Courses Archive

Note: This workshop is sold as bundle of 3 live events, by purchasing now you get access to the upcoming live events but also a recording of past events in this workshop. This way if you have already missed an event in this workshop or you don’t think you will have time for a future event you can still watch the recording and get the full benefit of this great workshop.

The impact of poor behaviour can be extremely damaging. It is  important to understand the benefits of behaviour regulation on learning, attainment, relationships and wellbeing, in addition to exploring the underlying factors creating the difficulties. Using a controlled and positive response and approach is more effective and longer lasting on children, young people, which will be explored in depth during this series. Attendees will learn to apply preventative, reactive and connection based strategies in practice and determine underlying factors of behaviour in children and young people. Teachers and parents will benefit greatly from this webinar series to create a harmonious home and classroom. 

Thursday 23rd September at 7 pm

Workshop 1: Behaviour Management Strategies that Work – Foundations of Behaviour

What you will learn:

• The importance of managing behaviour
• How to become a  behaviour detective
• Identify the building blocks of behaviour
• The role of emotions in influencing behaviour 

Thursday 30th September at 7pm

Workshop 2: Behaviour Management Strategies that Work – The role of relationships in behaviour management

What you will learn:

• The role of relationships and attachments on behaviour
• Using language to regulate behaviour
• Repairing and restoring relationships using simple techniques
• How teachers should work with parents  
• Recognising the impact on self  

Thursday 7th October at 7pm

Workshop 3: Behaviour Management Strategies that Work – In-the-moment strategies to manage behaviour

What you will learn:

• Emotion Coaching
• Systems of regulation
• When and when not to intervene in regulating behaviour    

What do children need for healthy development? Science shows that the essential ingredients haven’t changed for many millennia but – with the advance of human culture, and especially its rapid acceleration over the last half century), these ingredients can no longer be taken for granted. 'Toxic Childhood: how the modern world is damaging our children and what we can do about it' was first published in 2006, and updated in 2016. It was described in the Times Educational Supplement as ‘a super child-rearing manual, founded in science and bolstered by much reading, a lot of interviews and, most importantly perhaps, a long career in education.’

In this webinar, Sue Palmer will discuss how changes in children’s lifestyles can affect long-term health, well-being and resilience – and what parents, carers and teachers can do to promote childhood well-being in a 21st century world.

Presenter Bio:

Sue Palmer, a former primary headteacher, is a literacy specialist and author of books on child development, notably 'Toxic Childhood', '21st Century Boys' and '21st Century Girls'. Research for 'Upstart: the case for raising the school starting age and providing what the under-sevens really need' (Floris, 2016) inspired the Upstart Scotland campaign (www.upstart.scot) During a long career as a freelance literacy specialist she wrote over 250 books, software programs and TV scripts on various aspects of literacy, and many hundreds of articles for the educational and national press. She has also provided courses for teachers throughout the UK and around the world, and acted as a consultant to the National Literacy Trust, the Basic Skills Agency, the Department for Education and the BBC. In recent years, Sue was Chair of the Scottish Play Commission, served on the Scottish Government’s Early Years Task Force and is now Chair of Upstart Scotland. She is thrilled to be listed in Who’s Who and Debrett’s People of Today as a 'childhood campaigner' and has twice been named among the 40 most influential educationists in London, which gives her particular pleasure as she lives in Edinburgh.

This webinar is suitable for Post Primary Teachers of Geography, Civics, Science and Economics, as well as anyone teaching or coordinating Transition Year

• A teachers toolkit, packed with exercises to foster awareness, debate, and action projects.
• Teacher training on the use of the toolkit and on critical themes connected to climate change and global citizenship.
• In-school workshops.

 This information session will tell you more about our programme, and introduce some effective strategies from our toolkit that you can use instantly in your classes.

