Dates For Your Diary For the New School Year

by | Aug 26, 2018 | Guest Post | 0 comments

Now in its sixth consecutive year, this hugely popular post is back again. So many teachers make use of this list while they are making plans for seasonal and related activities in the classroom during the school year. Many thanks again to Ciara Reilly (@PrimEdTeacher on Twitter) for compiling this annual list.

As well as special days, feasts, festivals and celebrations it also includes dates of conferences that will be of educational interest to teachers. Links are provided for further information. Save the dates in your school diary.

All of these dates give teachers great opportunities to celebrate special occasions in school and to see how they can be integrated into the curriculum for educational purposes. So if you are in the midst of planning the year ahead, why not incorporate some of these special occasions into your plans.

If any occasions/dates have been omitted, or if there are any mistakes, please email me to let me know and I’ll update the list.

  1. All-Ireland Football Finals, Sunday 2nd September – http://www.gaa.ie/
  2. Read A Book Day, Thursday 6th September
  3. All-Ireland Camogie Finals, Sunday 9th September – http://www.camogie.ie/
  4. Roald Dahl Day, Thursday 13th September – http://www.roalddahlday.info/
  5. International Dot Day, September 15th-ish – http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/
  6. National Ploughing Championships, Tuesday 18th – Thursday 20th – http://www.npa.ie/
  7. International ‘Talk Like A Pirate’ Day, Wednesday19th September – https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/talk_like_a_pirate_day.php
  8. International Day of Peace, Friday 21st September – http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/
  9. Culture Night, Friday 21st September – http://www.culturenight.ie/
  10. Children’s Book Ireland Conference 2018, Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd September – http://childrensbooksireland.ie/
  11. Autumn Equinox, Sunday 23rd September – http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html
  12. European Day of Languages, Wednesday 26th September – http://edl.ecml.at
  13. Blue Star Programme, registration closes Friday 28th September – http://www.bluestarprogramme.ie/

 

  1. Signs of Autumn (or Hallowe’en) Twitter Project – Check Seomra Ranga to confirm dates
  2. Black History Month Ireland: to recognise honour, educate about and celebrate the achievements and international contributions of generations of members of the African diaspora, month of October – https://www.facebook.com/pages/biz/Black-History-Month-Ireland-150546811813778/
  3. World Space Week, Thursday 4th – Wednesday 10th October – http://www.worldspaceweek.org/ ; http://spaceweek.ie/
  4. World Animal Day, Thursday 4th October – http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/
  5. National Tree Day, Thursday 4th October – http://www.treeday.ie/
  6. World Teachers’ Day, Friday 5th October – http://www.worldteachersday.org/
  7. Féilte – Teaching Council event in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, – Friday 5th, Saturday 6th October – http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/
  8. EU Code Week, Saturday 6th – Sunday 21st October – http://codeweek.eu/
  9. World Homeless Day, Wednesday 10th October – http://www.worldhomelessday.org/ (also Focus Ireland Resources)
  10. Maths Week, Saturday 13th – Sunday 21st October – http://www.mathsweek.ie/
  11. Global Handwashing Day, Monday 15th October – https://globalhandwashing.org/global-handwashing-day-2018-clean-hands-a-recipe-for-health/
  12. World Food Day, Tuesday 16th October – http://www.worldfoodday.ie/
  13. UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Wednesday 17th October – http://www.17october.ie/
  14. Presidential Election, Friday 26th October – https://president.ie/en
  15. Clocks go back an hour (2am to 1am), Sunday 28th October
  16. Hallowe’en, Tuesday 31st October

 

