IPPN Annual Members' Report 2022-2023

IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2022/2023

Tacaíocht, Spreagadh, Misneach Supporting School Leadership

The value of school leadership

‘We know school leadership is shaped by the school’s context; we know that it has a moral purpose to make a positive difference and we also know that it is most effective when it is shared. Most importantly, we know that it matters. It’s a very simple equation – effective school leaders mean effective schools and effective schools mean better outcomes for children. Therefore, making sure that school leaders can dedicate themselves to delivering effective leadership must be a system imperative.’

Primary School Leadership: The Case for Urgent Action - A Roadmap to Sustainability

IPPN, 2022

All text in blue contains hyperlinks

Photographs throughout: Brownes Photography

Cover photo: Deputy principal Jane Honner and Principal Stephen Middleton of Powerscourt NS, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow

A message from our CEO and President

The past year has been another exceptionally busy one for IPPN and the IPPN Support Office team. The aim of the 2022/2023 Members’ Report is to provide an overview of the work IPPN has been doing to support members over the past 12 months. With IPPN’s strategic priorities for 2021-2025 driving our work, the team describes the work and projects undertaken over the past year relating to each of our strategic objectives. As you will see, the IPPN team has continued to improve, develop and enhance the supports and services provided to members. As always, the needs of school leaders are front and centre in everything we do.

We look forward to engaging with as many of you as possible in the coming year, whether face-to-face at Autumn network meetings or conferences, online at webinars, or via email or phone call.

Is sinne le meas,

Páiric Clerkin Brian O’Doherty CEO President 2021-2023

IPPN: The Organisation

IPPN is the Irish Primary Principals’ Network, the officially recognised professional body for more than 6,000 Principals and Deputy Principals of Irish primary schools. It is an independent, not-for-profit, voluntary association with a local, regional and national presence. Recognised by the Minister for Education as an official Education Partner, IPPN works with the Department of Education, the Ombudsman for Children, the National Parents’ Council, management bodies, unions, education agencies, academic institutions and children’s charities towards the advancement of primary education. IPPN articulates the collective knowledge and professional experience of school leaders.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

Over the past year, the IPPN team has continued to progress the aims and objectives set out in Strategic Priorities 2021-2025, with a focus on IPPN’s Vision ‘Empowered Leaders; Inspired Learners’ and in order to achieve IPPN’s Mission ‘To support and advocate for highly effective and sustainable school leadership – Tacaíocht, Misneach agus Spreagadh’.

IPPN’S GOALS

IPPN’s goals centre on the task of leadership across a spectrum of issues and activities under the following headings:

n Advocacy and Communications

l provide leadership to all school leaders

l positively influence education policy

l be the trusted voice for children and their learning.

n Supports and Services

l to provide all school leaders with a continuum of high quality personal and professional development, support, advice and guidance, in order to maximise the learning outcomes of every child

l to promote collegiality and professional dialogue and the sharing of best practice throughout the network of school leaders.

n Infrastructure

l be financially secure and independent, providing the human and financial resources to maintain our Supports & Services and Advocacy needs

l diversify funding sources for long-term organisational sustainability.

Advocacy and Communication

SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP PROJECT

The importance of school leadership as an influence on and key determinant of pupil learning has been clearly established. The equation is simple – effective school leadership leads to school effectiveness, which, in turn, leads to better outcomes for children. It is, therefore, a priority that school leaders should be empowered and supported to deliver that effective leadership in our schools, thereby maintaining their focus on what is most closely aligned with their core purpose – leading teaching and learning.

IPPN published a research-based report on Sustainable Leadership in November 2022, entitled Primary School Leadership: The Case for Urgent Action – A Roadmap to Sustainable Leadership. This report explores the context and current reality in which school leadership is practised and experienced in Irish primary schools. We mapped and charted the expansion of the role by detailing the tasks and responsibilities that are ascribed to school leaders within Department circulars, policy guidelines and relevant education legislation. We then crossreferenced those tasks and responsibilities within the quality framework for leadership and management, as detailed in the Looking at our Schools (2016) policy

document. We identified which of the four domains of that quality framework into which each of the tasks and responsibilities falls.

Our analysis of the current reality was further informed by the data gleaned from the 1,000+ responses to our member survey and from the Irish Principal and Deputy Principal Health and Wellbeing survey (2022), commissioned in partnership with our sister organisation at post-primary level, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals.

The data is compelling:

n The 1,000+ school leaders who responded to our survey gave an average rating of 3.96 out of 10 for the sustainability of their leadership role

n The sustainability rating for teaching principalship fell to 3.53 out of 10

n 97% of respondents either strongly agreed (78%) or agreed (19%) that the key issue that undermines the sustainability of their leadership role is the number of tasks and responsibilities that divert their attention away from their core purpose as a school leader.

These responses are better understood in the context of our analysis of Department of Education (DE) circulars that have issued since the beginning of 2016, as well as policy guidelines and relevant education legislation with reference to the quality framework for leadership and management:

n 100% of the 162 documents analysed detailed tasks and responsibilities for school leaders that fell within the domain of Managing the Organisation

n Fewer than 25% of those documents detailed tasks and responsibilities for school leaders that fell within the domain of Leading Teaching and Learning

n Tasks and responsibilities relating to Leading School Development and Developing Leadership Capacity were identified in only 18% and 14% of the documents analysed.

This further resonates with the responses from our member survey when respondents identified:

n curriculum planning and implementation and

n quality assurance of teaching and learning as two of the areas of responsibility that were most closely aligned with their core purpose, but also, as the top two areas for which they had insufficient time

The areas of responsibility that they identified as least closely aligned with their core purpose, namely:

n maintenance of buildings and grounds

n financial management

n administrative tasks,

were also the top three areas where they felt they spent too much of their time.

The Irish Principal & Deputy Principal Health and Wellbeing survey (2022) corroborates these findings when it identifies that the top two stressors for primary school leaders are:

n sheer quantity of work and

n lack of time to focus on teaching & learning.

The data from this survey details the impact that the practice and experience of school leadership is having on the health and wellbeing of our primary school leaders. It reveals that the incidence of burnout, stress and depressive symptoms among Irish primary school leaders was almost double that of the healthy working population and more than double for sleeping troubles and cognitive stress. The researchers conclude that:

This report presents compelling evidence that many Irish primary school leaders are struggling with complex job roles and competing job demands. Policymakers and systems administrators should engage with school leaders to identify the workload challenges that they face and provide support to enable leaders to spend time on the activities that matter most.

Our analysis has led us to conclude that the current reality in which school leadership is practised and experienced limits leadership and school effectiveness, undermines the sustainability of the role and impacts negatively on the health and wellbeing of school leaders

However, the report carries a message of hope, as it is solution focused. We endeavoured to explore the key issues and identify what needs to happen to ensure school leadership of the highest quality in our schools, as well as being a leadership role that is sustainable. The report:

n details what effective school leadership looks like n maps out a process of systematic preparation & support for that including induction, mentoring & coaching

n demonstrates the need for time and space to be afforded to school leaders to do the job you signed up to do

n describes the importance of developing and embedding a culture of shared leadership

n highlights the urgent need for reform of the Board of Management as a governance structure.

