Tacaíocht, Spreagadh, Misneach Supporting School Leadership IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
Contents A message from our CEO and President 1 IPPN the organisation 2 Strategic Priorities 3 Sustainable Leadership 4 Objective 4 Strategic Actions ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Professional Learning for Leadership 4 Objective 4 Strategic Actions 4 Membership Engagement 5 Objective 5 Strategic Actions 5 Communications .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Objective 5 Strategic Actions 5 Governance 6 Objective 6 Strategic Actions 6 Organisational Aims 7 Advocacy & Communication 8 Achievements 8 Sustainable Leadership Project ......................................................................................................................................................................................9 Other Areas of Focus 11 Pandemic-related Supports 11 Small Schools Action Research Project 11 Special Education 11 Budget 2023 11 Other matters being progressed 12 Member Engagement 12 Submissions 13 Representation ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Stakeholder Development 13 Working Groups 14 CSL in Conversation Series 15 The Primary Education Forum (PEF) Communications Sub-Group 15 Global Citizenship Education 15 Public Relations 15 Media 15 Social Media 16 On Your Behalf ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Leadership+ 16 Education Matters 16 Research 17 IPPN Research 17 Support for Members' Research 17 Page ii IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
Page iiiIPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 Supports & Services 18 Leadership Support 19 Professional Guidance 19 E-scéal 19 Mailing Lists 19 Planning Prompts ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Local Support Group Project 19 Resource Bundles 20 DRAW Toolkit 20 Covid ar Scoil 21-22 20 Recruitment and Appointments 20 Continuous Professional Development 20 Conferences............................................................................................................................................................................................................................21AutumnCountyNetworkMeetings21EducationExpo21 Group Mentoring 21 Headstart – Support for Newly Appointed Principals 22 Retired Principals' Project 22 Online Services 23 Ippn.ie 23 EducationPosts.ie 23 TextaParent.ie....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 School Suppliers Guide 24 Infrastructure 25 Operations 25 IPPN Staff 26 Governance 27 National Council 27 Board of Directors 27 County Networks 27 Local Support Groups..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Governance Review Project 27 Lobbying Register 29 IPPN Membership Renewal Project 29 Commercial 29 Income Streams 29 Sponsorship 29 Contact Us 32 General Enquiries 32 Charitable Status ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
‘IPPN’s focus from the beginning has been to provide supports and services for school leaders at local and county level, and to represent the views of school leaders in relation to education policy and school leadership nationally.’
Is sinne le meas Page 1IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
Brian O'Doherty
Brian O'Doherty President
message
This Annual Members’ Report provides an overview of the work IPPN has been doing to support members over the past 12 months. We outline IPPN’s strategic objectives and organisational goals, and the team describes the work and projects undertaken over the past year relating to each of these goals. As you will see, the team at the IPPN Support Office has continued to improve, develop and enhance the suite of supports and services available to members, with the needs of school leaders front and centre in everything we do. As always, we are delighted to hear directly from members about IPPN’s work – whether face-to-face at Autumn network meetings or conferences, online at webinars or via email or phone call – and we look forward to engaging with as many of you as possible in the coming year.
Páiric Clerkin
A from and President
our CEO
CEO Páiric Clerkin CEO
President
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.
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IPPN: The Organisation
‘The Republic of Ireland has more than 561,000 children attending more than 3,200 primary schools. IPPN articulates the collective knowledge and professional experience of over 6,100 principals and deputy principals.’
Strategic Priorities
Following an extensive consultation process in 2020 and 2021 with IPPN members, members of the IPPN Board of Directors and National Council, staff and external stakeholders, five primary strategic priority areas were identified for IPPN for the period 2021 to 2025. Each of these strategic priorities is described below in terms of its objective and strategic actions, which shape IPPN’s annual work plans.
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Sustainable ProfessionalLeadershipLearningfor Leadership Member GovernanceCommunicationsEngagement
To strengthen our delivery of training, learning and continuing professional development – ensuring this is inclusive, relevant and valued by members and staff.
Professional Learning for Leadership Objective
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6. Agree a benchmark for desired tenure of IPPN Board members. succession planning. We aim...“To strengthen our delivery of training, learning and continuing professional development – ensuring this is inclusive, relevant and valued by members and staff.”
To develop a shared understanding of what constitutes effective and sustainable school leadership and to ensure that structures and policies enable school leaders to develop their leadership practice and maintain their focus on their core purpose of leading teaching and learning.
5. In collaboration with partners, develop an appropriate recommended governance structure for schools.
Strategic Actions
3. Develop internal plan and policies for IPPN staff and board members.
3. Create a development pathway.
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4. Establish induction/refresher training for IPPN Board members.
Sustainable Leadership Objective
2. Publish an annual calendar for IPPN members, detailing scheduled courses and training, linked to the CSL calendar of professional learning for school leaders.
4. Build an evidence-based position on the challenges associated with sustainable leadership.
1. Identify the characteristics and broad skillset required for successful school leadership.
2. Develop, facilitate and evaluate appropriate Professional Learning for Leadership programmes.
5. Establish process that allows IPPN staff members to develop an annual PDP under the guidance of the General Manager.
Strategic Actions
6. Establish the baseline data for current numbers of applicants for leadership development courses and numbers stepping away early from leadership positions.
1. Establish a process through which members can regularly inform IPPN of their learning and training requirements.
Strategic Actions
Strategic Actions
4. Continue to strengthen strategic relationships with key stakeholders, in particular ESCI and the Education Centre network, to enhance membership engagement at grass roots level.
Objective
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2. Review the current structure of IPPN’s County Networks and develop models appropriate to local structures around the country.
2. Improve local support structures to help increase the level of peer-to-peer communication and activity in local networks.
Communications Objective
1. Create a member engagement plan for all members, with a specific emphasis on further engagement with Deputy Principals through targeted communication.
4. Redevelopment of IPPN’s member website to align with the communications strategy. This is a critical priority for the year ahead.
