The first state-run primary schools in the Republic opened in Dublin this morning and will operate under the auspices of County Dublin VEC.

As the new academic year gets underway, an estimated 100,000 out of the country’s 500,000 primary school pupils are in classes of over 30.

The new school buildings are permanent, have airy full-sized classrooms, are networked for IT, and have proper facilities for children with special needs.

Twenty-six schools have builders at the ready but cannot get the promised cash from the Department, according to information revealed by Brian Hayes.

The first Catholic state-funded academy, catering for children from age three to sixteen, has been formally opened in London by Bishop Patrick Lynch.

A joint statement from the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) and the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN).

The Department of Education has reneged on an agreement to sanction a new Educate Together multi-denominational school in West Dublin.

The fact that the Department of Education has no detailed view of the school network for which it is responsible has been dubbed “a major failure”.

Primary schools have been informed by circular that they must retain the pupil-to-teacher ratio of 27:1 for the school year 2008-09.

A joint statement has been issued by the Irish Primary Principals’ Network and the National Parents Council Primary on the myth of free education.

Six-year-old Luca Murphy cannot go to school because the autism outreach unit in the local Castleknock school where he is enrolled has not yet opened.

The programme seeks to educate students in healthy eating and the use of quality local produce. It is designed by Agri-Aware, Bord Bia and the Association of Teachers of Home Economics.

F1 in Schools was introduced by the Irish Computer Society in 2005 with the aim of developing informed views about careers in engineering, science and technology.

Our World Global Schools’ Awards programme encourages teachers to participate in the creation of media projects with their pupils. The theme of this year’s programme is Poverty.

To mark the seventh European Day of Languages, 8 Irish projects were awarded the European Award for Languages-the Language Label for innovative ways of teaching and learning languages.

Competition winners John Breen and Morgane Conaty were awarded digital cameras for themselves, and a trip to the W5 Science Discovery Centre in Belfast for their classmates…