Our recommendations identify:

n what individual school leaders can do for themselves

n what IPPN can do

n what the system can do to better ensure leadership effectiveness and the sustainability of school leadership roles.

The above animation provides an overview of the project and the report: Click here to access the animation.

ACHIEVEMENTS

IPPN is now proactively leading in certain discussions with the Department and key agencies on matters of significant importance to school leaders, having built credibility and influence over the past several years, particularly during the Covid pandemic.

Over the past year, IPPN has lobbied extensively, through our budget and other submissions, as well as directly with the Secretary General of the Department of Education, the Minister for Education, senior officials, the Chief Inspector, our fellow education partners, education agency leaders and political opposition spokespersons. The following achievements for school leaders are the result:

July 2023

n The position paper prepared by the National Council’s Advocacy sub-committee on SEN resourcing allocations and appeals was warmly received by the Department and the NCSE. A DE focus group is being established to review the relevant policy and procedures.

n Key issues relating to SNAs are being progressed - new contract, centralised vetting, training and complaints procedure.

June 2023

n The Minister announced details of Strand 2 of the counselling pilot - the establishment of a new type of support for clusters of primary schools in a number of areas, which includes the introduction of Education Wellbeing/ Mental Health Practitioners, who will work under the direction and supervision of the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). IPPN collaborated closely with NPC and other members of the Wellbeing for All group to achieve this. IPPN is delighted that this important commitment on behalf of children and schools has been achieved and will continue to work with and support the schools and stakeholders in achieving a successful outcome to the project.

n EducationPosts.ie launched the Online Application Portal to enable online management of the recruitment process.

May 2023

n The pilot programme for mental health supports in schools was announced – the culmination of several years of advocacy by IPPN – dating back to at least 2016 - as well as by NPC and other stakeholders such as the Ombudsman for Children and the INTO. Learning from Strand 1 of the pilot in seven counties will inform further strands and an eventual nationwide rollout. This is a very significant milestone for schools, and especially for primary pupils. IPPN will push to ensure learning from the pilot is taken into account in planning for a national rollout across all primary schools in all counties.

April 2023

n EducationPosts.ie developed and launched the ‘Summer Programme Portal’ to facilitate schools sourcing staff for the school-based summer programme.

n To facilitate Home-based provision, EducationPosts.ie launched the ‘Home-based Summer Programme Noticeboard’, which allows Teachers and SNAs post their availability, and Parents post notices seeking Teachers and SNAs.

n Free School Books Scheme – IPPN welcomed the funding to be provided to schools for September 2023 to facilitate the provision of free schoolbooks, copies and workbooks to all primary pupils. IPPN had lobbied the DE to provide additional funding for schools to appoint a coordinator to administer this scheme, owing to the significant additional workload involved. This was successful and announced in DE publication Schoolbooks Grant: Guidelines for Primary and Special Schools, dated March 2023.

n EducationPosts.ie hosted a record 2,000 concurrent live adverts

February 2023

n After extensive lobbying by IPPN, the Department and the NCSE brought forward notification of teacher and SNA allocations to schools to early in the second term, alleviating some of the pressure on schools relating to planning for the coming school year.

From 2022/23 school year

n Arising from feedback from IPPN and Educate Together in particular, the department reviewed the operation of SET hours allocation arising from the Projected Enrolment and changed the process for 2023/24. SET hours arising from the Projected Enrolment process will be advised to schools as part of the mainstream projected enrolment communications from the Allocations Unit. This means that developing schools will no longer have to wait until November to get their additional SET allocation.

n Due to extensive lobbying, all special schools to have administrative principals

n After two decades of IPPN lobbying, one leadership and management day per week for teaching principals is now on a permanent footing

n The benchmarking award to school leaders was finally paid, again after extensive lobbying by IPPN. IPPN’s report to the Public Service Benchmarking Body in 2006, Investing in School Leadership, played a significant role in school leaders being singled out, among all public sector leaders, for a pay increase

n The one-year secondment to progress the aims of the Sustainable Leadership project approved last year will start in September 2023

n Small schools clustering action research project 2022-2024 – ongoing DE funding to June 2024

n Continued resourcing of schools to manage Covid risk – PPE and cleaning requisites.

BUDGET 2024

Work on IPPN’s budget submission began early in 2023, with deliberations among National Council, Board and IPPN staff to identify the key elements to be included. Once again, the focus of our submission is to build on previous achievements and to drive the forward the recommendations from IPPN’s Sustainable Leadership report – the objective of which was to identify and highlight evidencebased proposals to enhance the sustainability of school leadership.

There are four elements to the submission for Budget 2024:

1. Increasing leadership capacity & developing a culture of shared leadership

a. Reintroduce leadership and management days for deputy principals that were brought in during the pandemic.

2. Revise the criteria for administrative principalship and deputy principalship

a. Determine the status of school leadership (for both principals and deputy principals) by taking account of the total number of staff that they lead and manage

b. Ensure a graduated approach to the provision of leadership and management time and replace the current all-out (administrative) or ‘almost-all-in’ (teaching) approach.

3. SEN allocations and resourcing

a. Consider the differing challenges of resourcing

Nollaig Moynihan, deputy principal, and Aisling Power, principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel Special School, Ballincollig, Cork

high & low incidence needs

b. Identify & meet low incidence, complex need in schools

c. Provide funding to ensure that every school has a dedicated SENO to ensure the dataset that informs allocations is up to date

d. Put mechanisms in place to allow for adjustment to the school’s allocation where previously unidentified or emerging needs are established, which impact a school’s low incidence complex needs’ profile

e. Allow for additional resourcing for special schools and special classes to address clearly identified health & safety issues.

4. Review of primary school governance structure

a. Initiate a process of review of the current Board of Management governance structure to ascertain if it is the structure best suited to meet the governance, compliance and oversight needs of our primary schools

b. Require all members of Boards of Management to complete an induction module on their role and responsibilities, prior to attending the first meeting of the new Board.

c. Allow for the piloting of modified approaches to governance, within the confines of the Small School Action Research project.

OTHER AREAS OF FOCUS

Elsewhere during the 2022/2023 school year, our advocacy work focused on the following aspects of school leadership and management, in line with our strategic priorities:

Teacher Supply

The lack of availability of teachers – substitute, fixedterm and permanent - has been a critical issue in many schools throughout the year. IPPN participated in the Teacher Supply Forum, focused on potential solutions to expand the pool of available teachers, and worked with the education partners, teacher-training colleges and the Department to further alleviate the remaining restrictions. IPPN’s Sub Seeker service was revised to simplify the process for jobseekers and schools alike, and more teachers than ever are

registered with the service. IPPN has identified a number of potential short-, medium- and longterm solutions to address the issues and challenges that have led to the current crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers and is actively progressing these with key stakeholders.

Retention of pandemic supports for schools

IPPN strongly lobbied for a retention of funding for the 2022/23 school year for cleaning and hygiene, as well as PPE and other materials and equipment to combat the effects of Covid in schools. It was by no means a given that these supports for schools would be continued. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform ultimately decides, and IPPN’s advocacy work, alongside that of other education stakeholders and the Department, ensured that it was available to schools.

