Annual Report 2023 Entire Book - Flipbook - Page 100
As in previous years, feedback from school management and teachers was collected via surveys and during
school visits. School visits typically involved class observation, conversation with pupils, hosting teachers and
external tutors, as well as with a representative of the management team. Some of the most recurrent
comments and suggestions can be categorised as follows:
•
Extend the duration of the module
•
The module is perfect as it is
•
More training needed for teachers, to include language upskilling
•
Extend the module to the whole school
•
More resources needed for teachers
This collection of valuable suggestions has informed future planning and actions.
Upskilling Requirements Identified
In the school year 2023/2024, there was a significant increase in the number of class teachers signing up to
deliver the module in their schools. It rose to over 170, more than double the number in the previous year. In
the feedback collected from schools and teachers that participated over the first two years of
implementation, specific needs were identified for upskilling in foreign language competence. The requests
for such upskilling opportunities were also heightened by the publication, in March 2023, of the new Primary
Curriculum Framework, introducing modern foreign languages in a redeveloped primary curriculum.
To address this identified need, PPLI was asked to pilot a variety of language upskilling opportunities for
primary teachers. Firstly, PPLI facilitated a survey among registered teachers in all schools taking part in the
module on their competence levels in foreign languages. Concurrently, a similar survey was disseminated
among current students of Bachelor in Education degrees as well as Professional Master of Education (PME)
students. Both surveys are still open and, to present, have collected each just under 2000 responses. Secondly,
PPLI reached out to language upskilling course providers and liaised with primary teachers to facilitate their
enrolment in a course of their choice. Thanks to funding made available by the Department of Education, the
courses operate either on a refund of fees basis or, for some options, on a no upfront fees basis. PPLI recruited
teacher interest from September, and research commenced on the various upskilling courses available.
Stakeholder Engagement
Engagement with relevant stakeholders continued, and PPLI presented and hosted workshops at various
events such as: Le Chéile Conference; ATI and FTA Conferences; LAI Conference; UCD BEd in MFL and Irish; and
“One School, Many Languages” international conference in Bolzano, Italy. The first-hand experience of schools
and teachers who have participated in ‘Say Yes to Languages’ has been shared in a series of articles published
by INTO in InTouch Magazine. PPLI contributed to the NCCA development group for MFL in primary. PPLI also
developed resources in collaboration with NCCA which were published alongside the draft specification for
MFL when it was released for consultation.
Impact:
100
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75% increase in the number of schools involved, versus year 2, to over 1,200 schools
•
68% increase in the number of pupils to 84,000
•
140% increase in the number of primary teachers delivering the module, to over 170
•
1,500 teachers and principals attended training and information sessions
- PPLI ANNUAL REPORT 2023 -
