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Simon Lewis

@simonlewis.ie
801 followers 433 following 598 posts

👨🏼‍🏫 If I were the Minister for Education Podcast Subscribe ➡️ Anseo.net/subscribe 📌 About me: simonlewis.ie 🖋 Views mine, no one else would

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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 10/01/2026
1/9 If you grew up in Ireland, January 6th was untouchable. The Feast of the Epiphany marked the true end of the holidays for Irish primary schools. It was not debated, negotiated, or questioned. Schools were closed because the Catholic Church said they were closed.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 06/01/2026
Did you know until 2014, Irish primary schools never opened before 7th January as the 6th is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation? The history of how the church ceded control after some schools rebelled is an interesting one.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 06/01/2026
I have a few thoughts about this article but would be interested in hearing what stuck out for you www.irishtimes.com/ireland/edu...
irishtimes.com
Ireland’s outdoor primary school: ‘Children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates’
The Outdoor Primary School (TOPS), in Greystones, Co Wicklow, functions outside the Department of Education’s remit, but staff and parents rhapsodise about the benefits of such an education
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 05/01/2026
iPads or Chromebooks? I made this interactive quiz to help you decide for your school www.arukas.ie/whichdevice/
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 03/01/2026
Irish Education Podcasts to Listen to in 2026 📌 The Irish education podcasting world really took off in a big way in 2025. Here are 9 podcasts worth adding to your playlists. (10 if you include mine!)
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 03/01/2026
Ho hum... I guess we should start the year as normal with the **most** important educational story people seem to be able to think about. Any hopes schools will be treated as anything other than childcare by the media remain the same www.independent.ie/irish-news/...
independent.ie
Flights cancelled at Dublin Airport and school reopenings under threat as Arctic blast to bring snow, ice and lows of -4C
Ireland is set for an Arctic blast as ­temperatures will sink close to -4C over the weekend – with some northern areas facing snow, ice, freezing fog and h...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 02/01/2026
On the Disappointment of Almost Meeting my Hero and a Story of a Plastic Cup This is a story I wrote in 2022 that has nothing to do with education. I hope you enjoy it. Happy New Year. simonmlewis.substack.com/p/on-the-di...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 01/01/2026
A clip from my annual review of primary education in Ireland. Listen to the full episode here: pod.fo/e/36e0c5
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 01/01/2026
The National Convention for Education is going to happen this year thanks to an announcement from Helen McEntee in July, that probably surprised her civil servants. I decided to write a jingle for it.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 01/01/2026
The Department of Education tried a catchy slogan back in July to try and convince people to choose teaching. I covered this in my review of the year. Full episode: pod.fo/e/36e0c5
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 18/12/2025
Read the final few sentences of this article and you'll see how out of touch the Department of Education is. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/edu...
irishtimes.com
School withdraws appeal for toilet rolls from pupils but funding strains remain
Primary school principals say balancing books is ‘impossible’ without seeking parental donations
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 14/12/2025
School leadership is basically spinning plates while someone keeps handing you more.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 09/12/2025
@NotebookLM has added a new feature called Infographics, which creates really interesting graphs and images based on published sources. I thought I'd try it out with Religious Control of Irish Primary Schools. This is what it got:
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 07/12/2025
I agree with Cathal Crowe on this www.clare.fm/news/clare-...
clare.fm
Clare TD Proposes Dedicated Irish Language Teachers In Primary Schools - Clare FM
Clare TD Proposes Dedicated Irish Language Teachers In Primary Schools - News % Clare FM
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 03/12/2025
I made interactive flow charts based on the ones in the Child Protection Procedures. Here's a demo of how they work. They come free with every plan on schoolpolicy.ie www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Q...
youtube.com
Child Protection Reporting of Concerns Flowchart
I created an interactive version of the flowchart on page 57 of the Child PRotection Guidelines (2025) which you can use to help with reporting.This form is ...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 03/12/2025
10 years ago today, Ireland nearly shifted on school equality. Ten years later, with AI to help dissect the debate, it’s remarkable how much was said… and how little changed. My take on the 2015 Dáil exchange: 🔗 simonmlewis.substack.com/p/ten-years...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 01/12/2025
I was on the radio today speaking about Herzog Park. I'm the second speaker in. www.rte.ie/radio/radio...
rte.ie
Should Herzog park be renamed?
Callers got in touch about if Hezog Park should be renamed
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 30/11/2025
🧵 The Primary Ethos Survey is missing one very important option in all three questions. It's the option of "I don't care." I think this is a massive omission and here's why.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 29/11/2025
1/ It's the end of November, which can mean only one thing in Ireland. It's the annual barrage of claims that Christmas is being attacked by secularists and our culture will disappear if we don't reclaim "our" Christian culture.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 23/11/2025
1/12 Fr. Paddy has a long running column in the Laois Nationalist. His articles are usually harmless messages of love and hope from a Catholic perspective, universal values that everyone could relate to, even if they don't share his faith. However, this week they took a turn
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 19/11/2025
1/ Less than a week ago, Helen McEntee told a thousand principals she was fully invested in education because her own child starts school in September. A few days later she was gone. No goodbye.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 16/11/2025
Very happy to have a letter published in the Sunday Independent. www.independent.ie/opinion/let...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 15/11/2025
Very proud to be part of this series from Speaking Volumes. My poem from Breaking Ground Ireland is one of 15 pieces of work from diverse Irish artists. I hope you enjoy it. Please follow Speaking Volumes on their various channels. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJ...
youtube.com
BGI - Simon Lewis
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 14/11/2025
Really impressive talk from Anne Looney at #IPPN25. I'm much more positive about the upcoming National Convention in education.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 14/11/2025
