St. Josephs Girls N.S.
Clonakilty, Co. Cork
Rolla 07651G
DRAFT POLICY REGARDING
STUDENT TEACHING PRACTICE PLACEMENTS
SPANISH TEACHER TRAINEE PLACEMENTS
TRANSITION STUDENT PLACEMENTS
OTHER SCHOOL PLACEMENTS (E.G. SNA/SLT WORK EXPERIENCE)
January, 2015
1. BACKGROUND
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of students seeking work or teaching
practice placements in our school, while at the same time the opportunities for placement have
decreased due to loss of teaching posts (e.g. EAL, additional 9th class teacher). Colleges have
introduced a new four year B.Ed programme and have also introduced a new postgraduate Masters
in Education programme (PME) in 2014/15 which requires one continuous 10 week advanced
placement/observation block in Year 2 of the course.
In the light of the increasing demands on school placements which these programmes bring, this
policy has been drafted in order to regulate the allocation of classes during the academic year. We
aim to minimise the impact on pupils and staff, while making class allocation transparent and fair to
all and facilitating the training of fellow professionals. For this reason, only one placement will be
offered to applicants over the duration of their course.
2. SCHOOL CONTEXT
In 2014/15, there are 8 mainstream single classes in our school. Seven of these may be available
over the course of the year for teaching/work experience placement, depending on the class context
and circumstances at the time. The average number of pupils across the range infants to 6th is 28, all
girls. The school is a Catholic school, founded by the Sisters of Mercy and the Chairperson of our
Board of Management is Sr. Eilis McGrath. The Principal is Ms. Adrienne Downes. Any requests for
placements should be addressed to the Principal at clona.ias@eircom.net in the first instance.
3. APPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL BASED TEACHING/WORK EXPERIENCE
Applications for teaching/work based experience are received from the following sources:Student teachers undertaking the B Ed or PGDE from the following colleges – Mary
Immaculate College, Limerick (‘Mary I’); St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra & Hibernia College
Students from Mary I , St. Patrick’s Drumcondra & Hibernia College undertaking a Masters in
Primary Education
Colleges direct to the school
Student teachers from Spain
Transition Year students (Sacred Heart Secondary School/ Clonakilty Community College)
LCA students (Sacred Heart Secondary School/ Clonakilty Community College)
Other placement requests (e.g. SNAs, SLTs)
In previous years, we have tried to facilitate all colleges and requests as far as possible, however due
to increasing demand, we now have to limit placements during the year and will try to allocate them
as far as possible across a range of colleges and work/teaching experience needs.
4. 2015/16
With effect from the 2015/16 academic year, placements will be allocated as follows:CLASS
PLACEMENT
DETAILS
Junior Infants
3 placements
Spanish trainee teacher (Term 2)
Mary 1/ St. Patrick’s or Hibernia student in
Terms 2 or 3
Transition Year student or LCA student (1
week)
Senior Infants
3 placements
Spanish trainee teacher, Term 2
Mary I/St. Patrick’s or Hibernia student in
Terms 2 or 3
Transition Year student or LCA student (1
week)
1st
2 placements over year
Spanish trainee teacher (shared with
infants)
Plus 1 placement request from Mary 1
College (Education Office)
2nd
1 placement over year
St. Pat’s or Hibernia
3rd
1 placement over year
Mary I, St. Pat’s or Hibernia
4th
1 placement over year
St. Pat’s or Hibernia
5th
1/2 placements
SNA work experience
1 Transition Year or LCA pupil
Class not available for TP placement
6th
1 placement over year
Mary I College request (Education Office),
student will be assigned to this class
5. SPANISH TEACHER TRAINEE PLACEMENTS
A maximum of 2 trainee Spanish teachers will be accommodated in the school, at Infants and may
be shared for certain activities with 1st and 2nd classes. Appropriate timetabled work will be given to
the teachers by the Deputy Principal, Mrs. Daly, in conjunction with other class teachers. These
teachers are normally on placements in January-February for several weeks.
6. STUDENT TEACHER (B.Ed) PLACEMENTS
Student teachers should apply to the school enclosing details as outlined at Section 9.
7. STUDENT TEACHER (PME) PLACEMENTS
Postgraduate PME student teachers will be offered a placement in one of our senior classes,
depending on availability of a class group. Applicants for placements should enclose details as
outlined at Section 9.
8. APPLICATIONS DIRECT FROM COLLEGES FOR STUDENT PLACEMENTS
College applications will be considered along with applications direct from students. Every effort will
be made to try to allocate a placement to students from each training college/institution.
9. LCA STUDENTS/TRANSITION YEAR STUDENT APPLICATIONS FOR PLACEMENTS
Depending on availability, LCA or Transition Year students will be assigned to Junior or Senior Infants
classes. A maximum of three places will be assigned over the school year.
10. OTHER PLACEMENTS (e.g. SNA work experience, SLT trainees)
The allocation of classes for any other placements will be decided by the Principal, in consultation
with the class teacher.
11. REQUIREMENTS WHEN APPLYING TO SCHOOL
 Please forward application by e-mail
 Attach c.v. with passport sized photo to include work experience/school experience
 Please enclose copy of up to date Garda vetting, if available, with application
 Teaching Council registration details should also be attached
 Outline details of course being undertaken, dates required, placement block s
required
12. DATES
Any school placement requests must be made to our schools by 15th September of the
academic year in which the placement is required.
Applications for placements for the following academic year will not be decided on until
April/May of the preceding year. All placement requests will be looked at together and the
following factors will be taken into account:-
 Previous association with the school (e.g. past pupil of St. Joseph’s or family
association with the school) or with Sacred Heart Secondary School
 Association with the area (e.g. living in the Clonakilty or surrounding area)
 CV including academic and other achievements
 Contribution that can be made to the pupils and the school during the placement
13. REVIEW
This policy will be reviewed in June, 2016 in the light of its operation during the school year
2015/16.
Signed:
Date: