IPPN called to present at Joint Oireachtas Committee re. Charter for Students and Parents; Ombudsman for Education
- Published: 09 March 2017
On Tuesday 7th March, Maria Doyle, Seán Cottrell and David Ruddy presented on the topic of the proposed Education Amendment Bill 2015 regarding an Ombudsman for Education and also the General Scheme of an Education (Parent & Student Charter) Bill 2016.
The following is the opening statement presented by Maria Doyle, reflecting the key points raised by IPPN:
- IPPN considers the establishment of an Ombudsman for Education to be unnecessary and sees no evidence or justification for an additional oversight layer within the education sector. The current office of the Ombudsman for Children works both collaboratively and effectively with schools and professional organisations in representing the voice of children and encourages schools to have robust and effective policies and practices in place to promote the welfare and rights of children. The provisions of the Education (Parent & Student Charter) Bill as outlined will strengthen the current role of the Ombudsman for Children and in doing so eliminates the necessity to establish an Ombudsman for Education.
- IPPN welcomes and supports the provision of a Parent & Student Charter – with a focus on fostering the culture of change within school communities to prevent grievances from arising. Schools currently work collaboratively with parents and pupils to promote the welfare and rights of children, and welcome the setting out in law of Principles of Engagement with Students & Parents. Current procedures used to address Parental Complaints in schools have been agreed by Management Bodies and Unions. However, these procedures are not underpinned by legislation and have in the past been widely interpreted often giving rise to confusion and conflict. Schools will require significant assistance in drafting individual Parent & Student Charters as the interpretation of the bill could lead to a variety of interpretations of the elements as outlined in the legislation. The complimentary role of the Parent & Student Charter with the School Self Evaluation model is viewed as positive and welcomed by IPPN.
David Ruddy commented that principals and boards are comfortable with scrutiny and that there are many entities already providing such scrutiny, including the Inspectorate, the Teaching Council and the two Ombudsman offices. A further layer is not necessary, although a strengthening of the Ombudsman for Children’s role could be warranted to resolve the issues raised by Jim Daly in the bill. Seán Cottrell commented that the proposed Charter for Parents and Students must not become a further administrative burden on principals who are already overloaded, particularly the 60% of principals who teach full-time; the proposals must not be a box-ticking exercise with no change in practice and must work on the ground.
The following parties also presented:
- Jim Daly TD (former primary principal in Skibbereen) – initiated the proposed Education Amendment Bill 2015
- Martin Hanevy, DES
- Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children
- Peter Tyndall, Ombudsman
- John Lohan, Department of Children and Youth Affairs
- Mark Bohan, Department of Expenditure and Public Reform
- Áine Lynch, National Parents’ Council Primary
- Lorraine Dempsey, Special Needs Parents’ Association.
The meeting was chaired by Fiona O’Loughlin TD and was attended by JOC members: Senator Catherine Martin, Senator Robbie Gallagher, Senator Maria Byrne and Senator Ó Clochartaigh. A transcript of the full discussion will be available at http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/oireachtasbusiness/committees_list/es/
Partnership Schools Ireland 2017
- Published: 19 January 2017
Partnership for Schools Ireland is a joint initiative by National Parents’ Council Primary (NPC) and Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN). Better outcomes for children are the main objectives of “a Partnership School”, achieved by the whole school community, planning and working together on agreed activities.
The model originated in America and is currently becoming very popular in schools around Ireland. The approach seeks to encourage children, school staff, parents and community partners to work together, to form an effective partnership in their school for the benefit of the children. This partnership works extremely well. Principals and teaching staff are glad of the extra ideas and the practical supports which are organised by the Action Team Partnership members. The partnership does not interfere with, or change the school’s programme of work, but often enhances it and brings about better outcomes for children.
Would you like your school to be involved? Please call Liam McPherson (ATP Co-ordinator) on 01 8874478 or email: lmcpherson@npc.ie Alternatively, meet Liam at the conference to discuss this initiative in more detail.
New Resource Model
- Published: 19 January 2017
Note on the New Resource Model from Pat Goff
The GAM allocation will cease entirely as will the Resource hours allocations. Both of these allocations will now be replaced by the New Model. Every school will get a baseline of 20%. The level of support you have at present will at least be maintained for two years and possibly increased if you have a greater level of complex needs. The definition of complex needs that they are using for now are those children that qualify for low incidence hours under the current system.
The bottom line for every school is quite simple – what have we under the old model and what will we have under the new model? The fact that apparently no school will lose for two years gives us that time to properly assess whether the benefits outweigh the negatives, and also to see if resources are provided to make it work. Jim Mulkerrins of the DES who is leading this initiative will have a couple of interesting workshops at conference!
The proposed new resource model was announced by the Minister for Education. As most of you are aware this will replace the current GAM and Resource Hours model. Schools will no longer have to submit reports for low incidence hours. However schools still need to apply for SNAs in the normal fashion. 900 new teachers are to be employed in support teaching – the reason here is to ensure that schools do not lose resources for the next two years, even if the new model says that you should. What this means is that what you have in staffing at present for support is what you will likely have for the next two years. In year three all schools will be re-profiled taking into account the leavers from 5th & 6th class and also the newcomers in Junior & Senior Infants.
All existing clusters will cease at the end of this school year. There will only be one type of support teacher in that GAM and resource hours can now be counted for a full-time post and not treated as separate entities as in the past.
The breakdown of the allocation is as follows:
- 20% of the national 'pot' of support teachers will be allocated to schools depending on size.
- 50% will be based on Complexity of Need (These are the schools' low incidence hours for now)
- 22% will be based on an aggregate of two years' standardised test scores (14/15 & 15/16)
- 4% will be based on disadvantage profile
- 4% will be based on gender.
Jim Mulkerrins, Principal Officer in the DES' Special Education Section, will attend the IPPN conference to detail the changes and answer any queries in relation to the new model.
