Children bearing Gifts - Recession is not Affecting
- Published: 21 December 2009
Last Friday, an eight year old girl arrived in her County Dublin School with a €200 voucher for her teacher, for an upmarket city centre department store. This practise of children showering their teachers with expensive Christmas gifts will reach epidemic proportions over the next few days. The phenomenon became widespread during the Celtic Tiger era and IPPN members throughout the length and breadth of the country report that it is showing little sign of waning.
In many instances, accepting these gifts causes acute embarrassment to individual teachers as they would be very conscious of those parents and children who would not be in a position, due to family circumstances, to engage in such largesse.
Despite the downturn, the season of goodwill is again in full flow and children are arriving at schools laden with festive surprises for their teachers.
While it is indeed gratifying for a teacher to have his or her work recognised, School Principals are encouraging pupils and parents to show their appreciation for the excellent work being done by their school and teachers in a different way this year.
Most teachers would be more than happy to receive a home made card or gift from a pupil that reflects some aspect of class work engaged in during the school year. This would be reflective of the very stimulating revised curriculum now in place in all schools, particularly the Visual Arts.
Pat Goff, President of IPPN stated 'the custom of children lavishing expensive gifts on their teachers places unnecessary pressure on families struggling with unemployment, falling incomes and an uncertain economic outlook'.
Ends
College graduates to help develop digital material for schools under Microsoft deal - Minister O'Keeffe [education.ie]
- Published: 21 December 2009
Twenty graduates of technology or teacher training college courses are to get work placement positions in Microsoft Ireland to help develop digital material for the school curriculum as part of a deal signed by the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe TD.
The 20 graduates, who will be based in Microsoft Ireland headquarters in Dublin, will develop digital content to support the curriculum in primary and post-primary schools.
They will work with the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) on tasks aimed at supporting the integration of information communications technology (ICT) into teaching and learning.
Full Story: www.education.ie
Bitter row over pupil safety in Catholic schools [Independent.ie]
- Published: 21 December 2009
A BITTER row has erupted over child protection in Catholic primary schools.
Catholic Church education organisations last night hit back at claims that there were deep- rooted concerns among school principals over the issue.
On Friday, the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) called on the bishops named in the Murphy report to step down as school patrons.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Staff unhappy with education delay [Independent.ie]
- Published: 21 December 2009
Workers have been left demoralised by delays in reforming education services in Northern Ireland, a union has claimed.
Education and library board staff have been placed in an impossible position for the last five years because of uncertainty over the Education and Skills Authority (ESA), the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Principals Demand Accountability in Relation to Child Protection in Primary Schools
- Published: 21 December 2009
Despite the belated resignation of Dr Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick, Primary School Principals still have deep rooted concerns in relation to Child Protection in Primary Schools in Ireland.
A recent IPPN survey of over 630 Primary School Principals nationwide revealed that while almost all schools have a Child Protection Policy in place, a worrying minority (2%) did not have an up to date policy. Principals also want the current Child Protection Guidelines put on a statutory footing.
IPPN calls for relevant authorities to redress this intolerable scenario as a matter of urgency. The Principals’ Network also calls for personnel at any level, who have failed in any way in their child protection responsibilities, to immediately step aside to facilitate a full and thorough investigation.
Principals also support Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's recent call that any Patron named in the Murphy Report be held accountable for their actions. Over 80% of Principals surveyed indicated that the Bishops named in the Report should not continue in their position of School Patron.
ENDS
Click here to view survey results
EDITORIAL
Suffer Little Children
Most parents will experience, at some stage or another, the trauma of ‘losing’ their toddler in a shopping centre, at a match or any public place. Thankfully such incidents almost always end well, often through the observance and care of some helpful stranger. Think for a moment that instead of discovering that your five year old is ‘lost’ you find out that your child has been sexually abused and the perpetrator is someone that you know well and had fully trusted. The expression ‘your worst nightmare’ is often used rather flippantly but is indeed appropriate in the circumstances outlined. Three reports – Ferns, Ryan and Murphy have graphically described and brought into the public domain, hundreds, if not thousands of the worst nightmares that anyone can imagine.
On reading these reports it is difficult to find language to describe one’s feelings. It is little wonder that the children who were targeted for this abuse, found it impossible to make sense of what was happening to them, or to tell anyone about it. Without reading the reports, it is completely impossible to comprehend the impact of their contents. Words that come to mind are; shocking, repulsive, horrific, nauseating and deeply upsetting. Despite all this, we must read them. We must be upset by their contents. It’s only then, that we can be fully capable of playing your vital role in making sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
Principals and teachers are ‘in loco parentis’. For all intents and purposes, We are acting as the child’s parent while they are in the care of the school. Every morning when parents drop their children to school, they do so within the parameters of a relationship which they have developed with us as principals and our teachers. This relationship is built on various expectations and understandings, including respect, professionalism and trust. Most of the time parents are not consciously thinking these thoughts as their children are dropped off to school. In recent years, our schools have made vast progress in the areas of supervision, dealing with bullying, playground safety and so forth. In a recent survey of 650 principals we discovered that; 98% of respondents have up-to-date child protection policies and procedures in place, where staff are aware of the policy and are actively participating in implementing the guidelines. These percentages are very high. In any other survey researching compliance with matters such as Health & Safety, Enrolment, Code of Behaviour, they would be highly impressive statistics. However, the question that must be asked is, how on earth in 2009 could even 2% of schools not be fully compliant with this, the greatest of all our responsibilities?
The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) has been part of the Dept. of Education & Science process to review and update the Children First Guidelines. A key plank of our submission is that the ‘guidelines’ must be placed on a statutory footing, so that they are no longer just ‘guidelines’, and as a consequence, make the use of the procedures obligatory.
Having said all that, Ferns, Ryan and Murphy have taught us clearly that it only takes one person to fail in their duty to do the right thing and the ‘grand plan’ for child protection comes apart at the seams. We know now that educated, intelligent and experienced people made disastrous choices and displayed flawed judgement when they failed to put children first in order to avoid ‘public scandal’, protect personal reputations or defend the power of their institutions.
Nothing short of prosecution, conviction and sentencing through the courts will satisfy the survivors of abuse and their families. Justice must be served to those who are found guilty of abusing children, to those who prioritised the protection of others over the protection of children, and to those who had the opportunity to protect children, but who did not act, and knowingly put more children at risk
This is not a ‘witch hunt’; it is about justice and closure for all those whose dignity has been damaged beyond the most basic norms of any society in any era. When it comes to child protection in our schools, Principals as Designated Liaison Persons (DLP) carry a great responsibility in this role. While more indirectly, Chairpersons of Boards of Management and Patrons of schools also carry great responsibility, given the power they wield in school governance, and their employment of the Principal and other staff.
We know from Ferns, Ryan and Murphy that failures occur at all levels. There is now an urgent imperative that an independent, transparent audit is conducted of these three roles in every school in the state. Regardless of circumstances, anyone whose actions or in-action as the case may be, who has failed to protect even a solitary child, must be investigated and held to account by the judicial system our state. Saying that we are doing the right thing is no longer good enough; we must do it, and be seen to do it.
ENDS
Background
The Irish Primary Principals'' Network (http://www.ippn.ie/) is the officially recognised professional body for the Principals and Deputy Principals of Primary Schools. IPPN is an official Education Partner, which means it has consultative status with the Department of Education and Science and other education agencies. IPPN articulates the collective knowledge and professional experience of 6,600 Principals and Deputy Principals and the day-to-day reality of over 500,000 children being educated in Ireland’s 3,300 Primary Schools.
