IPPN

• The huge reduction in the number of English Language support teachers has had a profound impact on newcomer children but also on every other child in those classes.
• The moratorium on posts of responsibility has had an enormous impact on many schools and especially on our workload as Principals. I have heard many cases where the work of five people has now become the work of two. This is just not sustainable. Would you believe I am the third successive president of IPPN to call for the publication of the new circular on in-school management!  If the DES wait much longer there won’t be an in-school management team left in any school. At least we will be able to access it as a state paper under the 30 year rule
• The few supply panels that existed around the country are to be disbanded. Instead of expanding the current scheme to provide proper qualified substitute cover for release days for Teaching Principals, the DES took the easy option to disband them altogether. I cannot understand the logic here as it is cost neutral and would have made the life of the Teaching Principal so much easier.
• Everyone has paid a price for the recklessness of the few but unfortunately we Principals have paid the highest price. If you include the pension levy and the non-payment of the benchmarking award, our incomes down a full 19%, but then, unlike some senior civil servants, we didn’t have a bonus scheme to scrap.  They tell us they are not paid for overtime – I have some news for the Minister for Finance, Principals are not paid for overtime either.
• The Inspectorate has not been immune to the cuts either. You would have thought then that the number of WSEs and incidental visits would be down as well. Unfortunately the people who suffered most are newly-qualified teachers. Following a meeting with the inspectorate last week, I am pleased to report here this evening that these young teachers are to be prioritised in the deployment of resources by the Inspectorate. A review is currently taking place with first priority being given to those whose panel rights would be affected by not being probated. We very much welcome this.
  The last decade has seen our schools change beyond all recognition. Class size went from 30:1 to 27:1, to 28:1.  A loose interpretation of the English Language might call this progress!
   What has really changed is the mix of the 28+ children in each class!
• We now have pupils from other countries who have significant English language needs, pupils with Special Educational Needs, pupils with challenging emotional and behavioural needs as well as pupils from a disadvantaged background. Yes, the mix has changed but the challenge and expectations have remained. Take DEIS for example.

Inclusion
DEIS targeted the schools with the highest number of most disadvantaged pupils. This programme is due for review in 2010. DEIS Band 1 schools rightly have most resources while Band 2 and Rural DEIS have very limited support. Outside of this, there is little or no recognition of disadvantaged pupils in any other school. One could say, ‘níl aon deis ar fáil dóibh siúd’. IPPN believes that the DES should consider a different, more equitable system, such as the very effective New Zealand model. Schools there are graded 1 to 10 based on their level of disadvantaged pupils, and not just 1 & 2 as in Ireland. This allows for staffing and funding take account of the level of disadvantage in each school. Those of us in DEIS have to produce a three-year plan. Where is the three-year plan of the department for all children, but especially those that are disadvantaged? It is their right, not a privilege!

There was SNA support for those pupils who needed some extra help to allow them be part of a mainstream class, that is, before the many reviews. Withdrawing supports from these special educational needs pupils affects the whole class and the progress of every pupil in that class. It is false economy to define the needs of special needs pupils in such a narrow way as to make it almost impossible to access resources. Is this deliberate? Likewise as I speak, there seems to be a policy of ‘death by stealth’ to some of our Special Schools, especially those that cater for pupils with Mild Learning Difficulties. What will be the ultimate cost to society of short-changing our most vulnerable children?  Principals and teachers embraced inclusion. We changed our teaching and classroom management to facilitate differentiation, to remove any barriers to learning and participation. We looked on inclusion as being about all pupils. In my view, one of the saddest lines in this year’s budget was that the full implementation of the EPSEN Act would be shelved. To those of us in primary education it is the equivalent of saying ‘There is no room in the inn’. We would say to the minister, please don’t destroy the expectation that has been created. Yes, there had to be cuts, but we also ask, what is your vision and long term plan for these pupils?  Do you have a plan? If there was ever an argument for cross-party agreement on a policy, this is it. Let the legacy of this minister be that even in the hardest of times, the most vulnerable in our schools were allowed hope.....