Global Action Plan aims to create sustainable communities across Ireland by empowering people to take practical action for a more sustainable world. Global Action Plan is part of GAP International – a global network of organisations in over 27 countries. By focusing on environmental behaviour change, GAP programmes empower individuals to change their long-term consumption habits with sustainable living tools and programmes.

Alex strongly believes in the power of education to shape a fairer, greener world. He draws on thirteen years' experience in formal and non-formal education to create positive, learner-centred environments that engage and stimulate students and trainees. In 2017-2018, he designed and delivered training for 200 Lebanese teachers in a back-to-school programme for Syrian children, an experience he drew on for his masters thesis in international and comparative education from Stockholm University in 2020. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and word games.

DATE:       Thursday, 23 September, Thursday, 7 October, Thursday, 4 November & Thursday, 18 November 2021
TIME:        6pm to 7pm (4 x 1 hour sessions)
VENUE:    Online - Zoom

This Webinar Series is suitable for Primary and Post Primary SNAs  

Dyspraxia/DCD affects approximately 1-in-10 children in Ireland. Dyspraxia/DCD impacts each child uniquely with areas impacted including gross and fine motor skills, balance, sensory regulation, balance, co-ordination and executive function. 

This 4-webinar module aims to provide SNAs with a greater understanding of dyspraxia/DCD, how it may impact children and what we can do to meet these needs.
This module will review ideas, skills and strategies to help meet the needs of children with Dyspraxia/DCD in the school setting. 

Areas to be covered across the 4 webinars include understanding of Dyspraxia/DCD, Fine motor and handwriting, gross motor and co-ordination, attention and organisation and sensory processing and self-regulation. 

Webinar 1 - Thursday, 23 September 2021

This webinar is the first of four webinars. This webinar will provide an introduction to Dyspraxia/DCD and aims to provide SNAs with a greater understanding of the lives of children with Dyspraxia/DCD.  This webinar also looks at how Dyspraxia/DCD can affect children in a variety of ways and how these factors may affect these children in the classroom. In this webinar there will be a focus on how Dyspraxia/DCD affects fine motor skills and practical strategies and ideas for helping children with handwriting difficulties.

Areas to be covered include: Defining and understanding DCD, The potential impacts of Dyspraxia/DCD can have for children, the importance of knowing each child, fine motor considerations and handwriting ideas and strategies.

Learning objectives

By the end of the webinar:

• Participants will have a greater understanding of Dyspraxia/DCD and the varying impacts it may have on children’s school and occupational performance
• Participants will have developed tools to help inclusively meet students with Dyspraxia’s fine motor and handwriting needs in the school setting.
• Participants will have a knowledge of a number of strategies and techniques to aid the student with Dyspraxia/DCD in the classroom setting

Webinar 2 - Thursday, 7 October 2021

This webinar is the second of four webinars. This webinar will focus on the impact dyspraxia/DCD can have on children’s co-ordination and balance as well as strategies and ideas to help develop these areas. There will be a focus on practical and implementable gross motor skills development strategies in the classroom.  This webinar also looks at the importance of movement and brain breaks throughout the school day as well as how mindfulness and self-care strategies.

Areas to be covered include: Balance and co-ordination, gross motor skills, the importance of movement breaks and practical mindfulness strategies.

Learning objectives

By the end of the webinar:

• Participants will have a greater understanding of the physical impacts Dyspraxia/DCD may have on children’s school and occupational performance
• Participants will have developed strategies to inclusively and practically meet the gross motor needs of children in the school setting.
• Participants will have a knowledge of a number of brain and movement breaks to help meet the sensory needs of the children they are working with.

Webinar 3 - Thursday, 4 November 2021

This webinar is the third of four webinars. This webinar will focus on the impact dyspraxia/DCD can have on children’s organisation and planning as well as strategies and ideas to help develop these areas. Participants will develop their understanding of executive functioning. There will be a focus on practical and implementable of the co-op approach and the benefits of the strategy for children with dyspraxia/DCD. This webinar also looks at the importance of positive self-image and developing a growth mindset.  

