Mullingar Community College claim ‘Excellence in Education’ award
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Ray Kennedy (host), Colin Whyte (Mullingar Community College), Joe Rayfus (Mullingar Community College and project leader) and Katherine Donnelly (juror and Irish Independent education editor).Image 2 of 2
Staff from Mullingar Community College at Harvard University (from left) Colin Whyte, Sabrina Barry, Joe Rayfus, Shane Dalton, Emma Farrell, Sheila Corcoran, Kevin Hynes, Chloe Dolphin, Debbie Lowe, Antoinette Wims, Jason McKernan and Elvira Zielinska.The ground-breaking work of 12 Mullingar Community College staff was recognised when they collected the national ‘Excellence in Education’ award at the inaugural ETB awards in Croke Park last Thursday.
Mullingar Community College’s ‘Boston Professional Learning Tour’ project was named among a group of five shortlisted nominations that also included the ETB Inclusion Coaches: Provision Mapping Initiative; Thomond Community College’s ‘Leading Learning, Teaching and Inclusion’ programme; Kerry ETB’s UDL Champions Project; and Shane Fallon’s project with Kilkenny and Carlow ETB.
The Boston Professional Learning Tour project is the cumulation of several years of research and is an innovative approach to encouraging deeper collaborative practices and to develop a more evidence-based response to DEIS school planning.
As part of the project, the 12 teachers and special needs assistants travelled to Boston – at their own expense – to take part in a unique training opportunity at Harvard University. The next phase is the development of a network-based programme which will be shared across the ETB sector and will result in the development of a database of specialist initiatives aimed at tackling everything from literacy and numeracy to attendance and wellbeing.
The awards ceremony was the highlight of ETB Week, which marked the 10th anniversary of the foundation of education and training boards. The event was hosted by RTÉ news anchor, Ray Kennedy, a former ETB student, and featured a special performance from former Tullamore College student and now renowned singer songwriter Tolü Makay.
Mullingar Community College are among the eight post-primary schools in Longford and Westmeath ETB. Collectively, the 16 ETBs have responsibility for 27 community national schools and 250 post-primary schools with more than 117,000 students. They also deliver further education and training to 226,000 learners annually, oversee apprenticeships and traineeships and run youth services.
Along with ‘Excellence in Education’, the awards recognised many other facets of the ETB system including equality, youth services, care, respect, contribution to the community and a special ETB Hero award.