Energy Bills & Book Procurement
- Published: 18 May 2023
Rising energy costs remains a hot topic for some schools due to the increased costs and the lack of school finances. Guidance issued to schools from the Schools Procurement Unit and FSSU. Boards were advised to register for the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) Utilities Contract to secure security of tariffs up to 30/4/2024 for Electricity and up to 31/8/2024 for Gas. The 'late' signup for schools that have not already signed up, but plan to do so will offer protection between dates of sign up until the dates mentioned above.
Schools are preparing for the implementation of the Free Books Scheme for September and are currently seeking three quotes from book suppliers. Cost of course will be a factor in deciding the successful quote. However, schools might also consider which supplier best meets the needs of the school in terms of administering the implementation of the scheme before a decision is made.
Recruitment Webinar – Have you booked?
- Published: 18 May 2023
On Monday, 22 May 2023 at 3.30pm, a not to be missed webinar for schools engaging in the recruitment process is being provided by Mason Hayes & Curran in collaboration with IPPN. Topics discussed in the hour-long webinar ‘Look before You Leap - Recruiting and Managing School Staff’ include potential pitfalls of recruitment, contracts, dealing with underperformance and possible disciplinary proceedings.
Home Based Summer Programme
- Published: 11 May 2023
The DE has now published details of the Home Based Summer Programme. This year, the DE is providing an online portal to allow schools to submit a student’s details and confirm eligibility. A sanction email will issue to the parents and school to confirm eligibility and the hours allocated to the student. The link for the Online Sanctioning Portal will be circulated to schools by email and the Portal will remain open until Friday 9 June 2023.
What’s New?
- A teacher can deliver a programme for students in a group of up to three. Parents may enter into an arrangement with a registered teacher to tutor their child in a small group, up to a maximum of 3 children
- For groups of 4 or larger, the Department will continue to approve Private Group Provider Arrangements between parents and private providers as it has done in previous years. The terms and conditions of Private Group Provider Arrangements must be followed.
- Additionally, allocations to siblings will no longer be a shared allocation. Each student will be sanctioned on an individual basis.
Tri-nations summit, ‘Exploring System Leadership’
- Published: 11 May 2023
A Tri- nation’s summit, Exploring System Leadership in collaboration with CSL Ireland, National Academy for Educational Leadership Wales and Education Scotland will take place on Tuesday 6 June. This online, free summit begins at 4pm and lasts approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. During this time, the summit will examine shared understandings of system leadership across the three nations and offer opportunities for networking and collaboration. It will interrogate effective system leadership and its potential to drive school improvement, policy formation and enactment, and further develop leadership capacity.
Places are limited and booking is essential. Click here for more information and to book your place
External Research – Perspectives on the ‘Looking at Our Schools’ (LAOS) Framework
- Published: 11 May 2023
Primary school teacher Aideen Ahern, a second-class teacher and Assistant Principal II in North Presentation Primary School, Cork City is conducting research for a Masters in Education (School Leadership) through the University of Limerick, which aims to explore the perceptions of school leaders (middle and senior) on the LAOS 2022 policy. Primary school leaders (principals and deputy principals) are invited to take part in a semi-structured, one-to-one interview (approx. 45 minutes duration) with a member of the research team, supervised by Dr Paul Butler, school principal and tutor with University Limerick.
If you would like more information, please email Aideen at 21291764@studentmail.ul.ie.
This research study has received ethics approval from the Education and Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee (2023-04-09). If you have any concerns about this study and wish to contact someone independently you may contact Chair Education and Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee, EHS Faculty Office, University of Limerick, Tel (061) 234101.
