Leadership+ Issue 127 - April 2023

THE PROFESSIONAL VOICE OF SCHOOL LEADERS

Wellbeing & Core Purpose

The Launch of the Primary Curriculum Framework

The Early

Lessons in Kindness

Health, Safety & Welfare in Schools

Empowering Students to Shape our Schools and Societies

Reverse to move forward with mentoring

A Tribute to Tony Cahill RIP

Irish Primary Principals’ Network, Glounthaune, Co. Cork • 1800 21 22 23 • www.ippn.ie

n Editor: Geraldine D’Arcy

n Editorial Team: Geraldine D’Arcy, Páiric Clerkin and Brian O’Doherty

n Comments to: editor@ippn.ie

n Advertising: adverts@ippn.ie

n ISSN: 1649-5888

n Design: Brosna Press

n Cover Design: Print Plus

The opinions expressed in Leadership+ do not necessarily reflect the official policy or views of IPPN

Anna Pons and Lawrence Houldsworth, OECD

Carmel Stokes, Acting Principal of Monaleen NS, Castletroy, Co. Limerick

Louise Tobin, Principal of St Joseph’s NS, Tipperary

David Brennan, PDST Team Leader

Childhood and Primary Team, NCCA

Angela Lynch, IPPN Leadership Support Team

Focus on Wellbeing & Core Purpose

As you know, Phase 2 of the Irish Principal and Deputy Principal Health and Wellbeing survey commenced in midFebruary. It is crucial that your voice is heard within the research survey to ensure the reality of the impact of school leadership is clearly articulated.

We are very encouraged by the numbers who have registered for and completed the survey to date. We are aware that some of you have registered for the survey but have yet to complete it but trust that you will get an opportunity to do so in the coming weeks. The window for completion of the survey closes on Friday, 7th April, so you still have plenty of time to register and participate. The data will carry more weight if we have high participation rates so we would urge you to take the opportunity to do so, as soon as possible – see E-scéal and ippn.ie for details.

We are confident that the research will generate rich data that will benefit school leadership, schools and the wider education system.

Free School Books Scheme

In our report Primary School Leadership: The Case for Urgent Action – A Roadmap to Sustainability, IPPN’s analysis of the current reality of school leadership clearly demonstrates that school leadership capacity and effectiveness are systematically and irrefutably undermined by the number of tasks and responsibilities that are ascribed to school leaders that have nothing to do with their core purpose.

It is in this context that IPPN recently wrote to the Minister for Education to express school leaders’ concerns with regard to the Free School Book Scheme. While noting that IPPN and school leaders fully support the aspiration to minimise school costs for parents, the letter explained that the concerns centre on the following key issues:

the manner in which the scheme will operate the logistical implications for schools and school leaders in terms of its administration

the capacity of schools to manage this, and the extent to which it will meet parental expectations.

IPPN put forward recommended actions in this regard. See your weekly E-scéal for updates in relation to this.

In this issue

By External Contributors:

Catríona O’ Reilly – NCCA key updates (in On Your Behalf) Legal Diary – Is the Admissions to School Act working? –David

Ruddy

Anna Pons, OECD – Empowering Students to Shape our Schools and Societies

NCCA – Publication of the Primary Curriculum Framework

David Brennan, associate with PDST – Reverse mentorship and the digital learning framework

DP Carmel Stokes – A tribute re. Tony Cahill RIP, Principal of Monaleen NS, Limerick Rich Burchill – Be the Balance.

By IPPN and the Leadership Support Team:

IPPN Submissions: Literacy, Numeracy & Digital Strategy, Child Protection review, STEM

Damian White – Reflections: Looking at our Schools –from every angle

Brian O’Doherty – The President’s Pen: Are we really in this together?

Jack Durkan – Building the team

Angela Lynch – Wellbeing as a health and safety issue

Jennifer McCarthy – Autumn meetings schedule, Ciall Ceannaithe summer course

Geraldine D’Arcy – Editorial, Submissions, On Your Behalf, ippn.ie resources, And Finally, Deputy Principals’ Conference 2023 overview

Reminder: Airgead Bunscoile – No new versions after 2022/23.

We sincerely thank all our contributors, our advertisers and everyone who is involved in bringing you each issue of Leadership+

Your content suggestions are very welcome to editor@ippn.ie. Note the editorial guidelines on www.ippn.ie under Supports – Leadership+.

Is sinne le meas, Leadership+ Editorial Team

Brian O’Doherty Páiric Clerkin Geraldine D’Arcy President CEO Editor

LEADERSHIP+ EDITORIAL TEAM

The Admissions to School Act – Is it Working?

There is much public and deserved discourse about celebrating the Good Friday Agreement on its 25th anniversary. There are no such plans to mark the 25th anniversary of the Education Act. This seminal piece of legislation gave statutory recognition to the role of Patrons, Board of Managements (BoMs), Parent Associations, the Inspectorate, and that of the Principal, to mention but a few. Thereafter followed the Education Welfare Act 2000 and the Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Act 2004. The most recent significant piece of legislation was the Education (Admissions to School) Act 2018. This Act sought to streamline the admission process and to prohibit discrimination in relation to persons with special education needs.

Schools responded to the commencement of the 2018 Act in 2020 with the publication of new admission policies which reflected the thrust of the legislation. A novel feature was the publication of the annual admission notice which brought a new level of transparency to all schools. Parents could establish the number of places available in any school and the closing date for applications. Parents and students did not need to attend for interview or pay an upfront voluntary contribution. Equally, parents were required to inform schools if they had been offered places in other schools. Schools were also afforded the right to share information about placements.

Principals found themselves as the first point of contact in relation to offering or refusing applications. In turn, parents could appeal a refusal to the BoM. If unsuccessful with the BoM appeal, there is a second opportunity for the disappointed parent to take a section 29 appeal. The section 29 appeal is paper based and avoids the need for a face-to-face hearing, as was the case previously.

By and large, all the above appears to have been well received by parents and schools alike. The pressure point appears to have revolved around the creation of special classes in some schools. There is increasing evidence to suggest that pre-2018, and after the Act, a very large number of special classes have been

opened, particularly in the primary school sector. The creation of the classes was driven mainly by local demand, often within the school. The Department of Education is empowered under the Act to designate schools to open special classes in the event the school is reluctant to do so. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and Tusla can now designate schools to accept certain students with complex needs.

Schools that are accommodating students in special classes, some with complex needs, can find the experience to be very rewarding but equally, they experience challenges. The school culture changes, in that whole school staff ‘buy in’ is required. Some school staff are wary of the unknown and sometimes feel ill equipped to accommodate this change. Challenging behaviour can often be a characteristic of some students with complex needs. Schools are best placed to deal with these behaviours, when they rehearse challenging scenarios and are clear about what legally is expected of them, in the absence of national guidelines. In the event of a physical intervention being warranted, staff need to know what

DAVID RUDDY BL

are the conditions that merit such an intervention and who is best placed to put the intervention in place. A behaviour of concern policy, as an appendix to the code of behaviour and approved by the BoM, can give reassurance and confidence to staff. All students are subject to the Code of Behaviour. However, there must be accommodations for students with complex needs.

The Admissions Act has not been fully road-tested yet. There are pressure points as highlighted. Some schools feel that the special education staff are being increasingly diverted to deal with behavioural issues. There is much frustration with the unavailability of vital supports for vulnerable students.

There are significant dividends in some areas and challenges in others. Schools have demonstrated remarkable resilience to cope with change, even when the demands are exacting.

If you have any queries about this article, contact druddy@mhc.ie

David works as an advisor and training consultant with Mason, Hayes & Curran LLP.