Member Engagement
To provide all our members with access to the resources, advice and networks required to support them in their roles as school leaders and, through this engagement, to obtain insights that will inform IPPN’s future plans and maximise our impact.
3. Develop and implement a communication strategy underpinned by the strategic priorities of the organisation. This plan will ensure all internal and external parties are informed and empowered with timely knowledge and relevant information.
5. Establish the current numbers engaging with surveys, feedback forms and attending local group meetings.
1. Identify an appropriate external support to work with the IPPN communications team and, in particular, with members and stakeholders.
5. Strengthen presence and engagement with members and wider education stakeholders on social media platforms.
3. Incorporate technology solutions within the Member Engagement Plan that will encourage and facilitate member engagement and feedback.
To embed effective communication in all aspects of IPPN’s work and to continue to improve communication with our members, staff and the wider education sector.
1. Identify the skill-mix required for IPPN Board of Directors to achieve best practice according to Charities Governance Code and agree whether non-school leaders should be recruited to ensure a balance of skills identified.
Governance Objective
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3.
4.
To strengthen IPPN’s governance structures to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability at all levels within the organisation. Actions
Strategic
2. Conduct exit interviews (managed by an external organisation) for Board members and staff to learn from experiences and inform future practice. Develop and implement best practices in the governance of the organisation. Review aspects of the role of President as chair of the Board and role of the Governance and nominations advisory group in supporting and enhancing strong governance based on the principals and core standards of the charities code.
Page 7IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 Organisational Aims IPPN's goals centre on the task of leadership across a spectrum of issues and activities under the following headings:AdvocacyInfrastructureSupportsCommunicationandandServices VISION ‘Empowered Leaders; Inspired Learners.’ MISSION ‘To support and advocate for highly effective and sustainable school leadership Tacaíocht, Misneach agus Spreagadh.’
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Advocacy Communicationand
Over the past year, we have progressed these goals by undertaking work in a number of key areas.
The strategic goals in this area are to: l provide leadership to all school leaders l positively influence education policy l be the trusted voice for children and their learning
Administrative status for: l teaching principals with two or more special classes l principals of special schools. The benchmarking award to school leaders. 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 in 2007, albeit not paid until 2022. A one-year secondment to progress the aims of the Sustainable Leadership project was approved; this role will start in September 2023.
Achievements 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, to achieve the following for school leaders:Theday a week provided to teaching principals to manage the pandemic is now on a permanent footing, to afford them time to attend to leadership and management responsibilities.
member feedback from all counties re. factors that sustain and factors that undermine school leadership refined the narrative around each of the themes of the progressedproject the research project on school leaders’ health & wellbeing with NAPD and Deakin University (the data from the first year of the research will be available in August) reviewed relevant academic literature and practitioner research (both Irish and international) relating to each of the themes undertaken our own research and analysis of policy documents, guidelines, legislation and circulars and how they relate to the domains of the quality framework for leadership and management in LAOS, as well as their impact on workload
Continued resourcing of schools to manage Covid risk – PPE and cleaning requisites.
DE Principals’ helpline to support schools with outbreaks l ‘CLASS’ hours for SEN pupils whose learning was disrupted due to a lack of substitute teachers.
l EducationPosts.ie noticeboards and new features to facilitate sourcing of substitute teachers.
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Small schools clustering action research project 2022-2024 was approved and funded.
It is broadly accepted, both nationally and internationally, that effective school leadership is second only to effective classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning. From the system’s perspective, it makes sense that having the most effective people in school leadership roles, and enabling them to maintain their focus on their core purpose of leading teaching and learning, will have a consequential positive impact on the effectiveness of those schools.
IPPN’s Sustainable Leadership project has sought to explore the sustainability of school leadership roles identify the issues that are undermining that sustainability and propose solutions or recommendations that will contribute to the greater sustainability of those roles.
‘...having the most effective people in school leadership roles, and enabling them to maintain their focus on their core purpose of leading teaching and learning, will have a consequential positive impact on the effectiveness of those schools.’
l Removal of some restrictions regarding substitute teachers to increase capacity, and student teachers in years 3 and 4 allowed to provide substitute cover where a qualified teacher is not available.
As part of the project, we have identified six areas of focus that are inextricably linked with, and have the potential to be impactful on the sustainability of school leadership. They are a shared understanding of what constitutes leadership effectiveness and core purpose the need for a systematic process of preparation for leadership the challenge of recruiting school leaders the vexed issue of having the time and space to lead the sharing and supporting of leadership, with a particular focus on co-leadership and middle leadership and Boards of Management and their capacity to discharge their governance role and
Accordingly,responsibilities.wehavecompletedbriefings
Sustainable Leadership Project
about the project at all county collatedAGMs
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When finalised, the Sustainable Leadership report, and the recommendations for each of the six themes, will inform future budget submissions for 2024, 2025 and beyond.
The early data emerging from the Deakin research is sobering and highlights the need for urgent action. At the very least, we have a responsibility to ensure that existing and future school leaders are afforded the opportunity to be as effective as they can be in their roles, as we know the consequential impact of that on school effectiveness and outcomes for children.
fora with members on each of the project themes with group discussions of the draft materials hosted by trained facilitators refined each of the draft chapters to take into account this member feedback engaged with independent consultants on elements of the report to glean external perspectives relating to HR, recruitment, governance, etc. provided regular briefings on the progress of the project to the IPPN Board of Directors and National consultedCouncilwiththe IPPN coordinators for the Small Schools Clustering Project to identify synergies between the projects and how learning can be captured and shared drafted a member survey to address data gaps in areas that are relevant to the report.
IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
We are entering the final phase of this part of the project. Our Board members are currently reviewing the latest draft of the report, which will then be further refined on the basis of their feedback. The member survey referred to above will issue in the second week of September. The data gleaned from that survey will then be analysed and included in a penultimate draft, which will subsequently be shared with some “critical friends”. We are asking those critical friends to review the report to ensure that our analysis is considered, balanced and objective. We are inviting them to challenge our thinking and to interrogate both our consideration of the key issues and the recommendations we have made. Ultimately, this will lead to a final draft of the report being completed before its publication in November.
