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Arlene Forster is Chief Executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA)

Arlene began her career as a primary school teacher. She taught at all class levels, working in multi-grade and single-grade settings, and contributed to school and curriculum development as part of the middle leadership team. Having completed postgraduate studies in the area of school leadership, Arlene joined the NCCA in 2001. Through her roles as Education Officer (2001-2002), Director (2003-2015) and Deputy CEO (2016-2020), she led work in areas such as curriculum review, assessment, reporting to parents, language, mathematics, science and the development of Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework. Arlene was appointed CEO in late 2020.

DOWNLOAD New IPPN Events App today

As part of our commitment to becoming a more sustainable organisation and to increase efficiency and management of Conference and Expo, IPPN is excited to announce the development of our Events App which will be used for all future events. This app can be downloaded from your AppStore.

Details included in the app will replace previously printed material such as individual schedules, maps, exhibitor guide etc. Additionally it includes a ‘Social Wall’ section which will enable you to contact other attendees. We encourage all members to download the app now and familiarise yourself with the content.

Carmel Kearns is Head of Teachers’ Learning and Research in the Teaching Council. She supports the work of the Council’s Education Committee, and has played a key role in the development of a range of landmark policy documents, including the first Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, the Council’s Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education and Droichead, An Integrated Induction Framework. She was instrumental in the development of the Council’s professional accreditation criteria for reconceptualised ITE programmes, and led the process by which all programmes in Ireland were reviewed for accreditation purposes for the first time. More recently, she has supported the development of Cosán, the national framework for teachers’ learning in Ireland, and she is currently supporting a four-year development process whereby the framework can be further refined by teachers and other stakeholders. She is also responsible for the implementation of the Council’s research strategy, including a comprehensive annual programme aimed at enhancing the connections between research, policy and practice.

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Seminar Synopsis

As a busy school Principal, you manage a wide range of areas in your school. While ICT and technical support are important areas, they are still just one of the many priorities under your responsibility. Given the range of ICT options from different companies, and the wide range of views from ‘experts’, it can be difficult to determine how to select, procure, deploy and maintain ICT to support teaching and learning in your school. The whole process can be demanding, time-consuming and stressful.

This seminar will focus on practical ways of assisting you as a school principal to review the areas of ICT infrastructure and technical support, provide clarity and advice in a number of key areas, and hopefully reduce the amount of time and stress involved in managing these areas in your school.

Seminar attendees will also have an opportunity to take our 'ICT Infrastructure Stress Test'.

About Deirdre 
Deirdre is Project Officer for ICT Infrastructure with PDST Technology in Education, where she provides information and advice on how fit-for-purpose ICT’s can improve schools’ ICT infrastructure / whole-school planning to support teaching and learning. This includes a wide range of technologies such as computing devices, presentation technologies, networking solutions - including Wi-Fi, servers, cloud-based applications, printing, technical support advice and other technologies relevant to schools. Deirdre worked for many years in a number of multi-national organisations, providing technical support and in IS administration roles. She subsequently worked in both primary and post-primary schools as an ICT co-ordinator as well as working as an ICT Advisor for the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools.

About Tom  
Tom is National Coordinator for Technology Integration in PDST Technology in Education, www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie, and previously in the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE). Tom has worked in a number of technical roles in Ireland, Canada, and the UK. He provides advice and support to schools on ICT infrastructure and technical support to help achieve improved learning outcomes. He also works on the Schools Broadband Programme in collaboration with the DES and HEAnet.

Seminar Synopsis 

The aim of this presentation is help schools compile a student support plan (SSP) for a pupil with HFA. It will include information on assessments, social skills development; learning style; NEPS problem solving process to include of a pupil with HFA in the mainstream class, and much more.

About Dr. Dunleavy

Dr Michele Dunleavy BA, PGCE (UK), PGD (Trinity), PGD (UK), M.St (SEN), D.Ed. (SEN)

Michele has a number of years’ experience teaching in a primary, special class and special school setting. Michele was seconded as an Advisor to the special education support service (SESS) .Michele also worked as a part-time and Guest lecturer in a number of College including NUIG, UCC, and Trinity College Dublin.
Michele now works as a Lecturer in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick where she lectures on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Additionally, she supervises undergraduate dissertations and Masters and Doctoral Theses.

Michele has a particular interest in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and inclusion. She completed her Masters and Doctoral research in these areas. Michele has presented at many International ad National conferences on the topic of ASD and inclusion and continues to conduct research in the area of special education.
Michele is also a member of the National Executive Committee of the Irish Learning Support Association (ILSA) holding many positions including that of Chairperson.

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• 2018 Education Expo
• 2018 Education Expo
• 2018 Education Expo
• 2018 Education Expo
• 2018 Education Expo

Registration & Further Assistance