Areas to be covered include: Cognition and attention, Organisation skills and strategies, Executive functioning, The Co-Op approach and developing a growth mindset.  

Learning objectives

By the end of the webinar:

• Participants will have a greater understanding of theimpacts Dyspraxia/DCD may have on children’s organisation and planning in the school environment.
• Participants will have developed strategies to inclusively and practically help children engage with the co-op approach to develop planning and organisation.
• Participants will have a knowledge of the importance of positive self image for children with dyspraxia/DCD and how growth mindset can be a starting point for developing this.

Webinar 4 - Thursday, 18 November 2021

This webinar is the fourth of four webinars. This webinar will focus on the impact dyspraxia/DCD can have on children’s self-image and experience of the world. Participants will develop their understanding the importance of children developing self-awareness as a foundational skill. There will be a focus on understanding of our feelings and developing self-regulation strategies. This webinar also looks at the importance sensory processing and integration. With a final recap on the module also.

Areas to be covered include: The importance of developing self-awareness as a foundational skill, understanding of our feelings and developing self-regulation, the changes in our senses and sensory processing and integration and a recap on the module.

Learning objectives

By the end of the webinar:

• Participants will have a greater understanding of the impacts Dyspraxia/DCD may have on children’s self-image and self-awareness.
• Participants will have developed strategies to inclusively and practically help children understand their emotions and self-regulation.
• Participants will have a knowledge of the importance of sensory processing and self-regulation for children with sensory processing difficulties.

Tutor: Stephen Hodnett

Stephen is a qualified occupational therapist and primary school teacher with over 10 years’ experience in the classroom, working in both mainstream and SEN settings. Stephen has worked with Dyspraxia/DCD Ireland and their members in recent times, including the development of the ‘Our say in our schools’ resource for schools by children with Dyspraxia/DCD.

When we think about learning, we generally focus on getting information ‘in’ to student’s heads. We as teachers might lecture, show videos, encourage note taking. Students often try to study by re-reading, highlighting, and reviewing their notes. In both situations, the focus is on getting information ‘in’.

Retrieval practice is a classroom strategy in which students are deliberately asked to pull knowledge ‘out’ and examine what they know. It is the struggle/challenge of ‘retrieving’ this information that strengthens their learning. The act of trying to pull information ‘out’ also helps students identify gaps in their own learning.

In this webinar, Lee will look at practical exercises that help embed this idea of retrieval practice in Junior Cycle classrooms.

Lee will walk-through and share 50+ retrieval practice exercises and templates that are not subject specific and can be adapted to multiple subjects. The aim of webinar is to practically demonstrate how retrieval practice can be implemented into day-to-day lessons and across schemes of work in a Junior Cycle environment.

Bio of Presenter: Lee O’Donnell

Lee O’Donnell is a teacher of Geography & History at Woodbrook College in Wicklow & LC History content creator for Exam Revision. He runs the Leaving Certificate podcast ‘Skin in the Game’. He has delivered retrieval practice lectures alongside the UCD School of Education.

In recent years, the role of the substitute teacher has been become one of the most important in the Irish education system. As a NQT, you may have the opportunity to go out and sub in a range of schools. This webinar aims to inform NQTs on the ins and outs of subbing and how to put your best foot forward in a subbing role. The content of this webinar will include approaching schools, staying organised, your sub bag, last minute planning, building school relationships and more.

Bio of Presenter: Adam Barrett 

My name is Adam Barrett and I am a qualified primary school teacher from County Kerry, currently teaching in County Cork. I qualified from the Bachelor of Education programme in Mary Immaculate College in 2019 and have spent the last 2 years working as a Special Education Teacher, as well as a substitute teacher. I also run the Instagram page 'Mister Múinteoir' @mister_muinteoir_ , where I share ideas, information, resources and support for student teachers and NQTs.

