Primary School Teaching Courses

Primary Teaching and Early Education in Ireland

Primary School Teaching provides people with an excellent opportunity to work with and help develop children from a variety of ages and backgrounds. It requires you to work as a mentor and support young people in a nurturing environment. You are teaching children at a period when they are probably at their most receptive to making new discoveries and at their most vigorous in grappling with them. Primary School Teachers have a long lasting influence on people’s lives. Teachers at primary level generally teach all subjects and are generalist rather than specialist educators as the primary curriculum is integrated.

A teacher’s day does not end when the final bell rings as a good deal of time out of school hours is spent marking work and preparing lessons and keeping up with new developments in specific subjects and in general education. Infinite patience and a sense of humor are great assets.

Although children are not obligated to attend school until the age of six, around 65 per cent of four year olds and most five year olds are enrolled in the infant classes in primary schools in Ireland. Primary school operate an eight-year programme, consisting of two kindergarten years (junior and senior infants), followed by classes 1-6.

The child-centred primary curriculum provides for an extensive learning experience and promotes a rich variety of approaches to teaching and learning.

While the points requirements for primary teaching courses can change from year to year depending on the demand, there is rarely a huge jump from one year to the next. Along with this point requirement there are minimum entry requirements of the core subjects: Maths, English and Irish. This is to make sure that primary teachers have the capacity to oversee learning in these areas.

Third Level Primary Teaching Courses

CM001 Education – Primary Teaching – Level 8
CM002 Education – Primary Teaching – Gaeltacht Applicants – Level 8
DC002 Education – Primary Teaching – Level 8
DC003 Education – Primary Teaching – Gaeltacht Applicants – Level 8
DC004 Education – Primary Teaching (Church of Ireland Centre formerly CICE) – Level 8 (Restricted)
MH001 Education – Primary Teaching (Froebel) – Level 8
MH002 Education – Primary Teaching – Gaeltacht Applicants (Froebel) – Level 8
MH003 Early Childhood – Teaching and Learning (full-time) – Level 8
MH801 Early Childhood – Teaching and Learning (part-time) – Level 8
MI004 Education – Primary Teaching – International – Level 8
MI005 Education – Primary Teaching – Level 8
MI006 Education – Primary Teaching – Gaeltacht Applicants – Level 8
MI008 Education and Psychology – Primary Teaching – Level 8
SG242 Early Childhood Care and Education – Level 8