  1. Outdoor Classroom Day – Thursday November 1st – https://outdoorclassroomday.com/
  2. Literacy Association of Ireland 40th Annual Conference – Marino Institute of Education, 9th/10th November – https://www.literacyireland.com/
  3. International Tongue Twister Day, Sunday 11th November – Try These Tongue Twisters
  4. Armistice Day Centenary, Sunday November 11th – 100 years since the end of World War I
  5. Presidential Inauguration, Sunday November 11th – inauguration of the new president for a seven-year term
  6. Origami Day, Sunday 11th November – http://www.origami-instructions.com/
  7. Science Week, Sunday 11th – Sunday 18th November – http://www.scienceweek.ie/
  8. Goal ‘Write the Future’ writing competition – closing date Tuesday November 13th – https://www.goalglobal.org/write-the-future
  9. FÍS Film Festival – Tuesday November 14th (entries have already closed for 2018) – http://fisfilmproject.ie/
  10. World Fisheries Day, Wednesday 21st November – http://www.gdrc.org/doyourbit/21_11-fisheries-day.html
  11. Thanksgiving (USA), Thursday 22nd November
  12. Library Week Ireland, dates TBC but usually last week of November– http://www.libraryirelandweek.ie/

 

 

  1. Advent begins – Sunday December 2nd
  2. Birthday of Walt Disney, Wednesday 5th December
  3. Women’s Suffrage: Centenary of the first time British and Irish women voted in a parliamentary election, 14th December
  4. Winter Solstice, Friday 21st December – http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html
  5. Christmas Day, Monday 25th December – Christmas resources available from http://nollaigshona.ie/
  6. New Year’s Eve, Monday 31st December

 

  1. Nollaig na mBan (Little Christmas) – January 6th – Nollaig na mBan PPT
  2. World Braille Day, Friday 4th January – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-braille-day/
  3. World Day of the Snowman, Friday 18th January – http://worlddayofsnowman.com/
  4. Martin Luther King Jr Day, Monday 21st January
  5. International Share a Compliment Day, Thursday 24th January
  6. Australia Day, Saturday 26th January
  7. Storytelling Week (UK), Sunday 27th January – Sunday 3rd February – http://www.sfs.org.uk/national-storytelling-week
  8. Catholic Schools Week, Sunday 27th January – Saturday 2nd February – http://www.catholicbishops.ie/catholicschoolsweek/
  9. Backwards Day, Thursday 31st January – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/backward-day/

 

  1. Lá ‘Le Bríde, Friday February 1st – St. Brigid’s Cloak PPT
  2. Ireland’s first game in the 2019 Six Nations (against England in the Aviva Stadium), Saturday 2nd February – https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/
  3. Chinese New Year (Year of the Pig), Tuesday 5th February – http://cny.ie
  4. Safer Internet Day, Tuesday 5th February – http://www.saferinternetday.ie
  5. Valentine’s Day, Thursday 14th February – Valentines Resources
  6. Rare Disease Day, Tuesday 28th February – http://www.rarediseaseday.org/
  7. Texaco Art Competition: 2019 dates TBC, but deadline for entries is usually end of February – http://www.texacochildrensart.com/
  8. Green Schools Exhibition, RDS Dublin (2019 date TBC but usually on a Thursday in late February) – https://greenschoolsireland.org/
  9. Green Schools Water Poster Competition, 2019 dates TBC but deadline for entries is usually late February/early March https://greenschoolsireland.org/

 