Webinar One - 21st September @7.00pm

Introduction to Universal Design for Learning in the Irish school system 

• Overview of the UDL Framework
• Implementing the UDL Framework.
• Role of the Teacher in UDL
• Role of the Student in UDL

Webinar Two - 28th September @7.00pm

Harnessing the Power of everyday technology to create UDL learning environments

• Teaching through Technology
• Using Microsoft Office 365
• Using Assistive technology

Webinar Three - 5th October @7.00pm

Embedding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in whole School Practice

• UDL Implementation process for whole school practice
• Roles and responsibilities in a UDL environment
• Assessment Practices

Bio of Presenter: Jean Reale

Jean Reale is a Technology Enhanced Learning Designer in Mary Immaculate College Limerick. Jean has over 25 years’ experience working in technology enhanced learning, specialising in assistive technology. Jean is a PhD candidate in Trinity College Dublin her area of research is ‘Creating Universally Designed online learning environments to support all learners’

In this series of Webinars we will examine how to explicitly and systematically teach children to write. We will look at the major text types that are constantly used in the curriculum.  Teachers will be shown how to break down the teaching of writing into small and manageable chunks and then link this directly to the development of oral language. We will develop a metalanguage for the teaching of writing that can then be carried across to a whole school approach and be represented in a scope and sequence of writing. We will look at the assessment of writing using a success criteria that will show teachers how to build their teaching/learning program in writing.

This webinar will:

• Break down the planning process into steps which can be used quickly and efficiently in collaborative settings yet provides for flexibility in approach
• Provide materials to allow you to plan confidently by yourself or with your faculty
• Illustrate a clear method to ensure that planning addresses all learning outcomes for Junior Cycle English
• Demonstrate how effective planning helps ensure a good quality of teaching and learning with less stress, for both teacher and student, for CBA 1, CBA 2 and the Final Assessment

 Bio of Presenters: Fiona Kirwan & Edel O'Donovan

Fiona Kirwan

Edel O'Donovan

Fiona Kirwan and Edel O’Donovan are the authors of Dive In and Take the Plunge. They have accumulated between them approximately 60 years’ experience in the classroom!  Fiona served on the INOTE executive for a number of years and has worked for the NCCA on Junior Cycle English material

DATE:      Monday, 20 September 2021  
TIME:       5:30 to 6:30pm
VENUE:   Zoom

Experiencing anxiety can be debilitating for a child when the fear of being disconnected from their primary attachment figure becomes so great that in a bid to avoid it, their world dramatically shrinks. They may become unable to go on play dates, participate in extracurricular activities or even attend school.

A child experiencing anxiety is operating from the emotional centre of the brain - logic and reason are inaccessible. To counteract the effect the anxiety has, a parent must first connect with their child and then continue to relate through an attuned and sensitive relationship to re-engage the reasoning part of the child’s brain. This is easier said than done!

Parenting an anxious child with such a need for attachment can be stressful, frustrating and heart breaking in equal measure. It can be difficult to imagine them ever transitioning from worrier to warrior.

This introductory workshop will support parents to
- Understand anxiety and the impact it has on a child’s way of being
- Respond to those anxieties in a child centered, playful way
- Learn strategies to re-create a secure base from which the child can explore the world
- Explore how anxiety can lead to school refusal

Epilepsy Ireland will host an Information Evening for teachers and Special needs assistants online on Monday 13^th May and Monday 20^th September from 4.30pm to 6pm. Community Resource Officer, Kathryn Foley will speak about epilepsy related issues in school, including types of seizures, first aid, triggers, activities and how to manage seizures in the school environment.

This event is suitable for all staff dealing with students with epilepsy in both primary and secondary schools.

There is no charge but it is essential that you pre-book your places online at www.edcentretralee.ie

For further information please contact Kathryn at 064-6630301 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

While separation anxiety is a normal part of development, it becomes problematic when the symptoms; fear of being alone, fear of abandonment, somatic complaints, and worry about atrocities; hinders the child’s normal day to day living (Eisen & Schaefer; 2005.) In essence the child begins to fear the fear itself.

