Happy to share that DCU Futures evaluation is now out! Link below for details on the *8* reports that comprised the evaluation. We cover student & staff views, observations of CBL events, grades & progression, etc. What did @hadjertaibi.bsky.social & I find? 1/3 ... www.dcu.ie/eqi/news/202...

🚨My evaluation of "Tales to Scale" now out! Tales directly targets DEIS schools for delivery of Fighting Words' workshops. Funded by Rethink Ireland, my review looks at Tales in its first 3 years. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/se75nx7x 🔎What did we see? Tales has scaled up & scaled out ... #edchatie 1/2

Fighting Words’ Workshop Provision to DEIS Schools: A Review of 2022-2025

Over the past three years, Fighting Words has delivered a dedicated initiative focused on engaging with DEIS schools across Ireland. This

yumpu.com

So fed up staring out at the unending rain that I charted Met Eireann data. Dublin's February rainfall up to Feb 12 only is well past TOTAL monthly averages. And when you prorate to get the 2026 rainfall, this horror is revealed. #Dublin is more #SpeirDubh than #SpeirGorm. Please send snorkels!

Pollinators have been disappearing. It’s time to bring them back! Whether you’re tending a yard, a community garden, a local park, or even just a tiny balcony, our Bring Back the Pollinators program has you covered with guides, videos, free events, & more! Get started ➡️ bringbackthepollinators.org

❓Asked to take part in the European Vocational Teacher Survey? Please do! A major EU survey of the needs & experiences of VET/FET teachers. Outcomes will shape EU policy & the future of teacher development in #VET & #FET. 🔗https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/projects/vocational-teacher-survey

www.bmj.com/content/392/... Autistic girls & women: By age 20, they were diagnosing pretty much equal numbers of men & women. Huge study, whole population of Sweden born 1985-2020. Not 1 in 10. Not 1 in 4. Not 1 in 3. Equal numbers, just about. 100 years of research, most based on the wrong info.

Time trends in the male to female ratio for autism incidence: population based, prospectively collected, birth cohort study

Objectives To examine changes in the male to female ratio in diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) over a 35 year period, providing temporal trends in diagnosis (incidence rate), the male to fem...

bmj.com

Lá fhéile Bríde sona daoibh from Capel St. Pagan Goddess or Christian saint, she’s having a moment here anyway 😉 #StBrigid #Imbolc #Brigit

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

youtu.be

Not just Ireland. Internationally, huge absence increases since Covid, esp. in special & low-SES schools. DEY response is to target parents, rather than any health-related intervention. Clean air is a more effective intervention than hot air. #edchatie #SpeirGorm www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

Chronic absenteeism twice as prevalent in Deis schools, report shows

Over one-third of students in the most disadvantaged schools missed 20 or more days in 2023-24

irishtimes.com

Happy New Year 2026 from duuurty Dublin. We may bung up lights to hide derelict sites, but we do have some lovely spots too.

"Yes, the killing happens now, but there'll be plenty of time later to write very moving stories about the shape and shade of the bones." The precision of this. My god.

Silicon Valley is lighting hundreds of billions of dollars on fire to generate this slop.

The Onion@theonion.com · last yr.

Ghislaine Maxwell Can’t Help But Notice Interview Room Covered In Plastic Sheeting

🚨Minister Givan has appointed me to a panel to review aspects of Northern Ireland's school funding model. I worked on the last major review (way back in 2012-13) & have published on effects of different models, so looking forward to it! 🔗 www.education-ni.gov.uk/news/indepen... #edusky #speirgorm

Independent Panel to review Baseline School Funding announced

Education Minister Paul Givan has announced the independent panel to undertake the Review of Baseline School Funding Provided Through the Common Funding Formula (CFF).

education-ni.gov.uk

I'm not generally a big fan of the clergy but Brother Kevin will be greatly missed. The incredible work of the Capuchin Day Centre in providing meals and supports to those in need is quite a legacy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. #RIPBrKevin #SpeirGorm

The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · last yr.

Br Kevin Crowley of Capuchin Day Centre dies aged 90

Another @irishtimes.com article flogging the services of private schools. Research shows NO academic "added-value" from them. Want your child to succeed? Read & talk to them as much as possible, as young as possible. Be a parent, not an investor. #SpeirGorm #edusky www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...

