DEiS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools
We hold our education system in very high regard but, we know that too many of our learners may not have reached their full potential, and as a result may not have been in a position to benefit from full participation in our society and economy. Making a real difference in addressing this situation is a key priority for Saint Brendan’s College. We cannot expect our education system to address all the causes of disadvantage, but we can and should expect the system to make special efforts to help everyone reach their full educational potential.
In the DEiS action plan for educational inclusion, experience has been drawn from students, parents and family members, teachers and other educational professionals active in the area. We all know that educational disadvantage is complex and on that basis the DEiS initiative has been designed accordingly. Despite the complexity of the challenges of delivering equality of opportunity in our schools the objectives of the DEiS initiative are clear.
We want all our young people to gain the maximum personal benefit from the education experience within our school. We want the needs of the learner and a culture of high expectations to be at the centre of all our actions. These actions must include a concentration on literacy and numeracy from an early stage; strong links between the home, school and community: strong links between schools working in a co-operative manner: and added value from links between education and other services.
The value of DEiS to our school and our students is enormous in terms of additional investment in terms of infrastructure, resources, special initiatives and staffing. Our action plan in delivering educational excellence for our students is about building on the success stories we have had in educational provision, in tackling educational disadvantage.