When a child’s fear causes her nervous system to be preoccupied with remaining safe and avoiding threat, she cannot attend to the here and now. Her survival brain is engaged and access to her learning brain is impeded. Out of fear of the consequences of separation from their attachment figure, children experiencing this may refuse to participate in play activities or even attend school (Choate et al, 2005).

Wipfler and Schore state that when a child feels connected and protected her limbic system can do a very important job; it can coordinate communication between all parts of the brain (2016). The learning brain re-engages. With a response that is rooted in connection within a structured and predictable environment, an anxious child can be supported to find the inner warrior within the worrier.

This workshop will support participants to
- Understand anxiety and the impact it has on the way a child operated within the school environment
- Respond to those anxieties in child centered, playful way – empowering the child to externalise and manage their fear
- Use classroom management strategies to create an environment and atmosphere that promotes calm
- Explore how anxiety can lead to school refusal

Learning Intentions:

• Participants will learn what is meant by narratives
• Participants will understand the importance of narratives as a foundation for literacy
• Participants will learn strategies for supporting narrative language in monolingual and multilingual children

Presenting a series of in-school workshops for students
Hosted by Marie Sweeney Khalifa M.Ed., The Educoach, a fully-trained, highly-qualified, life, education, and mindset coach/mentor, who empowers success in Life and Education.

Session 1: Setting Goals

These sessions ensure students get the best results in their education and exams. Coming from a background in education, I am fully aware of the physical, mental & emotional stress and pressure students are under to achieve their desired results. Therefore, this programme helps to keep exam years as simplified and effective, for the student, as possible. Students achieve their desired results through having clear, long, and short-term goals, a balanced routine, motivation to achieve their desired results, and the ability to plan both efficiently and effectively. The sessions take place online or in-person and are strictly confidential.

 THIS WEBINAR IS NOW AT FULL CAPACITY AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING REGISTRATION AT THE MOMENT.

Study & Careers director, Fidelma Healy Eames, is delighted to announce she will be live-streaming an interview with popular children’s author, David Walliams into Irish primary classrooms on Monday September 20th at 10am, in collaboration with the Education Support Centres of Ireland.

‘Irish children asked me to see if we could book David for an #InspiringIreland #InspiringStudents interview and I’m delighted to say he has said yes! He has even promised to read aloud for children and has kindly offered to do a separate interview for second-level students. How great is that!

In the meantime, we all have homework to do to be ready for this exciting interview! There are two things you need to do right away (i) book your slot asap via your local Education Centre and (ii) email me questions you would like me to ask David about his books to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or tweet your questions to the Study and Careers twitter handle @educate_talent Don’t forget to use the #InspiringIreland #InspiringStudents hashtag.

Special Guest: David Walliams

David Walliams OBE (born 20 August 1971) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. Multi-talented, he is also a very well-known writer of children's books, having sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
In 2008 David published his first children’s book ‘The Boy in the Dress’, illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake selling over one million copies. Since then, he has published 29 further books, including 9 picture books. A series of best-selling books have followed, many of which have been staged or televised, such as ‘Mr Stink’, ‘Gangsta Granny’, ’The Boy in the Dress' and ‘Grandpa’s Great Escape’. So far his books have been translated into 53 languages and have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. In 2017 David was awarded an OBE for his services to charity and the arts.

Each session will include pragmatic strategies for use with learners.

 Session 1 

Dyscalculia and Mathematical Learning Difficulties.

Factors that contribute to learning difficulties in math.

Session 2

The foundations. 

Developing number sense and operation sense. Place value.

Strategies for accessing (and understanding) the basic addition and subtraction facts.

Session 3

Addition and subtraction. Inter-linking the operations.

Session 4

 Multiplication facts. Rote learning and alternative strategies. An introduction to developmental teaching.

 'Long' multiplication and division, traditional and non-traditional methods.

Session 5

How math develops. From the basics to algebra.

