The Letter of Application: Some schools request a letter of application along with the application form. While it is extra work completing it, it is also a great opportunity for you to show case more of your talents that may not fit in the standard application form. Here is what I feel should be included […]

This is an extract from my NQT guidebook which I will be uploading tomorrow night to the blog. Time management is the biggest issue for NQTs. There is just never enough time! Here are some time management suggestions! Manage your time Organise a routine for the start of the day, after breaks, end of the […]

MINDFULNESS SCHOOLS IRELAND offers training workshops for teachers/caregivers/parents in mindfulness and social and emotional learning.  Teaching proactive and preventative measures for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing. This training offers a personal journey of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationships. We are currently on tour! Bringing our two-day workshop to Waterford, Galway, Athlone, Limerick, Dublin and […]

Hi everyone and welcome to my new website! I hope you find it easy to navigate and use! A huge thank you to my website designer Craig Kearney for working his magic once again. So, as you know I released my second publication and my first Ebook 'A Guide to Primary School Interviews' back in […]

We have all probably seen Foodoppi’s lovely recipes in the INTO magazine each month over the last couple of year or even spotted their nationwide STEM campaign with Avonmore & SuperMilk ‘Super Science Experiment’ in our schools this year. I have teamed up with Aisling and Louise to get them to tell you a little […]

Prior to having Lara and becoming a mother, I had very little balance in my life. I spent so much time on school stuff and my blog! It probably wasn't healthy and definitely not sustainable! I was so used to just having an idea pop into my head and sitting down on my laptop whenever […]

Hello everyone! I had a lot of questions this evening about applying for Hibernia and other post grad courses. I will answer them here instead of on instagram as I prefer typing on a laptop than on my phone! The most important thing is to write an excellent application and to know it inside out-in […]

Hello teachers! Another day, another review! I hope these are helping you decide on schemes- it is such a big commitment! English is my favourite subject to teach and literacy is my passion- so I decided to have a look at Let's Talk Literacy today. So, the details are below. The workbooks are quite substantial […]

I have had so many queries about the panel. I never had to use my panel rights as I got a permanent job before I actually had any panel rights as it was clear, but I found this information on the INTO website and the Education.ie page. The Supplementary Panel is used to make appointments […]

Explore with Me available from Junior Infants to Second Class is a new SESE programme by EDCO. EDCO asked me to review this new programme and after having first and second class for two years without any set SESE programme, I was interested to see what this involved. I usually just gather SESE resources myself, […]

Sounds like Phonics is a brand new phonics programme from CJ Fallon. We had some samples delivered to our school for the infant teacher so I decided to have a look and let you know what I think! I will just give an overview first of what is included and then my own personal opinion […]

This was the review I enjoyed writing the most because it is a programme I feel is desperately needed for the senior classes. I have sample readers for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class and having taught all these classes, I would happily use this programme. As you know I am not always a fan […]

I have been pouring over the new oral language Engish scheme from CJ Fallon called 'Rainbow'.  We are planning on changing schemes this year and upgrading from good old Winchilla and Globby *(THANK GOD!!) We has a staff meeting and had a look through the various programmes now available. So I thought I would share […]

Hi everyone, Welcome to the first installment of my reviews of the new English schemes. I am splitting the programme by CJ Fallon into three blog posts as there's a good bit to it and I don't want the reviews to be too long! So the first review is The Rainbow Reading Programme for Junior […]

Hello everyone! Since releasing my Interview Guide a few weeks ago, I have had a few requests for a CV workshop/seminar. Now I am not an expert, but I have committed a lot of time to this side of teaching which others don't always see, the sheer amount of work involved in the period of […]

I am qualified five years since April so I am no longer an NQT teacher! It feels like I still am to be honest! I sometimes look at teachers who are teaching 15/20 years plus and I just admire them so much, they're always so knowledgeable, so calm and so good at what they do. […]

Teaching in May and June is different to teaching any other time of year. The copies and books are becoming tattered with covers falling off, pencils are hard to come by, and the text books are all finished up.  It is a time to revise all that was learned throughout the year, and to start […]

Report writing is one of my favourite genres. It is an easy enough one to teach and it integrates and links well with science. There's also loads of online resources on this genre to help a busy teacher. I like to do animal reports with my class. This is how I would teach report writing: […]