Five-Minute Marvels: How an Irish Medium school delivered the curriculum during COVID

Parental Engagement Supporting Learning Primary Northern Ireland

25 March 2021

The staff at Gaelscoil na gCrann recognise the big commitment parents make in opting for an Irish Medium education for their children. When lockdown came, they worked hard to deliver the same standard of teaching – only virtually.

Who are they?

Gaelscoil na gCrann is an Irish Medium primary school near Omagh. It opened in 2006 and now has around 190 pupils and 20 staff members. The school has been successful at a national level in drama, music, and STEM competitions.

It is a relatively new and fast-growing school, and staff understand that an Irish Medium education is a big commitment for parents and pupils. As a result, effective communication has always been vital, and they’ve built a school community by engaging and supporting parents, so that they do not feel isolated, and are kept informed and reassured about their child’s education. Parents report that the school has engaged with them from the outset.

What was the problem?

When lockdown hit in March 2020, teachers realised that their students would be away from an Irish Medium context from March to September, which could seriously impact upon their linguistic development. At the same time, they recognised that many parents were working from home or had other commitments, and would therefore not be able to participate fulltime in their children’s education, particularly through the medium of Irish. They had to consider how to provide a broad curriculum experience without putting undue pressure on parents. Parents also needed to be provided with structured support and resources so that their children could learn with a certain degree of independence. It was a challenge, but one that Gaelscoil na gCrann stepped up to.

What was the solution?

An online learning system was going to be vital to engage with the children on a regular basis, to ‘be there’ for pupils, to support parents, and ensure a structured, holistic approach to curriculum delivery. Throughout lockdown, from the first Monday, teachers let parents know that work packages for pupils were available online in Google Classrooms. The school made daily provision for lessons in literacy, phonics, mental maths, numeracy, the ‘World Around Us’ etc. and for PE once a week.

We provided laptops and iPads for families during lockdown to ensure that the lack of technology was not a hindrance to anyone. Day-to-day learning resource packs were also provided for each child: whiteboards, calculators, clocks etc. which would also be required for them to continue with their learning while at home.

Deirdre Nic Cionnaith, Principal

Teachers had regular contact and engagement with their pupils, holding Google Meets twice a week, and listening to children read every day. They used a range of available resources (such as An tÁisaonad’s LéighAnois and CCEA’s Taisce Tuisceana) to develop pupils’ linguistic skills, and created their own resources such as sound files to read all the texts, helping pupils with tricky vocabulary by providing it in English where necessary.

Staff were always reachable during the school day to deal with parents’ and pupils’ emails and queries. The Principal also kept in touch, via calls with keyworker parents and the parents of children with SEN who needed additional support during lockdown.

In Summary

Gaelscoil na gCrann swiftly took on the challenges of COVID-19, appreciated that parents needed to be given structured support and resources to support their children, and as a result, they’ve had very positive feedback from parents on how quickly they responded to the COVID emergency. They maintained great engagement, effective communication, and provided for curriculum delivery without pressuring parents.

With thanks to Principal Deirdre Nic Cionnaith, and the staff, parents, and pupils of Gaelscoil na gCrann.