IPPN

Last Updated: Monday, 21 December 2009 10:51

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.