Word problems. The Singapore model method

Session 6

Fractions, decimals, percentages.

Session 7

The affective domain

Expectations, beliefs, fear of negative evaluation. Anxiety

Self-esteem. Self-concept. Self-efficacy

Attributional style

Session 8

Diagnosis and Assessment. 

1. Informal clinical diagnostic procedures.

2. Tests of basic facts.

3. A 15-minute standardised math test. Standardised and criterion referenced tests.

4. Error patterns.   

5. A math anxiety questionnaire

6. Short term memory. Working memory.

7. Cognitive style in math.

8. A dyscalculia checklist

Each section/topic in the course will demonstrate the use of appropriately matched. visual images and materials. This is a pragmatic course, but it is based on research and experience.

Publications from SC

• ‘Mathematics for Dyslexics and Dyscalculics. A Teaching Handbook’ 4th edn. S Chinn and JR Ashcroft. Wiley
• ‘The Trouble with Maths. A practical guide to helping learners with numeracy difficulties’ 4th edn Steve Chinn. Routledge
• ‘More Trouble with Maths. A complete manual to identifying and diagnosing mathematical difficulties’ 3rd edn Steve Chinn. Routledge
• ‘Numicon. Big Ideas’ with Fiona Goddard and Liz Henning. OUP
• The Routledge International Handbook of Dyscalculia and Mathematical Learning Difficulties. Edited by Steve Chinn
• ‘How to Teach Maths. Understanding Learners’ Needs’ Steve Chinn. Routledge
• ‘Maths Explained’ A collection of online video tutorials

Presenter Biography: Steve Chinn

Steve Chinn, PhD FRSA, is a visiting professor at the University of Derby, UK.

His first experience of teaching maths was as a Doctoral student at the University of Leeds where he taught ‘A’ level maths to first year food science undergraduates, who had failed to pass this exam at school. That was a long time ago!

His first post as a teacher was in Somerset, where he taught maths, statistics, chemistry and physics. He subsequently became a Head of Physics and then Head of the Maths and Science Faculty at a comprehensive school.

In 1981 he was appointed as Head of a new secondary school for dyslexic boys, where he found that dyslexia seemed to impact significantly on the way students learned, and often failed to learn, maths. This was the start of Steve’s fascination with maths learning difficulties and how to address them. He continues to be a pioneer in this field.

During a year as visiting Head of a specialist school in the USA, he studied special education at the Johns Hopkins University and co-authored ‘The Test of Cognitive Style in Mathematics’.

He returned to the UK in 1986 to set up his own secondary school for dyslexic students. This school won several awards, including ‘Highly Effective School’ and ‘Beacon School’ status from the Department of Education and the ‘Award for Excellence’ from the Independent Schools’ Association. The school is now a part of the Priory Group.

During this time Steve continued to research, write and lecture about maths learning difficulties. One of his books, ‘The Trouble with Maths’ won the Times Educational Supplement award for ‘Books for Teaching and Learning' and remains a best seller in its second edition. He compiled and edited the ‘Routledge International Handbook on Mathematical Learning Difficulties and Dyscalculia’ (2015) with 31 chapters from leading experts from around the world.

'The Trouble with Maths' went into 3rd edition in 2017 and 'More Trouble with Maths' tests and procedures for diagnosing dyscalculia) went into 2nd edition in 2017

He has lectured on maths learning difficulties and presented teacher training in over thirty countries. In 2013 he provided five days of consultancy for the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Steve has won a number of awards, including the Marion Welchman Award for international work on dyslexia the Lady Radnor Award for services to dyslexia.

Steve’s online resources for the Times Education Supplement received over 100 000 views and over 55 000 downloads. His webinar for Dyslexic Advantage has had 20,000 views.

It has been the research, teaching and listening experiences with students who have difficulties with learning maths that has convinced him that by working with them we can discover so much about how all children can learn maths more effectively.

Please note the same link will be used to access each Zoom session.