DEIS Annual Report

Here in Ballymahon Vocational School we are proud to be a DEIS school. DEIS outlines Delivering Equality in Schools and highlights the key supports and efforts made by staff and students to make Ballymahon Vocational School is an inclusive school, which really showcases our motto, “Where the Individual Matters”. 

DEIS covers 8 themes and allows for students to receive the best support in areas of numeracy, literacy, attainment, attendance, and retention as well as encouraging our students and staff to foster positive relationships with parents and community. Transition from National school to Secondary school is a very important area of focus as well as helping facilitate our students through their time in BVS.

• Regular and critical feedback using WWW and EBI in class tests for AFL.
  
• Written and verbal feedback by teachers on learning outcomes including redrafting to improve student success and wellbeing in learning.
  
• Learning intentions shared with students at the beginning of lesson.
  
• Success Criteria shared with students.
  
• Displaying keywords on the boards in all subjects.
  

This year students have been encouraged to ’drop everything and read’. This partnered with the use of SORA Digital Libraries, resources utilising the Longford County Library services as well as an effort to use the Frayer Model in all subject areas, have been key areas of focus to improve literacy in our students.

In numeracy we have encouraged our students to leave a ‘No blanks’ approach and improve their effort in making attempts.
To help ease our students making the transition from primary to post primary we have our first-year mentoring programme, as well as having lunchtime activities (soccer on our astro, chess club, board games). For our Junior to Senior Cycle students, subject departments speak with class group students about what each subject at Senior Cycle offers while also high-lighting the learning outcomes and benefits which best suit our students’ learning outcomes.

What we do here in Ballymahon Vocational School is always communicated effectively and timely through our very active social media accounts and presence. In this way we share what we do in school, as well as the work our students do with the community, as well as deepening our partnerships with both parents and community.

The students and their education is central to everything we do here in Ballymahon Vocational School and DEIS helps us as staff and students work effectively and positively in all aspects of what we do.