Small Schools Action Research Project

IPPN is part of a national pilot project looking at the clustering of small schools in Galway, Donegal, Kerry, Wicklow and Waterford, each of which has between three and five schools. Each cluster is looking at a different aspect of school leadership and management, looking at ways to alleviate the burdens on teaching principals. A review will take place this year and a final report, including consideration of the scalability of recommendations by the cluster schools, will be compiled at the end of 2023.

SEN Resourcing, Allocations and Appeals

The newly formed Advocacy & Communications subgroup of the National Council chose as its top priority the key issue of SEN Resourcing, Allocations and Appeals. A working group formed to consider this complex matter painstakingly reviewed the issues and potential solutions and drafted a position paper, which was adopted by the Board of Directors in June. This position paper is being used to advocate for change in relation to how special educational needs is resourced and supported. A focus group of the DE is being established and the NCSE is considering the recommendations. The work IPPN has done will be a key input to its deliberations, with several members of IPPN’s working group participating in the focus group.

SUBMISSIONS

IPPN provided input to the Department of Education (DE), Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and other education agencies during the school year, to influence policy-making on behalf of members. Where the deadlines allowed, we sought input to these submissions from school leaders via E-scéal.

The submissions were as follows:

Draft SEN Circular and FAQs

Section 37a review/feedback

Child Protection review

Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy

Child Protection review - Recommendations 1 and 2

Statement of Strategy 2023-2025

Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations

Mental Health Supports in Schools

Presentation to the Oireachtas Autism Committee - Services and supports provided by the State for autistic people

STEM Education

Department of Education

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education

Ministers for Education, Public Expenditure Reform, Finance, Secretary General of the DE Budget 2024

Budget 2023 Submission

NPC Strategy 2023-2027

National Parents Council Primary

Consultation activity with the Department and other key stakeholders continues unabated. The full set of position papers and submissions is available in the Advocacy section of www.ippn.ie

Click here to view IPPN’s submissions

LEADERSHIP+

IPPN published five issues of Leadership+ during the school year, showcasing members’ own research and the work IPPN does on behalf of members as well as bringing external perspectives on matters of relevance to school leaders – researchers, policymakers, stakeholders, education thought leaders etc.

A special issue on Sustainable Leadership was published in December 2022.

Leadership+ 2021/2022 Archive

Leadership+ 2022/2023 Archive

REPRESENTATION

Stakeholder Development

IPPN has worked with our fellow Education Partners to advocate for primary school leadership and improvements in funding, processes and policy.

We continue to engage with each stakeholder in a positive and collaborative manner. The achievements over the past few years show that this approach works in progressing IPPN’s strategic objectives. To that end, over the past year, IPPN undertook bi-lateral meetings with the following stakeholders:

n NCSE

n CPSMA

n INTO

n NCCA

n Teaching Council

n NABMSE

n CSL

n Tusla.

Discussion included Budget priorities as well as SEN resourcing, allocations and appeals; sustainable leadership; and the other key challenges facing school leaders in all types of primary school.

Working Groups

The Department of Education and other education agencies have established a number of working groups to progress their policy work on a range of matters. The following people represented IPPN on these working groups:

n Brian O’Doherty, IPPN President

- Primary Education Forum (PEF)

- PEF Consultation sub-committee – see below for details

- CSL Steering Committee

- PDSL Monitoring Group

- Primary Principalship Pre-appointment

Programme Group

- Review of Governance Manual for Primary Schools 2023-2027

- Steering Group for the Professional Diploma in School Leadership

n Páiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO

- Primary Education Forum (PEF)

- Partnership Schools Ireland

- CSL Steering Committee

- Primary Principalship Pre-appointment Programme Group

- Small School Action Research Project Steering Group

- Summer Programme Steering Group

n Louise Tobin – IPPN Deputy President and Principal of St Joseph’s NS, Tipperary Town

- Issues and Practice Advisory Group / Positivity for Principals Group

n Damian White, IPPN Past President, Principal of Scoil Shinchill, Killeigh, Offaly

- Global Citizenship, Education for Sustainable Leadership

n Maria Doyle, IPPN past president

- European representative to International Confederation of Principals (ICP)

n Jack Durkan, IPPN Supports & Services Manager

- PEF Communications sub-committee – see below for details

- Anti-bullying Forum

- BEACONS project – currently working with the OECD to explore the means of engagement with education policymaking and enactment in Ireland, including challenges and opportunities.

- Education Sub Committee of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy - STAR Project

- Primary Principalship Pre-appointment Programme Group

n Catriona O’Reilly, Principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Waterford; IPPN Board Member

- NCCA Early Childhood, Primary Curriculum and Cross-sectoral developments

n Kathryn Corbett, Principal of Bishop Galvin NS, Templeogue, Dublin 16; IPPN Board Member

- Anti-bullying Forum

n Breideen Nic Eiteagáin, Principal of Scoil Cholmcille, Carraig Airt, Leitir Ceanainn, Co Dún na nGall

- COGG - Choiste Comhairleach um Polasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta

n Ann McQuillan, retired Principal of St Joseph’s NS, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, National Council member

- TCD and Barnardos’ CVDA (Children living with violence and domestic abuse).

Furthermore, the following people represent IPPN in relation to a number of topics:

n DEIS/educational disadvantage – Louise Tobin

n Sustainable Leadership – Brian O’Doherty

n Special educational needs - Caroline Quinn

n Wellbeing for All (IPPN, NAPD, Teaching Council, National Parents Council and the Ombudsman for Children) - Angela Lynch

n Education Centres and Local Support Groups –Donal Kerins

n CYPSC – Padraig McCabe (national level)

n Education Matters Yearbook Editorial BoardGeraldine D’Arcy

n ICT/Digital Strategy – Peter Coakley.

We thank each one of them for their time, energy and commitment to IPPN and the education sector.

The Primary Education Forum (PEF)

The Primary Education Forum (PEF) is designed to facilitate the exchange of information between the Department, its agencies, other public bodies and agencies, school management bodies, school leadership organisation and teacher representative organisation regarding actions in the Action Plan for Education (AP-Ed) and their implementation in the primary school sector.

The role of the PEF is to support the planning and sequencing of change in the primary school sector and to exchange information on the intent and impacts of the actions in the Action Plan in order to look for synergies and opportunities for schools to streamline implementation and address workload issues.

Areas of focus for the PEF this year included

n the DE’s Annual Statement of Priorities (2023)

n the DE’s Statement of Strategy

n Q1 Progress report on the Annual Statement of Priorities (2023)

n a review of the Terms of Reference of the PEF

n Citizen’s Assembly on Education

n DE communications to schools and stakeholders

n consultation processes with stakeholders

n the Small Schools Action Research Project.

Two sub-committees of the PEF have been formed to progress specific issues:

n Communications Sub-Committee

n Consultation Sub-Committee.

