St. Finian’s National School was awarded €2,000 to collaborate with St. Oliver Plunkett’s Junior National School, Finglas to empower staff to understand trauma and undertake professional learning with Nurture International. This project aims to use the Digital Development Portrait to design bespoke assessments and create weekly wellbeing goals using this data.
School's reflection
Being able to purchase the DDP and use this platform in our school has had a profoundly positive impact on our whole school community. Not only have we been able to come together through this professional learning experience, but we have also been able to identify the children in our school most at risk.
In Saint Finian’s, a key priority of ours is working together as part of a professional team, one of the key aspects of the Féilte Bursary Scheme. This bursary scheme allowed us to buy a platform that unites as all leaders and as primary caregivers for the care of each child. We came together, we assessed every student in the school, and we taught each other how to then continue this ourselves in our own classrooms. Through this, teachers, SNAs and support teachers were able to connect, learn, and share experiences. This allowed us to accurately and correctly showcase the need in each classroom, and thus put in place the necessary measures to support them.
Each pupil was assessed in three key areas: Concentration and Focus, Emotional Resilience and Social Skills and Emotional Resilience. These are the main barriers to learning and it is our role as educators to work together through our professional learning experience to best approach these areas of need.
Class teachers can assess their classes to a more in depth model by creating a ‘Class Portrait’, which shows them unique and tailored ways to best support their class collectively, through sensory strategies and interactive games.
The bursary allowed us to enhance inclusion in our school. Through this assessment tool, each and every child is screened thoroughly through the collaboration of each stakeholder involved in their education.