  1. Signs of Spring (or it might be St. Patrick’s Day or Easter!) Twitter Project – Check Seomra Ranga to confirm dates, but usually second/third week in March
  2. Seachtain na Gaeilge, Aoine 1ú – Domhnach 17ú Márta – http://snag.ie/
  3. Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) TeachMeet – Friday 1st March – http://www.cesi.ie/
  4. Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) Annual Conference – Saturday 2nd March – http://www.cesi.ie/
  5. World Book Day, Thursday 7th March – https://www.worldbookday.com/
  6. Engineer’s Week, Saturday 2nd – Friday 8th March – http://www.engineersweek.ie/; http://www.steps.ie/
  7. National Tree Week, exact dates TBC but likely to be Sunday 3rd – Sunday 10th March – http://www.treecouncil.ie
  8. Pancake (Shrove) Tuesday, Tuesday 5th March
  9. Ash Wednesday, Wednesday 6th February
  10. RDS Primary Science Fair Dublin, Wednesday 6th & Thursday 7th March – http://www.rds.ie/primarysciencefair
  11. International Women’s Day, Friday 8th March – http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
  12. St Patrick’s Day, Sunday 17th March – St. Patrick’s Day Resources
  13. Spring Equinox, Wednesday March 20th – http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html
  14. Republic of Ireland’s opening qualifier for UEFA Euro 2020 (part of which takes place in Dublin) – dates TBC but between Thursday 21st and Saturday 23rd March – http://www.fai.ie/
  15. World Poetry Day, Thursday 21st March – http://www.un.org/en/events/poetryday/
  16. World Water Day, Friday 22nd March – http://www.unwater.org/
  17. World Meteorological Day, Saturday 23rd March – https://public.wmo.int/en/wmo-2019-calendar-competition ; https://www.met.ie/
  18. Clocks go forward (1am to 2am), early hours of Sunday 31st March
  19. Mothers’ Day, Sunday 31st March

 

  1. April Fool’s Day, Monday 1st April
  2. World Autism Awareness Day, Tuesday 2nd April – https://autismireland.ie/ ; https://autism.ie/ ; https://asiam.ie/
  3. Holy Week, Sunday 14th (Palm Sunday) – Saturday 20th March (Holy Saturday)
  4. Easter Sunday, Sunday 21st April
  5. Digital Art Week, early April (dates TBC) – http://www.digitalartweek.com/ (Although it didn’t run last year)
  6. Earth Day, Monday 22nd April – http://www.earthday.org/
  7. Shakespeare Day, Wednesday April 23rd – https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/uk/shakespeare-day
  8. International Jazz Day, Tuesday 30th April – http://jazzday.com/
  9. Tech Week Ireland, dates TBC but usually late April – http://www.techweek.ie/

 

  1. Europe Day, Thursday 9th May – http://europa.eu/about-eu/basic-information/symbols/europe-day/index_en.htm
  2. ICT in Education Conference, Thurles, Saturday 11th May – http://www.lit.ie/ictedu
  3. National ‘Walk to School’ week – TBC, usually second/third week of May – http://www.greenschoolsireland.org/
  4. Water Safety Week: IWS usually hold various awareness weeks on a regional basis in summer months; exact dates TBC, but check on http://www.iws.ie/
  5. RDS Primary Science Fair Limerick (at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick), Wednesday 22nd – Friday 24th May – http://www.rds.ie/primarysciencefair
  6. Outdoor Classroom Day, Thursday 23rd May – https://outdoorclassroomday.com/

 

  1. Butterfly Education and Awareness Day, Saturday 1st June – http://afbeducation.org/butterfly-conservation/butterfly-education-and-awareness-day/
  2. World Environment Day, Wednesday 5th June – http://worldenvironmentday.global/
  3. RDS Primary Science Fair Limerick (at Belfast Waterfront), Wednesday 5th – Thursday 6th June– http://www.rds.ie/primarysciencefair
  4. World Oceans Day, Saturday 8th June – http://worldoceansday.org/
  5. Bike Week, dates TBC but likely to be Saturday 8th – Sunday 16th June – http://www.bikeweek.ie/
  6. Fathers’ Day, Sunday 16th June
  7. Summer Solstice, Friday 21st June – http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html
  8. International Music Day, Friday 21st June – https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-music-day-2018/
  9. FÍS Film Festival – dates TBC but deadline for submission is usually the end of June – http://www.fisfilmproject.ie/

For additional fun days or events, I recommend:

  1. http://fun.familyeducation.com/calendar/holidays-and-seasonal-events/59741.html
  2. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/
  3. http://www.onthisday.com/

(Months of the Year visuals are available as a download HERE)

Ciara Reilly is on secondment from St. Peter’s Primary School, Bray Co. Wicklow.  You can follow her on Twitter @PrimEdTeacher

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