Free books offered to Wicklow children starting school in September
Cllr Graham Richmond, a teacher at East Glendalough School in Wicklow town, is encouraging local children to take-up the opportunity to help them prepare for the start of school.
He said: 'The books and resources in the book bag support parents and their children in the transition to primary school. 110,000 free books will be available nationally and books are available in both English and Irish. This is great news for families with young children in Wicklow, who want to take the time over the summer to prepare their children to transition to primary school.
'The bags will be available throughout the summer, and I encourage all families to join their local library in Wicklow if they aren't already members. The children can join their library along with their families, and choose their own books to borrow, all for free. For many children in Wicklow, this could be the start of a lifelong love of reading.'
Librarians are keenly aware of the benefits that reading brings to children and library staff across all 13 of Wicklow's libraries and look forward to welcoming lots of new children in the coming months to collect their little bag of books and get their first library card.
Cllr Richmond added: 'These books and stories will help each child prepare for this big step. Books are a great way of helping parents support their children with their early language and literacy development. I urge every family with a child starting primary school this September to avail of this initiative and pick up their 'Little Library' book bag from their local library in Wicklow.'
Each of the bags contains a book on starting school and a second book on making friends or being comfortable to be yourself. They also include their very own library card and special 'my little library' cardholder. They also come complete with a range of resources for parents/children to support the transition to primary school, including a copy of the Rufus Handwashing Storybook.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Are free schoolbooks limiting how children are taught?
Opinion: While free schoolbooks are a welcome support for families, they may be narrowing how children learn in the classroom The recent announcement by the Minister for Education of a million free schoolbooks aims to ease the financial burden on parents facing back-to-school costs. But while this initiative is undoubtedly welcome, could it also unintentionally encourage an over-reliance on textbooks in the classroom—at the expense of more engaging, interactive learning? What is the schoolbooks scheme? Launched in 2023, the Department of Education's free schoolbooks scheme covers the cost of textbooks, workbooks and stationery for all primary schools. In 2024, it was extended to the Junior Cycle, with further expansion to the Senior Cycle from September 2025. The Department of Education recently confirmed that funding is now in place to cover 1,000,000 free textbooks. For families, this is a relief, especially in households where books have long been a costly annual expense. But for educators, it raises an important question. Is this funding helping to broaden educational experiences, or is it reinforcing a narrow, textbook-focused model of teaching, especially with parents of children in school and the wider public? Textbooks are familiar but limiting Many of us remember the start-of-term excitement around new schoolbooks or, for those of us from larger families like mine, the hand-me-downs wrapped in brown paper. We also recall the endless textbook work that could be momentous and not tailored to our individual learning needs. These shared memories point to how deeply ingrained textbooks are in Irish education. They have their place, particularly for guiding teachers or supporting learning in content-heavy subjects. But when textbooks become the main tool for teaching, the classroom experience can become rigid and uniform, leaving little room for creativity or differentiation. From RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, parents call in about the cost of children returning to school In post-primary settings, "teaching to the textbook" is a well-worn phrase. Preparing for high-stakes exams like the Leaving Certificate often results in one-size-fits-all teaching, which doesn't suit the varied needs, interests, or learning needs of all students. The primary curriculum and the rise of textbooks Over the last 20 years, there's been a rapid increase in the number of textbooks available for primary schools. This is not just in core subjects like Maths and History, but in areas like handwriting and wellbeing too. This trend raises concerns about whether we're striking the right balance between traditional textbook use and more active, exploratory approaches to learning. Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) offers an interesting case. At primary level, SPHE hasn't been dominated by textbooks, giving teachers more freedom to adapt the subject to their local context. But this flexibility can also leave teachers unsure how to approach sensitive topics, particularly without access to high-quality, context-appropriate resources. There's no doubt that free schoolbooks offer real relief to families, but what's less visible are the educational trade-offs Ireland's new Primary Curriculum Framework promotes inclusive, evidence-based teaching that connects with children's lives, interests and strengths. It champions playful, active and curiosity-driven learning, and encourages teachers to move away from narrow or overly prescriptive teaching methods. But this vision needs support. Many schools are crying out for funding to enable more hands-on learning, whether that's through play-based activities, field trips, project work or community engagement. While the new curriculum offers exciting possibilities, a funding focus on textbooks alone risks limiting the very flexibility it seeks to promote. Rethinking what we fund There's no doubt that free schoolbooks offer real relief to families. But what's less visible are the educational trade-offs. When funding prioritises textbooks, other vital teaching and learning supports often go under-resourced or ignored. Children themselves know how they learn best—through games, exploration, creativity, and hands-on experiences. Findings from the Children's School Lives study highlight that children thrive in learning environments that are playful, interactive, and connected to their lived experiences. If we're serious about creating classrooms that are inclusive, engaging, and responsive to different learning needs, then we need to look beyond textbooks. They are part of the picture, but they shouldn't be the whole story.
Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘My cousin won't end his marriage and formalise his relationship with his lover of 15 years'
Question My cousin has been living in a kind of 'Irish divorce' of olden times in that he is not living with his wife, but they still do family events together. They go to graduations, weddings, funerals and so on together, but in effect they have not been a couple for almost 20 years. He met a gorgeous woman while we were on holidays in the west of Ireland about 15 years ago and has been in a relationship with her since. My cousin is always organising trips (including me) so that he can spend time with this woman, and I know he is helping her financially. He has met most of her family, and at this stage I know many of them as well and we are an accepted part of the community in her part of the country. As a woman I can identify with his paramour, as I too have had the experience of not being loved enough. My cousin simply won't end the marriage to his wife and formalise his relationship. I ended my own long-term relationship, of 10 years, when my partner had an affair and did not fight to keep us together. I did not have any children as my relationship was not secure enough, and I think that my cousin has inflicted the same situation on his lover but does not take responsibility for this. Recently my cousin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and, while the prognosis seems good, I am worried that if something happens to him, his lover will be left with nothing – no financial support or position. I know she is becoming hopeless that she will have no access to him if he gets sick, but I feel that what he is doing (or rather not doing) is really wrong. I want to tackle him on this, but am worried that I am being overdramatic. READ MORE Answer Your sense of justice is heightened because of what you feel complicit in – that your cousin is 'having his cake and eating it'. He has many of the benefits of married life and also a lover with no strings attached. This is, no doubt, not the whole story, and he too suffers from having a divided life, but your question about whether you should tackle him is central to your relationship with him. It sounds as though you have a long and trusting relationship with your cousin, and it would seem that it can withstand some challenge or difficulty. How would you feel if your cousin questioned some part of your life? Would you allow it as part of his friendship and care of you? You write very clearly of the wrong you see happening, and the urge to speak must be ever-present, so what stops you? What is it you fear? You have been through a serious break-up and so you know the pain of separation and abandonment. Is the memory of this playing a role in your trying to keep the peace and the friendship intact? If fear is a factor in your communication with your cousin, then perhaps it is also present in the communication between him and his lover. She too seems to be stuck in a type of limbo, hoping for some morsel of recognition or commitment. However, she is an adult with family and community around her, so she may not need your assistance, and you cannot assume anything without her asking for support. [ 'I don't love my husband. I care for him and don't wish him ill health, but I'm struggling' Opens in new window ] The risk you take in engaging your cousin in an honest and direct conversation is that he will cut off all contact with you, but this is a man who has managed not to cut off contact with anyone, so perhaps this is not as risky as you might think. Also, you have a history of staying in uncomfortable situations (10 years in a dying relationship) too long, and this pattern needs to be changed urgently. Ultimately, you can express your concerns at your cousin's behaviour, but the only part you get to decide is whether you continue to support him (emotionally) or not. Your principles and values are telling you to take a stand, and now you get to find out how real or flimsy these are for you. Perhaps you can demand for yourself what you wish your cousin's lover might require for herself: respect and loyalty. These characteristics are the cornerstone of all friendships, and good relationships, and if they are non-existent, the relationship is not robust and might need to be let go of. By your actions of speaking up and challenging, you might show your cousin's lover that it is okay to require dignity and respect, and your cousin might be jolted into seeing the effect of his behaviour and take steps to remedy it. To send your question to Trish Murphy, fill in the form below, click here or email tellmeaboutit@
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
Niamh O'Reilly: Yes, reading to your children can be boring
More than one in five Irish children under the age of four are not being read to, according to research last month from Children's Books Ireland (CHI). The reason could be that in the online era, the art of reading to very young children is seen as too boring by some parents.
