers to pay for anything, I am an SNA myself, and when I worked I brought in stuff myself for the children as I knew it would benefit the class and the child in question.

Re Tin Whistle classes - I may just do that if the bills keep coming in the way they do, however I think of the child first, not my wallet. If the child wants to keep learning it, then I wont upset them because of not being able to pay for it.

Re Ceili dancing lessons, the same applies.

As I have 2 SN children myself, I havn't the time to start off a parents association - I could however find time to be on the association if I knew it would help raise funding for the school.

And no I don't EXPECT people to do anything, I EXPECT to do things myself to sort matters out. I have learned the hard way (on behalf of my kids) that we have to fight for everything in this country. And it shouldn't be that way for our children.

waster81

You obviously have an issue with the principal because in your mind she didnt support you.

You said you were fed up of paying for the items, yet now its you child happiness you're looking after.

One of your statements had " want to know my rights"

How long has your child been in the school, and a parents association has been opened or you havent raised it until now.

The majority of people teaching children end up spending a lot of money out of their own pockets to resource their classrooms

Either pay for it or explain to your child that you cant afford both, something has to give.

mumof2

waster81 wrote: »

You obviously have an issue with the principal because in your mind she didnt support you.

You said you were fed up of paying for the items, yet now its you child happiness you're looking after.

One of your statements had " want to know my rights"

How long has your child been in the school, and a parents association has been opened or you havent raised it until now.

The majority of people teaching children end up spending a lot of money out of their own pockets to resource their classrooms

Either pay for it or explain to your child that you cant afford both, something has to give.

Yes, I have an issue with the principal, but you must have also read that that was another story, and it does not refer to the issue at hand about the tin whistle/ceili lessons having to be paid for by parents.

Of course Im after my childrens happiness - I wouldn't be a good mother otherwise. If I were rich, then I wouldn't even be here having a discussion.

The children are with this school 4 years, pls rephrase your second part to the question as Im not sure I understand what it is you wish to explain.

Again, a choice I shouldn't have to make, but I guess with all the cutbacks our children once again suffer because parents cant afford it, or go into debt to keep them happy....

Before this goes out of hand... let me end this alltogether by saying:

Where is all the tax money going to if not into the Education of our children....

(Again another story........:D)

Thanks to everyone for your replies and pointing me in the right direction with links etc. Much appreciated.