‘we have a responsibility to ensure that existing and future school leaders are afforded the opportunity to be as effective as they can be in their roles, as we know the consequential impact of that on school effectiveness and outcomes for children.’
drafted each of the eight chapters exploring the key themes of l context l current reality l effective leadership and core purpose l preparation for leadership l recruitment l time and space to lead l sharing and supporting leadership l convenedgovernanceonline
Pandemic-related Supports Substitute teachers
Retention of pandemic supports for schools
Other Areas of Focus
Elsewhere during the 2021/2022 school year, our advocacy work focused on the following aspects of school leadership and management, in line with our strategic priorities:
IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
The lack of availability of substitute teachers has been a critical issue in many schools throughout the year, as Covid-related sick leave continues to wreak havoc. IPPN focused on potential solutions to expand the pool of available teachers and worked with the education partners, teachertraining colleges and the Department to achieve alleviation of some of the remaining restrictions. This has included allowing teachers who are on career break and those in job-sharing arrangements to undertake substitute work, as well as availing of the support of student teachers in years 3 and 4 of their teaching degree. IPPN’s Sub Seeker service has proved to be an invaluable tool to schools in this regard, as it was quickly updated to facilitate these changes. These policy changes have resulted in a level of alleviation and has been badly needed by school leaders and boards of management to safely keep schools open.
It was by no means a given that the financial supports for schools made available in 2020/21 to maintain a high level of cleaning and hygiene, as well as PPE and other materials and equipment to combat the effects of Covid in schools, would be made available to schools in the 2021/22 school year. IPPN strongly lobbied for a retention of the supports, and has done so again for the 2022/23 school year. 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 Together with the Department, INTO, CPSMA and the General Synod Board of Education of the Church of Ireland, IPPN is part of a national pilot project looking at the clustering of small schools in six rural areas - in Galway, Donegal, Kerry, Wicklow and Waterford, each of which has between three and five schools. The clusters are supported by parttime local coordinators sponsored by the education partners, working with a national coordinator under the guidance of a steering group. An evaluation will take place and a final report, including analysis of the scalability of actions undertaken by the cluster schools, will be compiled at the end of 2023.
Special Education IPPN has worked with officials in the DE, NCSE and NABMSE to progress and address issues relating to SEN, including the proposed new SNA allocation model and SET allocations, and submitted a number of recommendations for improved processes, procedures and resourcing of SEN in schools as part of consultation on the NCSE strategy.
Budget 2023 Work on IPPN’s budget submission began early in 2022, as decisions are usually made well in advance of Budget Day in September 2022. The focus of our budget submission this year is to build on the achievements previously detailed and to drive the aims behind the Sustainable Leadership project – the objective of which is to identify and highlight those (evidence-based) supports which will enhance the sustainability of school leadership into the future.
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‘IPPN’s Sub Seeker service has proved to be an invaluable tool to schools in this regard, as it was quickly updated to facilitate these changes.’
In early summer this year, IPPN criticised the approach taken by the Department regarding the establishment of special classes through the Section 37a process. IPPN advocated that such classes be established and places be allocated through an amended admissions process to ensure there is a school place for every child in their local area.
Page 12 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022 There are four elements to the submission for Budget 2023:
4. Fully resourcing supports for children with additional needs by l Adequately resourcing SEN supports in schools.
Other matters being progressed A number of other matters have been discussed with key stakeholders over the past year. IPPN has l Presented on the topic of bullying in schools and the mental health implications to the Joint Committee on Education, with further work undertaken via our representation on the Department’s Anti-bullying Working Group.
Engaged with the Ombudsman for Children, which conducted research into the forward planning of school places for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
l Supported the work of AsIam in relation to its Autism Friendly Schools Project. Additional issues were dealt with through engagement around formal submissions – see the Submissions section opposite.
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Book of Condolences – to capture the outpouring of messages of sadness and support from members for the colleagues and family of primary school teacher Ashling Murphy (RIP) who was tragically killed in January 2022. May she rest in peace.
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l Liaised with the Teaching Council in relation to the specification for a centralised placement system, and to review current models and provide recommendations in relation to a pilot of a centralised placement system.
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l Worked with the Centre for School Leadership to provide feedback on a draft self-reflection tool which has been designed by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, to support the development of optimal inclusive leadership practices in schools.
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40 trained facilitators captured feedback to ensure that the project, and the resulting report, reflects members’ input on the current reality and potential solutions to the challenges that compromise the sustainability of school leadership.
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3. Address the funding crisis relating to soaring inflation and spiralling energy costs by Retaining COVID supports until the pandemic ends. Bringing grant funding into line with postprimary schools. Providing temporary alleviation of cost burden relating to inflation and energy crisis.
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Member Engagement Sustainable Leadership – Six online Focus Group meetings were held, to provide opportunities for all members to feed back on the work done to date on each of the six themes covered by the project.
1. Sharing leadership Retain leadership and management days for deputy principals in larger schools and in special schools to acknowledge the additional workload required in these schools. Reduce the threshold for appointment of administrative DPs in schools with 24+ mainstream class teachers. Extend CSL coaching and mentoring to deputy principals.
2. Adequate supply of substitute teachers and SNAs to ensure continuity of provision to children Retention and expansion of teacher supply panels for all schools. Appropriate national process for the employment of substitute SNAs. Appropriate process for the vetting of substitute SNAs who work across schools –this is the barrier to making this work at a national level.
