Education « Thurles Information

Back To School Clothing And Footwear Payments Delayed

Back To School

With the start of the new school year only days away, and many more late applications expected, the Health Service Executive (HSE) admit that a massive 33,192 crucial back-to-school payment forms currently lie unopened nationally.

Parents are being forced to take out Credit Union loans in their efforts to help meet the costs of required new uniforms and school shoes.

The HSE has confirmed that some families would now not receive payments until after many schools re-open, however some of these affected were parents whose application arrived late.

The North Tipperary region is amongst the countries worst defaulters, where no final decision has been made on almost half of all applications applied for under this grant aid.

Many low-income and lone parents depend on the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to send their children back to school.

RATES OF PAYMENT

A. €200 in respect of children aged 2 to 11 on the 30th September 2010;
B. €305 in respect of children aged 12 to 17 on the 30th September 2010;
C. €305 in respect of children aged 18 to 22 on the 30th September 2010 who are in full time education.
D. As a special measure introduced in Budget 2009, an additional amount of €215 is payable for children aged 18 ONLY in respect of whom compensatory Child Benefit is in payment.Total payment in respect of eligible children aged 18 is €520.

Applications forms are now available at:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Forms/Documents/bscfa.pdf or at http://communitywelfareservice.ie/cws_public/application-forms

Parents who are concerned about their application are advised to contact their local office or the HSE information line, Tel: 1850 24 18 50.

A Message For Leaving Cert Students

Irish Leaving Certificate Students got their long awaited results last week.
Helplines were very busy over the past few days as nervous students and their parents called to consult with guidance counsellors manning telephones and offering future hope and assistance.

Per reports approximately 4,000 ordinary level student callers have failed mathamatics. This has left them with very limited college options in 2010.

Another huge issue of concern for many other callers was the level of points needed for all hoped for courses next Monday. Points are set to increase for many courses, particularly in the medical and other related areas. But points are also set to fall for courses linked to the building industry, for architecture and for law.

However for many, an anxious few days lie ahead, as they await the publications of the college place offers from the CAO,expected next Monday morning at six o’clock.
For those of you who are anxious or feeling let down by life take a look at this video.

Sometimes, in life, it is necessary for a man with no shoes to meet a man with no feet.
So if you don’t attain, immediatly, your hoped-for expectations, don’t worry, pick yourself up and give it another go.
You will succeed if you follow that which you hold passionate, so dream big.

St.Patrick’s College Thurles Seeks Librarian

Interviews will shortly be held for the post of Head Librarian at St Patrick’s College, Thurles.

St Patrick’s College is a centre of educational excellence, primarily specialising at undergraduate level in preparing students to teach in post-primary schools. The College Library always seeks to provide an outstanding service to staff and students of St. Patrick’s College and to respond creatively to changes in the world of learning.

Applicants must be graduates and hold a recognised qualification in Library and Information Studies. Significant experience is required and a good working knowledge of Irish is desirable.

The appointment will be for an initial period of three years and the salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

An application form and a description of duties can be downloaded here.

The completed form should be returned, accompanied by a CV and cover letter by post or email (including the words “Head Librarian” in the subject line) to: Rev Thomas Fogarty, President, St. Patrick’s College, Cathedral St., Thurles, County Tipperary.

Closing Date: July 23rd, 2010 (5.00pm)

Government Fail To Provide Vetting Procedures For Summer Camps

Enda Kenny

Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny, has questioned the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, regarding the number of applications being processed and the length of time being taken for such processing, by the Garda Central Vetting Unit.

In 2009, the Garda Vetting Unit, which is based here in Thurles, dealt with some 246,194 applications, however at present it is taking between 10 to 12 weeks to process current applications.

Garda vetting, for the Youth Work Sector, was formally introduced in September 2006, following protracted negotiations and a campaign seeking such vetting for these organisations. The Garda Commissioner approved a policy whereby An Garda Siochana should conduct Garda vetting in respect of all persons, 16 years of age and over, who had substantial and unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults.

Deputy Kenny stated:

“The waiting period of 10 to 12 weeks is having an impact on many constituents throughout the country, where they may urgently require their application to be approved in a more timely fashion. A significant number of parents are quite concerned that many Summer Camps this year, who cover a wide variety of interests, are being operated without personnel having been suitably vetted before gaining access to children. This is now an area that requires immediate priority, in the interests of children’s welfare.”

Scoil Na mBriathre Tipperary Know Their Onions

The prize winning pupils in the Agri-Aware’s nationwide Incredible Edibles competition gathered in Dublin Zoo yesterday to receive prizes worth over €5,000 to help them develop school gardens.

Monastery Primary School (Scoil na mBriathre 3rd class) in Tipperary town was the nationwide winner out of thousands of primary schools which took part in the competition to grow their own potatoes, onions, baby carrots, lettuce, spinach and strawberries .

Agri Aware’s Mairead Lavery stated:

“The competition has given tens of thousands of children the thrill of growing their own food and understanding from whence their food is derived. They also understand how important it is for their health and the effort it takes to actually grow their own ‘five-a-day’.”