28th January 2010 Water Charges may cripple under-funded schools
The introduction of metered water charges from January 1st of this year will place huge pressure on cash strapped school Boards of Management, resulting in greater pressure on parents through increased fundraising and voluntary contributions.
In his address to 1,000 school Principals at the annual conference of the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN), Mr Seán Cottrell, National Director of IPPN, states 'the dependence on parents to pay for basic operating costs added to the doubling of the cost of water overnight is an indication that the Celtic Tiger never went to school'. While recognising that water is a valuable resource and must be paid for, this should be done on the basis of a departmental transfer of funds between Education and Environment, and not levied directly on schools.
28th January 2010 Primary curriculum not meeting the needs of the child
‘What children are taught should be relevant to their lives and their futures, but does the Revised Curriculum in its present format meet the actual needs of children in 2010?’. This is the question posed by the National Director of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN), Mr Seán Cottrell, in his address to over 1,100 Principals and invited guests at IPPN’s Annual Conference in Citywest Hotel, Dublin, on Friday January 29th.
28th January 2010 Keynote address of Irish Primary Principals' Network President, Mr Pat Goff at IPPN's Conference 2010
Education as a Right
Education has been described as a basic human right since 1948, by the Universal Convention on Human Rights. How do we as Principals ensure that this right to education is upheld? How can we ensure that our pupils do not pay for this recession, and that our schools will provide quality learning, even with fewer resources? Our greatest challenge for this school year is to lead when morale might be low. How we react to this challenge may be our defining moment as leaders. There is a saying that ‘A positive attitude may not solve all of your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort’. Difficult as it may be, we have to lead by example. The key message in any school is respect. We have to assure our colleagues that they are respected and valued.
29th January 2010 Work-to-rule directive puts Principals in impossible position
The recent work-to-rule directive places Principals in over 3,500 schools in an impossible situation, states Mr Seán Cottrell, National Director of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) in his keynote address to 1,000 Principals at the annual IPPN conference in Citywest Hotel, Dublin today Friday 29th January.
Principals have onerous legal and statutory responsibilities and are accountable for their duty of care to children. Some recent work to rule directives could result in principals having to make hard choices between their legal responsibility or care of children and a union directive.