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: l The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2020 – Joint Committee l Review of proposed legislation regarding Garda Vetting – Department of Education l NCSE Strategy 2022-2026 l The Education for Sustainable Development Strategy to 2030 – Department of Education l The next DE Digital Strategy for Schools –Department of Education l Evaluation of Remote Teaching and Learning –Department of Education Inspectorate l Bullying in Schools and The Mental Health Impact – Joint Committee l Consultation with persons with disabilities –National Disability Authority l NCCA Draft Strategic Plan – NCCA l Review of Code of Practice, Guide to Inspection and the Procedures for Review of Inspections – DE Inspectorate l Creative Youth Plan 2023–2027 – Department of Education l Aistear Review - NCCA l Supports for Ukrainian children – Joint Committee l Review of Governance Manual for Primary Schools 2019-2023 – Department of Education l Review of Looking at our Schools and School SelfEvaluation – DE Inspectorate l Budget 2023 – Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform, Education, and the Secretary General at the Department of Education. We responded to 13 requests for submissions in the 2020/21 school year, and seven in the 2019/20 school year. It is clear that consultation activity has been increasing significantly as the Department and its agencies ramp up their change programmes. 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.
stakeholders: • INTO •
• NCSE • Teaching Council • NABMSE • CPSMA • DiscussionCSL included Budget priorities as well as sustainable leadership and the key challenges facing school
in
primary school. Page 13IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 Report 2020/2021 ‘IPPN
Representation Stakeholder Development IPPN has worked with our fellow Education Partners over the past several years to advocate for primary school leadership and improvements in funding, processes and policy. For this to be effective, the relationship with each stakeholder needs to be positive and collaborative. The achievements over the past year or so point to the success of this approach, and it is an approach that we plan to build on in the coming years to progress our strategic objectives. To that end, over the past year, there have been bi-lateral meetings with the following NCCA leaders all types of 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.’
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Primary Principalship Pre-appointment Catriona O’Reilly, Principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Waterford and IPPN Board member. NCCA Early Childhood and Primary Board Kathryn Corbett, Principal of Bishop Galvin NS, Templeogue and IPPN Board member. Anti-bullying Forum Breideen Nic Eiteagáin, Principal of Scoil Cholmcille, Carraig Airt, Leitir Ceanainn, Co. Dún na nGall Choiste Comhairleach um Polasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta. IPPN is represented in relation to a number of topics by the following people: DEIS/educational disadvantage – Louise Tobin, IPPN Deputy President. Special educational needs – Pat Goff, Caroline Quinn. l Wellbeing for All (IPPN, NAPD, Teaching Council, National Parents Council and the Ombudsman for Children) – Angela Lynch. Education Matters Yearbook Editorial BoardGeraldine D’Arcy, IPPN Advocacy & Communications Manager. ICT/Digital Strategy – Peter Coakley.
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IPPN Annual Report 2021/2022 | Page 14 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: l Brian O’Doherty, IPPN President • Primary Education Forum • CSL Steering Committee • PDSL Monitoring Group • Primary Principalship Pre-appointment Programme Group • Review of Governance Manual for Primary Schools 2019-2023 • National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) l Páiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO • Primary Education Forum • Partnership Schools Ireland • CSL Steering Committee • Primary Principalship Pre-appointment Programme Group l Damian White, IPPN Past President, Principal of Scoil Shinchill, Killeigh, Offaly • Global Citizenship, Education for Sustainable Leadership l Maria Doyle, IPPN Past President • European representative to International Confederation of Principals (ICP) l 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 •
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There are other priorities to be progressed via the sub-committee, including time provided to respond to requests to make submissions/appear before committees etc.
The project partners meet regularly and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is currently being drawn up. The initial period of the consortium is from November 2021 to July 2023.
1. More time to consult with members when asked for input on topics 2. Communications that issue to schools directly, being seen by the likes of IPPN at least simultaneously 3. Timing of DE info e.g. 8pm Fridays. Through this work
Page 15IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 We thank them all for their time, energy and commitment to IPPN and the education sector.
1. a review of the timing of communications to schools (particularly to ensure Friday afternoons/ evenings are avoided where possible).
CSL in Conversation Series IPPN CEO, Páiric Clerkin, and President, Brian O’Doherty, participated in a recorded conversation with CSL around various aspects of leadership policy, practice and learning in the Irish system. Some of the topics included: l recent positive developments in the Irish education system l current challenges to sustainable leadership at primary level l ambitions for primary school leadership in the future.
The sub-group was established in July 2021. There are two representatives from each organisation participating in the PEF. The IPPN Nominee on the Sub-Committee is Supports & Services Manager, Jack Durkan. The purpose of this group is to: l identify key concerns among stakeholders relating to communications l identify possible solutions to improve the Department’s communications practices l devise and agree a set of principles to underpin Department communications practices with stakeholders l provide ideas and propose ideas the Department can adopt and/or trial to enhance communications and engagement with stakeholders l support in the gathering of feedback from stakeholders to support the Department to continuously improve its communications with Forstakeholders.theinitialmeeting, partners were asked to identify and prioritise their top three communications issues for consideration. The top three priorities submitted by IPPN to the initial meeting were:
Public Relations
Global Citizenship Education Damian White represents IPPN on this forum. IPPN has partnered with Trócaire, DCU, Global Citizenship Education (GCE) and INTO as a GCE Primary Consortium to contribute to the increased accessibility, quality and effectiveness of development education in Ireland.
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 as well as newspaper articles. From January 2021 to December 2021, IPPN engaged with the media to advocate for school leaders on 36 occasions. Since September 2021, IPPN has engaged with the media to advocate for school leaders on 42 occasions.
IPPN has achieved
2. inclusion of IPPN in communications to schools so our LST is kept abreast of developments.
The Primary Education Forum (PEF) Communications Sub-Group
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.There have been three special issues over the past year on key issues in primary education, each of them highlighting leaders’ priorities: l Small schools l Special Educational Needs l Educational Disadvantage. 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 2020 and 2021 Yearbooks and suggested many of the contributors in the primary, cross-sectoral and research sectors. IPPN (Immediate past president Damian White) wrote the primary sector overview in 2020. Damian also contributed an article on Irish Travellers and the education system in 2021 and presented at the Education Matters Forum in June 2022, hosting a superb panel discussion on Traveller culture in Irish primary‘IPPNschools.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.’