PEF Communications Sub-Committee

The IPPN nominee on the Communications SubCommittee is Supports & Services Manager, Jack Durkan. The purpose of this group is to:

n identify key concerns and potential solutions to improve the Department’s communications practices, including in relation to consultation processes

n agree key principles underpinning Department communications practices with stakeholders.

Over the past year, the committee focused on ensuring there is regular communication with stakeholders regarding all new circulars, press releases, information notes, publications etc. relating to primary education and primary schools. This has been actioned with a ‘Department of Education Fortnightly Update’. IPPN uses this as an input to our weekly E-scéal.

PEF Consultation Sub-Committee

The IPPN nominee on the Consultation SubCommittee is Brian O’Doherty. The sub-committee was established in May 2023 in response to concerns expressed by stakeholders about the manner in which consultation processes were conducted. The purpose of this group is to:

n identify key concerns among stakeholders relating to consultations that deal with significant policy, services and legislative matters

n identify possible approaches to remediate concerns with the Department’s consultation practices

n gather feedback from stakeholders to support the Department to continuously improve its consultations with stakeholders.

The first meeting of the sub-committee was convened on the 17th of May and concerns raised included:

n the lack of co-ordination between sections of the DE and its agencies with regard to the sequencing of consultation processes

n insufficient time afforded to engage with consultation processes and to gather feedback from members

n multiple consultation processes running concurrently

n using the Primary Education Forum meetings as briefing sessions as opposed to meaningful engagement around the sequencing of initiatives/ reforms including a pre- and post-implementation assessment of impact on workload.

The DE has undertaken to respond to those concerns at the next meeting of the sub-committee in the autumn.

Marc de Grás, principal of Gaelscoil na nDéise, Waterford

Global Citizenship Education

IPPN is a partner in a consortium, which also includes INTO, DCU and lead partners Trócaire, to contribute to the increased accessibility, quality and effectiveness of development education in Ireland.

The group, known asd ‘Global Village: Global Citizenship in Primary Schools - Strategic Management Committee’, has agreed upon a memorandum of understanding. The Management Committee is made up of two representatives each from IPPN, INTO, DCU and Trócaire. IPPN is represented by Carol Burke Heneghan and Damian White.

The objective is for the consortium to work together to implement the three-year Global Village Programme from September 2023 to July 2026. The agreed programme goal is that all primary school pupils are supported to participate as active global citizens, committed to building a fairer and more sustainable world. There are four programme outcomes and 15 programme outputs and it is the role of the consortium, in collaboration with the programme team, to ensure effective delivery of all programme outcomes and outputs.

Trócaire hold legal responsibility for the programme, and thus to the Department of Foreign Affairs, who, through Irish Aid, are funding the programme. This has specific implications in terms of compliance, audit, HR procedures, reporting and management of funds. All partners note these additional legal responsibilities held by Trócaire, but view the success of the programme and the effective delivery of the programme as a shared responsibility. The Management Committee will maintain financial oversight.

This is a consortium of four equal partners working on a basis of goodwill, consensus and agreed intended outcomes, and working cooperatively together towards agreed goals.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Over the past year, we have communicated with stakeholders, the Department and its agencies, directly and via public statements, media interviews and speeches. This work has included:

Media

IPPN has participated in a significant number of interviews for radio and TV programmes during the school year, as well as articles in newspapers and publications such as Education Matters, and used these opportunities to advocate for sustainable leadership and IPPN’s other stated priorities.

A regional team, which includes IPPN Board Members and National Council Members, has been enlisted to support media work with regional media outlets (radio and newspapers).

Social Media

The ongoing work to communicate key messages via our social media channels continues to pay dividends in terms of the increasing engagement with members and other stakeholders. We issue information via E-scéal first, and then post relevant updates on social media. E-scéal continues to be members’ ‘one-stop-shop’ for all key information.

Over the past year, there has been an increased focus on the use of social media to share content – submissions, Leadership+, advocacy work with stakeholders, as well as event information.

Since August 2022, we have grown the ‘reach’ through social media, with a significant increase in the number of followers across platforms:

Platform IPPN EducationPosts

Twitter  6% to 10,000+ followers

LinkedIn  32% to 1,100+ followers

RESEARCH IPPN Research Sustainable Leadership

The Sustainable Leadership project team reviewed Irish and international research relevant to the themes in the project, ensuring that the proposals were evidence-based, and embarked on the following research as part of the Sustainable Leadership project:

Irish School Leaders’ Health & Wellbeing

IPPN commissioned Deakin University to conduct research in both 2022 and in 2023 on Irish School Leaders’ Health & Wellbeing (jointly commissioned with NAPD). Results from 2022 were presented in the Sustainable Leadership report launched in November 2022. Results from 2023 will be presented in a progress update on the Sustainable Leadership later in 2023.

 to 2,650+ followers

-

Facebook -  to 18,500+ followers

Instagram -  to 4,600+ followers

Education Matters

Through IPPN Advocacy & Communications Manager Geraldine D’Arcy’s participation on the Education Matters Yearbook Editorial Board, IPPN influenced the topics covered in the 2022 and 2023 Yearbooks and suggested many of the contributors in the primary, cross-sectoral and research sectors.

IPPN Past President Brian O’Doherty wrote about Primary School Leadership – A Roadmap to Sustainability in 2022 and provides an update in 2023. IPPN President Louise Tobin will also contribute to the 2023 Yearbook on welcoming Ukrainian children to our primary schools.

Role and Responsibilities of Principal

A detailed analysis of the Role and Responsibilities of Principal was undertaken. The aim of this research was to:

n collate and analyse the responsibilities that fall to primary school principals, as identified within education legislation, policy guidelines, circulars and administration requirements

n consider whether there has been a consequential expansion of the role

n cross reference the responsibilities identified within the documents with the domains of the quality framework for leadership and management as detailed in the Looking at our Schools policy document

n consider if such responsibilities lead to balanced focus between the leadership and management domains.

A document review of the following took place:

n Circular 16/1973, which defines the role of the principal

n Legislation that impacts on leadership practice in primary schools

n Policy guidelines

n Circulars and Information Notes from the period 2016 to 2022

Over the past year, IPPN supported a number of peoplewith their education-related research.

n Administration requirements of other statutory bodies, state agencies and organisations.

162 documents were examined in total. Having identified the leadership and management domains into which the responsibilities fall, a number of conclusions emerged, including that there is an inordinate and disproportionate focus on the domain of Managing the Organisation.

Membership Survey

In September 2022, further input was sought from members on aspects of the sustainable leadership project themes, including:

n how they rated the sustainability of their roles

n the factors that were impacting on that sustainability

n what they perceived to be their core purpose

n what was most demanding of their time.

Small Schools Clustering Action Research Project

IPPN has supported the Small Schools Clustering Action research project through facilitation of two clusters of four schools and liaising with the wider project team through the National Coordinator. The findings will be very useful in the implementation phase of the Sustainable Leadership project.

Special Classes

A member consultation survey in September 2022 captured the views of principals of mainstream schools with special classes, which helped inform IPPN’s advocacy work for schools supporting pupils in such classes.