School fees: how to save €50,000 to pay for children’s school or college costs

When should you start saving? ‘When a child is born’

irishtimes.com

Thrilled to announce the 10 finalists in @museumofchildhood.bsky.social #Bloomsday young writer competition. Caterina's entry was the judges' fav: museumofchildhood.ie/sarjena/ And she's still in primary school! Wow. She just pipped ... 1/2

Apparently coordinated political assassinations at this early stage in Trump’s dismantling of democracy is beyond my worst imaginings. Just awful.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.

Walz announces that Rep. Melissa Hortman is dead as a result of a "politically motivated assassination"

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do. 🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th... #cycling #school #SpeirGorm @dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

"Barbara Santini is a psychologist who has been quoted hundreds of times in news publications around the world - including the Telegraph, BBC and Independent - and who, I can now state with certainty, does not exist." pressgazette.co.uk/news/fake-ex...

Journalists are adding extra checks to keep ahead of the fake experts

Fake experts and SEO: How journalists must adopt new checks to keep one step ahead of AI-generated responses provided by fake experts.

pressgazette.co.uk

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do. 🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th... #cycling #school #SpeirGorm @dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

Today I asked AI to summarise an academic paper. The actual results were the opposite to what was hypothesised (and to what others had shown). The AI summary assumed the study had found what everyone else had found. Hot tip: don’t use a stochastic parrot to summarise an outlier paper. #academicsky 🧪

The Irish summer is a no-show, so channeling a bit of Greece to cheer me up. Homemade Freddo Espresso, the coffee of the Gods! Not a bad effort for an ιρλανδέζα but it doesn’t taste the same in the rain.☔️ ☹️

Our @museumofchildhood.bsky.social blog for #Bloomsday! A chance encounter with a Joyce book in a dusty Indian library changed Jinan Ashraf's life forever. Her journey from Kerala to @nlireland.bsky.social @dculibrary.bsky.social #JamesJoyce #BooksChangeLives museumofchildhood.ie/reading-joyce/

1/2 A busy Education team in @museumofchildhood.bsky.social. After prelim scoring, we had an *8-way* tie for the last place to get through to the final round of our Bloomsday Writing Competition! Cue a second round of ratings. We are wrecked!😅 #Joyce #Writing #YoungAuthor #Bloomsday

Heartbreaking piece from Palestinian writer and translator Alaa Alqaisi. We screamed through every outlet we had — in Arabic and English, in poems and press releases, in death tolls and testimonies... And we got the answer. We got it loud and clear. arablit.org/2025/05/23/w...

We Knocked Until Our Hands Broke

Gaza-based Palestinian author Alaa Alqaisi asks herself the question posed more than half a century ago at the end of Ghassan Kanafani’s “Men in the Sun”: Why didn’t they knock on…

arablit.org

Some amazing new Irish children's books out in May for all ages. Thanks to @bexsheridan.bsky.social for creating the @irishkidsbooks.bsky.social posters. Please do share this post and let everyone know about these brilliant new books. Together let's help children #discoveririshkidsbooks

1/ Thrilled that the new Milly McCarthy has landed - she’s off to the Gaeltacht - a rite of passage for many!! You can order Milly McCarthy’s Wild Atlantic Antics at halfwayupthestairs.ie/product/9781... or pick up a copy in store! @leonaforde1.bsky.social @sarahwebbwriter.bsky.social

Finally sharing pics of @childrensbooksireland.ie Reading for Joy Forum. It highlighted some good work in Ireland to support reading. ANNDD I'd a keynote on the Reading Communities evaluation (great to get a physical copy of the report!). Between MOLI, enthusiastic readers & sunshine, a great day!

Fair points about non-attendance. The simplest way to improve attendance is to reduce massive illness rates. Since 2020, most countries have shown large increases in missed days in school/work, from kids & adults. Surveys won’t fix it, but cleaner air just might. #edusky #SpeirGorm

Clean Air Advocacy Ireland @cleanairie.bsky.social · last yr.

"We have the tools to reduce the number of infections in schools, but we are simply not using them properly, or at all." We have issued this press release in response to the "highly alarming" school absence figures (from 2022-23) released yesterday by the Minister for Education.