DEIS

DEIS stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools. There are 194 DEIS Secondary Schools in Ireland. OLM is proud to be a DEIS school because of the opportunities it gives to students to achieve and to progress in education and in life.

The two most important parts of being a DEIS school are the DEIS plan and the supports it offers our students. These help us to ensure that students achieve the three main aims of an DEIS school. Retention. Attainment. Transition.

DEIS Plan:

Is a plan the school has over three years. There are themes that every DEIS school has. The school sets targets based on baseline data to improve outcomes in all the themes. The themes are as follows:

  • Attendance: ensuring that students attend school.
  • Retention: ensuring that students stay in school and complete senior cycle.
  • Attainment: ensuring that students achieve in state examinations, both Junior and Senior Cycles.
  • Transition: ensuring that students progress from Primary to Secondary School, from Junior Cycle to Senior Cycle and progress after senior cycle to 3rd level, Colleges of Further Education, Apprenticeships, or the World of Work.
  • Literacy: ensuring that students literacy skills improve to allow them to achieve.
  • Numeracy: ensuring that students numeracy skills improve to allow them to achieve.
  • Partnership with parents: ensuring the school has strong links with parents to help students to achieve.
  • Partnership with others: ensuring the school has strong links with different community and business groups to allow students better opportunities to succeed.

Central to all the themes are Teaching and Learning, Wellbeing and Digital Literacy. For more information on our Teaching and Learning strategies, please click on our Teaching and Learning menu.

Supports:

Being a DEIS school means that students receive extra support in and outside of school. These supports are essential to help students to stay in school and achieve so that they can progress after they leave OLM. The main supports are as follows:

  • Home School Community Liaison (HSCL): is a teacher who is seconded from the classroom for 5 years to maintain a vital link between the home and school. This person is an essential part of our school community and links in with parents to ensure their child receives the supports that they need to complete school.
  • School Completion Programme (SCP): a vital service that helps young people who are at risk of leaving school early. Supports include a brief intervention, a targeted intervention, or a universal intervention. School Completion Project workers visit the school and home to help students who may need extra support to allow them to complete their education. SCP runs transfer programmes for students transferring from Primary to secondary school and runs the free breakfast and lunch club that OLM offers.
  • Access Programme: In OLM we are proud to be a Trinity Access school. This is a huge opportunity for students to work with the team in Trinity College to chart their goals in school and in life. Trinity Access has many activities they run in school and in Trinity College such as taster days and weeks where students can experience courses such as law and medicine. The team also facilitate free grinds for exam years and access to university for students who may not otherwise be able to go to college through the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR).
  • Business in the community: Is an initiative which sees students in OLM being mentored and guided by professionals in the business community to open their eyes to new opportunities in life. Our main partner ClikIn works closely with OLM and students get amazing experiences from a wide range of backgrounds, including accounting, law, and media.
DEIS targets 2021-2024

DEIS targets 2021-2024 (these are reviewed and amended periodically)

Attendance
To reduce Junior Cycle student lates in the morning from 11.63% to 6% by the end of Year 1, 5% by Year 2 and 4 % by Year 3
To reduce Senior Cycle student lates in the mornings from 13.33% to 8% by the end of Year 1, 7% by Year 2 and 6% by Year 3
To reduce the average number of students missing 20 days or more from 1st to Transition Year from 26 to 24 in Year 1, 20 in Year 2 and 16 in Year 3.

 

Retention
To increase the school average of 85% retention for completion of Junior Cycle to 86% by the end of Year 1 (2021); to 88% by the end of Year 2 (2022); and to 90% by the end of Year 3 (2023).
To increase the school average of 76% for completion of Senior Cycle to 77% by the end of Year 1 (2021); to 78% by the end of Year 2 (2022); and to 80% by the end of Year 3 (2023).

 

Attainment
Increase the number of LC students achieving between H1 to H5.
Reduce the % of students sitting less than 7 LC exams subjects from 12.9% to 11% in Year 1, to 10% in Year 2 and to 9% in Year 3.
Increase the number of JC students sitting HL Papers in the three core subjects from 21% by 2% in Year 1, by 2% in Year 2, and by 1% in Year 3.
Increase the number of students passing LCA modules.

 

Transition
To increase student satisfaction of their transition from primary to post primary on a scale of 0-10 through Teaching and Learning.
To increase the school average of transition from 3rd Year to TY from the average of 83% over 3 years to 85% by the end of Year 1, by 87% by the end of Year 2, by 89% by the end of Year 3.
To increase the school average of transition of LCE students to University/ Institutes of Technology from the average of 38.5% over 3 years to 40% by the end of year 1, 42% by the end of Year 2, and 44% by the end of Year 3.
To increase the school average of students who will transition to Colleges of Further Education from the average of 34% over 3 years to 36% by the end of year 1, 38% by the end of Year 2 and 40% by the end of Year 3.
To ensure that all other students transition to world or work/apprenticeships over the next 3 years. 24% of students will transition to Apprenticeships/ world of work in Year 1, 20% of students in Year 2 and 16% of students in Year 3.
Literacy
To increase the overall average standard score in spelling in first- and second-year students 1 in Year 1, by 2 in Year 2, and by 3 in Year 3.
To increase the overall average standard score in word reading in first- and second-year student by one in Year 1, by 2 in Year 2 and by 3 in Year 3 
To increase the third year, TY, and fifth year overall average standard score in spelling by 1 in Year 1, by 2 in Year 2 and by 3 in Year 3.
To decrease the % of junior students who are not confident in oral presentation from 73.6% to 70% by the end of year 1, to 67% by the end of year 2, to 64% by the end of year 3.

 

Numeracy
To increase the number of 1st and 2nd Year who enjoy ‘maths/working with numbers’ from 47% to 49% by Year 1, 52% in Year 2 and 55% in Year 3 by developing a school wide positive attitude towards numeracy.
To increase the school average of the number of students completing HL Maths at JC from the average of 21.95% over 3 years to 24.95% by the end of Year 1, 26.95% by the end of Year 2, 28.95% by the end of Year 3.
To decrease the school average of students who change levels from HL to OL Maths in LC from the average of 12.69% to 12.19% by end of Year 1, 11.99% by the end of Year 2, 11.79% by the end of Year 3.

 

Partnership with parents
To improve engagement between the school and parents of OLGC Senior Schools.
To improve parental engagement between home and school of JC parents/guardians in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year *
To support parents/guardians in their role as the primary educators of their children.
To improve parent engagement at PTM by 1% for each year group.
To establish and maintain a Parent’s Council.

 

Partnership with others
To establish and maintain relevant links with local community agencies and external organisations.
To re-establish relevant links with local community agencies and external organisations which are appropriate to the needs of the students in the school in a post-COVID environment.
To establish a relevant database and build relationships with potential employers that broadens career options for students.
To maintain and deepen the strength of links with 3rd Level Access Programmes and further education.