We expect the same standards to apply to everyone in education that we apply to ourselves and to our own schools. A number of abusers have tainted the excellent work of so many who gave sterling service to education. What is urgently needed now is greater openness and transparency in relation to child protection. Every patron, chairperson, chaplain, principal and teacher must always have the welfare and rights of the children in their schools as their first priority.  Anyone who cannot sign up to such a priority has no place in any school. If you only bring one single thought from this conference let it be that the welfare of the children in your school will always come first.

The Child Protection Guidelines now in force must be put on a statutory footing. We owe this to our current pupils and to future generations of Irish children, it is their basic human right.

IPPN – The First Decade
Sixteen years ago, a number of Principals decided to put their vision into practice and held a conference, the first of many. A national network evolved and IPPN was officially launched on the 10th February 2000. We will be forever grateful to those selfless visionaries who have guided IPPN through its first decade – Jim, Virginia, Tómas, Larry and so many others who have served on our executive, national and county committees. I would like to say a special thanks to one person who has been an inspiration to IPPN, and continues to be an inspiration to all of us – Seán Cottrell. I thank you, Seán, for being the heartbeat and pulse of IPPN as our director and leader. We have a committed support office staff that is second to none, with a new support office opening next month.
What a decade it has been!  Many of you will have your own memories.

The wars, the treaties, the tribunals, the reports!  And then there was the real wars, Saipan!, The hurling strikes! Jedward!
It was a decade when more legislation for schools was enacted than all the previous decades put together – Education Act, Education Welfare Act, Equal Status Act, EPSEN Act. We have also accumulated so many more acronyms, such as - SNAs, SENOs, SNOs – we might need to have a different definition of SNOs this year – To open or not to open, that was the question that comes to mind!- and by whose decree?

It is hard to remember a time when there was no IPPN Support Office, no Leadership+, no website, no e-scéals or texts, no networking mailing list… no Text a Parent, no Text a Sub, no EducationPosts.ie saving schools millions of euro - a decade of changes for the better, an example of real leadership in action by principals for principals.

We have always worked with our partners in education, especially the parents. IPPN is particularly pleased, that having worked closely with the National Parents Council, we are now in a position to launch a set of protocols for effective collaboration between schools and parent associations.  We hope to officially launch this document over the coming days. IPPN has never been afraid to highlight issues of major concern or to challenge the status quo – we were never mad about their music anyway!

In 2010, IPPN will be publishing the findings of our research into primary school governance. This involved an examination of 500 Boards of Management. I would like to thank all of our chairpersons, principals and Board members who contributed hugely to this research. IPPN fully supports the call by Archbishop Martin that there should be a Forum on Governance in primary schools. This research will be an important contribution to this debate on governance in the future.

Five years ago here in Citywest, IPPN raised the issue of the underperforming teacher. At the time, we were ‘scape-goated’ for mentioning the elephant in the room. Finally, new procedures for suspension & dismissal of teachers and Principals have been set out in Circular 60/2009. The circular states that the chairperson may call on an agreed panel of retired and serving principals to provide advice and offer guidance to chairpersons. Despite the fact that the circular is now operational, it appears that no panels have been set up.  The circular also lays down that reasonable support and training will be provided to school management and teachers through the appropriate education support services; however we are now hearing on the grapevine that these very support services are to be decimated from next September.  It is professionally irresponsible to implement this circular without the required resources and training.

IPPN is now a formal education partner and is recognised as the Professional body for Principals in Ireland. It has also gained recognition internationally. This is highlighted by the fact that Virginia O’ Mahony, past president and our Assistant Director, is the incoming President of ICP, the International Confederation of Principals. Congratulations Virginia, it is indeed a great honour for you, for IPPN and for all Principals in Ireland.

Focail Scoir
At last year’s conference, Larry informed us that the celtic tiger was with the taxidermist. I have bad news, Larry – the taxidermist has sent it back, the little bit left worth stuffing is gone to NAMA. There is no doubt that the environment in which we live and work is a difficult one. President McAleese told us in Killarney that ‘Few groups in our society play such a critical role as you do as shapers of individual and collective destinies and as frontline absorbers of major change’. Children have a right to the very best education that we can give them. We must continue to provide an environment where they can grow and where every teacher can make a difference.  Our children may not remember everything that we taught them, but they will always remember how we treated them.

IPPN will be guided by such values. We will be there for each other in 2010 and will continue to be a strong professional voice for all school leaders and an advocate for the children in our schools.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.