IPPN

Principal teachers from all over Ireland will gather over the next three days to debate and discuss, to share good practice and to learn new skills. The annual conference of the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) takes place in Killarney from Thursday til Saturday.

"One of the most important issues I will address with colleagues over the course of our conference is the urgent and important need for comprehensive information to be collected on the children in our schools." Said Tomas O Slatara, President of IPPN today. "We have a situation in this country where we record every significant fact about cattle in Ireland from birth through inoculations and movement from farm to farm right through to the butcher and the table. We have been able to do this since 1997 and so can now even examine trends and movements over time. With our children, we cannot say how many newcomer children are in our schools, where they are, what their language learning needs are and what trends are happening. Similarly, we do not have any clear picture of children with special education needs, traveller children or any other data to analyse which could inform policy and resource allocation. The calf is more important than the child, it seems."

Mr. O Slatara will make a strong call for immediate steps to be taken to introduce a National Primary Pupil Database. "This has been talked about for long enough," said O Slatara, "it is time now for action."

The theme of this year's conference is "Changing Ireland" and among the issues to be covered in workshops and general sessions are:

Æ'Þ The state of Information Technology in our schools; both on the teaching and learning side and on the administrative side. Æ'Þ The impact of large numbers of "newcomer" children in to the system; the biggest demographic change since the famine; the need for a language policy to cater for a rapidly changing educational landscape. Æ'Þ The costs of running and operating schools; the reality of fundraising as an essential component of basic operating costs and how this translates to a "stealth" tax. Æ'Þ The emerging need for counselling services for children

ends