IPPN

Published: 21 May 2024

NEPS recently held a briefing for the education partners on the work of Strands 1 and 2 of the pilot. From the initial €5 million announced in the Budget, the pilot was extended into 2024 and further extended into 2025. In establishing the pilot, NEPS consulted among others with the DE in Northern Ireland and visited Dorset and West Sussex where similar projects have been established.

It was an initial challenge for Strand 1 to recruit a panel of counsellors to work with schools. NEPS collaborated with the counselling accreditation bodies in Ireland to get as many counsellors as possible onto the panel. Counselling is very specific and applicants had to meet the standards required by the NEPS QA Committee. To date, 35 counsellors are on the panel with a rolling recruitment process in place. 733 blocks of counselling are now allocated to children in Strand 1 counties. Many small schools in these counties have allocated counselling blocks. Details and supports for the schools are available at www.gov.ie.

In Strand 2, Wellbeing Practitioner Teams are established in 78 schools with 5,000 children in each cluster. DEIS, Non-DEIS, Gaelscoileanna and Special schools work with the teams to explore and develop whole-school preventative approaches to wellbeing with parents, school staff and children.

This work is ongoing. Some of the approaches involve:

• how wellbeing is incorporated across all areas
• establishing focus groups
• working with ISM teams
• whole staff sessions
• policy work and support for staff
• class cohesion projects
• growth mindset
• resilience programmes for 5th and 6th classes
• workshops for parents of children with additional needs
• managing parental stress.

The learning and resources from this pilot will form part of the overall evaluation of the pilot as well as leading, in time, to a bank of resources to support school communities in their ongoing work. To date, the feedback has been very positive. See information on www.gov.ie.

Published: 15 May 2024

The Department of Education would like to remind schools of their obligations in regard to the employment of retired public servants.  Refer to Circular 24/2022 and familiarise yourself with the contents, in particular paragraphs 22 to 26.  See also the template declaration which each new employee must complete (linked below).

Some key points to note:

• Abatement is applied on a pro rata basis, the fact that an employee may hold a part-time position does not necessarily mean that abatement will not apply to the pensions.
• The employee should be advised, if possible, in advance of taking up the post, the potential implications to their pension in payment.
• Please note it is the employees pension, not the salary, which is subject to abatement, therefore the onus to apply the abatement falls to the Authority responsible for the payment of the pensions.

The Department offers reassurance that the likelihood of abatement is low. 'As of the end of 2023, 1,388 retired teachers including permanent teachers and teachers on fixed term contracts had returned to work in the primary school sector with only 2.88% of them falling to be abated.' 

If teachers have any queries in relation to the application of the circular, they can contact abatementqueries@education.gov.ie.

Relevant resources

• Applicant Declaration Form - Abatement
• Working as a substitute while receiving a teacher’s pension (www.gov.ie)
• Issue 37 of the Retirement Members Association (Spring 2023)

Published: 15 May 2024

Guidance on completing reports provided by the Department in the past acknowledges that ‘there is considerable scope for schools in how they report on children’s progress and achievement’.

Circular 56/2011 requires schools to report on four areas:

• the child as a learner
• the child’s personal and social development
• the child’s progress with learning in curriculum areas or subjects
• next steps in the child’s learning, including ways for parents to help.

With approximately 6 weeks left until the end of June, it is timely to begin preparations for end of year reports. Best practice provides for issuing reports at least 2 weeks before the holidays. This allows time for parents to discuss any issue arising from their child’s report with the school and/or teacher.

Schools are advised to draw on a range of assessment methods and different sources of evidence and information gathered during the year to make statements about children’s learning and progress.

Schools may already have report templates embedded in their data-base system. These are usually based on NCCA Templates. Templates can also be customised and generated using the online NCCA Report Card Creator at www.reportcard.ncca.ie 

When it comes to writing reports, the following are some ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ to consider:

Do

• Have clear guidance on expectations around report writing.
• Remind staff to be professional. In addition to reporting on progress etc., schools and teachers need to be mindful of their grammar, punctuation, spelling etc. This is the business we’re in!
• Outline expectations on the need to be fair and kind to the child in the first instance.
• Encourage staff to acknowledge effort and improvement as well as achievement.
• Remind staff of the importance of providing accurate information.
• Agree consistent ‘report’ language to be used across the school. (See IPPN Document: Sample comments for School Reports)
• Consider the impact the report could have in the child’s family and home.
• Note any special arrangements required for separated parents.
• In larger schools, consider delegating report sign-off to other members of the ISLM team where appropriate. Where this is done ISLM members would, of course, sign off using their own name.

Don’t

• Use ‘over-inflated’ descriptors which might cause difficulty for future years.
• Leave it too late to begin the process of report writing. Encourage staff to begin preparations early, thus avoiding workload and stress in the last weeks of term.
• Take responsibility for ‘correcting’ the class teachers’ work. Signing off on reports can be time-consuming and onerous enough. Setting clear expectations, as outlined above, is key.

“It’s ok to cheer for the kids who came in first, but make sure to stick around for those who finish last. They ran the race too!” - Anon

Published: 08 May 2024

IPPN continues to welcome the initiative to provide free school books, workbooks and copies for all primary school children and its objective to ensure equality of access to resources. IPPN has also consistently stated that its priority is to ensure the scheme’s successful and effective implementation in all primary schools.

To better ensure this, IPPN conducted a survey of schools last year to evaluate the experience of implementing the scheme. 584 schools responded to the survey providing rich data and feedback. That data and feedback were shared with the Department of Education (DE) to inform the planning for the implementation of the scheme in 2024.

A summary of the feedback is as follows:

• The overwhelming majority of schools recognised the scheme to be of significant benefit to parents in terms of reducing back-to-school costs.
• Schools were divided on whether the level of funding per student (€96) was sufficient to cover the cost of textbooks, workbooks and copybooks, however, a significant majority identified that it was insufficient to cover the cost of other related classroom resources described in the guidelines.
• The overwhelming majority of schools indicated that the implementation of the scheme in the school created a significant additional administrative/leadership burden.
• A majority of schools felt that the extent of the funding made available through the Administration Support Grant was insufficient compensation for the workload involved in implementing the scheme.
• The overwhelming majority of schools who were selected for audit indicated that the workload involved in completing the audit process was either excessive or significant.

In response to the Guidelines for Free Primary Schoolbooks Scheme 2024/25, IPPN notes that some account has been taken of the feedback provided by schools.

• IPPN welcomes the retention of the Administrative Support Fund as it recognises the significant additional workload associated with the administration of the scheme
• IPPN also welcomes the enhancement of this support with an increased number of days allocated to larger schools, to take account of additional work needed. However, IPPN believes that the fund, and the number of days it represents, does not sufficiently address the extent of the workload involved, as reported by schools.
• Similarly, IPPN welcomes the scaling back of the audit process to make it more manageable.

The reduction in the per capita funding is a cause for concern. IPPN accepts the principle that a reduced number of books may need to be bought this year, as a result of books bought last year being retained for use in the school. However, in the context of divided opinion on the adequacy of last year’s funding, it is impossible to be certain that such a reduction in funding is merited. IPPN will engage with schools in the autumn in order to ascertain the adequacy of the level of funding provided.

IPPN will continue to represent its legitimate concerns regarding the manner in which the scheme operates, the logistical implications for schools and school leaders, and the extent to which the scope of the scheme meets parental expectations.