A DEIS Initiative for Carndonagh Community School...

The DEAR program at CCS began 16th January 2012.

Why?
There is a wealth of literature (for example, PISA Reports) that supports the contentions that reading can be enjoyable; it is a life-skill; young people need to be motivated to read; attitudes to reading and educational attainment are most successful when there is involvement by parents and teachers as well as the young people – boys are more likely to become engaged and girls are more likely to stay on board! Our literacy focus for the past few years has seen an improvement in spelling and the wide use of subject keywords. We want to expand literacy to include reading for pleasure.

What can parents do?
We ask you to find 10 minutes, once-a-week that you will dedicate to DEAR in your home. Your son/daughter will show you how it works. Please let us know how it is going after it has been practised for a few weeks in your family!

Three Year Plan
The DEIS national action plan for educational inclusion places an increased emphasis on planning at school and cluster level, target-setting, and measurement of progress and outcomes to ensure that investment under the DEIS initiative brings about an improvement in educational outcomes for young people. The focus is outcomes for students rather than inputs by the school - 'what evidence that our interventions are making a difference in our school'.

The Areas Prioritised by DEIS
•Retention
•Attendance
•Literacy
•Numeracy
•Examination attainment
•Educational progression
•Partnership with parents
•Partnership with others — schools, community, external agencies

Core Team (as per DEIS guidelines)
•Principal - Paul Fiorentini
•Deputy Principal/s - John McGuinness/ Owen McConway
•DEIS Co-ordinator - Connell McGrenra
•Guidance Counsellor - Liam Harkin
•JCSP Co-ordinator - Finbarr Gallagher
•LCA Co-ordinator - Jim Neary
•HSCL Co-ordinator - Elaine Meehan
•SCP Co-ordinator - Marie Therese McDaid
•SCP Project Worker - Amanda Harkin
•Special Needs Co-ordinator - Catherine Monagle
•Librarian - John Collins
•Head of Maths - Maire Mathews
•Head of English - Mary O'Kane

DEIS Websites/ Links
DEIS Planning in Second Level Schools - http://www.sdpi.ie/sdpi_resources.html