A View from Across the Pond Be the Balance

RICH BURCHILL RETIRED MASSACHUSETTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Now supposedly in my ‘golden years’ (much more rust than gold), I pay more attention to balance than I formerly did. Falls are a thing to avoid and good balance helps prevent them. I also think a lot about how important a different kind of balance can be as a principal. The life of a principal is so multi-dimensional on many levels. It can feel like a high wire act at times. While I have always admired the quote by Carl Wallenda, that ‘Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting.’, I don’t advise principals spend all of their professional lives up there

Balancing all of the responsibilities, personalities, circulars, directives, budget cuts, and more, is daunting. Over the years, I have written in this column about the balances between lightness and steel, bearing the weight and embracing the wait, professional life and personal life, being data driven and driving the data, and being the new boss and not the old boss, among others.

Recently, I read a quote attributed to Stephen Covey:

‘Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.’

As principals, especially in times that require quick decisions and actions, we may listen with the intent to reply, because we are charged with keeping

the ship afloat. But I think there is just as critical a piece of leadership that requires listening with the intent of understanding. Dealing with children, staff and parents experiencing stress or crisis needs an understanding listener and leader. And really, listening to understand should be how we spend most of our day. It can provide a balance itself. When I think how complicated and demanding the principalship has become and how much you have to balance, I marvel at you all.

I also worry about the future for schools when I think about the metaverse and artificial intelligence. Will the most important element – the human piece –become less important? Principals will play a major role in being the balance that supports young children. An esteemed

former colleague shared with me the poem, Fire, by Judy Sorum Brown. I encourage you to find the entire poem, but this piece, shared with me by Rick Rogers from Soul of Leadership, particularly resonates: ‘So building fires

Requires attention to the spaces between, as much as to the wood.’

As you continue the difficult balance of leading your school in ever changing times, have that Balance, include adding the occasional log, while minding keeping the space.

Rich can be reached at richburchill6@gmail.com

ARE WE REALLY IN THIS TOGETHER?

‘The truth hurts’ is a quote attributable to Mark Twain – the full quote being ‘The truth hurts but silence kills’. While the frequency with which it is used has rendered it something of a cliché, it strikes me that it is a phrase that has a particular resonance when it comes to school reports – the kind of report we all would have received as secondary school students.

Knowing the quality of our primary school leaders, I am fairly sure that the only comments that any of you ever received on a school report were glowing and fulsome in their praise for your general wonderfulness. I, on the other hand, still remember the less than enthusiastic comments of one of my history teachers who suggested that maybe my heart wasn’t in it, or words to that effect. The reason I remember his comments is because he was right. The comments were fair. The truth hurt!

So, what does this have to do with you, or indeed, IPPN? My contention is this, if IPPN were to receive a report card on how it has facilitated the engagement and involvement of Deputy Principals in our work, and in the various structures of the organisation, then I think it is likely that we would get an authoritative – could do better. The truth would indeed hurt, but mostly because the determination or the comment would be fair. There is plainly significant room for improvement.

At our autumn meetings last September and October, we sought nominations for an expanded National Council and the three committees that are set to contribute to and shape the work of IPPN. Out of the 93 school leaders elected onto the National Council, 10 are Deputy Principals despite DPs making up nearly 50% of our membership. This is not unexpected as, traditionally, DPs have not attended those autumn meetings in large numbers.

Again, this is not surprising given that I have been asked in the last 12 months

whether DPs are allowed to attend autumn meetings, to nominate National Council reps or to be nominated to be a National Council rep. Lest there be any confusion, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes, but the questions serve to highlight just how much work IPPN needs to do to ensure that our Deputies feel equally engaged and supported. We are totally committed to that work, to better ensure that this year’s autumn meetings will have larger numbers of Deputies in attendance who may seek nominations to serve on the National Council. Let’s hope IPPN’s report card this time next year will say Much Improved in this regard.

Remember – IPPN’s remit is to provide you with supports and services that empower you to provide effective leadership in your schools, because we know that effective school leadership is second only to effective classroom teaching as a positive influence on, and determinant of pupil learning. We also know that leadership is more effective when it is shared, and central to that vision of effective, shared leadership is the coleadership or partnership of principal and deputy. How much more achievable will that shared leadership reality be if the principal and deputy are modelling effective partnership and embedding that culture of co-leadership?

Our recent Deputy Principals’ conference explored the theme of ‘Leading effectively together’, what the elements of effective partnership are, and what they look like in practice. There was a particularly inspiring input from Ann Lynskey and Aoife O’Connor (principal and deputy principal in Tierneevin NS in Galway) in which they shared how they make partnership work, and how partnership works for them in their school context.

So, if we accept the premise that a coleadership or partnership approach will enhance the leadership of the school, then it would be reasonable to assume that affording principals and deputies the time and space to cultivate and embed such a co-leadership approach, should be a priority. Experience has taught us that such assumptions are misguided.

The Sustainable Leadership report highlighted, among other things, the barriers that exist to the development of that co-leadership approach, and the effective sharing of leadership in our primary schools. Sharing leadership cannot just be a policy imperative –it requires support, investment and, above all, time. How can we seek to develop and embed a culture of coleadership or shared leadership, if the two senior leaders in the school are never in the same place at the same?

Accordingly, enhancing leadership capacity, effectiveness and sustainability will remain the priority for our advocacy work and the focus of our engagement with the DE and the education stakeholders. Progress in this regard will lead to enhanced school effectiveness and, ultimately, better outcomes for children. As I said in Killarney in November, it’s one of those rare opportunities where everyone can be a winner.

Brian.ODoherty@ippn.ie

BRIAN O’DOHERTY IPPN PRESIDENT

...it would be reasonable to assume that affording principals and deputies the time and space to cultivate and embed such a co-leadership approach, should be a priority. Experience has taught us that such assumptions are misguided.

Lessons in Kindness

LOUISE TOBIN PRINCIPAL OF ST. JOSEPH’S NS, TIPPERARY & IPPN DEPUTY PRESIDENT

In December, Minister Foley said that ‘Bullying remains an unacceptable reality in our schools. So lessons in kindness are key’ .

This is a practice that we have been following in our school for the past few years with very positive outcomes. I’m sure many schools are pursuing similar programmes, but nonetheless, I’d like to share what’s working well in our school with you.

In St. Joseph’s, we hold a monthly assembly, with a central, ongoing theme of ‘Friendship’. The assembly of course extends to include other areas of school activity, depending on topical, seasonal and school events and interests, but the recurring theme of Friendship is the central focus each month.

The Friendship theme is explored and expanded as the year progresses. By doing this, we promote a whole school approach to developing positivity and maintaining a culture and an environment of kindness, awareness of others, positivity and friendship.

Our Motto from the outset is simply ‘We Are All Friends at St. Joseph’s’. We remind and reinforce basic strategies, in poem and song form, of Telling If You Have A Problem, Good Manners and Being Kind, Think Before You Speak and Positive Affirmations. We combine the above with a number of positive simple class or individual awards when teacher or staff see pupils showing kind, responsible, sensible behaviours. These awards include Best Line, Safety, Friendship, Morning Line-Up, Safety on the Stairs and Kindness, to name but a few.

Schools Excellence Fund: DEIS

We are also in Year 3 of our Wellbeing4Tipps project as part of the above initiative. Our main focus

of work here is on a Growth Mindset Programme for our pupils. We developed a monthly whole school theme. Examples are Positivity, Kindness, Gratitude and Love, and we worked on affirming these topics in practical and meaningful ways.

After the 3 years of engaging with Growth Mindset, we believe we have created a very happy, hugely positive environment for pupils and staff. This would in turn, I believe, account for the very welcoming and tolerant attitude our pupils show towards each other and our newcomer pupils. So many of our schools now serve very diverse communities. We have over 24 nationalities in ours. A continuous focus on kindness and positivity, cultivates a culture of acceptance of all pupils, and in our case has resulted in so much positive good behaviours among very happy pupils, and an atmosphere and culture of welcome, acceptance and of course kindness.

I’m happy to share the positivity:

If you would like to get in touch with Louise in relation to this article, you can send her an email at louisetobin16@gmail.com

...we promote a whole school approach to developing positivity and maintaining a culture and an environment of kindness, awareness of others, positivity and friendship.

If you can be one thing, Be Kind

CIALL CEANNAITHE INDUCTION FOR NEWLY APPOINTED PRINCIPALS

This course has been developed to provide a greater understanding of the innovative solutions to challenges facing new and aspiring school leaders. A highly practical step-by-step course built on the collective wisdom and experience of seasoned principals.

Who should participant?

Newly appointed principals

Aspiring school leaders

Deputy principals

Experienced leaders who wish to reflect on their current leadership practice.

Course includes:

10 modules (20 hours)

Fully interactive online lessons with audio/video

Scheduled Zoom meetings with facilitators

Discussion forums with expert moderators & facilitators

Individual feedback on all submitted assignments

Online reflective learning log

Innovative technologyenhanced learning

Registration:

Course registration will open on www.ippn.ie on April 28th

Course will be open on July 3rd

Registration fee is €95

Modules

Sustainable leadership

Essential information

School policies

School self evaluation process

Child Protection

HR – recruitment & appointments

Managing relationships

Dignity in the workplace

Self-care

Key supports & services

DE Approval Pending for EPV days

for full course information see www.ippn.ie

AIRGEAD BUNSCOILE

No new versions after 2022/23

IMPORTANT NOTICE to members who have been using the spreadsheet tool ‘Airgead Bunscoile’ to manage school finances. The 2022/23 version is the final update available through IPPN. Schools are advised to seek advice from FSSU regarding the coming school year

The FSSU is the Financial Support Services Unit – the dedicated financial support service for schools.

The format of the FSSU Monthly Reporting Templates is consistent with the standardised national template for annual school accounts and is fully supported at no cost by their team of Accounting Technicians. Guidance and support is available from the FSSU via remote support by emailing primary@fssu.ie or by phone at 01 910 4020 from 9am to 7pm from Monday to Thursday and from 9am to 5pm on Fridays. For more information, visit www.fssu.ie and search for ‘Monthly Reporting Template’.

We would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank retired principal Seán Ó Láimhín, who has single-handedly supported and maintained Airgead Bunscoile for the past several years. We are indebted to him. IPPN also pays tribute to those who have contributed to the development of Airgead Bunscoile over the years, including Seán Cottrell, Damian White and Larry Fleming.

Online Summer Course

IPPN Deputy Principals Conference 2023

THANK YOU TO OUR EXHIBITORS

IPPN would like to thank our 30 exhibiting companies that went to great effort in presenting their products and services at the Deputy Principals’ Conference 2023. The support of exhibiting companies helps IPPN to deliver our Annual Conference – please consider these companies when making purchases for your school over the coming year.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE EVENT

IPPN Deputy President Louise Tobin opened the conference at Croke Park on Thursday afternoon 9th February, welcoming the 400 deputy principals and guests to the first face-to-face event for deputy principals since 2019. Leadership coaches Rachel Doogue and Mary Pyne delivered a superb session on ‘Leading meetings for better outcomes’. As many attendees were at the IPPN conference for the first time, this session proved to be an invaluable ice-breaker as it ensured that 6–8 people at each table spent the first hour at the event discussing communication in their schools, and getting to know each other a little.

IPPN CEO Páiric Clerkin addressed the conference on the theme of ‘Leading effectively together’, and outlined the importance of the IPPN Sustainable Leadership report and the ongoing advocacy work to deliver on its recommendations. He thanked the school leaders present who have ‘risen to the challenge of leading our schools under extremely difficult circumstances, always putting the needs of the children in your care above all else. On their behalf, I thank you and pay tribute to your efforts. I believe we must continue to reflect and to remind ourselves that what was achieved by all of you since March 2020 was truly remarkable. We can never forget what you have accomplished’

Páiric also highlighted ongoing workload issues and reduced supports for leaders, insisting ‘Give our Deputy Principals the time to lead with the implementation of the new Primary School Curriculum. Future generations of children will be the beneficiaries’. Among the other challenges addressed were SEN resourcing, Section 37a, the staffing crisis and the need for an ‘immediate commitment to investment in a programme similar to the CLASS

Hours Programme (…) to minimise the loss of teaching time to our most vulnerable children’, as well as the wave of mental health issues in children and the need for ‘supports to be provided within schools’.

As well as ongoing advocacy with the Department and education stakeholders for improved supports and resources for primary school leaders, the CEO highlighted other work currently underway by IPPN including ensuring that every principal and deputy will have access to a local support group, the redevelopment of ippn.ie, expansion of our Headstart programme to support school leaders to build leadership capacity and a new online recruitment portal within EducationPosts.

On Friday morning, 10th February, IPPN President Brian O’Doherty addressed the conference, starting with a memorable input on “The truth hurts”, regarding IPPN’s required improvement in engaging with and facilitating the involvement of deputy principals in our work. He assured deputy principals that IPPN is ‘totally committed to ensuring that our Deputies feel equally engaged and supported’. Using four fascinating partner pairings, Brian spoke about the concept of co-leadership or partnership as a ‘central tenet of effective leadership of schools’ and

IPPN Deputy Principals Conference 2023

...the need for a shared vision, a sense of common mission or unity of purpose, the importance of complimentary skillsets and valuing the skillset of the other, as well as the importance of harmony.

Ann Lynskey and Aoife O’Connor at the Deputy Principals Conference 2023.

the need for a shared vision, a sense of common mission or unity of purpose, the importance of complimentary skillsets and valuing the skillset of the other, as well as the importance of harmony.

On the withdrawal of release days for deputy principals in schools that have administrative principals, Brian commented: ‘What a retrograde step that was. Those release days, introduced as a Covid measure, had a profoundly positive impact. […] Not only should this scheme have been retained, it should have been expanded to include deputy principals in all schools. How can we seek to develop and embed a culture of co-leadership or shared leadership, if the two senior leaders in the school are never in the same place at the same time?’

Brian delivered an overview of the Sustainable Leadership report findings, concluding that ‘the report carries a message of hope

as it is solution focused. We have 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 has been well received by a majority of the education partners and stakeholders and it seems to resonate with the lived experience of school leaders. To date there has been no response to the report from the Department of Education. Perhaps, to bring it back to where I started, it’s a case of the truth hurts. As the professional body for school leaders, we have an obligation to give voice to that truth because, if you recall the second part of that Mark Twain phrase – silence kills. I assure you that we will continue to give voice to that truth’.

Ann Lynskey, principal of Tierneevin NS, Gort, Co. Galway and deputy principal Aoife O’Connor shared their experience of and approach to Co-leadership. It was a fascinating

presentation about trust, collaboration and honesty that resonated strongly with everyone.

Seconded deputy principal Sharon Healy and her colleague Maureen Smith, both of the NCSE gave their perspectives on Inclusive Best Practice, along with a link to a number of key resources.

The conference was brought to a close with an insightful panel discussion, chaired by Educate Together CEO Emer Nowlan on Inclusion and Diversity in Teaching. Panellists included primary principal Simon Lewis, NUIG associate professor Dr Manuela Heinz, PDST EAL Advisor Annie Asgard and Marino Institute senior lecturer Dr Rory McDaid

Seminar presentations and speech texts are available on ippn.ie under CPD & Events – Deputy Principals’ Conference

Are you planning to retire in 2023?

