http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:50:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By Colin Coyle Sunday Times 31st January 2010 Independent News & Media has suspended a commercial promotion for primary schools after objections from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO). Building for the Future, a promotion that originally required pupils to collect tokens to enter a competition, will now be altered so that schools ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/422 Irish primary schools celebrated a victory this week as Independent Newspapers abandoned their "Building for the Future" scheme just weeks after its high-profile launch. It is the first time a major in-school marketing promotion has been scrapped and is an embarrassing climb down for Independent and their co-sponsors Bank of ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/407       "We the undersigned 50 Primary school principals condemn and refuse to partake in the Irish Independent's "Building for the Future" scheme being launched this week.   We abhor the quota of 20 tokens per pupil from Independent Newspapers required of all schools wishing to submit a project for this sponsored competition. Independent Newspapers ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/388 We thought we'd seen the last of Independent Newspapers' "Building for the Future". Surely no company would persevere with a promotion that barred children who failed to reach their token quota? But after a 3 year hiatus this contemptible scheme is back - supported by Independent Newspapers and Bank of Ireland. ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/378 The INTO has said primary teachers should not support advertising projects by commercial companies which target children or their families through schools. The union made its announcement following the launch of a project promoted by the Irish Independent and sponsored by Bank of Ireland. "Bank of Ireland is one of the ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/368 It's that time of year when hundreds of schools will receive an unsolicited bundle of Primary Times magazines, full with advertisements aimed at children and their parents. Unlike ordinary publications, Primary Times does not have a distributor or retail outlet through which to deliver its advertising - it uses the ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/358 The first week of the new school year and another letter from a Marketing Manager - this time from An Post asking teachers to promote their Cyril the Squirrel savings scheme which they assure us is easy to set up and maintain. While secondary schools may have to contend with AIB ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/347 Unabashed by its toxic debts, beleaguered shareholders and allegations of gross mismanagement, AIB persists in approaching Irish secondary schools to teach students "money-management" and "key business skills". The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education previously identified Allied Irish Bank's Build a Bank Challenge as one of the biggest sponsored competitions in Ireland at ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/333 As the new school year 2009-2010 begins, Irish schools are faced with the withdrawal of grants, proposals to decrease the main capitation grant and the realisation that the much-hyped €252 million investment in computers and technology has evaporated into thin air. While commercial schemes proliferated during the years of economic ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/325 Supervalu has admitted that its vouchers for the Kids in Action programme are worthless. The Supervalu 'Kids in Action' voucher scheme claims to provide schools with free sports equipment. This is a fallacy. Simple maths will explain: in order for a school to claim a 'free' gymnastics mat that retails at about ... http://www.commercialfreeeducation.com/archives/302