IPPN

Retired teacher awarded €88,000 after bullying by principal [IrishExaminer]

Published: 24 March 2011

A retired Dublin teacher who was subjected to savage and relentless bullying by a school principal has today been awarded €88,000 in damages by the High Court.

Bridget Sweeney (aged 55) from Donnybrook, who worked as a resource and home-schooling teacher at Ballinteer Community School in Dublin, complained of her treatment in 2006 and 2007.

The court heard that at one point, former headmaster Dr Austen Corcoran hired a private investigator to follow her.

Full Story: www.examiner.ie

Local fears over plans for rural schools amalgamation [westmeathindependent.ie]

Published: 23 March 2011

Nine local schools have two or less teachers, according to Department

Roscommon would be one of the worst-affected counties if plans to amalgamate primary schools with less than 50 pupils go ahead.

Currently there are 41 schools listed within Roscommon that have less than 50 pupils (or less than two teachers), with six of those schools in the Athlone/South Roscommon area. There are three South Westmeath schools on the list.

There are fears that if the amalgamation plans go ahead, rural areas could lose the lifeblood of its community.

The Value for Money (VFM) review of all schools with less than 50 pupils has been established by the Department of Education to examine whether they represent value for money. The review comes after the McCarthy Report identified significant cost savings that could be achieved by reducing the overall number of schools through amalgamations and mergers.

A deadline for affected schools and parents to make submissions on the VFM review passed last Friday, but many schools in the locality were unaware of this opportunity to make a submission. The Westmeath branch of the teachers' union, the INTO, is meeting in Mullingar tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss the amalgamation issue.

Full Story: www.westmeathindependent.ie

New Publications from IPPN [ICPonline.org]

Published: 23 March 2011

The Irish Primary Principals' Network has produced two new publications in 2010.

Deich mBliana ag Fás is a history of the first 10 years of IPPN - it was established in 2000 as the association for Primary Principals in Ireland. Prior to that, "No first level or second level independent professional association for Principal teachers existed nor was the setting up of such an association encouraged! Indeed there is more than anecdotal evidence that Principals in the sixties and seventies were actively discouraged from organising themselves in a formal way." Chapters in the 64 page booklet document the growth achievements ot IPPN and the obstacles that had to be overcome to arrive at the current situation.

Supporting Each Other is a "guide to best practice for the effective partnership between Principals and Parent Associations". The Introduction to the 16 page booklet states: "The purpose of this document is to establish a framework for the effective partnership between the Parent Association and the school in line with the Education Act 1998. This framework has been jointly developed by the National Parents’ Council - Primary (NPC-P) and the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN). The document supports an ethos of transparency and openness between all members of the school community."