IPPN

Retrospective Vetting

Published: 22 November 2017

Retrospective Vetting

No Vetting: Where a teacher is un-vetted by the Council, the school should ask them to commence the process immediately. This process takes a minimum of 2 weeks where all the correct documentation is provided at the outset. Therefore, schools should encourage the teachers to double check their documentation against the requirements e.g. within the 6 months/year, name on ID matches name on Register etc.

Stage 1 e-Vetting Commenced: Where a teacher indicates that he/she has commenced the process (Stage 1), but has not yet submitted all addresses to the National Vetting Bureau (Stage 2), the school should encourage the teacher to check emails for the link to the NVB and complete the input of addresses immediately. If the teacher has not received a link and five working days have lapsed since the Council received the identification documentation, the teacher should contact the Council.

Stage 1 & 2 e-Vetting Completed: Where a teacher indicates that he/she is in the process of being vetted and has submitted all their addresses to the National Vetting Bureau (Stage 2), a confirmation email issues to the teacher, a sample email can be found in under Q3 of the FAQs. The legislation requires that the teacher has applied for vetting rather than has completed the vetting process. This means that teachers at this stage have complied with the retrospective vetting requirement.

Previous GCVU Vetting: Where a teacher holds an older GCVU Disclosure, the school should request the teacher to provide the evidence that they have been vetted. These teachers have previously complied with the vetting requirement and should not at this stage be requested to undergo the e-Vetting process, unless there is a particular concern.
1. Evidence can be provided by the teacher logging onto the My Registration section of the Teaching Council website and printing off a screenshot of the Vetting Tab showing the Approved Status of the Vetting. The printout should be held on file by the school. A sample of the screen shot can be seen here under Q2 of the FAQs for Retrospective Vetting Schools/Principals.
2. Alternatively, the teacher may still be in possession of the original vetting result letter issued by the Council. This should be copied and held on file. Please note that the Council is not is a position to re-issue these letters, but will direct teachers to providing the information held under My Registration.

Recent NVB Vetting: Where a teacher holds the newer NVB Disclosure, the school should request the teacher to share the Disclosure via Digitary and a printout should be retained on file by the school.

Stakeholders Meeting Retrospective Vetting Update

FAQs

Sample Letter from BoM to School Staff re Vetting Documentation 2017

Priorities for Principal Teachers – Staff

Published: 22 November 2017

Priorities for Principal Teachers – Staff

The stated aims of ‘Priorities for Principal Teachers – In Clear Focus are to:

support the many principals who are struggling to manage their workload and are unsure what aspects of their role they can delegate or deprioritise
offer a fresh perspective on how the wider educational community might be used to support principals
provide a means of defining the priorities for the leadership role of principal.

This section will focus on staff and give examples of tasks that can be categorised in the following ways:

Key priorities for the principal
Priorities principals could delegate or share
Other tasks principals should not personally undertake and those the school might agree to ‘de-prioritise for a time’.

While we don't have all of the answers - what works in one school may well not work in another - the process of discussion and examination of tasks greatly facilitates the sharing of good practice and alternative approaches to dealing with the issue of workload, which is the whole point.

Having discussed the approach outlined in the publication with hundreds of principals, the general consensus is that we should first discuss the prioritisation of tasks within our local principals’ support group, followed by discussion with our deputy principals. This will help us when we then consult with our Boards of Management and the rest of our staff to gain their buy-in to a change in how work is prioritised and allocated throughout our schools.

Staff

A school’s staff is the most critically important resource within the school. Once responsibilities have been assigned among staff, the principal’s role is to support, encourage and review progress rather than micro manage. How well the staff collaborate with each other and work effectively with the Principal is the key determining factor in a school’s success.

But what specifically must principals do, what can be delegated or shared and what should be avoided? To help with this, IPPN looked at all of the activities that take place within schools and consulted with school leaders to determine what IPPN believes to be the best possible guidance in terms of where principals spend time.