Support for Members’ Research

Over the past year, IPPN supported a number of people with their education-related research. Many are IPPN members or primary teachers; some are from stakeholder organisations or journalists. In most cases, they are undertaking post-graduate studies (primarily at Masters and Doctoral level). They typically seek statistical information about school leaders, and any research results, position papers, submissions and any other publications or materials we have on a wide range of topics relevant to school leadership and management. In some cases, they are looking for principals and/or deputy principals to participate in surveys or interviews. These requests are shared via E-scéal.

As part of IPPN’s response, we ask researchers to share their findings with us, and often share summary conclusions and recommendations in Leadership+. This research helps to broaden IPPN’s research base and is often useful for our own submissions and research projects.

Support for External Research

The need for greater clarity on the role of the Deputy was identified within the Sustainable Leadership report. Accordingly, IPPN has agreed to part fund a research project being conducted by Maynooth University on the role of the Deputy Principal, as the focus of the research and its findings will have a resonance for the work of IPPN and school leaders.

Supports and Services

From the National Support Office in Cork, IPPN provides the following supports and services to the 6,000+ principals and deputy principals of over 3,000 IPPN-member primary schools. IPPN members tell us that they place a very high value on this support and are reassured to know that back-up is available to them when and if they need it.

The following are the types of work done to support members over the past year:

n Leadership Support - professional guidance via phone and email support

n E-scéal – critical weekly updates in email bulletin format

n Shared Learning Days in Louth and Cork

n Online CPD modules for new principals on legal issues for schools ‘Ducks in a Row’

n Support for schools welcoming Ukrainian children and their families

n Support for special schools implementing Summer Programme

n Webinar for schools implementing In-School Summer Programme

n Mailing lists - Networking peer-to-peer online support

n Local Support Groups – building the network, along with Local Support Group Facilitation

n CPD – 2,500+ members participated in local, regional & national events during the year

n Ciall Ceannaithe online summer course

n Group Mentoring – principals in year two of their leadership role

n Headstart – supports for newly appointed principals

n Retired Principals’ Project

n New and updated Resource Bundles

n Engagement with education stakeholders.

Each of these aspects of the team’s work is explored below.

LEADERSHIP SUPPORT Professional Guidance

This one-to-one confidential advisory service, provided by a team of skilled experienced principals, offers collegial support and guidance of a nondirective and non-legal nature. The team also answers queries of a factual nature. From September 2022 to June 2023, the Leadership Support team responded to 2,891 queries from 1,226 principals and deputy principals.

Among the topics dealt with, the following were the most common:

n HR Administration - Absences/Leave, Posts of Responsibility/ISM Team, Recruitment/Retention Crisis

n School Policies - Policy Development, Enrolment, Health & Safety, Child Protection, Behaviour/ Discipline/ Conduct

n Parents & Pupils – Parental Complaints, Custody & Access, Parental Permissions

n Recruitment – Contracts, Ancillary Staff, Substitution

n Relationship Management - Interpersonal/Conflict Management, Staff Discipline, Underperformance.

Each of these aspects of the team’s work is explored below.

E-scéal

This weekly newsletter is issued every Thursday afternoon to school leaders. It is a crucial weekly reference resource for school leaders as it is a ‘onestop-shop’ providing key and up-to-date accurate information. Current issues within the education sector, professional guidance, FAQs, circular/ information note releases, as well as topical issues relating to leadership and management are included in the E-scéal. Links with education stakeholders enables IPPN to keep members informed at the earliest opportunity of key developments. Members who read their E-scéal every week are assured that they will not miss any key information. 36 E-scéalta were issued during the 2022/2023 school year.

Mailing Lists

IPPN’s mailing lists are one of the most informative and immediate supports available to school leaders, to answer queries encountered on a daily basis. They are ‘closed’ mailing lists i.e. this means that the content of the emails is intended for the Principal, Deputy Principal – IPPN members. The most popular mailing list is ‘networking’, which facilitates a peerto-peer support community. It has in excess of 5,500 subscribers. Several million emails were sent during the 2022/2023 calendar year.

The advice@ippn.ie mailing list is for sensitive, confidential and non-generic queries, which are answered offline by members of our Professional Guidance Team as an extension of the Leadership Support service.

There are also mailing lists dedicated to cohorts of our members e.g. teaching principals, newly-appointed principals, deputy principals, DEIS schools, special schools, and those with Autism classes, as well as county mailing lists, which are used for more local

information. Members can subscribe and unsubscribe via www.ippn.ie via the Mailing Lists tab.

Planning Prompts

Planning Prompts are an integral part of IPPN’s weekly E-scéal. They are not intended to be a ‘to do’ list, but a guide to important areas of possible planning during the following week. The planning prompts may be categorised under certain headings, including Administration, BoM, Curriculum Planning, Policy development and review. IPPN’s Planning Prompts are available to download from www.ippn.ie via the ‘Resources’ tab.

LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP PROJECT

The aim of this project is to work with Education Centres throughout the country to support the establishment of a Local Support Group (LSG) for every school leader (principal and deputy principal) who requires one. During the 2022/23 school year, 15 new LSGs have been established, including three new LSGs for deputy principals. There is also a new support group in Galway where both principals and deputy principals meet regularly.

IPPN works closely with ESCI (Education Support Centres Ireland) and each of the education centre directors to progress the project. This collaboration helps to examine any challenges of establishing and growing LSGs in their areas and to come up with ideas to resolve them. For example, it became clear that it is challenging for teaching principals in rural areas to participate in meetings after school. As a means of engaging with these teaching principals, three Education Centres - in Clare, West Cork and Mayo - offered a series of Shared Learning Days. This approach requires the school leaders to devote

three of their leadership and management days to attending the Shared Learning Days in their Education Centre, where the directors engage facilitators to provide a comprehensive day of CPD and collegial networking. The Education Centres repeated the days over a week to cater for school leaders whose leadership and management day is on a particular day of the week. These days have proven popular with the school leaders. However, it must be noted that these sessions are not LSGs in themselves and do not replace what the local support group approach offers - providing school leaders with a network of local support.

IPPN is looking specifically at how to promote the importance of the role of the local support group for the sustainability of the leadership role, and indeed for the wellbeing of the school leader. Membership engagement on this and many other issues will be a key focus of the IPPN president during the 2023-24 school year.

RESOURCE BUNDLES

IPPN Resources Bundles are where school leaders will find the answers and supporting documentation relating to the most common queries school leaders encounter in the day-to-day management of their schools. These comprehensive resources are produced in an easy-to-use, interactive e-publication format and hosted on ippn.ie.

A new Resource Bundle ‘Maintaining a Safe Workplace - Managing Health, Safety and Welfare in Schools’, was published in May 2023. This work

IPPN is looking specifically at how to promote the importance of the role of the local support group for the sustainability of the leadership role, and indeed for the wellbeing of the school leader.

is based on extensive collaboration with Dr Joan Cahill of the HSA and John O’Sullivan, Director of Kilkenny Education Centre. The co-operation has led to HSA changing the previous single document, PDF-only version of the Risk Assessment Templates for schools to offering a choice for schools between Word and PDF versions for each of the 55 individual Risk Assessment Templates. This alteration will make the task of choosing the relevant templates for a particular school much easier and will allow schools to easily fill them in on the Word versions.