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, then post relevant updates on social media. E-scéal continues to be members’ ‘one-stop-shop’ for all key information.
Work is underway to develop a regional team to support media work with regional media outlets (radio and newspapers) and to bring on board a member from a Gaelscoil to represent IPPN with media engagement.
Social Media
Page 16 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022 LINK
On Your Behalf A new ‘On Your Behalf’ webpage was set up on ippn.ie to ensure the website is kept up-to-date with all PR and advocacy done on members’ behalf, to mirror what members see in Leadership+ and on social media.
Since August 2021 we have grown the ‘reach’ through social media, with a significant increase in the number of followers across platforms: l IPPN Twitter – an 18% increase l IPPN LinkedIn – a 35% increase l EducationPosts Twitter – a 30% increase
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 including with Education Centres – as well as event information.
‘As part of the Sustainable Leadership project, IPPN conductDeakincommissionedUniversitytoresearchon Irish School Leaders’ Health & Wellbeing commissioned(jointlywith NAPD).’
IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
As noted above, IPPN has showcased the research done by IPPN members and others working in the sector in Leadership+.
Over the past year, dozens of members have been supported with their research projects in these ways.Aspart 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.
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The Sustainable Leadership project team reviewed Irish and international research relevant to the themes in the project, ensuring that the proposals are evidence-based.
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.
As part of the Sustainable Leadership project, IPPN commissioned Deakin University to conduct research on Irish School Leaders’ Health & Wellbeing (jointly commissioned with NAPD). Results will be presented in the Sustainable Leadership report later this year.
Support for Members' Research 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 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.
The project team also developed a key member consultation survey to be issued early in September 2022, to capture l the views of principals of mainstream schools with special classes l further input to the sustainable leadership project themes where data gaps exist.
Research IPPN Research
Page 18 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
via phone and
Groups – building the
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 value knowing that this support and back-up is available to them when they need it. the projects designed to do this are professional guidance email Support network, along with Support members participated in national during the year two of their leadership role education
l Headstart – supports for new principals l Retired Principals’ Project l Resource Bundles l Engagement with
Local
The goals of the IPPN Supports and Services team are: 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.
Supports and Services
Group Facilitation l CPD – 2,200
the following: l Leadership Support –
support l E-scéal – critical weekly updates in email bulletin format l Mailing lists – Networking peer-to-peer online support l Local
stakeholders.
l
local, regional and
Among
events
year l Ciall Ceannaithe online summer course l Group Mentoring – principals in
Local Support Group Project
The aim of this project is to work with Education Centres to support the establishment of a Local Support Group (LSG) for every school leader (principal and deputy principal) who requires one throughout the country. With the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, the IPPN Leadership Support Team visited almost all of the 21 education centres to promote the project. In each education centre, they met with the Director and the local IPPN county representatives. As a result, awareness of the project and initial planning have been accelerated throughout the membership. IPPN county representatives and education centres are contacting and recording existing LSGs and ascertaining where new ones need to be Whileestablished.mostexisting LSGs cater exclusively for principals, the number of deputy principal LSGs is growing steadily, particularly in and around Dublin, Cork and Kildare. The challenge for the coming year will be to expand this growth and to involve more DPs in establishing their own LSGs. To support the LSGs, the Department of Education is providing funding to allow IPPN to train group facilitators in each education centre area. To date, 105 facilitators have been trained.
Planning Prompts Planning Prompts are an integral part of IPPN’s weekly E-scéal, thus there were 36 issued during the past school year. They are not intended to be a ‘to do’ list. The planning prompts may be categorised under certain headings. For example, Administration, BoM, Activities. IPPN’s Planning Prompts are available to download from www.ippn.ie via the ‘Resources’ tab.
This one-to-one confidential advisory service, provided by a team of skilled retired principals, offers collegial support and guidance of a nondirective and non-legal nature. The team also provides a Professional Guidance service, answering queries of a factual nature. From September 2021 to August 2022, the Leadership Support team responded to 3,287 queries from 1,418 principals and deputy principals. Among the topics dealt with, the following were the most common: School policies linked to COVID-19 l HR administration – particularly absences/leave/ Posts of Responsibility l Parents & pupils – parental complaints, custody & access l Recruitment Relationship management – interpersonal/ conflict management. The team closely monitors the issues and queries raised by members and this information is factored into the plans for the development of resources and CPD. E-scéal This weekly electronic bulletin is the crucial ‘onestop-shop’ providing all the key information school leaders need to know – current issues within the education sector, professional guidance, FAQs, circular/information note releases, as well as topical issues relating to leadership and management. Our links with education stakeholders ensure that IPPN is kept informed at the earliest opportunity of key developments, enabling us to pass that information to our members. Members who read their E-scéal every week can be assured that they won’t miss any key information. A total of 36 E-scéal were issued during the 2021/2022 school year. Mailing Lists IPPN’s mailing lists are among the most valued supports available to members. They are ‘closed’ mailing lists i.e. the emails are for principals and deputy principals who are members of IPPN. The most popular mailing list is ‘networking’, which facilitates a peer-to-peer support community. It has in excess of 4,000 subscribers. Several million emails were sent during the 2021/2022 calendar year.
l
Leadership Support Professional Guidance
Page 19IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 Each of these aspects of the team’s work is explored below.
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The advice@ippn.ie mailing list is for sensitive, confidential and non-generic queries, which are answered offline by members of our Leadership Support 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.
Continuous DevelopmentProfessional
Covid ar Scoil 21–22 The transmission rate of Covid-19 and infection prevention measures were a hot topic for schools as they reopened for a new school year in September 2021. It was a rapidly changing landscape with frequent departmental and public health updates. To support school leaders in keeping their schools open for the 2021/2022 school year, the resource bundle ‘Covid ar Scoil 21-22’ was published. It is a ‘one-stopshop’ for key information, including documents and templates relating to keeping the school open as safely as possible for pupils and staff. Up to mid-June 2022, a high number of members have interacted with the live resource bundle, with over 10,000 views.