In relation to dealing with staff, the following is the guidance presented*:

Key Priorities for the Principal – Must Do	Other Priorities – Could Delegate or Share	Other Tasks – Deprioritise / Principal should not need to personally undertake
Lead the teaching and learning in the school Affirm, support, motivate, counsel and empower the staff, encouraging best practice, creativity and innovation Be conscious of the health and well-being of all staff Facilitate a culture of instructional leadership with staff and pupils in relation to organisational, curricular and pastoral matters in the school Ensure that staff carry out their duties in accordance with the requirements of the Rules for National Schools, other statutory obligations and those mandated by ministerial circular Allocate teachers to classes and other roles based on pupil requirements, teacher talents/preference and in line with school policy Provide constructive feedback to teachers in relation to their work Ensure that BoM decisions are implemented by the staff.	Ensure Children First Guidelines are implemented Assist staff who are experiencing professional difficulties Attend relevant Continuous Professional Development (CPD) workshops, seminars, meetings and conferences to develop distributed leadership among staff Act as Safety Representative Attend meetings re. school activities which involve staff members, parents, BoM members Conduct standardised testing and communicate results to parents Monitor school and pupil performance according to School Self-Evaluation guidelines.	Ensure the care and storage of school requisites, equipment and teaching-aids Maintain school website Conduct and manage an inventory of teaching and learning resources Manage routine class discipline & behaviour (primary responsibility rests with the class teacher) Attend one on one parent/teacher meetings (unless requested by teacher or it is the class of the teaching principal) Handling any tasks or queries relating to salary, taxation, PRSI, Teaching Council status, holiday and other entitlements etc. (staff should get advice directly from the relevant authority).

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Priorities for Principal Teachers – Children

Published: 16 November 2017

Priorities for Principal Teachers – Children

Wellbeing for Teachers & Learners Seminar

Published: 16 November 2017

A Wellbeing for Teachers & Learners Seminar will take place in Croke Park on Saturday 18 November from 11.00am to 4.00pm.

The focus of the day will be on schools sharing their practice and learning in the area of wellbeing, with plenty of time for attendees to reflect on what they have heard and to discuss how they might apply it in their own contexts. Four primary and four post-primary schools will showcase how they have put wellbeing at the heart of their school communities. There will be a keynote address from Jacinta Kitt.

Some of the keynote speeches and panel discussions will be livestreamed on www.ippn.ie at 11.00 am. To access the livestream, log in via the homepage.

In May 2016, the Wellbeing for Teachers and Learners (WTL) Group was constituted. It comprises the Irish Primary Principals’ Network, the Teaching Council, the Ombudsman for Children, the National Parents Council and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. The objective of the WTL group is to ensure that our collective endeavours in the area of wellbeing has a positive impact on the whole school community – teachers, students, parents/guardians and the wider community.

DES Circular 30/2014 Section 14 - Time-bound Allocation

Published: 16 November 2017

‘The care needs of pupils are not constant but change as children grow and develop. In many instances, access to SNA care support may have been allocated to a pupil to ameliorate a particular difficulty that a pupil may have at a certain point in time, such as care support to assist with toileting issues, or a particular behaviour. The care needs that a pupil has may change over time. Many children will naturally have diminishing care needs as they get older and as they develop both physically and socially. It is neither appropriate nor beneficial for a child to have a permanent allocation of SNA support which would follow them throughout their school career without recourse to a consideration of changing needs. This could impede that child’s development of independent living skills, interaction with peers, or stigmatise the child though association with a permanent allocation of adult support, at a point of their development where this support may no longer be required. Whereas the NCSE will maintain the minimum SERC recommended ratios of SNA support in special schools and classes, all other SNA allocations which are made, from September 2014, will be time bound, linked to the provision of a personal pupil plan, will be made initially for a maximum period of three years, subject to annual review, and subject to a full reassessment of their care needs at the end of the three year period’.