If you have made the decision to retire or step back from leadership in 2023, we wish you every happiness and fulfilment in the future. We would like to give every principal who has retired or planning to retire an opportunity to provide feedback on their decision to move on from their leadership role, via an online survey.

The survey asks about your decision to retire, and your experience as a school leader. It should take no more than 8 minutes to complete. This is our first year

surveying members who are retiring and your feedback would be much appreciated. Please email jackie.oreilly@ippn.ie for a link to the survey.

In order to provide professional support to the new principal on their appointment, we would appreciate if you would please ask the incoming principal to contact IPPN Support Office. This will ensure that they can avail of the various supports and services from IPPN from the very start of their time as a school leader.

IPPN Deputy Principals Conference 2023 – NCSE Maureen and Sharon IPPN Deputy Principals Conference 2023 – Panel Discussion

Do your bit, Keep it Natural!

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The Launch of the Primary Curriculum Framework

On the 9th March 2023 the Minister for Education, Norma Foley T.D., launched the Primary Curriculum Framework at an event in The Printworks in Dublin Castle. The event was attended by teachers, school leaders, children and a range of other educational stakeholders. The publication of the framework marks a significant milestone in the redevelopment of the Primary School Curriculum.

The current curriculum is over 20 years old, and while it has served the primary education system well over the past two decades, much has changed in our world and in our classrooms since the late 1990s. The voices from the consultation on the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework indicated the need for a redeveloped Primary School Curriculum that supports all children, now and as we move further into the 21st century.

The Primary Curriculum Framework is a short document that provides the blueprint for guiding the enhancement of primary and special education for the coming years. This is the first time primary and special schools will have a curriculum framework underpinning learning, teaching and assessment in their schools. The framework outlines the vision and principles for a redeveloped curriculum and introduces a set of seven key competencies for children’s learning. It outlines the five broad curriculum areas for stages 1 and 2 (junior infants to second class), their associated subjects for stages 3 and 4 (third to sixth class) and suggested time allocations. In an effort to

strengthen continuity and progression in children’s learning, the framework links with the learning experiences provided through Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework and connects with the Framework for Junior Cycle

As developments progress, new curriculum specifications for the five curriculum areas and their associated subjects will be developed. The curriculum areas are Language (English, Irish and Modern Foreign Languages); Wellbeing (Social, Personal and Health Education, and Physical Education); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education; Arts Education (Music, Drama and Art) and Social and Environmental Education

(History and Geography). The first specification that will be published following the launch of the framework will be the Primary Mathematics Curriculum. The other specifications will be completed in 2025.

Working towards the vision and principles in this Primary Curriculum Framework brings opportunities, new thinking, and possibilities. However, change on this scale also brings challenges, uncertainty and disruption. The Department of Education is working closely with educational stakeholders to identify practical ways in which schools and their leaders can be supported comprehensively as they become familiar with and begin to use the Primary Curriculum Framework and the new curriculum specifications.

The first step for schools is to familiarise themselves with the Primary Curriculum Framework. To enable schools to do this, the Department of Education has issued a Circular stating that all schools can avail of a half-day closure during the remainder of this school year (2022/2023). A number of resources to assist schools in becoming familiar with the framework during this closure have been published on www.curriculumonline.ie

For more information and to keep up to date with the developments, go to www.ncca.ie and sign up to the NCCA newsletter or follow NCCA on social media: @ncca_irl, @NCCAie and/or @NCCAie.

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRIMARY TEAM, NCCA

The Department of Education is working closely with educational stakeholders to identify practical ways in which schools and their leaders can be supported comprehensively as they become familiar with and begin to use the Primary Curriculum Framework and the new curriculum specifications.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO SHAPE OUR SCHOOLS & SOCIETIES

ANNA PONS OECD PROJECT LEAD & LAWRENCE HOULDSWORTH, ANALYST

Sometimes it can be a student that makes the whole world sit up and pay attention. Fridays for Future, one of the largest student-led movements to have taken place in recent times, has made headlines and voiced society’s environmental concerns on this intergenerational issue.

Students want to have a say on their future; on the type of societies that they will live in, on the habits and behaviours that will shape their future day-to-day, and the relationships that will bind us and the natural environment together going forward. These all take root in the classrooms of today. The climate crisis is just one example of the many challenges that our education systems need to prepare our students for. By raising their voices, students have not only reminded us of the importance of listening to them, but they have also reiterated the need to transform our very education systems to better empower them in facing a future of surprises. It is about giving all students agency over their learning. Student agency can be understood as the ability and the will to positively influence their own lives and the world around them.

The OECD Education 2030 Learning Compass defines students’ agency as the capacity to set a goal, and to reflect and act responsibly to effect change. Thus, it is about acting rather than being acted upon; shaping rather than being shaped; and making responsible decisions and choices rather than automatically accepting those determined by others. Furthermore, when students are agents they are more likely to have ‘learned how to learn’. This is an invaluable skill in a world in which students are likely to take on different jobs and manage multiple real and virtual lives.

Our education systems have historically not placed enough emphasis on student agency. For instance, in terms of climate education, its main focus has traditionally been limited to climate literacy. There is an important place for this; building foundational scientific knowledge is important, for example, to ensure that students have a deep understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change; know how to assess scientifically credible information; communicate about climate issues in a meaningful way to others; and make informed and responsible decisions about climate-related actions. Indeed, PISA 2018 revealed that only 8% of students were able to differentiate fact from opinion, reiterating the critical role that foundational skills play in the ability to exercise agency.

However, building knowledge alone might not lead to significant changes in students’ behaviours, attitudes and mindsets on climate matters. In PISA 2015, about nine out of ten students (88%) across OECD countries were in schools where climate change and global warming are topics in the formal curriculum. While eight out of ten (78%) students reported that ‘looking after the global environment’ was important to them, only an average of 57% reported feeling empowered to do something about global problems like climate change.

How can we re-think and re-imagine pedagogical approaches and learning environments that give students greater agency? From July 2021 to December 2021, the OECD, UNESCO and Education International ran a joint initiative to gather teacher insights on what makes a difference in student agency to act and lead on climate matters. Overall, about

850 teachers from 157 countries shared their climate initiatives and participated in five global dialogues on teaching for climate action together with their peers, teacher educators, school leaders, organisations and climate experts.

The pedagogies behind many of the insights submitted placed students at the centre. Teachers demonstrated that the shift towards more student-centred learning can take a variety of forms, in particular, placing a firmer focus on student decision-making and tailoring the learning experience to recognise students’ prior knowledge about climate change and interests in specific areas.

Some examples include Ana Pineiro, a teacher from Spain, who used enquirybased and embodied pedagogies to recycle masks, and reduce the waste caused by the pandemic; Kan Tanahashi, a principal from Japan, who engaged students in experiential and service-based approaches to solve local energy problems. Also, Kavita Sangvi, a principal from India, involved the entire school community in designing and implementing more sustainable initiatives. Interestingly, these approaches did not diminish the role of teachers in the classroom, but rather teachers and students were both elevated into the role of facilitators, learners and co-creators of knowledge exercising collaborative agency.

Fostering student agency – whether around climate matters or other global challenges, pushes us to rethink our primarily compartmentalised view of education. Despite the complexity, interconnectedness and multidimensionality of climate issues, teaching and learning about them have traditionally been confined to

single subjects, such as science and geography, and to certain age groups like lower and upper secondary students. Yet, climate education can cut across different grades and subject areas. For instance, the aforementioned initiative highlighted a range of powerful ideas at the primary level, including students being challenged to explore food security, nutrition and changing agricultural patterns at the same time in order to re-design their school canteen.

