*Kevin Toomey welcoming then Minister for Education to St John’s NS in Shannon in May 2023. Photograph: Joe Buckley
BUNRATTY native Kevin Toomey has been appointed to a new role with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
Kevin who is principal of St John’s NS in Shannon since 2019 will form the new NCCA Council which is expected to serve for a four-year term. The Council’s responsibilities are defined in the Education Act and reflected in current government publications. Its work centres on shaping national curriculum and assessment policy.
Toomey will be one of twenty six members of the Council. Representatives include teachers, school leaders, parents, students, management bodies, unions, the Irish language sector, business and industry along with other educational interests.
Formal advice to the Minister for Education is provided by the NCCA Council on the curriculum for early childhood, primary, junior cycle, and senior cycle plus assessment procedures used in schools and State examinations.
Decisions on areas to be reviewed within curriculum and assessment, what new specifications should be developed, required research and how consultation should be structured are all determined by the NCCA.
Council members must approve all curriculum and assessment proposals before they go to the Minister.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Kevin admitted it is “a great honour” to be nominated to serve on the NCCA Council. “I’m thrilled to have been nominated by my representative body, I’m delighted with the trust placed in me and the responsibility, it is a great honour, I was nominated by Dr Kevin Fennelly, he is a great guy. I’m looking forward to it, it will be interesting, I hope I won’t be too much of a disruptive and equally I hope I will be disruptive enough, it will be great to get the lens of a small school and the voice of a small school put in there. I look forward to being as useful as I can to them and beneficial as a member”.
