Simon Lewis 👨🏻‍🎓🎙📌✍🏽

🧵 SET Allocations - are children being screwed over?

🧵 SET Allocations - are children being screwed over?
1/ Most people agree that despite the Department of Education claiming more SET hours (formerly Learning Support) are being given to children, it feels like we're getting less. I decided to get the facts. Let's get started!


2/  According to @forumteaching, 61% of principals say there are not enough SET hours being offered to their schools: 
https://www.principalsforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NPF-FB-Update.pptx-1.pdf

But are they right? [img:URvZdXlUz]


3/ In order to find out, I needed to get the data. SET Allocations are published on the NCSE's website and they are published in PDF format. I used @cloudconvert to change the 2017, 2019 & 2021 allocations into Excel files. [img:f5p7dd23D]


4/ Next, I needed the data on every school in Ireland. Thankfully the Department of Education helpfully supplies this in long Excel Sheets. Long story short, I sorted them into year groups 2017, 2019 and 2021. It was time to find out whether we're getting more or less support.


5/ The answer is.....

It depends.

Overall, when it comes to SET allocations, with consideration to enrollment changes since 2017, SET Allocations have gone up by 0.2%

So the DoE aren't lying when they say there are more supports even if it is 0.05% per annum. However... [img:gif-fXZVp2HeE]


6/ Let's break it down a bit. Let's say by county. Some counties in Ireland have had a large increase in population since 2017. As you can see, despite a 4.66% increase in school-going population, Roscommon's allocations are almost 10% lower than they should be.  [img:pqjM06bib]


7/ Not satisfied with being the county with the highest number of schools per capita being awarded STEM grants (https://twitter.com/simonmlewis/status/1737842387400139113) Co. Offaly tops the SET Allocations as well with 11.81% more allocations per pupil compared to enrollments. 🚨 Bad pun alert...  [img:gif-AU50CvHF7]


8/ If we can give the DoE an error of margin of 2%, only 11 counties had an allocation that fell into that category. What conclusion can we make from that?


9/ The only conclusion to make when comparing counties is that it's a pointless thing to do. Essentially the algorithm was a nonsense. Schools should have received a relative SET allocation that coincided roughly with their relative enrollment figures to a point. So what next?   [img:gif-ZjVh_3tPJ]


10/ The big question... were developing schools screwed over?

I would have been shocked if developing schools weren't treated less favourably. However, it was how badly they were treated that blew me away 🤯


11/ Defining the formula for a developing school is difficult because the rules aren't straightforward so these figures are not 100% accurate but they won't be far off.

And here they are....The top row is developing schools, the bottom non-developing schools.
 [img:FEOhxw2Uz]


12/ Essentially, despite having an average of 37.8% increase in population, the average allocation per pupil was 15.75% lower. In accounting for the enrollment rise, it means developing schools are on average getting 43.5% fewer SET hours. [img:gif-6X724aN2I]


13/ I've also done a comparison by patron, which isn't very useful and I'm happy to share the spreadsheet. I'll pop it on my newsletter next week. If you want it go to anseo.net/subscribe and it's all yours as I'm bound to have made some mistakes.


14/ The main takeaway is that, while there were slightly higher resources put into the system, developing schools lost out *majorly* as schools that lost enrollments maintained their allocations....


I hope this thread was of use. Please share it far and wide! https://twitter.com/simonmlewis/status/1750053074964558240

I'll be publishing everything I can find on my website and newsletter, which you can subscribe to by going to: https://www.anseo.net/subscribe

Caatholic Schools Week

1/ One could argue that Catholic Schools Week takes place every week in the majority of Irish primary schools but here it is again. https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2024/01/23/state-must-provide-school-choice-reflecting-the-education-parents-want-for-their-children/


2/ I was struck by this year's article, which discusses the importance of choice. (Ironically 90% of primary schools in Ireland are Catholic - hardly choice.) 


3/ Alan Hynes refers to "those who would have us respond to the increased diversity of our society by creating a uniform education system" I am one of those. Why?


4/ He speaks about values and how there is no such thing as a values-free education system. I completely agree. I checked what are the values that Catholic schools espouse.


5/ CEIST, which is one of the representative bodies of Catholic schools helpfully outlines them as: "compassion, justice, love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation" It isn't quite a leap to suggest that these values are not unique to Catholicism.


6/ The only thing that makes Catholic schools unique in terms of values is that their main purpose  is to pass on the Catholic faith onto children. I have asked several people to name one other thing and I've yet to get a straight answer.


7/ In fact, here are four people that I directly corresponded with recently on this platform on that question. https://simonmlewis.medium.com/i-asked-four-people-what-makes-a-catholic-school-catholic-and-heres-what-they-said-954941123bf9 


8/ A uniform education system, which shares the same values as Catholic schools (minus the faith formation during the school day) already exists in Ireland. They represent 4% of primary schools.


9/ Catholic Schools' Week is just another week where the majority celebrate their monopoly. The thousands of children forced to sit at the backs of classrooms every other week simply have a special week to feel like they don't belong.

I'll be making more of these kinds of helpful threads on my Anseo newsletter, which you can subscribe to by going to: https://www.anseo.net/subscribe

Dos and Don't for School Libraries

📚🧵School libraries – Philip Pullman has called for a law that every school in the UK must have a school library. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/21/every-school-should-have-a-library-philip-pullman-calls-for-new-uk-laws 
I asked ChatGPT for some do's and don'ts of establishing one. 


1⃣ Do make it accessible. 
A library that’s seldom open is a nightmare for bibliophiles. Kids should feel the magic of a spontaneous read. Visible schedules, friendly helpers, open doors – make the library a welcoming place. [img:X-Lq8Z4iE]


2⃣ Don't overlook comfort.
A library isn’t just a warehouse for books - it's a space for relaxation too. Cosy reading nooks, varied seating options, soft lighting can ignite the joy of reading in kids. 


3⃣ Do embrace diversity.
Stockpile your library with books from across continents, cultures, and genres. Let the shelves be a window to the vast, diverse world. Remember, a book can be a child's first journey into another person’s shoes.  [img:rbdI3AzKfo]


4⃣ Don't forget to categorise.
Books dumped together? That's a Bermuda Triangle for readers. Use clear labels, age group segregation, and colour codes to navigate through the sea of stories.


5⃣ Do refresh your collection.
Libraries are not museums. They need to grow, evolve, and refresh with time. Regularly update the collection - keep it relevant and engaging.


Creating your library is like writing a story – it’s about creating an engaging, comfortable, and inclusive world for your students to explore. Any tips you'd add to this? Feel free to RT https://twitter.com/simonmlewis/status/1749094517272117599

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🧵 SET Allocations - are children being screwed over?

Caatholic Schools Week

Dos and Don't for School Libraries