Finally, a third area for consideration when considering further student agency is creating a school climate in which expression and failure are better encouraged and supported. How students judge their abilities, and how afraid they are of failing, can shape their feelings, motivation and behaviour (PISA). In PISA 2018, on average across OECD countries, 84% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they can usually find a way out of difficult situations, and 56% agreed or strongly agreed that, when they fail, they worry about what others think about them.

Digging down deeper, fear of failure was a concern that affected girls more

than boys in nearly every education system, while more socio-economically advantaged students typically reported more self-confidence in their abilities than their disadvantaged peers. A natural question is therefore what comes next; how can aspects furthering student agency be adopted and developed in a school setting?

What stands out is how central a role school leaders play in supporting teachers and building a shared vision for implementing climate education in schools. Participating teachers reported that school leaders can help mobilise and allocate necessary resources and materials that support more active pedagogies and innovation in the classroom.

After all, embracing these innovative, more student-centred teaching methods might be new and challenging for many teachers. Participating teachers reported having few opportunities to learn about climate matters and active pedagogies; having overloaded curricula with limited flexibility and time for lesson planning; and the absence of strong support for professional exchange and collaboration at the school level and beyond. School

leaders could work around these obstacles by increasing opportunities for teachers to refine and enhance their practice through specific professional development and collaboration, focused on building greater student agency into teachers’ practice.

First published in ICP magazine Future Leaders, Future Schools, December 2022. References and links available on request by email to Editor@ippn.ie.

If you would like to get in touch with Anna in relation to this piece, you can send her an email at Anna.Pons@oecd.org

References

• Anna Pons, OECD Project Lead and Analyst & Lawrence Houldsworth, Analyst.

• OECD (2022), “Teaching for climate action”, Teaching in Focus, No. 44, OECD Publishing, Paris.

• OECD (2019), PISA 2018 Results

(Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris.

• OECD (2020), PISA 2018 Results (Volume VI): Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World?, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris.

The DAISY Project

Irish Wheelchair Association’s curriculum-based Disability Awareness and Outreach Programme

Our aim is to challenge perceptions and stereotypes of people with disabilities by demonstrating understanding, awareness, and inclusivity through a fun and interactive educational programme intertwined with Art, Drama and SPHE.

Teachers will gain access to the DAISY online training programme empowering you to embed Disability Awareness and Inclusion into your daily teachings.

Your classroom will develop an understanding of diversity, belonging and inclusion with a speci c focus on disability.

By participating in The Daisy Project you and your school will help change the attitudes of young people’s perceptions and stereotypes of people with disabilities.

Every school that registers with The DAISY Programme will also have the opportunity to schedule a class visit from one of our Disability Awareness Ambassadors.

SAFETY, HEALTH & WELFARE STATEMENT

Another job for the school leader?

ANGELA LYNCH IPPN LEADERSHIP SUPPORT TEAM

Who is responsible for the workload relating to health, safety and welfare in the school? The Board of Management (BoM) is legally responsible – Circular 18/2018 reminds Boards of the need to remain vigilant in the management of health, safety and welfare. However, everybody in the school has a role to play in ensuring good safety and welfare within the school. All staff are required to co-operate fully with the employer, so that appropriate health, safety and welfare policies are established and implemented. All employees are expected to adhere to these policies.

to put measures in place to mitigate the risks and put in place systems that are then communicated to staff and the wider school community where appropriate. For example, information may be displayed within the staffroom, school entrance and website. Common sense and leadership are required in this regard.

School leaders will identify other risks outside of the above.

In some schools, 15 minutes per term at the end of a staff meeting or Croke Park Hour is set aside to review and update the list of risks. These are then collated by the principal and presented to the BoM for discussion. Once the mitigations have been agreed, they are added to the Health Safety and Welfare Statement. A member of the Board could be assigned to assist the principal in collating and presenting the staff survey to the Board. It is important to complete this task once a term to identify any new risks and assess the measures previously taken.

The focus of health and safety statements is usually on risks involving buildings and plant, initially. However, the same attention may not be given to areas such as workplace bullying, the effects of stress on mental health, and aggressive, threatening behaviour towards a pupil, staff member or another member of the school community. Stress can result in increasing absences, conflicts and anger levels as well as isolation, possibly leading to high blood pressure, headaches and other physical symptoms.

While the Board cannot be held responsible for righting all ills within the school, it is the Board’s responsibility, once being made aware of these risks,

As each staff member is responsible for co-operation with the Board for the establishment of health, safety and welfare policies, it makes sense that everyone within the school should take responsibility for identifying risks within their own area of influence. In this way:

Teachers identify risks within their own classrooms, such as possible flight risks, tripping hazards, electrical equipment, potential areas of conflict

Caretakers identify hazardous materials and storage of same, boiler safety, outdoor hazards, severe weather issues, fire alarms and equipment

Secretaries identify safety risks in the office and reception areas, such as school access, tripping hazards, telephone management, financial concerns

It can often be difficult to manage the risks involved with welfare issues. To this end, schools should consider enhancing their safety, health and welfare framework by developing a Dignity and Respect in the Workplace (DRaW) Charter and Policy, if they have not already done so. A DRaW Resource Bundle is available in the Resources section of the IPPN website to assist with the process.

IPPN is currently developing additional resources in this area. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has developed Risk Assessment Templates for Primary schools to supplement their Guidelines on Managing Health Safety and Welfare in Primary Schools Parts 1 and 2. The templates are now available in Word or PDF format and each template can be downloaded individually – prior to now they were all in one PDF document. They are available at the HSA website, www.hsa.ie.

All staff are required to co-operate fully with the employer, so that appropriate health, safety and welfare policies are established and implemented.

...it is the Board’s responsibility ... to put measures in place to mitigate the risks and put in place systems that are then communicated to staff and the wider school community where appropriate.

BUILDING THE TEAM

Easier said than done but …essential!

JACK DURKAN IPPN LEADERSHIP SUPPORT MANAGER

Teaching is hard! Managing is hard! Leading is even harder still! Many teachers, educators and school leaders are working solo.

Alone in their classrooms or office – if they have one – teachers and school leaders are creating lesson plans, designing classroom management strategies and finding the next great ‘hook’ for engaging with their students. Although this is great, one of the best kept secrets in the field of education is the power of collaborative teamwork.

at this year’s conference was a wonderful example of what the future of school leadership could look like. Sure, there’s a principal and a deputy with separate and distinct roles but, call it what you wish – co-leadership, distributed leadership, collaborative leadership – it’s always teamwork. Everyone in the boat is rowing, and in the same direction.

In the LAOS quadrant, Teaching and Learning is What we do. Leadership and Management is How we do it. This means that everyone in the school is involved in leadership and management, whether they hold a formal post or not. Every teacher therefore is a leader!

placing this level of responsibility on one person is sustainable’ - Dr. Siobhán Kavanagh (2020) cited in IPPN’s report, Primary School Leadership: The Case for Urgent Action - A Roadmap to Sustainability (2022).

If this is true for teachers, how much more is it true for school leaders? The lone ranger teacher in charge of ‘my class’ evolved into the lone ranger principal in charge of ‘my school’! There are historical and legacy reasons why this has been the case but things have changed and if they haven’t, they need to.

According to Ann Lynskey and Aoife O’Connor, principal and deputy principal of Tierneevin NS, Gort, at the IPPN Deputy Principals’ Conference in Croke Park, ‘The days of the lone leader archetype are gone‘ . Ann and Aoife’s presentation of co-leadership

A couple of thoughts: What are you, as a school leader/manager doing right now that could be done by someone else? What are you doing right now that should be done by someone else? What are you doing right now that someone else is getting paid to do? And finally, what are you doing, consciously or unconsciously, that is preventing, or is an obstacle to developing this leadership capacity?

