Waterford school awarded bursary by Teaching Council

The Teaching Council has announced that Portlaw National School in Waterford is one of 27 schools around the country to receive funding under the new Féilte Bursary Scheme.  

The Féilte Bursary Scheme is designed to support collaboration between schools and enhance teachers’ professional learning. In total, the Teaching Council has awarded funding of €100,000 to multiple schools across Ireland. 

Portlaw National School will receive €5,000 for their project which will embed ‘Universal Design for Learning (UDL)’, an inclusive teaching methodology, in school practice. 

Congratulating the school, Director of the Teaching Council, Dr Lynn Ramsey said, “Teachers at Portlaw National School, and across Ireland have shown significant creativity, innovation and commitment to professional learning through the Féilte Bursary Scheme. This underscores the high standards and quality of our teaching profession in Ireland,

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“At the Teaching Council we are committed to promoting teaching as a profession and teachers’ ongoing professional development. The Féilte Bursary Scheme allows teachers to connect, share and learn from one another. I wish Portlaw National School, and all the participants well with their projects and I look forward to the outcomes and learning,” she concluded.

Portlaw National School will collaborate with St Stephen’s De La Salle, St Ursula Primary School, and SETU Waterford.

The project is aimed at creating a ‘Community of Practice (CoP)’ for teachers who are committed to embedding ‘Universal Design for Learning (UDL)’ approaches to enhance and promote inclusion across a range of settings, but particularly in primary schools.

Teachers will upskill themselves in ‘UDL’ and begin to implement and reflect upon innovative and inclusive approaches to teaching, learning and assessment within their own school settings.