IPPN

Typically parent - teacher meetings are held late in the first term – October/November.  Other schools prefer to hold these meetings towards the end of the school year in late May.  A small minority of schools meet parents twice a year.  These meetings are held outside of school hours.  Normally the school will close a quarter of an hour early to facilitate staff and they commence a quarter of an hour after school normally finishes, leaving a half hour break in between.  Most schools allow 10/15 minutes for each meeting.  Some teachers use time in the morning before school to meet parents if that suits both parties.  This can reduce the time pressure on teachers later.

This requires some co-ordination by a post holder (Deputy Principal or Secretary).  A blank timetable with 10 minute intervals is created for all classrooms involving two or three days.  From school records, the family with the largest number of children are timetabled so that the parents can meet all teachers in the one session.  It is a good idea to allow one 10 minute slot free so that any delay doesn’t have a knock on effect.  This central timetabling is co-ordinated for families with e.g. 4, 3, or 2 children in the school.  Each classroom timetable is then given to the class teacher who schedules appointments with the parents of the remaining children.

Normally parents of children attending any form of out-of-class support will want to meet those teachers as well.  This can be arranged as a follow-up to meeting the class teacher or involving both teachers at the same time.  Normally LS/RT will be flexibly available during parent-teacher meeting sessions.  

Neither agency has been able to give a definitive response as it is part of the Teaching Council Act which has not yet been implemented.  The Teaching Council will almost certainly have the key responsibility for probating new teachers.  What is completely uncertain is who will actually be responsible for this assessment and final decision.  A circular on probation was sent to schools recently.  Circular 0058/2010 notes:

• A ‘National Induction Programme’ is now available to all qualified primary teachers, who have been granted conditional registration by the Teaching Council, and whose only remaining condition relates to probation

• A teacher who wishes to be probated must make an application for inspection visits to

• Limerick Education Centre using form OP1 available at http://www.lec.ie/

• A probationary teacher must complete a minimum of 170 school days from the date on which he/she was first appointed to a post recognised for probationary purposes in a primary school. This service must include at least two periods of 50 consecutive school days. This service must be completed within a maximum of three years from the date of first registration

• Generally, inspection visits will not occur in the first term of the school year. During this time, the teacher should attend and participate in the first-term of the induction programme

• During the second-term, the Inspectorate will inspect the work of the teacher during two unannounced inspection visits. These visits will generally last about half a school day. Following the two inspection visits, the Inspectorate will determine the rating to be applied to the teacher’s work as follows:

 

            ‘Has demonstrated satisfactory professional competence in a mainstream setting’.