Congratulations to all of the participants who recently completed their training. It was piloted by DDLETB Blanchardstown and Fingal Adult Education Service in conjunction with Dublin Regional Skills from 27th May to 5th July 2019.

What Is The Explore Initiative?

Companies from across the Fingal area were approached with a view to releasing some of their employees to undertake a course to improve their digital skills. The participants came from a cross-section of the manufacturing sector to include the food sector, pharmaceutical, chemical, tool and sign fabrication.

This was the first time most of the participants had engaged in an educational initiative since leaving school and the aim was to help them see how different and how positive the Adult Education experience could be.

The training ran over a series of six day-long training sessions, with two of those sessions being offsite.

Prior to engaging in the Explore Initiative participants completed a self-assessment of their IT skills and they then completed the same assessment post engagement.

All participants were extremely happy and the confidence they gained in their IT skills was evident when showcasing their projects. The employers and managers were extremely impressed with the programme and the outcome. Having a laptop to continue their practice at home and in work reaped huge benefits for the participants and enabled them to become confident in their new skills and work on their projects.

Congratulations to all the participants on their hardwork and the skills they gained through the program.

The Explore Initiative Team

Congratulations to the tutors, organisers and support staff who worked with the participants on this great program.

Sharon Hennessy – Adult Education Officer

Nuala Nedjati – Workplace Education Co-ordinator

Christina Keating – Co-ordinator and tutor

Grace Corrigan – Tutor

Helen Wylie – Tutor

Phil Allen – Health and Wellbeing/ILPs

Career Guidance – Eoin McCabe

Admin – Catherine Leonard

We are delighted to have a bi-lingual guest post from Evelyn Ni Raghailll of Coláiste na Tulchann, the Aonad in Luttrellstown CC. The school is celebrating the end of their first year. 

Learn achieve succeed – Ag foghlaim go rathúil chun go n-éireoidh linn

Mar a deir an seanfhocal – Tús maith, leath na hoibre. Fíoraíodh fís faoi dheireadh ag tús na scoilbhliana seo agus tar éis obair chrua an phobail anseo i mBÁC15 tá oideachas ar fáil trí mheán na Gaeilge ar leac an dorais. Níl CNT ar an bhfód ach le bliain anuas agus tionchar suntasach le brath ní amháin i measc phobal na máthairscoile, Coláiste Pobail Bhaile Lotrail, ach i measc an phobail anseo i mBÁC15.

Mar chuid den chomhoibriú leis an mháthairscoil d’fhreastail daltaí na chéad bhliana ar an nGaeltacht agus cuireadh foireann iománaíochta chun páirce den chéad uair. Sciob daltaí Choláiste na Tulchann gradaim sa treodóireacht, sa rugbaí agus imríonn siad tionchar ar choistí éagsúla na scoile. Ghlacamar páirt i gcuriarracht Comhrá18, comórtais agus imeachtaí Sheachtain na Gaeilge agus ba é an chéad uair gur ghlac scoil iomlán páirt ar an ardán ag Scléip’19 ! Thapaíomar deiseanna chun nascadh leis an bpobal Gaelach anseo i mBÁC15, m.sh. le leabharlann Bhaile Bhláinséir áit a d’fhreastalaíomar ar cheardlanna agus scéalaíocht i gcaitheamh na bliana. Bímid ag déanamh cumarsáide go rialta ar na meáin thraidisiúnta (agallaimh raidió ar PhoenixFM agus Raidió na Life) agus ag giolcaireacht ar na meáin shóisialta (an leanann sibh muid ar @tulchann go fóill?).

Tá meitheal de mhúinteoirí tiomanta a mhúineann a n-ábhair trí Ghaeilge ag baint leasa as an teicneolaíocht agus na modheolaíochtaí is nuálaí. Oibríonn na daltaí go crua mar ambasadóirí na scoile agus táimid fíor-bhródúil as a ndilseacht agus a ndíograis. Fáilteoimid roimh an dara cóhort ag deireadh an tsamhraidh seo chugainn. Fáiltímid roimh dheiseanna nascanna a chruthú le Gaelcholáistí eile an DDLETB, idir mhúinteoirí agus dhaltaí. Le chéile, is féidir linn.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow – Coláiste na Tulchann is nearing the end of its first year as part of the vibrant, innovative learning community that is Luttrellstown Community College, providing a comprehensive curriculum as Gaeilge to the community of Dublin 15. Coláiste na Tulchann has made its mark both in the mainstream school and the wider community.

Coláiste na Tulchann initiated a joint school trip to the Gaeltacht including students from the mainstream school and fielded a hurling team for the first time. Students from Coláiste na Tulchann ran away with awards in orienteering, rugby and they play important roles on various school committees, e.g. Student Council and Green Schools. We participated in the successful world record attempt at the longest Comhrá18 as Gaeilge, the events of Seachtain na Gaeilge and for the first time in the history of Scléip, an entire school was represented on stage in one act. We took every chance to engage with the community here in Dublin 15 – the team at Blanchardstown library organises regular literary events as Gaeilge. Keep an eye and ear out for us on social media as we have been doing radio interviews on PhoenixFM and Raidio Na Life and celebrating our achievements on Twitter – please follow us on @tulchann! In September we welcome the second cohort of students and are looking to create links with other Gaelcholáistí, both teachers and students, in the DDLETB family. Is féidir linn.

Congratulations to Lucan Community College student Alex Hanley who achieved 4th place on the role of honour in the Irish Mathematical Olympiad and qualifies to compete on the Irish team in the International Maths Olympiad in July. What an achievement!

What is IrMO?

The Irish Mathematical Olympiad (IrMO) is a national mathematics contest for secondary school students. Training for this contest takes place at a number of mathematics enrichment centres around the country:

NUI Galway

Maynooth University

University College Cork

University College Dublin

University of Limerick

The primary aim of the enrichment classes is to cultivate a love and appreciation for mathematics among talented students – this is achieved by giving such students exposure to deeper, more challenging and more interesting mathematical problems than those encountered on the school syllabus. The performance of students in the IrMO is used to identify a team of up to six students who will represent Ireland at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), a prestigious international mathematics competition.

Well done to Alex and his teachers in Lucan Community College. #LearnAchieveSucceed.