‘Principals as the senior leaders in schools, strive to ensure that their complex organisations continuously improve. A leadership style that can navigate change and embed that change in a sustainable way is a prerequisite of this role. Schools require a leader who can motivate both teachers and students to learn and the education system requires a leader who can meet the requirements and needs of all stakeholders. This is a significant undertaking for one individual. We must question whether

‘There is much to be done in this space at system level. There is much also that school leaders can do for themselves. It is not an easy task but if there is one mindset shift that needs to happen, alongside system level supports to facilitate it, it’s the mindset change from ‘lone ranger’ to ‘Team’.

It’ll take time, effort and willingness to change existing attitudes and practices, but it will be worth it, and might just go some way to making this job more sustainable and doable into the future.

The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team’ – Phil Jackson, American basketball coach.

... call it what you wish – co-leadership, distributed leadership, collaborative leadership – it’s always teamwork. Everyone in the boat is rowing, and in the same direction.

It’ll take time, effort and willingness to change existing attitudes and practices, but it will be worth it, and might just go some way to making this job more sustainable and doable into the future.

IPPN Submissions

GERALDINE D’ARCY ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Over the past year, IPPN has made 18 submissions to the Department of Education (DE), the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education (JOC) and various education stakeholders on a wide range of topics relating to school leadership and the leadership of learning. We do this with the aim of positively influencing education policy and funding, and of increasing the level of awareness and understanding of the impact of system change – however laudable – on school leaders, teachers and boards of management. Since the last issue of Leadership+, IPPN has made the following submissions:

Literacy, Numeracy & Digital Strategy (DE)

This submission provided feedback relating to the role and sustainability of school leadership in effecting change, and the key factors that will underpin the new strategy, including:

Enabling parents and communities to support children’s literacy and numeracy development

Supporting teachers’ and early years educators’ professional practice and leadership skills

Improving the curriculum and learning experience

Continuity in learning from early children to primary to post-primary Supporting diverse learners to achieve their potential

Improving assessment and

evaluation to support better learning

Digital Literacy Autonomy for schools and teachers, matched with appropriate support.

Child Protection Review (DE)

This submission provided feedback regarding one of 40+ recommendations under consideration by the DE relating to child protection. It specifically looks at the naming of staff members and members of the school who may be involved in making a child protection allegation or the subject of an allegation. Our submission is based on protecting the rights and reputation of those involved, while ensuring that children are fully protected at all times.

Review of STEM in Primary and PostPrimary Education (Joint Oireachtas Committee)

This submission captures the issues and concerns of primary school leaders in relation to the sustainability of their role in system change, as well as a number of key points relating to STEM education, including:

Teacher CPD

ICT Resources and STEM

Gender Equity and the Promotion of STEM.

All submissions can be viewed in full on www.ippn.ie under Advocacy / Submissions.

LOOKING AT OUR SCHOOLS from every angle

DAMIAN WHITE PRINCIPAL OF SCOIL SHINCHILL, KILLEIGH, CO. OFFALY AND IPPN BOARD MEMBER

Many years ago, on a cold, blustery early Spring morning, my father was on top of our tractor diesel tank, struggling to get a flow going into the tank of his thirsty Massey Ferguson, when his flat cap blew off. He looked down to where it had landed, where stood two well-dressed young proselytisers who, on spotting that they had his temporary, if impatient, attention said ‘Good morning, Sir, would you like to talk about peace?’

Now, my father is, and always has been, the mildest mannered of men. Peace could be his middle name. But in that moment, the wrong question had been posed at the wrong time and, with an oily vise grip pointing towards them, our young missionaries discovered the virtues of the saying ‘A good run is better than a bad stand’. Peace would descend once he could sink his plough and leave brown earth behind him.

That little memory came back to me this week as I interrupted my writing of my Principal’s Report to complete a survey on how we are planning to use our Looking at our School (LAOS) document this year. I always use the IPPN PIMS template for my reports, and had completed the list of extracurricular activities when my own mostly hidden trait of concentration deficit drew me to the LAOS questionnaire – a relatively mild exercise in gazing at the navel of the school and outlining plans for the coming year. It was one of those questions that asked us to expand on a previous answer, which shouldn’t have triggered me but it did. I ranted to myself about the list I had just made of all the activities available through the school for our pupils, which have all continued through the worst subs crisis I have seen in almost 30 years as a school principal. I agreed with

myself that the person who wrote this question didn’t sit watching ‘Smother’ on a Sunday night, tenser than monied matriarch Dervla Kirwan with fear and dread of the next phone call or text.

I finished the survey with a scowl, using the opportunity to vent a little in one of the expanding boxes, and finished my Principal’s Report without further incident. There are 12 headings and 36 sub-headings in the PIMS prompter, which upon counting them, set me thinking again.

‘Looking at our School’, I thought, is something that I do every day, is something our ISM team does every day in their own areas. It’s something the teaching staff does every fortnight during Croke Park Hours. It’s something the SEN and SNA teams do on the regular occasions on which they meet. A school is a living, breathing organism with multiple moving parts interconnected regardless of where the school is, its size or its circumstances. It has evolved over time to be where it’s at today.

The school I’ve been in for the last 29 years as principal has grown from 6 teachers and a cleaner in 1994, to a staff of 37 people today, including teachers, SNAs, ancillary and cleaning staff. Enrolment has risen in line with demographic shifts. It’s our story and one which is similar to many others

across the country. For other schools in areas where there is population decline, the story may be about a struggle to survive and the small victory of a slight growth in enrolment to match a drop in the retention figure in a given year. In each case, we as school leaders are constantly ‘looking at our schools’, predicting enrolments based on known factors and figures, and planning in accordance.

Regardless of the size or situation of the school, whether you are a longserving and experienced school leader or someone just in the door, looking at your school and seeing what needs to be changed, improved, switched or introduced requires a lot of thought, consultation, communication and time. Eating an elephant, were you that way inclined, can only be done in bite-sized chunks. Today your school is living and breathing, and only by dealing with the changes necessary in agreed, manageable chunks, can you be best positioned to do the same.

Looking at our Schools is an admirable lens and a structured framework for focusing on areas where we think changes may be needed in our schools. We must remember to give ourselves credit however, for the changes we make regularly and may not document, which positively affect our schools and the well-being of our colleagues and pupils.

And when someone arrives on that distracting, crazy day with an awkward question, make sure you have nothing in your hand to hurl at them!

NOTE: The PIMS Templates can be downloaded from www.ippn.ie

Damian.White@ippn.ie

Today your school is living and breathing, and only by dealing with the changes necessary in agreed, manageable chunks, can you be best positioned to do the same.

Helping Thousands of Autistic, SEN and Anxious Students Have a Better Day

Students spend less time out of the classroom

Students feel settled and able to participate in less than 15 minutes

Cubbie is distinguished by being an easy-to-use, immersive, safe, personalised space of sound and vision, free of disruptions, driven by software and wheelchair friendly

Cubbie Software - Like Having an Occupational Therapist On Standby

Students can have their own personalised Cubbie Sensory Profile created by the Cubbie occupational therapist in combination with our software. This is included in the service.

The advantage of a personalised Cubbie Sensory Profile is that it is bespoke to the individual. It also means that users can pick up where they left off at their last session and progress is monitored.

Students without a Sensory Profile can also access Cubbie experiences through the easy-to-use touchscreen.

Management Dashboard and Reporting

The dashboard shows the progress of every student and a timetable of who is scheduled to use the Cubbie.

The reporting function provides usage data to share with management and governing bodies to monitor outcomes.

