IPPN

Published: 06 September 2023

The position paper highlights challenges relating to the allocation of resources to schools to meet additional needs, including:

• Planning for, supporting and resourcing schools to meet special needs
• How allocations are compromised by inaccurate or out of date data
• The inadequacy of the exceptional review process
• The impact of the shorter timeframe for the admissions process
• The lack of transparency with regard to how allocations are calculated
• The additional complexity of resourcing Special Schools.

The paper also outlines the key recommendations to resolve these challenges. Together, implementation of these recommendations would have a profound impact on the capacity of schools to meet the additional needs of vulnerable students and would also reduce the frustrations and stresses caused by the current processes and procedures. The latter is a key aim of IPPN’s Sustainable Leadership report ‘Primary School Leadership: A case for urgent action – A roadmap towards sustainability’.
Impact

The position paper was well received by key stakeholders – the Department of Education Special Education Section and the National Council for Special Education, who wanted an opportunity to engage directly with school leaders to understand the issues and the proposals in more detail. This resulted in the establishment of a DE Focus Group on SEN resourcing and appeals, which includes members of IPPN’s Board of Directors and the Advocacy & Communications sub-committee of the National Committee. The first meeting was held on 25th August. Further discussions are anticipated this term.

Click here to view the position paper 

Development of the Position Paper
In early 2023, the Advocacy & Communications (A&C) committee of the IPPN National Council chose as its priority area of focus the issue of ‘SEN Resources, Allocations & Appeals’.

The Committee is chaired by the Chairperson of IPPN’s Board of Directors, Catríona O’Reilly, and supported by Sustainable Leadership Coordinator, Brian O’Doherty, and IPPN Advocacy & Communications Manager, Geraldine D’Arcy. Between spring and early summer, a sub-group of Committee members worked tirelessly to produce a position paper on this issue, with input from IPPN Board and staff members.

IPPN’s leadership has been using the resulting position paper in its advocacy work with key stakeholders, including in discussions around IPPN’s Budget 2024 submission

Published: 06 September 2023

The DE has revised and updated the 2017 Child Protection Procedures. A summary of the changes made is outlined in Appendix 5 to the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools (revised 2023).

The following is a brief summary of the changes and immediate priorities to be considered in the Board of Management’s scheduled review of procedures. Child Protection is the responsibility of the Board of Management and is not solely a matter for the school principal.

The more noteworthy changes for the Board to consider immediately are:

1. Adoption by the Board of the new procedures at their next BoM meeting
   
2. Implementation of the anonymisation/redaction protocols
   
3. Use of the new safeguarding and risk assessment template (see below).

Section 9.5.3 has additional text to guide anonymisation and redaction of all records provided to the board under 9.5.2 to ensure the identities of any children and any other parties, including the member of school personnel to whom the concern or report relates are not disclosed. Note: Where immediate action is required (defined in procedures), anonymisation/redaction is not required.

The purpose of this change is to strengthen the focus of BoMs on oversight i.e. satisfying themselves that the DLP / DDLP has acted in accordance with the Procedures, rather than any emphasis on children, families or school personnel.

The Child Safeguarding Statement (CSS) and Risk Assessment (RA) is now combined into one document - Mandatory Template 1. BoMs must use this Template when revising their CSS and RA during the school year.

The revised Procedures refer to Tusla’s secure web portal for reporting concerns and including a link to the portal. Some schools may not be aware of this portal and should now create an account on the portal to be used if required. The school’s password to the portal should be shared with those who may have to use it.

The updated procedures take account of the Addendum to Children First, which deals with online safety.

IPPN’s Child Protection Resource Bundle will be updated to include these amendments as soon as possible and shared via E-scéal.

Click here to view/download the revised Child Protection Procedures 2023

Published: 15 March 2023

Work is ongoing in the DE on the development of guidance documents for schools on the implementation of the Free School Book Scheme, announced in Budget 2023. IPPN welcomes and fully supports this initiative and is anxious to ensure its successful and effective implementation.

However, our evidence/research informed analysis of the current reality of primary school leadership in the Sustainable Leadership report clearly demonstrates that school leadership capacity and effectiveness are systematically and irrefutably undermined by the number of tasks and responsibilities that are ascribed to school leaders that have nothing to do with their core purpose. Not only does this increase their considerable workload but it also means that they are consistently deflected from their core purpose which renders them less effective and undermines the sustainability of their roles.

Read more ...

Published: 15 August 2022

At last year’s autumn meetings, we flagged the fact that we had initiated a review of the governance of IPPN, as it was one of the stated priorities in our strategic plan for the period 2021 to 2025. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the structure of IPPN, from individual member to the Board of Directors, is best serving the needs of our members, in keeping with our stated aims.

In the course of the review, a number of important themes emerged, including the importance of

• building capacity within the network in terms of getting greater numbers involved in the work of IPPN as well as identifying capacity to contribute at National Council and Board level
• ensuring the meaningful and practical involvement of the National Council to better serve the needs of members.

In the May edition of Leadership+, I reported that there was a resoundingly positive response from the Board and the National Council to the proposals for the expansion of the Council in terms of its numbers and remit. Accordingly, amendments to IPPN’s Constitution were drafted to action those proposals and the National Council approved those amendments at an EGM in June.

So, what’s new? Well, at our autumn meetings this year, we will be seeking to elect three National Council representative for each City/County Network. Each of those National Council reps will serve on one of the three committees of the Council that are being formed to ensure their direct impact on the work of IPPN. The focus of those committees is on:

• advocacy & communications (submissions, position papers, publications, etc.)
• professional learning for leadership (CPD, leadership support, etc.)
• e-services (website, networking, sub-seeker, educationposts.ie, etc.).

National Council representatives will serve for a term of three years and can seek to be elected for one further three-year term. Further detail on the new City/County Networks and on how the rotation of Council members will work in practice will be shared at the autumn meetings. If more than one nomination is received for a specific role (for example the National Council rep to serve on the e-services committee), a postal ballot will be organised with all those present at the meeting being eligible to vote.

The City/County Network structure is being introduced to ensure that we get greater numbers of school leaders involved, to develop the capacity of the network as a whole. Nothing will change for 23 counties but in Cork, Galway and Dublin we are creating networks in each of the local authority areas. So, in Cork and Galway there will be two networks and in Dublin there will be four. We will be seeking to elect three National Council representatives in each of these areas. In total, across the country we will have 31 City/County Networks with a potential 93 National Council representatives.

We very much hope that this new expanded Council will encourage those of you who may have an interest in becoming more involved in IPPN and its work, to do so. Ideally, we would love to get a balance of teaching, administrative and deputy principals on our Council, as it is vitally important that those individual perspectives inform our work.

We look forward to meeting you at the autumn meetings as we gather in person for the first time in three years.

Le meas

Brian O’Doherty,
IPPN President