The Resource Bundle briefs school leaders on the background to Health, Safety and Welfare as it relates to schools. It clearly advises school leaders of the responsibility of the BoM in relation to:

n Producing and updating the school’s Safety Statement

n Duty of care to its employees

n Duty to provide protection from adult bullying and harassment for all its employees

School leaders are offered ways in which to involve others among the BoM, Parent Body and Staff in helping to prepare, monitor and update the Safety Statement.

On a practical level, the Resource Bundle also provides a comprehensive guide to the steps required to compile the required Safety Statement

and quick links to Risk Assessment and other Templates.

Two other resource bundles were developed during the year, on:

n Supporting SEN – Recruiting and Appointing SNAs n Data Protection.

All of these resources can be found on www.ippn.ie under the Resources/Resource Bundles tab.

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

From September 2022 to August 2023, IPPN hosted many local, regional and national CPD events for school leaders with over 2,500 school leaders participating at regional and national events and members attending local IPPN County/City Network Meetings across the 26 counties.

These CPD events provided an opportunity to hear fresh thinking from leading figures in education and other sectors, participate in stimulating workshops and to network with colleagues.

Autumn City/County Network Meetings

There is an annual meeting of IPPN members held in each city/county network in September or October, bringing key updates, information on the ‘hot topics’ and offering support to members. It is an opportunity for members to meet your fellow principals and deputy principals. There is also an

Áine Fitzpatrick, deputy principal of Mary Mother of Hope SNS, Littlepace, Dublin 15

opportunity to become more involved with IPPN by representing your county at National Council level.

Brian O’Doherty, IPPN President & Páiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO, Louise Tobin, IPPN Deputy President and Jack Durkan, Supports & Services Manager visited each county in Autumn 2022. Notably, the meetings were face-to-face for the first time in two years. We had over 875 members register to attend their local meeting. During these meetings, the National Council was expanded to City/Council structure with specific roles:

n Advocacy & Communication

n E-Services

n Professional Development.

See Infrastructure – National Council below for further details.

Other IPPN CPD Events

n Principals’ Conference 2022 – this event took place at the INEC Gleneagle, Killarney from Wednesday, November 16th to Friday November 18th. 900 principals attended the event, which was maximum capacity for the venue.

n Deputy Principals’ Conference 2023 – this event took place in Croke Park, Dublin on Thursday, February 9th and Friday, February 10th with 380+ members attending this event.

n Ciall Ceannaithe online summer course, hosted in July 2023 - 385 teachers, principals, deputy principals and acting principals participated. Designed for current and aspiring leaders, this course is reviewed and updated annually.

n Shared Learning Days, hosted in Louth and Cork, were attended by more than 150 members. The Summer Programme 2023, the DE Free Books Scheme and Dignity in the Workplace were discussed across the two events.

n Online CPD modules on legal issues for schools were developed for new principals. The series of modules, entitled ‘Ducks in a Row’, will be available during the 2023/24 school year and will explore:

l Admission/Enrolment

l Duty of Care/Safeguarding

l Code of Behaviour/Discipline

l Employment and Recruitment

l Data Protection and note-taking.

Education Expo

Education Expo brings together principals and over 100 companies providing supports and services to schools under one roof during the IPPN annual principals’ conference. The IPPN Principals’ Conference 2023 will take place in the INEC Killarney in November 2023 and will host a wide range of national and international companies over two days.

GROUP MENTORING

During the 2022/23 school year, 31 mentor groups were established, with the assistance of 31 Mentors. IPPN conducted training for 12 primary principals as Group Mentors in September of 2022.

All Mentors reported much improved attendance rates and a hugely improved experience for mentors and mentees.

Feedback and evaluations from ‘mentees’ has also been very positive, with many expressing their appreciation for the service and how it gave them renewed confidence, space and time for reflection and specific goals and plans to address various aspects of their work.

Education Expo brings together principals and over 100 companies providing supports and services to schools under one roof during the IPPN annual principals’ conference.

HEADSTART – SUPPORT FOR NEWLY APPOINTED PRINCIPALS

Initially, Headstart was a one-day seminar for newly appointed principals (NAPs) beginning their role, held in late August. It was a means to inform NAPs of IPPN supports and services, give essential information and walk them through the first month in their new role. With Misneach beginning in August, IPPN now joins with PDST to outline its supports and services, in particular the professional guidance available through IPPN. This avoids duplication and the need for NAPs to attend two separate events.

Headstart now encompasses newly appointed and acting school leaders and provides supports on immediate appointment and throughout their first year (particularly those who have not yet had the opportunity to engage with Misneach). The emphasis is on developing personal engagement between the school leader and IPPN. Email

communication provides regular CPD presentations, useful articles and materials relevant to the newly appointed principal’s leadership role throughout the year. This encourages school leaders to engage with one-to-one, group mentoring and local support groups, as well as providing opportunities for conversations and reflection on leadership to influence a positive culture of sustainable leadership.

The challenge when developing programmes such as Ciall Ceannaithe and other CPD is to strike a balance between management and leadership, and in supporting the sustainability of the role from the outset, through a structured service. Headstart will be further developed and expanded during the 2023/24 school year. A dedicated team is undertaking to engage with every newly appointed principal during their first year in conjunction with the Member Engagement Project. These will take the form of personal and monthly Zoom calls, as well as encouraging and providing engagement with the Leadership Support Team. The Headstart team will work closely also with the E-scéal team in providing professional guidance as identified through the Member Engagement Project.

IPPN identifies and makes contact with newly appointed principals on an ongoing basis throughout the year, to ensure they are supported from the very start of their leadership journey. Principals are increasingly being appointed at various times throughout the school year. There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of acting principals, both in short and long-term positions. Therefore, the need for immediate and continuous support throughout the year, through the lens of sustainable leadership, is an IPPN priority. Headstart will develop and expand these services over the next five years.

The emphasis for the coming year is to build a bank of recorded CPD modules relevant to NAPs and to engage in a monthly Zoom meeting with Headstart participants, in addition to the already developed services available in previous years. Work has already begun on these with a series of recordings in relation to policy development and review (particularly mandatory policies). These six

recordings encompassing both legal and operational perspectives will initially be made available to all engaged in Headstart during the school year 2023/24. In addition, a schedule of CPD recordings based on the identified needs of NAPs is planned and will be delivered in consultation with the Leadership Support Team.

Plans for the future of Headstart include the extension, on a phased basis, of its supports to deputy principals, middle leaders and emerging leaders, in line with the recommendations of IPPN’s Sustainability Report.

RETIRED PRINCIPALS’ PROJECT

This project ensures that we ‘track’ outgoing principals who may be retiring or moving schools. It also means that we know where a new principal has been appointed and enables us to ensure that the newly appointed principal can avail of the various supports and services from IPPN from the very start of their time as a school leader.