Helping Schools Do More With Less

Supporting autistic, SEN and anxious students with or without a sensory room is resource heavy with variable outcomes, often involving prolonged 1-2-1 support.

Schools report that one member of staff can manage a maximum of four students a day. With a Cubbie, this is more than twenty.

www.ippn.ie Latest resources

The following are the latest resources uploaded to the different sections of the website since the last issue of Leadership+:

CPD & EVENTS

DEPUTY PRINCIPALS’ CONFERENCE

2023

Seminars

n Modelling Co-leadership, presented by principal Ann Lynskey and deputy principal Aoife O’Connor of Tierneevin NS, Gort, Co. Galway

n Inclusive Best Practice, presented by seconded deputy principal Sharon Healy and Maureen Smith, both of NCSE

Keynotes

n Páiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO

n Brian O’Doherty, IPPN President

Exhibitors

n Directory of Exhibitors

RESOURCES

DES CIRCULARS 2023

Information Notes

n Information Note SE 0001/2023 – Report of Education Needs for the Purpose of the Assessment of Need Disability Act 2005

n FAQs – Assessment of Need Process and the Role of the Education Sector

CURRICULUM & SCHOOL PLANNING

Infectious Diseases and Chronic Illnesses

n HSE – Public Health Update –January 2023

n Memo to Schools re Significant Increase in Viral Infections

Planning Prompts

A new prompt is uploaded each week to this section, and each one is relevant to the time of year.

ADVOCACY

Sustainable Leadership

n Phase 2 of the Irish Principal and Deputy Principal Health and Wellbeing – 2023

Submissions

n Submission to the Department of Education re.

• Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy

• Child Protection

n Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education re. STEM education. See synopses of these submissions on page 18.

SUPPORTS

Leadership+ 2022/23

n Leadership+ Issue 126 – February 2023

E-scéalta

n A new E-scéal is uploaded each week to this section.

If your school has a policy or plan that is not available on ippn.ie, or which would supplement available resources, we would appreciate if you would submit it for review by email to Rachel.Hallahan@ippn.ie

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION MASTER IN EDUCATION

APPLY NOW

Are you looking for a Masters programme to develop and enrich your knowledge and practice in education? Do you aspire to a leadership position in education?

At Trinity College Dublin, Master of Education (M.Ed.) students can register on one of twelve strands, giving you the opportunity to further and deepen your understanding of educational theory and research, contemporary issues, and practice and policy issues within your specialism.

The M.Ed. is a modular programme and you can choose to study on a full-time (across 12 months) or part-time basis over two or three years. All students must successfully complete 5 modules, including a research module and a 20,000-word dissertation.

Specialist Areas

The M.Ed. programme offers the following distinct specialisms.

• Drama in Education

• Critical Perspectives on Education

• Diversity and Inclusion

• Early Intervention

• Teaching and Learning (Higher Education)

• Language Education

• Leadership and Policy

• Maths Education

• Music in Education

• Psychology of Education

• Positive Behaviour Management

• Science Education

* Please note that not all specialisms run in every academic year and are subject to minimum student numbers.

Admissions

The closing date for applications for 2023/24 is 30th June 2023 (31st May for Drama in Education and Music in Education). Applications must be made online at: https://www.tcd.ie/courses/postgraduate/ Fees and Further Information

We are reducing fees to support teachers returning to education (M.Ed.) and those entering initial teacher education (PME). For further information please visit https://www.tcd.ie/education/courses/ postgraduate/masters-in-education/.

For all other enquiries please contact Keara or Jess on 01 896 3568/1290 or by email to master.education@tcd.ie

OnYourBehalf

MEETINGS/EVENTS

IPPN participated in meetings/events relating to the following:

Barnardos’ Childhood Domestic Violence and Abuse (CVDA) GroupIPPN representative: Ann McQuillan

Ukraine Stakeholder Briefing

NCCA & IPPN Bilateral Meeting

Summer Provision – Stakeholder Meeting

NAPD Symposium

Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education

2017 – 2026

NTRIS Oversight Meeting

CSL Professional Learning Days

CSL Collaborative Forum.

NCCA

Developments relating to the Early Childhood and Primary Education Board: Cross-sectoral

• Desk report on sign language in the mainstream curriculum in six jurisdictions

Primary

• Arts Education and STEM Education: Consultations with school communities

• Initial research report on integration in the curriculum

Early Childhood

• Updating Aistear – follow-up on consultation with Babies, Toddlers and Young Children and the formation of a Development Group.

IPPN NATIONAL COUNCIL – ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

The first meeting of the new committee, chaired by Catríona O’Reilly, was held at the December National Council meeting. The committee identified areas of work that could be progressed in the coming year. The top priority identified through a survey of committee members was ‘SEN allocations and resourcing’.

A Working Group of the committee was formed to progress this and a proposal for a position paper to drive IPPN’s advocacy work was agreed and discussed. The position paper has been drafted and is being progressed with input from the wider Advocacy and Communications committee of the Council.

SUBMISSIONS

IPPN made the following submissions and presentations over the past few months: Submission to the DE re.

• Child Protection

Follow IPPN on social media: (@ippn_education) and (@ippn).

SUMMER PROGRAMME HIRING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

advocacy-related

• Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy

Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee re. Review of STEM in Primary and Post-Primary Education.

See page 18 for an overview of these submissions. See www.ippn.ie – Advocacy/ Submissions for all submission documents.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Our ‘reach’ has improved significantly year on year with 1,100+ new Twitter followers (up 13%), bringing us close to the 10,000 follower milestone. There has also been a significant increase on LinkedIn (up 48%) with a total of almost 1,100 followers.

The most traction is on links to IPPN radio interviews, ‘letters to the minister/ editor’ from our president and links to the Sustainable Leadership report and Leadership+.

STAY UPDATED

See www.ippn.ie Advocacy/On Your Behalf for up-to-date information about IPPN’s advocacy and communication on behalf of members, including media interviews.

During summer 2023 there will be opportunities for temporary work in special schools running this year’s Summer Programme. This will provide opportunities locally for all students in relevant courses and areas of study such as therapeutic/medical/social care courses, and other similar courses.

About the Summer Programme

The Summer Programme allows all primary and post-primary schools to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

Further information is available at gov.ie/summerprogramme

Find vacancies in your area

To help identify Summer Programme vacancies in schools, the IPPN has created a Summer Programme Portal for students to apply.

An application portal will be available on Educationposts.ie.

Listed below are some of the projects and

engagements that were progressed since the last issue of Leadership+.

REVERSE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH MENTORING

DAVID BRENNAN PDST TEAM LEADER & NATIONAL COORDINATOR SMALL SCHOOLS PROJECT

When did reverse mentoring appear?

A successful mentoring relationship is founded on mutual trust, shared values, interests and commitment.

Reverse mentorship is the informal exchange that occurs when more established professionals in a work setting are mentored by new staff. Its inception is accredited to the CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch. In the late 1990s, he acknowledged his own lack of technical expertise. There was a specific need for reform and change to adapt to emerging innovations and particularly technologies. To facilitate change management, he ‘tipped the organisation upside down’. Initially conceived for the transformation of technical skills, it has evolved to a more mutual mentoring practice over time, within different sectors.

What is reverse mentoring?

In a schools context, reverse mentorship seeks to change the dyadic relationship of mentoring into a mutual sharing of ideas and concepts. It formalises the informal reciprocity that has occurred whereby more established professionals in a school are mentored by new appointments or ‘new’ staff. This formal acknowledgment would allow educational institutes to benchmark its implementation. Within schools, there may be a teacher/NQT, temporary teacher, substitute teacher or a student teacher on college placement with a specific digital specialisation who would take on the role of mentor to a more established teacher.