From September 2021 to August 2022, IPPN hosted many local, regional and national CPD events for school leaders with over 2,200 school leaders participating at regional and national events and members attending local IPPN County Network Meetings across the 26 Thesecounties.CPD events provided an opportunity to hear fresh thinking from national and international figures in education, participate in stimulating workshops and to network with colleagues.
The entire suite of Resource Bundles dealing with recruitment and appointments was revised and a new one added on SNA Recruitment and Appointment. These now consist of: l Sharing the Leadership – DP Recruitment and Appointment l Distributing the Leadership – AP Recruitment and Appointment l Building the Team – Teacher Recruitment and Appointment l Supporting SEN – SNA Recruitment and Appointment.
Recruitment and Appointments
LINK LINK LINK
Other examples of CPD events organised by IPPN during the year: l Autumn meetings in each county – these were held virtually for the second time due to the COVID restrictions. The CPD element this year was ‘Dignity at Work’ presented by two practitioners Teresa Coughlan, Principal and Joanne Dillion, Deputy Principal of Scoil Chlíodhna Community NS, Cork. l Deputy Principals’ Conference – we held our second fully virtual conference during the school year, with over 540 members attending this event. Feedback was very positive and we look forward to being face to face in 2022/2023.
Page 20 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022 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. Draw Toolkit Following months of work by the Leadership Support Team, the Dignity and Respect At Work (DRAW) Toolkit was published and uploaded to the website. The Toolkit consists of: l an introductory video l four Resource Bundles • Dignity and Respect in the Workplace • Meeting Basic Human Needs in the School Workplace • HR Scaffolding in the School Workplace • Developing a bespoke DRAW Charter and Policy l 6 Power Point Presentations to support school leaders in developing a DRAW Charter and Policy with their school staffs l a DRAW Charter Template l a DRAW Policy Template This toolkit is available at www.ippn.ie via the Resources/Resource Bundles tab.
Page 21IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
Autumn County Network Meetings
There is an annual meeting of IPPN members held in each county in September or October each year, 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 opportunity to become more involved with IPPN by representing your county at National Council level.
Over the past school year, 221 principals in their second year of school leadership were supported by IPPN group mentors. 31 mentor groups supported school leaders in year two of their leadership in every county.
Preliminary figures for the coming school year indicate that 211 principals will be eligible to avail of the service.
Brian O’Doherty, IPPN President & Páiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO attended the online meetings with members in every county in Autumn 2021.
Group Mentoring
Principals’ Conference – due to a number of factors, Covid and also the crisis in Ukraine, our scheduled May Conference in Citywest was moved to November in the INEC Killarney. At the time of writing, there were 800 school leaders registered to attend.
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Ciall Ceannaithe online summer course, in which almost 400 teachers, principals, deputy principals and acting principals participated in July 2022. Designed for current and aspiring leaders, this course was originally established in 2008 and is reviewed and updated annually. This year, we introduced two scheduled Zoom calls during the month of July where participants and facilitators interacted and discussed the ‘hot topics’ within the course. PlanningConferencesfor Conferences in 2022
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‘92% of attendees found the meetings beneficial; 38% would prefer that the Autumn meetings be held online every year, 38% want them face-to-face every year and 24% would like a blended approach – online and face-to-face every second year.’
It is important that IPPN, as the professional body for the leaders of Irish primary schools, is seen to demonstrate leadership in its approach to the management of COVID-19. Accordingly, we considered our vision, mission and values when planning events thus far and will adhere to these standards in all our planning provisions. All events organised by IPPN are subject to an ongoing risk assessment and management using the Plan, Do, Check & Act (PDCA) ISO:45001 Business Model. With the increase in Covid-19 cases nationally, IPPN will conduct an up to date risk assessment on our 2022 Principals’ Conference. Our primary aim is to ensure the safety of all employees, members, speakers and third party providers engaged with our events and services.
Education Expo Education Expo brings together principals and over 110 companies providing supports and services to schools under one roof during the IPPN annual principals’ conference. The IPPN Principals’ Conference 2022 will take place in the INEC Killarney in November 2022 and will host a wide range of national and international companies over two days. IPPN Principals’ Conference 2021 was an online virtual event with a host of seminar sponsors and a virtual interactive exhibition hall.
Data from the post-event survey shows that 92% of attendees found the meetings beneficial; 38% would prefer that the Autumn meetings be held online every year, 38% want them face-to-face every year and 24% would like a blended approach – online and face-to-face every second year.
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 longterm positions. Therefore, the need for immediate and continuous support throughout the year, through the lens of sustainable leadership, is an IPPN priority, and Headstart will develop and expand these services over the next five years.
Feedback and evaluations from ‘mentees’ during the past year has 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.
With Misneach beginning in August, IPPN now joins with PDST to outline its supports and services and provide an introduction to the help available through IPPN, with PDST covering the nuts and bolts of the first month. This avoids duplication and the need for NAPs to attend two separate events.
The challenge is to strike a balance between management and leadership when developing programmes such as Ciall Ceannaithe and other CPD, and in supporting the sustainability of the role from the outset through a structured service. Piloting of Headstart began in September 2021 and the programme will be developed and expanded during the 2022/23 school year. A dedicated team is undertaking to engage with every newly appointed principal during their first year.
The Headstart programme now encompasses newly appointed and acting school leaders and offers 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 NAP 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.
Page 22 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
Head Start – Support for Newly Appointed Principals
These are currently being surveyed to confirm how many of them will be in a principal role during the 2022/23 school year. Some of these are currently acting principals and will be stepping back to their deputy principal role, while some will be on approved Toleave.cater for the continuing growth in the numbers of newly appointed principals, IPPN and NAPD conducted a group mentor training course for 32 new group mentors. 24 of these were IPPN members and 8 were experienced principals from the post-primary sector.