Principals who are retiring are offered the opportunity to get involved in IPPN project work and, if interested, receive a list of projects currently underway. They are asked to complete a survey about their decision to retire, and their experience as a school leader. This will be invaluable to IPPN

in our advocacy work on behalf of members. The CEO and President write to the retiring principal congratulating them on their retirement and thanking them for their leadership.

During the past year, 60 retiring principals were offered the opportunity to get involved in IPPN project work, of whom 12 confirmed they would like to get involved. They were also asked to complete a survey about their decision to retire, and their experience as a school leader – this provides rich information to inform our Sustainable Leadership project. The key challenge is to know about their retirement before they leave school, so we have a chance to get in touch.

ONLINE SERVICES ippn.ie

A major website redevelopment project has been initiated, with the first stage (scoping) completed. A key priority for the new website is compatibility with the various mobile device platforms, as well as a complete restructuring of how resources are accessed, to facilitate easier and quicker searching by members. The National Council e-Services Committee was instrumental in developing the new website. It is anticipated that it will be launched in late 2023.

EducationPosts.ie Online Application Portal

The Online Application Portal was launched in June. At the time of writing, primary and post primary schools have placed 75+ adverts on the Portal. Principal teacher and various other teaching roles have been advertised across a number of statuses, including fixed-term and permanent vacancies.

or uploaded custom application forms. Currently, the portal is available when advertising Deputy Principal, Principal, and Teacher roles, depending on the ‘Status of Post’ for the role. Advertisers opt in to use the additional features for each eligible advert.

The ‘Selection Board’ tab allows the management of the schools’ selection board. The ‘Calendar’ tab enables scheduling of shortlisting meetings and interviews. The ‘History’ tab displays the interactions on the advert. Template response emails allow for streamlined communication with applicants.

The portal functions in accordance with the Department of Education Information Note TC 0005/2023. These developments aim to reduce the administration and paperwork associated with recruitment. For a detailed overview of the portal, check out the Portal FAQ here

Summer Programme Portal

At the beginning of March, EducationPosts.ie launched the ‘Summer Programme Portal’ to facilitate schools sourcing staff for the school-based summer programme. The portal allowed Job Seekers (including Teachers, SNAs, Students etc.) to complete a form stating their location, occupation, availability per week, and experience.

Schools viewed and filtered the entries by location, occupation, dates and experience, and contacted Job Seekers directly.

Access was provided to eligible schools (those who signed up to the Summer Programme) with the Department of Education Initially, Special School access to the portal was prioritised and access was subsequently granted to all eligible schools.

By the end of August, there were 1,925 notices on the Summer Programme Portal.

Noticeboard Developments

The portal facilitates the acceptance of applications online using integrated Standard Application Forms

In May, the new ‘Home Based Summer Programme Noticeboard’ was launched on EducationPosts.ie. This noticeboard allowed Teachers and SNAs to post their availability for parents to view. Parents also had the option to create notices seeking Teachers and SNAs for home-based Summer Programme support.

Portal notification shows how to opt in to using the portal on an eligible advert

Portal Tabs on Advert shows the tabs available on a portal advert. Applicants full details are only visible once the shortlisting meeting scheduled via the portal has commenced

Applicants Tab on Advert Applicants full details are only visible once the shortlisting meeting scheduled via the portal has commenced

SB tab on Advert shows how to add or remove users from the Selection Board, can be done when creating the advert or after the advert has been published

Sub Seeker

Sub Seeker is an online service within EducationPosts.ie that facilitates the short-term recruitment of teachers registered with the Teaching Council (Routes 1-5) by primary and post primary schools. Sub Seeker continues to grow, with more than 14,250 users now registered. However, the critical shortfall in teacher supply resulted in the vast majority of those registered with Sub Seeker being offered longer-term contracts and therefore being unavailable to schools for short-term absences.

The benefits of Sub Seeker include:

n Schools can review a teacher’s profile (availability, experience, qualifications and other relevant information) before offering a substitute position

n Schools can see the history of their searches and the substitute teachers they have employed

n Schools can send multiple offers to teachers at once – first come first served

n All teachers are validated against the Teaching Council database so schools can be assured they are registered

n Teachers can substitute in both primary and postprimary schools.

For more information about Sub Seeker, visit EducationPosts.ie at this link

Upcoming Developments

The EducationPosts.ie Support Team is currently working to build an integrated help centre to ensure website users can search for and easily find EducationPosts.ie resources and answers to frequently-asked questions.

TextaParent.ie

TextaParent is a fast, reliable and cost-effective way for schools to contact parents and staff. In the 2021/2022 school year, over 5 million individual text messages, along with over 1 million ‘push notifications’ sent via the app, were delivered to parents and staff.

to the TextaParent website. This will allow schools to send out a permission slip to parents via a URL link. The parent can digitally sign and submit, and the signed form will be stored on the school’s master reports page. This feature was completed in May 2023.

School Suppliers Catalogue 2023

The School Suppliers Catalogue will be distributed to all member schools in early September 2023 as a printed publication and will be available on our website www.ippn.ie as an e-publication. It is a valuable resource to primary school leaders and will provide them with a comprehensive list of quality school suppliers. Due to the timing and postponement of our Education Expo in 2022, we did not proceed with the School Suppliers Guide for 2022. A 2023 School Suppliers Guide will be published in September 2023.

School Suppliers 2023

A new feature to collect permission slips was added

Infrastructure OPERATIONS

In addition to the core work undertaken by IPPN staff to support school leaders in their leadership and management role, as outlined above, IPPN staff also worked behind the scenes. They planned key events, designed and conducted research projects, planned and issued various publications, ran myriad internal systems and processes, linked in with service providers to keep online services running, attracted and maintained commercial income to fund vital services, handled invoicing and payments, and all of the other responsibilities any organisation must undertake to run smoothly.

As is the case in schools, our staff members are our best asset, and our team continuously seeks to improve how IPPN operates in support of our members.

GOVERNANCE Governance Review Project

IPPN identified Governance as one of its five priorities in the Strategic Priorities 2021-2025

The stated objective was to strengthen IPPN’s governance structures to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability at all levels within the organisation.

Under the guidance of a Governance consultant, a Review Group was formed by the Board of Directors to progress this work. In the course of the review, a number of important themes emerged, including the importance of:

n building capacity within the network in terms of getting greater numbers involved in the work of IPPN as well as identifying capacity to contribute at National Council and Board level

n ensuring the meaningful and practical involvement of the National Council to better serve the needs of members

n a broad range of skills and experience among members of the Board of Directors

n facilitating the ongoing provision of peer-to-peer support at local level and

n ensuring that the senior leadership structures in the organisation best serve the membership while also ensuring compliance with the governance code of the Charities’ Regulator.

The review was completed in March 2023 when the revised constitution, structures and electoral procedures were ratified by the Board and National

Council. Changes arising from the process of review include:

n moving from 26 county networks to 31 city/ county networks

n expanding the National Council’s membership from 52 to 93 representatives

n ensuring that the National Council has a clearly defined role in impacting on the advocacy, supports and services of IPPN through the work of its committees

n ensuring a broad skillset on the Board of Directors

n separating the roles of Chairperson of the Board and the President

n clearly defining the role of the President

n enhancing the senior leadership structures of the organisation

n revising and simplifying IPPN’s electoral procedures.