It aligns with the Digital Learning Framework: Dimension: Leadership and Management: Domain 4: Developing Leadership Capacity: Statements of Practice: Critique their practice as leaders and develop their understanding of effective and sustainable leadership and empower staff to take on and carry out leadership roles.

It could be incorporated into a school’s digital learning plan as a specific action and indeed into any area of need and focus within a school, aligning with the LAOS Framework 2022. All parties would benefit and it would allow the mentors the opportunity to develop leadership skills and school organisational knowledge while mentees increase digital content knowledge, technical skills and exposure to new digital pedagogically-aligned tools.

Relationships

Its success is largely dependent on the care taken to build it. It requires investing time to understand the why and the how of the mentoring relationship and commitment of time for ongoing focused interaction and reflection. This requires alignment to the principles (3Cs) of clarity of purpose, trusting and open communication and mutual commitment. Building a successful mentoring relationship is a learned skill that can be developed and sustained for both mentors and mentees.

Structuring

In a traditional mentoring relationship, the responsibility for beginning and sustaining the relationship falls more on the established member of staff. As the relationship deepens, the responsibility evolves and is shared. Its initial success depends heavily on the more experienced member to begin

the momentum. Reverse mentoring is similar:

Agree on the purpose of your mentorship: This may be sharing digital skills around digital platforms, digital pedagogicallyaligned content, digital devices, creation of digital resources, digital technologies for special educational needs.

Identify norms for the relationship: This should include how to communicate, when and where to meet, language (using informal terms as opposed to formal hierarchical terms), and importantly, confidentiality. Establish and maintain specific times for contact: Mentoring research reflects that the best meetings are scheduled, yet informal. Informal meetings allow the relationship to deepen through shared personal experiences.

Understand when the reverse mentoring relationship is over: When the initial purpose is met and it’s time to move on, parties can determine whether to allow the relationship to move forward or go on hiatus. Research suggests that it is best if both people are intentional about how it will go forward, and when it will conclude.

David has a B.Ed. (Mary Immaculate College), an MSc. in Leadership and Management (UCD) and an MSc. in eLearning Design and Development (CIT). If you would like to contact David in relation to this article, you can email him to BrennanDavid@outlook.com

Reverse mentorship is the informal exchange that occurs when more established professionals in a work setting are mentored by new staff.

...reverse mentorship seeks to change the dyadic relationship of mentoring into a mutual sharing of ideas and concepts.

Tony Cahill A tribute to RIP

PRINCIPAL OF MONALEEN NS

Monaleen NS and community were devastated on 6th April 2022, as news broke of the passing of their beloved, and much admired, Principal, Tony Cahill, after a valiant battle with illness.

Tony’s legacy in Monaleen NS began in 1978 upon his appointment there, as classroom teacher. As a teacher, Tony was much revered and there was always an easy, pleasant and happy atmosphere in his classroom. High expectations and high standards were synonymous with Tony’s teaching approaches, and he will long be remembered for these.

As a colleague to many for almost 44 years, Tony excelled as a warm, welcoming, supportive, kind and dependable presence. His natural wit and wry sense of humour entertained many in the staffroom down through the years. Tony embodied absolutely everything that was good about Monaleen NS – his kindness, gentleness, generosity, warmth and charismatic personality endeared him to everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. He was an extraordinary conversationalist. Firm favourites among his vast repertoire of subjects to talk about were education, hurling, farming, horse-racing, politics and, naturally, his much-adored family. Never one to shy away from a bit of craic or banter, Tony certainly lived up to one

of his very favourite Irish seanfhocail, ‘aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile!’

In late 2011, the entire school community rejoiced when Tony became principal of Monaleen NS, and it truly was a fitting appointment for a man of his integrity and calibre. It was as principal and leader of the 860 pupil-school that Tony really came into his own. He was trusting, empathetic, nurturing, astute, innovative and progressive. Staff genuinely loved going to work each day in a school where they were valued, appreciated, listened to and held in the highest of regard. Pupils loved the fact that Tony put their happiness and wellbeing above all else, and they thrived in an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and admiration.  Leadership and management skills such as these cannot be bought or taught but they certainly came naturally, and in abundance, to Tony.

During his time in office, Tony presided over a huge investment into and modernisation of the ICT infrastructure in the school, ensuring children had access to iPads, laptops, Chromebooks and state of the art interactive whiteboards. As Monaleen NS grew at a vast rate, it still retained that ‘almost country’, community feeling, in that everyone still looked out for and helped and supported each other. This was a tremendously important facet of Tony’s vision for the school.

In addition, Tony dedicated a large portion of his time to securing the best possible educational facilities for the Monaleen school community. He spearheaded a relentless campaign for a new school building and, poignantly, yet fittingly, on January 21st 2022, Tony’s last day in situ, planning permission was finally approved for a state of the art 34-classroom school. The Monaleen community owes Tony an enormous debt of gratitude for getting this project off the ground.

From the pupils’ perspective, Tony was especially renowned for his colourful and trendy ties, his professional, yet stylish, attire, his penchant for celebrating big occasions in the children’s lives with his trusty box of lollipops and his affirming, entertaining presence at school assemblies. He had an innate sense of morality and fairness, which ensured he was an excellent role model for staff, students and parents, alike.

Tony was a humble man, never seeking out praise or accolades, yet there is no doubt that he was an exceptional teacher, an outstanding principal and a beloved and cherished friend to so, so many. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís! Rest easy, Boss!

Carmel Stokes, Acting Principal, Monaleen NS, Castletroy, Co. Limerick

Leadership and management skills... cannot be bought or taught but they certainly came naturally, and in abundance, to Tony.

And Finally…

QUOTATIONS

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.

Confucius, born 551 BC

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.

George Bernard Shaw

Autumn County Meetings 2023

Supporting each other at local level

September - October 2023

Incoming IPPN President Louise Tobin, CEO Páiric Clerkin, Sustainable Leadership Manager Brian O’Doherty and Supports & Services Manager Jack Durkan, will be visiting our county networks during the months of September & October, bringing key updates, information on the ‘hot topics’ and offering support to members. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to meet your fellow principals and deputy principals.

There is also an opportunity to become more involved in the work of IPPN by representing your city/county network on the National Council.

Schedule

Week 1

Sept 4th

Leitrim - Carrick on Shannon Ed Centre

Wicklow - Glenview Hotel

Sept 5th Donegal - Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny

Tipperary - Horse & Jockey

Sept 6th Sligo - Sligo Education Centre

Offaly - Tullamore Court Hotel

Week 3

Sept 19th

Kilkenny - Kilkenny Ed Centre

Clare - Clare Ed Centre

Sept 7th

Limerick - Limerick Education Centre

Roscommon - Abbey Hotel

Week 2

Sept 12th Mayo - Mayo Ed Centre

Waterford - Waterford Ed Centre

Sept 20th

Sept 21st

Week 4

Sept 26th

Sept 27th

Sept 28th

Week 5

Carlow - Dolmen Hotel

Meath - Navan Ed Centre

Kildare - Kildare Ed Centre

Dublin (South) - Green Isle Hotel

Monaghan - Monaghan Ed Centre

Louth - Crowne Plaza, Dundalk

Dublin (North) - Dublin Airport Hilton

Sept 13th

Sept 14th

Kerry - Tralee Ed Centre

Cavan - Hotel Kilmore

Wexford - Wexford Ed Centre

Galway - Galway Education Centre

Sponsored by

Oct 3rd

Oct 4th

Westmeath - Athlone Ed Centre

Longford - Longford Arms Hotel

Laois - Laois Ed Centre

Cork - Clayton Silversprings Hotel

Contact More Information: info@ippn.ie | 021 4824070 www.ippn.ie