Irish Parents Review English Curriculum Blog

Welcome to the Irish Parents Review English Curriculum Blog. If you are a parent

concerned about what your child is actually being exposed to in the classroom, in their English class, under the guise of a relevant new curriculum, you have come to the right place. We are a team of concerned parents (some of us are also teachers) who have come together to highlight any objectionable, extreme or inappropriate material which is being introduced into the new curriculum for English at both Junior and Leaving (Senior) Cycles.

Since 2014, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has slowly been making some very significant and disturbing changes and additions to the texts (novels, plays and films) now read and studied in the Junior and Senior Cycle classrooms.There is no longer a wide choice of classics or more traditional texts, on the prescribed lists which teachers must choose material from. Instead the selection is widening to include more books and films that include, promote and explicitly describe topics such as:

-Sexual acts (both Heterosexual and Homosexual)

-Masturbation

-Oral Sex

-Paedophilia

-Bestiality

-Incest

-Torture

-Bondage

-Extreme physical violence

-Death (gratuitous; not dealing with bereavement)

-Suicide

-Demonic Possession

-Underage Sexual Acts (minor with minor; Adult with minor)

-Gruesome murder (involving chopping off heads and other body parts)

-Desecration of a corpse (e.g with a chainsaw)

-Disrespect towards parents

-Downgrading of parents

-Extensive use of Foul and Offensive Language (which includes blasphemy and extremely crude sexual expressions)

Link to informative video about all of these texts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIcBVf4VUTk

Link to Wendi Drinan's report which has been forwarded to the Minister for Education

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1niFfSAmL2ZR1jRzb0Y7AWiyeZYZ9NcNwdY-XlxU1nVY/edit?usp=sharing

If you are not happy about your child being exposed to this material in their English class, it is vital that you act now. Here are the steps you need to take:

Check with your child/child’s English booklist to see which books they will be reading in September. If the booklist is not yet available, contact the school to let them know which books you will not allow your child to read, and the reasons why.
Read the review of your child’s English books/films here on the Irish Parents Review English Curriculum Blog. These reviews are not literary reviews, but rather are written by parents who are concerned about the suitability of these texts for the age group they are being presented to, in our classrooms. Our parents’ reviews will highlight any offensive or inappropriate content in the texts and then you can decide if you are happy for your child to be studying this text/movie.
Talk to your school Principal about the other offensive books/films reviewed here on the blog and emphasise that under no circumstance will you allow your child to read these books in the future. This is vital because you need to protect what your child might potentially be exposed to next year/the year after...
Give your school Principal the link to this blog: Irishparents.blogspot.com and encourage them to see the offensive material for themselves. Ask them to contact the NCCA to have these texts removed. Your Principal will have been sent a circular from the Department of Education and Skills containing the complete prescribed list of texts for both the Junior Cycle and the Senior Cycle. However, they will not have read the texts themselves as they are trusting the judgement of the NCCA and the English teachers in their school to choose good material. Many Principals are not aware of the situation. Most teachers are choosing the few remaining decent texts on the list and are avoiding the most offensive ones. Many teachers have not read all the texts on the lists.
Contact your local Councillor/TD and ask him/her to request that the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) remove these offensive texts/movies from the prescribed reading lists. If enough parents take the time to do this, your Councillor will act, as he/she is counting on your vote!
. Contact Norma Foley, Minister for Education (who was herself an English Teacher for many years), to discuss this issue. Ask her to ensure that these offensive books be removed from the curriculum. Contact Bernie McNally, Secretary General for Education and recommend that she views the you-tube video: Irish Parents review English curriculum
Contact Arlene Forster, current CEO of the NCCA (e-mail: ceo@ncca.ie) Barry Slattery (Deputy CEO NCCA) barry.slattery@ncca.ie and Patrick Sullivan (Deputy CEO) e-mail: patrick.sullivan@ncca.ie. (Demand that the offensive books and films reviewed on this blog site be immediately removed from the prescribed lists. A physical letter can be sent to: NCCA Headquarters, 35, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2, DO2KH36. Tel: (01) 6617177 info@ncca.ie
You can also contact the current six executive directors at the NCCA headquarters: Jacqueline Fallon, Elaine Ni Neachtain, Derek Grant, Evelyn O'Connor, (acting director), Ben Murray and Aoife Rush.
Historically, the Principal Officer of the Dept. of Education (formerly John Hammond) sends out the most recent circular to schools -in January or May- detailing the latest choices of the NCCA for the English prescribed texts for students sitting the Leaving Certificate exam. The current list contains many objectionable choices. See latest circular (link at end of this information). Alternatively you could request that your child's school/English teacher gives you a copy of the prescribed list.

Office of the Minister of Education,

Marlborough St., Dublin 1, Do1 RC96

Tel: (01) 8892335 /(01) 6183375/

minister@education.gov.ie / norma.foley@oireachtas.ie

www.department.gov.ie

Sample Letter/e-mail:

Dear Minister Foley,

Please could you take the time to look at irishparents.blogspot.com and view this video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCIUDlWUFetqCMxKkqA6CAA

As a parent, I feel angered/distressed/disturbed/upset/enraged that the NCCA have not been checked in their choice of plays, novels and films for the prescribed curriculum, which my child's teacher is free to choose from. These disgusting and offensive pornographic and violent materials need to be removed immediately and replaced with good literature. Teachers and parents have worked together to compile a much better alternative list of novels, plays and films and these are listed on the blog site referred to.

Sincerely,

6. Pass suggestions for good quality literature on to the NCCA.

The links below suggest a wide range of good quality texts, selected by English teachers in consultation with parents. They are not in any order of preference but give a wide range of topics. You could print out these lists of recommended texts and send them to the NCCA/give them to your child's English teacher and Principal. If you do send them to the NCCA, ask that they get passed on to the English Education Officers.

Texts we recommend for 2nd & 3rd years:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ob91QjH9HD0stPROgKiSMdOI1XznUBAXkVVIV4eqEhA/edit?usp=sharing

Texts we recommend for Senior Cycle:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Za9phB2k42Dwg4K5_n5W4mAkPI5jNhKQEPvTsLDwYyI/edit?usp=sharing

The NCCA also have a section on their website where parents can ‘click’ to suggest a novel, drama text or film.

To suggest texts for Junior level:

Go to: NCCA.ie and follow this path:

(1) Click on ‘Junior Cycle’

(2) Click on ‘Subjects’

(3) Click on ‘English’ (NOT ‘English & Communication’)

(4) Click on ‘Junior Cycle English Text List’

(5) Click on ‘To suggest a novel, drama text or film, click here’