The purpose of the review was to ensure that the revised structure of IPPN, from individual member up to the Board of Directors, would better serve the needs of our members in keeping with our stated aims.

National Council

The autumn meetings, convened in September/ October 2022, provided the first opportunity to act on the proposals for reform that emanated from our review of IPPN’s structures and that were ratified by the Board and National Council in June 2022. Those proposals included:

n building capacity within the network in terms of getting greater numbers involved in the work of IPPN as well as identifying capacity to contribute at National Council and Board level

n ensuring the meaningful and practical involvement of the National Council to better serve the needs of members.

convened in those city/county networks. Accordingly, we now have 93 National Council representatives, each of whom serves on one of the three committees of the National Council:

n Advocacy and communications

n Professional development

n E-services.

The breakdown of National Council representatives is as follows:

n 54 Administrative Principals

n 29 Teaching Principals

n 10 Deputy Principals.

The committees referenced above were formed with a view to ensuring that National Council members are more involved in, and directly impact, the work of IPPN. They are chaired by members of our Board of Directors and are supported by the relevant key personnel from our Support Office staff.

Each of the committees established a priority area of focus, which was then progressed by a working group of the committee. The areas of focus for each committee were:

n Advocacy & Communications – the development of a position paper on SEN Allocations, Resources and Supports

n Professional Development – The focus this school year was on the development of a webinar for schools implementing In-School Summer Programme, and on topics and content for conference seminars, which will be progressed in the coming year or so

n E-services – the redesign of the IPPN website www.ippn.ie.

The list of current National Council members is available on ippn.ie under the About Us menu. Click here for an online list of current National Council members by county

Having reconfigured our previous 26 county networks into 31 city/county networks, three National Council representatives were elected at each of the meetings

Board of Directors

The Board is responsible for the strategic direction and overall governance of IPPN. Its membership in 2022/23 was as follows:

Louise Tobin Admin Principal St Joseph’s Primary Tipperary

Bryan Collins Admin Principal Scoil Naomh Feichin Louth

Bryan Lynch Admin Principal St Colman’s NS Laois

Catríona O’Reilly Admin Principal Our Lady of Good Counsel School Waterford

Catríona Donohoe Teaching Principal St Michael’s NS Cavan

Damian White Admin Principal Scoil Shinchill Offaly

Diarmaid Moore Admin Principal Milford NS Limerick

Diarmuid Hennessy Admin Principal Belgooly NS Cork

Deirdre Kelly Teaching Principal St Michael’s NS Sligo

Finbarr Hurley Seconded to Centre for School Leadership N/A

Kathryn Corbett Admin Principal Bishop Galvin NS Dublin

Linda Dennehy Admin Principal Scoil Íosagáin Cork

Selina Carmody Deputy Principal Wexford ETNS Wexford

Compliance

Risk Register

IPPN maintains a register of risk to ensure that all potential risks that would have a negative impact on the delivery of supports and services to members, as well as IPPN’s operational capacity, are considered and mitigated. A revised approach to the format of the risk register was adopted by the Board of Directors in 2022/23.

In the revised format.

n keys for the negative impact and likelihood scores have been included to better facilitate the consideration and accurate calculation of risk scores

n risks have been re-organised and re-categorised into 5 categories – advocacy & communications, supports & services, operations, commercial and governance

n specific risks have been identified for ongoing monitoring by the Board

n ‘mitigants’ are specific actions

n a residual risk score is included (which is the risk that pertains after mitigants have been actioned).

Lobbying Register

In accordance with Regulation of Lobbying legislation, as part of the Lobbying Act 2015, IPPN is registered as a lobbying group. Twelve lobbying activities were registered from the period 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022. Eleven lobbying activities were registered for the period 1st September 2022 to 31st August 2023.

Other Governance Highlights

n High levels of compliance achieved in reporting to the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA) and Companies Registration Office (CRO)

n Significant progress on review of internal policies and procedures

n Audit process completed successfully

n Adoption of Standing Orders, Code of Ethics/ Conduct and a Conflict of Interest policy to regulate and inform the manner in which the Board conducts its business

n The appointment of an external expert in governance to Chair the Board’s HR & Finance Advisory Group.

For 2022/23, the Chairperson of the Board was Louise Tobin, and the IPPN Treasurer was Linda Dennehy.

IPPN MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

95% of all primary schools are now members of IPPN. More than 90% of schools in all counties are members. For the second year in a row, 100% of schools in Longford and Offaly are members of IPPN.

COMMERCIAL

The following commercial activities help to fund the suite of supports and services provided by our Leadership Support Team, as well as our advocacy work and online services:

Income Streams

Several of the online services described above (EducationPosts.ie, TextaParent, E-scéal, and to a lesser extent ippn.ie), the Education Expo at conferences and some publications generate muchneeded income to fund our work. Income is derived from:

n vacancy and commercial advertising on EducationPosts.ie

n payment for ‘credits’ on TextaParent.ie

n advertising in E-scéalta and Leadership+

n hosting of Expo stands at IPPN conferences.

The team continually assesses possible income streams to ensure that IPPN meets its goals financially security and independence, as well as diversification of funding sources for long-term organisational sustainability.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship income from our organisational sponsor Allianz enables IPPN to undertake projects of strategic importance to our members that would otherwise not be possible.

In additional, our annual conferences allow us to engage with a number of companies as ‘conference sponsors’, which helps to defray the significant costs of hosting these events and, crucially, to reduce the attendance fee for our members. Sponsorship areas include seminars, plenary sessions, conference bags, conference guide.

IPPN STAFF

In 2022/2023, these are the IPPN team members who led and implemented all of these projects:

The Leadership Support Team is supported in it is work – in handling professional queries, group mentor training, development of local support groups and other projects - by a small number of highly-experienced principals who have an in-depth understanding of the pressures and challenges faced by members and who have been trained in facilitation and call handling.

Páiric Clerkin IPPN CEO

Jennifer McCarthy Operations Manager

Jacqui Ahearne Accounts

Susan Forde Front of House

Brian O’Doherty IPPN President

Jack Durkan Supports & Services Manager

Sarah McNamara TextaParent and Education Expo

Linda O’Brien Front of House

Nora Peters General Manager

David Buckley PA to CEO/President

Sinéad O’Mahony Education Expo & Leadership+ Advertising

Geraldine D’Arcy Advocacy & Communications Manager

Jackie O’Reilly Supports & Services –Headstart and Retired Members

Maeve O’Mahony EducationPosts.ie

CONTACT US

We are keen to hear from school leaders and any other stakeholders who share our vision for primary education. You can contact us through one of the media below.

General Enquiries

 +353 21 4824070

 1800 21 22 23

 info@ippn.ie

 www.ippn.ie

 @IPPN  @IPPN_Education

IPPN National Support Office

Glounthaune Co. Cork

T45 P406

More information about IPPN and the supports and services we offer to school leaders is available on our website www.ippn.ie.

Charitable Status

IPPN is a non-profit organisation and a registered charity with CHY number 17221