Retired Principals' Project This project was initiated to ensure that IPPN engaged with school leaders leaving their role, to capture the reasons for leaving and provide feedback for IPPN, as well as to thank them for their service as a school leader, offer them a way to stay in touch with IPPN, including opportunities to get involved in projects. We do this through the tracking of vacancies and through direct notification by 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.
‘The throughoutappointmentsupportsschoolappointedencompassesprogrammeHeadstartnownewlyandactingleadersandoffersonimmediateandtheirfirstyear’
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.
EducationPosts.ie Developments
In January 2022, updates were made to the toolbar on the homepage of EducationPosts.ie. These improvements consolidated some menus, and streamlined access to resources and FAQs.
Several major updates were launched in November 2021: l ‘Request School Access’ – allowing new principals and staff to request access to existing school accounts directly from existing administrators. This is more secure, and more efficient for the accounts.
l Automatic advert approval – allowing adverts from existing accounts to be published within 30 minutes of being submitted.
In March, the Gaeilge translation project began with help from Waterford principal Marc de Grás. This project is ongoing. Sub Seeker Sub Seeker is an online service within EducationPosts. ie that enables primary and post-primary schools to find qualified teachers for substitute teaching in selected counties. At the time of writing, over 10,500 substitute teachers had registered with the service, with about 1,000 active at any point in time.
‘EducationPosts.ie is Ireland’s longest-established and most widely-used website dedicated to education recruitment. In the 2021/2022 academic year, there were over 16 million page views.’ Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022 We also ask them to complete a survey about the reasons for stepping away from leadership – almost 100% participation rate so far and identify school leaders to participate in an ‘exit interview’ – to find out more about their experience to inform our sustainable leadership project and longer-term advocacy work.
Page 23IPPN
Online Services ippn.ie
In addition, work is underway to engage with school chairpersons in schools with a vacancy for principalship, highlighting the importance of supporting their principals and deputy principals through membership of their professional body. The chairperson is asked to encourage the new principal to make contact with IPPN once appointed, to avail of the many supports and services available.
EducationPosts.ie EducationPosts.ie is Ireland’s longest-established and most widely-used website dedicated to education recruitment. In the 2021/2022 academic year, there were over 16 million page views on the website, with 15,900 vacancies advertised across all education sectors.
In addition, the EducationPosts.ie team handled several thousand queries from schools and jobseekers by email throughout the year relating to education-related vacancies, including Sub Seeker, as well as commercial queries.
l Advertiser Dashboard – access to download receipts and transaction history.
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.
l In January 2022, the Teaching Council announced it would allow student teachers in third and fourth year to register for a TC number. To cater for this, EducationPosts.ie created the ‘Student Teacher School Support Noticeboard’ to allow third and fourth year students to list their availability for substitute work. In May 2022, the first Route 5 Student Teachers began registering on EducationPosts.ie and Sub Seeker.
l Schools can send multiple offers to teachers at once – first come first served.
Schools can review a teacher’s profile (availability, experience, qualifications and other relevant information) before offering a substitute position.
l All teachers are validated against the Teaching Council database so schools can be assured they are registered.
l In an effort to reduce the number of unavailable teachers that have marked themselves available, a checkbox was added. When a teacher declines an offer from a school, the checkbox automatically marks the substitute teacher unavailable for the declined dates. The teacher must manually uncheck the box to be marked ‘Available’ on the system.
For more information about Sub Seeker, visit EducationPosts.ie at this link:
The benefits of Sub Seeker include:
Noticeboards Noticeboard users can now delete their own notices. Previously, notices could only be deleted by sending a request to the Support Team. In May 2022, the ‘Summer Programme Noticeboard’ was launched, with a new feature allowing parents to create notices to source teachers and SNAs. 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. A new ‘Return to school COVID form’ facilitated the capture of key information for and by schools as staff returned after a period of COVID-related sick leave. School Suppliers Guide Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the lack of faceto-face events and Expo opportunities during 2020 and 2021, IPPN published a School Suppliers Guide This resource provides school leaders and their staff with a comprehensive list of quality school suppliers for the start of the school year to aid in their planning for the year ahead. The Guide was distributed to all member schools in early September 2021 as a printed publication and available on our website www.ippn.ie as an Duee-publication.tothe timing and postponement of our Education Expo in 2022, we did not proceed with the School Suppliers Guide for 2022. LINK LINK
l Due to updates from the Teaching Council, Route 5 Student Teachers are now eligible to use Sub Seeker to source substitute work in DE primary and post-primary schools.
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Page 24 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
l Schools can see the history of their searches and the substitute teachers they have employed.
l Teachers can substitute in both primary and post-primary schools.
Updates made to Sub Seeker during the 2021/2022 school year include:
Infrastructure
In 2021/2022, IPPN staff continued to provide additional supports during the transition back to school. Suffice to say that, 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.
Over the past year, we have progressed these goals by undertaking work in the following areas:
Page 25IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
The strategic goals in this area are to: 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.
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 ran internal systems and processes, linked in with service providers to keep online services running, planned events; developed capacity, recruited, inducted and trained staff; 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.
Page 26 IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022 Sinéad O'Mahony Sales and Marketing Executive Our Staff In 2021/2022, this was the IPPN team: Páiric Clerkin Chief Executive Officer Geraldine D'Arcy Advocacy & Communications Manager Jackie O'Reilly Supports & Services Susan Forde Front of House Brian O'Doherty IPPN President Jennifer McCarthy Operations Manager Jacqui Ahearne Accounts Sinéad O'Mahony Sales and Marketing Executive Nora Peters General Manager Sinéad Coakley Business Development Jack Durkan Supports & Services Manager Rachel Hallahan Principal Information Officer Maeve O'Mahony EducationPosts.ie Sarah McNamara Textaparent & Education Expo David Buckley PA to CEO/President The Leadership Support Team is supported in its work –in handling professional queries, group mentor training, development of local support groups and other projects –by a small number of retired principals who have an indepth understanding of the pressures and challenges faced by members and who have been trained in facilitation and call handling.
The Board is responsible for the strategic direction and overall governance of IPPN. The Board manages the affairs of the organisation through advisory groups established to research and develop IPPN policy.