Then and now. We're all on a journey I guess. m.independent.ie/opinion/com...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 13/11/2025
Interesting analysis of AI in education from Keith Young at #IPPN25
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 13/11/2025
Expo_sing Schoolpolicy.Ie for the first time. Come upstairs at IPPN and win a free year subscription
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 13/11/2025
A really good first day at IPPN conference.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 11/11/2025
The school staff portal for the Primary Ethos Survey was released today. The only interesting thing about it will be the results when they are divided out between those already in denominational schools and those in multidenominational schools. Why is that?
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 11/11/2025
This is a brilliant article about the primary ethos survey. A must read. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/com...
irishexaminer.com
Another survey — but still no change for children who opt out of religious instruction
If the Government is truly committed to equality and inclusion in education, it needs to move beyond surveys and start legislating for it, writes Aoife Cassidy
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 05/11/2025
Why I'm not sharing the same excitement as everyone else regarding the school ethos survey: open.substack.com/pub/simonml...
simonmlewis.substack.com
What's the point of the Primary School Ethos survey?
There are some things that don't need to be surveyed. Would we ask parents if we should segregate children by race in school, so why are we asking should be segregate by faith?
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 04/11/2025
simonmlewis.substack.com/p/whats-the...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 04/11/2025
I find it astonishing that videos like this have to be made. Fair play to Emma O'Kelly. Honestly, how people believe the nonsense around multid education is beyond me. www.instagram.com/reel/DQo5dC...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 26/10/2025
This is Google Notebook LM's brief analysis of the School Inclusion Model Pilot. It doesn't even mention that the therapists don't work directly with children and it's still pretty scathing.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 21/10/2025
It would have been wrong not to summarise the Department of Education's Artificial Intelligence guidance with using AI to do so, so I did. Mainly used @NotebookLM which produced the podcast and summary. simonmlewis.substack.com/p/guidance-...
simonmlewis.substack.com
Guidance on Artificial Intelligence in Schools
Listen now | The government produces advice on AI. What's in it for primary schools?
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 16/10/2025
I'm going to try something different - a LIVE podcast (eek) It's on from 3pm on October 22nd and you can tune in here: riverside.fm/studio/anse... It all about Special Education and we're doing it live so you can ask questions while we're chatting.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 07/10/2025
1/10 🧵 €50 per child rise in the capitation grant sounds like something to celebrate, doesn't it? Well, there's good news and bad news.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 06/10/2025
The department of education has not issued official guidelines to schools about how to facilitate such requests, but it has issued guidance on "good practice". And...pray tell, where would one find this good practice? www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4...
irishexaminer.com
State to compile data on number of children who opt out of religious instruction in primary schools
Majority of primary schools remain under the patronage of the Catholic Church, despite efforts to increase the diversity of schools under multi-denominational patronage
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 04/10/2025
Here's the cover image of this week's Anseo.net newsletter. Coming this Tuesday!
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 03/10/2025
A short promo video for my little project: schoolpolicy.ie Create a policy in less than 2 minutes youtu.be/_Im1qwE2bvE
youtube.com
How to create a School Policy in less than 2 minutes
With SchoolPolicy.ie, you can create policies in a few clicks. For more, go to 🏫 https://www.schoolpolicy.ie
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 29/09/2025
Important read here from Ciara Reilly: www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/com...
irishexaminer.com
Ciara Reilly: Autism is not caused by paracetamol, vaccines or mothers — it's a natural neurotype
Conspiracy theories about autism persist, but the real issue is not 'causes' — it’s the systemic failure to support autistic people
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 29/09/2025
🙋🏻‍♂️❓Got any myths about Special Education in Ireland? Share your favourites! I'm gearing up for a podcast where we debunk these myths with an expert in the field. 🪄
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 26/09/2025
I've been collating the response to the launch of the Primary Curriculum all week and I wasn't surprised to note that almost every media response was of a "missed opportunity" more...
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 21/09/2025
Interested in reading a year-by-year incomplete summary of special education cuts since 2009? Read on... 🧵 (Full article: simonmlewis.substack.com/p/with-the-...)
simonmlewis.substack.com
With the latest circular on Special Education, I chart the erosion of provision over the last two decades
When the economy crashed in 2008, everything eventually recovered except housing and special needs provision.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 20/09/2025
Took part in a poetry slam for #culturenight25 with a piece on sourdough starters dying, gym bros fighting and a scene from the Rose of Tralee while trying to tell schoolkids not to get addicted to TikToks. Needless to day, in the background, my son was cringing.
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 18/09/2025
Any foreign-trained teachers out there who would be willing to talk to me on my podcast about their journey through the hoops to get their Teaching Council number?
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 12/09/2025
1/8 📢 New AI Asks Anseo podcast episode is out! This week: Ireland’s class sizes — now at their lowest in 25 years. But does that really mean classrooms are getting better? Let’s unpack. 🧵
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 06/09/2025
NEW POST: What we can learn after the strike has been postponed open.substack.com/pub/simonml...
simonmlewis.substack.com
What we learned from the secretaries' and caretakers' strike
Crossing picket lines, trying not to be the first school to close, and mixed messages from representatives
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 01/09/2025
Preview of new podcast: simonmlewis.substack.com - the complacency of the Department of Education regarding the strike action
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Simon Lewis @simonlewis.ie · 31/08/2025
NEW PODCAST! When schools stay open during the FORSA strike, who’s really crossing the line? Expect some provocative questions of all of us in education. 🎧 open.substack.com/pub/simonml...
simonmlewis.substack.com
SCABS: Are We Undermining the Strike Already?
From locked gates to blocked toilets: why schools can’t survive without the workers the State has taken for granted.
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