County Donegal Education Support Centre - Week 17 Newsletter (20/04/26 to 26/04/26)

Week 17 2026 - Weekly Event Newsletter

(20/04/26 to 26/04/26)

‍Dear Principal/Teacher,

Included below is a summary of all CPD events for the upcoming week beginning 20th April 2026 aswell as some other highlights in April 2026 and beyond.

You can also review all of these CPD events in either the Primary or Post Primary courses section of the centre website.

Here is a summary of some other great events/initiatives your school may be interested in: 

• NCSE Events - Details of any upcoming NCSE Teacher Professional Training can be found here. To register for any of this training please click here.
• Oide Events - Details of any upcoming Oide Teacher Professional Training and how to register can be found here.
• 2026 Primary Summer Course Launch - This year's summer course programme launched on Monday 13th April 2026. You can find details of all available summer courses here.
• Scoil Mhuire Buncrana Primary STEM Fair - Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana, recently welcomed the Donegal Education Support Centre to take part in the judging panel for their Primary STEM Fair. The Centre was delighted to sponsor the award for the Best Communication Team. The STEM Fair aimed to foster problem-solving, collaboration, and critical thinking skills, while showcasing the creativity and curiosity of young learners as they explored real-world challenges through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The event brought together over 60 pupils from local Inishowen national schools, with a judging panel representing a range of educational bodies. Attendees had the opportunity to experience 20 innovative projects spanning a variety of STEM disciplines, including Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Technology, Health and Wellbeing, as well as Sustainability and Biodiversity. We have included some pictures below from the event below.

Latest Surveys

• The Next Generation Calls to Action Survey (Post Primary) - Exploring Adolescents' Climate Change Attitudes, Knowledge and Actions - funded by the EPA and run by Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University, is looking for secondary schools to take part in a longitudinal study on adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours around climate change. This is an important piece of research, as it is the first study of its kind in Ireland. They are now approaching the end of data collection for their first round of questionnaires on 1 May, and are looking for schools to support the survey process with students. Schools are eligible to participate if they are based in the Republic of Ireland and have first year, transition year, and fifth year students. Taking part involves:

  • securing principal approval

  • announcing the study to students

  • helping with recruitment of first year, transition year, and fifth year students

  • sending students the survey

  • In return, schools will be offered an in-person workshop on topics such as managing mental health in adolescents and the causes of climate change. Participating students will also have the chance to enter a €20 draw after each time point.

  If you school is interested in taking part, please email nextgen@dcu.ie

• Biodiversity in Schools - Spraying at School Survey - this is a 10-second survey by Biodiversity in Schools investigating the use of sprays such as herbicides at schools across Ireland. The survey is completely anonymous and no school names will be published. You can access the survey here.