Teachers' Corner

Escape rooms have become a popular activity for families and people of all ages, transforming problem-solving into a fun adventure. You can harness this excitement with your students. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to create your own maths escape room for your class.

The Maths curriculum does not change much of ‘what’ children learn, but it aims to improve ‘how’ children learn maths. This includes more learning through play and problem solving. It also provides more opportunities for children to be creative, take risks and be challenged. Here are ten ways you might put those ideas into action.

Playful learning not only helps children to grasp complex ideas but also helps to foster a love for the subject. With the new focus on 'Maths Talk', key ideas and concepts can also be explored playfully in other topics and areas of the curriculum. Teacher author, Gillian, shares her ideas on making maths more playful.

Unlike story starters, which aim to provide a specific opening line, writing prompts offer broader themes or concepts for children to explore. Effective writing prompts are open-ended questions or statements that help make up a toolkit designed to inspire creative, persuasive or narrative writing.

In the world of education, fostering creativity and imagination is just as important as teaching facts and figures. One of the most effective ways I have found to achieve this is through the use of playful story starters in the classroom. These tools not only stimulate children’s creativity but also enhance their writing skills, language and vocabulary, critical thinking and overall engagement.

The 100th day in school will arrive around now for most students. To celebrate this milestone, here are some great, easy to implement ideas with a mathematics spin from guest author, Roisin.

These activities and ideas can help turn your classroom into a dynamic space where learning feels like play, play feels like learning and where engagement, attainment, creativity and collaboration are boosted and celebrated! 

January can be a particularly challenging month due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather, which may impact energy levels and motivation. Thankfully, playful activities can help to stimulate energy and curiosity, countering those mid-winter doldrums and helping to kick start a new year.

Assessing and evaluating play can sometimes be challenging because it often involves unconventional learning experiences that are less structured than traditional methods. However, much like using a less traditional method of teaching, assessment methods can take many forms and include a variety of techniques.

Successfully integrating playful learning into teaching involves creating an environment where both teachers and children can engage with content in an interactive, enjoyable and hands-on way. Here are some of the approaches I have been exploring with my senior classes.

"Play should be in every classroom, for every child, every day." That’s the ideal and the theory in the new Primary Curriculum Framework but how do we make it a reality in every classroom – especially in upper primary?

The research into play and learning consistently highlights the profound role of play in fostering cognitive, social, emotional and physical development in young children. Assistant Principal and Play and Learning Specialist, Gillian Corbally, outlines what we know, and what she learned in her own older classes, about this powerful connection.

As we head for the final stretch in the school year, here’s a helping hand with what to have a think about as you pass your class on to their next teacher.

Here’s a few ideas I have used for P.E. Each has a little Christmas spin. These will hopefully make your lessons a little more focussed and retain attention and engagement levels... and perhaps help the children to burn off some of that excited energy!

The Primary Mathematics Curriculum has been widely welcomed with its fresh focus on problem solving and, in particular, on 'maths talk'. In this Making The Most of article we discuss the design of Folens 'Maths My Way' and how it can help your school deliver on these innovative approaches to learning.

Our redeveloped Primary Curriculum Framework places an emphasis on playful and active learning. What better place to do this than in the outdoors. Here’s hoping the sun will shine on us this Summer and we can enjoy lots of outdoor activities with our pupils.

So, you’ve been informed of an inspection? Don’t panic! We had a curriculum evaluation recently and although we had the initial fear of the ‘cigire’, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience for us. Read on to find out some helpful tips to approach the visit with ease.

Aoife has been a classroom teacher for over 20 years but has recently taken the leap into leadership. She now considers herself an NQDP (Newly Qualified Deputy Principal). Here is her story.

While we may not be able to sort all the problems in the world from our classrooms, we can certainly do our bit for the environment. Embracing natural or sustainable materials in practical maths activities can immerse children in ideas about sustainability, recycling and our relationship with the natural world.

Guest author, Roisin, shares how she has introduced Money as a topic to her multigrade class and her ideas and recommendations for a classroom environment to support learning, play and real life applications for this topic.

Guest school leader author, Aoife, breaks down how she has been facilitating the transition to the new Primary Curriculum Framework and shares some ideas and resources for keeping staff informed and aware of the changes and opportunities.

Need some last minute 'spooky' ideas? Check out these art activities using different approaches to printing.

All schools must have a Bí Cineálta policy in place for September 2025. One of our school leader writers, has kindly shared how they put the Oide training into action in their school and engaged staff, parents and students in their policy development process.

Teacher author Aoife, shares her reflections on how various forms of play are approached in her classroom, from teacher led, to self-directed play.