During the autumn county network meetings in September and October 2021, two school leaders were elected from each of the 26 counties to the National Council. Their key role is to ensure effective communication between County Networks, the Board and the Support Office. The National Council elects a Deputy President/President Elect and officers who form the Board of Directors. The Council comprises 18 teaching principals, 29 administrative principals and 4 deputy principals. DEIS Bands 1, 2 & Rural along with Scoil sa Ghaeltact and Gaelscoil are also represented within the National Council.
In 2020/2021, IPPN hosted 31 county network meetings, including the autumn meetings. They were held virtually, largely due to the ongoing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, particularly in light of the shortage of substitute teachers.
Local Support Groups
Last Name Role Type School County Bryan Collins Admin Principal Scoil Naomh Feichin Louth Bryan Lynch Admin Principal St. Conleth and Mary's Kildare 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 Deirdre Kelly Teaching Principal St. Michael's NS Sligo Finbarr Hurley CSL Coordinator Íde Ní Dhubháin Admin Principal Gaelscoil Mhachan Cork Kathryn Corbett Admin Principal Bishop Galvin NS Dublin Linda Dennehy Admin Principal Scoil Íosagáin Cork Louise Tobin Admin Principal St. Joseph's Primary Tipperary Maria Tully Deputy Principal St. Patrick's BNS Kildare
At last year’s autumn meetings, we flagged the fact that we had initiated a review of the governance of IPPN, as it was one of the stated priorities in our strategic plan. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the structure of IPPN, from individual member up to the Board of Directors, is best serving the needs of our members in keeping with our stated aims. Significant progress was achieved over the course of the year by the Governance Review Group, with the support of The Wheel. Name
Click here to see more detail about local support groups on our website Governance Review Project
IPPN facilitates 26 County Networks, each of which meets for up to three Continuous Professional Development events per year. These CPD events are funded through IPPN nationally and are open to all principals and deputy principals of member schools.
County Networks
First
The Leadership Support Team met with National Council members during the year, as part of the work relating to county CPD and ensuring that there are available Local Support Groups for all school leaders.
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 Board of Directors
Governance National Council
Page 27IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
See Local Support Groups under Supports and Services for more information about recent work. Further information is available on ippn.ie.
In 2021/2022, two thirds of Board members were administrative principals, 17% were teaching principals, 8% were deputy principals and 8% were not current serving school leaders. A third of Board members are male and two thirds are female.
In the course of the review, a number of important themes emerged, including the importance of l 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 l ensuring the meaningful and practical involvement of the National Council to better serve the needs of members l a broad range of skills and experience among members of the Board of Directors facilitating the ongoing provision of peer-topeer support at local level and l 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.
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As a result, at our autumn meetings this year, we will be seeking to elect three National Council representatives for each City/County Network.
Professional learning for leadership (CPD, leadership support, etc.) l E-services (website, networking, sub-seeker, educationposts.ie, etc.)
The City/County Network structure is being introduced to ensure that we get greater numbers of school leaders involved, to develop the capacity of the network as a whole. Nothing will change for 23 counties but in Cork, Galway and Dublin, we are creating networks in each of the local authority areas. So, in Cork and Galway there will be two networks and in Dublin there will be four. We will be seeking to elect three National Council representatives in each of these areas. So, in total across the country, we will have 31 City/County Networks with a potential 93 National Council Werepresentatives.verymuchhope that this new expanded Council will encourage members who may have an interest in becoming more involved in IPPN and its work, to do so. Ideally, we would love to get a balance of teaching, administrative and deputy principals on our Council as it is vitally important that those individual perspectives inform our work.
National Council representatives will serve for a term of three years and can seek to be elected for one further three-year term. Further detail on how the rotation of Council members will work in practice will be shared at the autumn meetings. If more than one nomination is received for a specific role (for example the National Council rep to serve on the E-services committee), a postal ballot will be organised with all those present at the meeting being eligible to vote.
IPPN Annual Members’ Report 2021/2022
Consultation will continue into the 2022/23 school year to progress the outstanding issues and it is hoped that a further revised Constitution will be presented to the National Council in March 2023 for its consideration and ratification.
Each of those National Council reps will serve on one of the three committees of the Council that are being formed, to ensure their direct impact on the work of IPPN. The focus of those committees is:
The Governance Review Group reported on its findings to the Board and National Council and there was a resoundingly positive response to the proposals for the expansion of the Council in terms of its numbers and remit. Accordingly, amendments to IPPN’s constitution were drafted to action those proposals and the National Council approved those amendments at an EGM in June.
‘We very much hope that this new expanded Council will encourage members who may have an interest in becoming more involved in IPPN and its work, to do so.’
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Advocacy & communications (submissions, position papers, publications, etc.)
Page 28
Lobbying Register
In accordance with Regulation of Lobbying legislation, as part of the Lobbying Act 2015, IPPN is registered as a lobbying group. Three lobbying activities were registered on lobbying.ie for the period 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022.
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.
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: l vacancy and commercial advertising on EducationPosts.ie l payment for ‘credits’ on TextaParent.ie l advertising in E-scéalta and Leadership+ l hosting of Expo stands at IPPN conferences.
IPPN Membership Renewal Project 95% of all primary schools are now members of IPPN. More than 90% of schools in all counties are members and 100% of the schools in Longford, Louth and Offaly are members of IPPN. For the 2022/23 school year, there is no cut-off of member services until January 1st, due to the switch to the calendar year for IPPN’s financial planning.
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.
‘95% of all primary schools are now members of IPPN. More than 90% of schools in all counties are members and 100% of the schools in Longford, Louth and Offaly are members of IPPN.’
Commercial
Page 29IPPN Annual Member’s Report 2021/2022
NOTES
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 or 1800 21 22 23 IPPNwww.ippn.ieinfo@ippn.ie@IPPN@IPPN_EducationNationalSupport Office MoreT45Co.GlounthauneCorkP406information 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.
