Learning School Pilot Project 2026 / 2027

The school as a Learning organisation is one of 10 Principles underpinning LAOS 2022.

The Learning School Project is an initiative to support the development of the school as a self-evaluating school, which is a key element of current national policy with particular reference to Looking at Our School (LAOS ‘22) and School Self-Evaluation 2022-2026 (SSE).

Participation in the project will offer your school an opportunity to explore LAOS and decide on an aspect to focus on in terms of SSE, school development and school improvement. Schools that have participated in the Learning School Project over the years have benefitted hugely from their own individual, context-based innovation and development and from their participation in the LSP Community of Practice.

Objectives:

• To develop an increased awareness of what constitutes a learning school
• To support schools to engage in a process of reflection, review & evaluation
• To support schools as they engage in initiatives to improve learning outcomes for students
• To develop leadership capacity by empowering staff to take on and carry out leadership roles

Participants will develop the skills of:

• Project management
• Data analysis and self-evaluation
• Facilitation & presentation
• Reflective practice

What is involved?

• Identify two teachers in the school to act as team leaders – to be known as the project pair.
• Recruit a further 2-4 team members, ideally including a member of the senior management team.
• Engage in a process of self-evaluation to identify the aspect that will be the focus of the project.
• Design & implement an action/intervention to address the identified focus.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the action/intervention
• Communicate the findings to colleagues within the school and amongst the other LSP schools.

How to express an interest in participating in the LSP?
Please complete this Expression of Interest Form.

Limerick Education Support Centre will:

• Co-ordinate the project.
• Host a network of the participating post-primary schools.
• Provide support through a series of “Hub” meetings from September 2026 to May 2027 mainly online with some school or Education Support Centre visits. The purpose of these meetings is to support schools as the project evolves from the planning, through implementation to evaluation and reporting stages.

Timeline for the project:

Shared Learning Day:
We will celebrate the work of each school at a Shared Learning Day event in May 2027. Details TBC. (Each school will produce a poster which will be displayed at the Shared Learning Day in May 2027. Posters will be printed by Limerick ESC.)