The Irish primary curriculum, mapped

Oral Language

• Engagement, listening and attention
• Social conventions and awareness of others
• Vocabulary (oral)
• Sentence structure and grammar (oral)
• Demonstration of understanding
• Requests and questions
• Retelling and elaborating
• Playful and creative use of language
• Description, prediction and reflection

Spoken interaction: listening, turn-taking, vocabulary in use, asking and answering, retelling. Photo flashcards with spoken labels and yes/no or quiz questions serve this strand directly.

Reading

• Phonological and phonemic awareness
• Phonics and word recognition
• Vocabulary (reading)
• Fluency and self-correction
• Comprehension
• Response and author's intent

From phonological awareness and phonics to fluency and comprehension. Keep words decodable and high-frequency for early stages; matching word-to-picture and gap-fill sentences serve this strand.

Writing

• Handwriting and presentation
• Spelling
• Vocabulary (writing)
• Sentence structure and grammar (writing)
• Writing process and creating text

Spelling, sentence construction and the writing process. Typed-answer matching and gap-fill (typed mode) serve this strand; keep target words short and pattern-based for early stages.

Number

• Uses of number
• Numeration and counting
• Place value and base ten
• Sets and operations
• Fractions · stage 2+

Counting, place value, operations and fractions. Sorting by quantity, sequencing numerals and picture-count matching serve this strand.

Algebra

• Patterns, rules and relationships
• Expressions and equations · stage 3+

Patterns and relationships before symbols. Sequence and sort activities fit naturally.

Measures

• Measuring
• Time
• Money

Length, weight, capacity, time and money with everyday objects — strong fit for photo-based materials.

Shape and space

• Spatial awareness and location
• Shape
• Transformation · stage 2+

Shapes, spatial language (over/under/beside) and transformation. Photo flashcards of shapes in the environment are the classic activity.

Data and chance

• Data
• Chance · stage 2+

Collecting and sorting data; likelihood language from stage 2. Sort activities fit directly.

Nature of STEM

How scientists and engineers think and work: observing, questioning, testing.

Living things

Plants, animals, the human body, life cycles and habitats. Photo flashcards and sort (living/not living, animal/plant) are strong fits.

Materials

Properties and uses of everyday materials; changes (melting, mixing). Sort by material/property fits.

Energy and forces

Light, sound, heat, magnetism, forces — through everyday phenomena.

Technology

Digital and everyday technologies and computational thinking.

Engineering

Design-and-make: planning, building, testing, improving.

Movement Education

• Movement skills
• Movement concepts
• Movement strategies
• Personal relevance

Movement skills, concepts and strategies — mostly physical practice; sequence cards can support routines.

Emotional and Relational Education

• Identity
• Emotional awareness and expression
• Relationships
• Resilience

Identity, naming and expressing emotions, relationships, resilience. Emotion-photo flashcards, yes/no and sort (how does this feel?) serve this strand; pairs with the emotional-regulation specific.

Health Education

• Motivation for healthy living
• Substance use · stage 3+
• Human development
• Safety
• Decision-making

Healthy living, the body, safety, decision-making. Sort (healthy/unhealthy), sequence (wash your hands) and yes/no fit well.

Community and Belonging

• Sense of belonging
• Family
• Rights and fairness
• Citizenship · stage 3+
• Media and digital wellbeing · stage 2+

Family, belonging, rights and fairness, citizenship, media awareness. Photo materials about the child’s own people and places fit Tuto’s photo-first approach directly.

My locality

• Identity and heritage
• Environment and sustainable living
• People and places

The child's own place — home, school, town. The strand where Tuto's photos-from-the-child's-environment pedagogy IS the curriculum.

The island of Ireland

• Identity and heritage
• Environment and sustainable living
• People and places

People, places, heritage and stories of Ireland.

Europe and the wider world

• Identity and heritage
• Environment and sustainable living
• People and places

Other places and cultures — a natural strand for bilingual/EAL materials connecting a family’s heritage country and Ireland.

Creating

Exploring, generating ideas and making personal artwork across art forms.

Performing and Presenting

Communicating through sound, visuals, movement and gesture; sharing work with an audience.

Responding and Connecting

Observing, listening and responding to artwork — flashcards naming instruments, colours or artworks serve this strand.