E-scéal 13th February 2025 - Staffing and SET Allocation Circulars & Applications for Review
- Published: 26 February 2025
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Planning Prompts
This week, the Planning Prompts are particularly short. This is deliberate as, next week, schools will be taking either part or all of the week as the mid-term break. As a school leader, you will be encouraging staff to make the most of this time to rest and enjoy time with family and friends. It is vital that you also take this time to replenish yourself. Some prompts are included here to help prepare for next week’s break. However, there will be things you have to do now that cannot wait until after mid-term. Bain taitneamh agus tairbhe as an mbriseadh meán-téarma.
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Staffing and SET Allocation Circulars & Applications for Review
The annual staffing circular (0011/2025) and related appendices and SET Allocation circular (0004/2025) issued to schools on Tuesday 11th February. The combination of the two circulars details the total allocation of teaching staff to schools for the 2025/26 school year and the rationale that underpins that allocation. The following is an overview of the key points.
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E-scéal 6 February 2025 - Latest DE and stakeholder updates
- Published: 06 February 2025
Planning Prompts
At this time of the year, schools are arranging matches and various sporting events where transport will be required for pupils. The Board will need to discuss and make decisions regarding the following. Do teachers take children in their cars? Do parents provide transport? Does the school hire buses? Does the school have an account with a local taxi firm? These are just some of the questions the BoM may need to consider in formulating or reviewing a policy where required. The school’s insurance company will provide advice with regard to the liabilities involved.
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E-scéal 30th Jan 2025 - Moving the Dial on Leadership – a twin-track approach
- Published: 06 February 2025
Moving the Dial on Leadership – a twin-track approach
Here we provide an overview of how IPPN is approaching the empowerment of effective and sustainable leadership.
We have responded to member feedback received in our Supports & Services Review and are starting to make aspects of our communication available via additional channels. You can choose below whether to read about, listen to or watch a video on how IPPN is moving the dial on effective and sustainable leadership. We will discuss this further with the National Council at its meeting in March. Please feed back to your local representatives in your county, or directly to IPPN.
E-scéal 23rd Jan - SET Deployment Circular and Guidelines
- Published: 23 January 2025
Planning Prompts
A person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated, and a person who is appreciated will always do more than what is expected. As a school leader, there is much you can do to make the school community a place of positivity, creating a climate where staff are valued for their contributions and where the desire to continue contributing and striving for success is maintained.
Professional Guidance: SET Deployment Circular and Guidelines
The Guidelines underpinning circular 64/2024 (which revise and replace those issued in 2017) provide comprehensive information on the deployment of Special Education Teaching (SET) resources, as well as information on
- the principles underpinning the SET model
- the roles and responsibilities of school management and staff
- the problem-solving process for identification of need, planning interventions and reviewing the response to interventions.
This summary highlights what school leaders need to be aware of, including:
- Resources to support Effective Practice in Key Areas
- Deployment of SET resources, potential cases of incorrect deployment
- External supports.
E-scéal 16th Jan 2025 - Programme for Government – Education Priorities
- Published: 16 January 2025
Programme for Government – Education Priorities
IPPN welcomes the commitment in the Education of the new Programme for Government to the trialling of ‘new administrative supports and arrangements for principals and boards of management to reduce the non-educational aspect of their workloads’ as well as plans to ‘introduce a new national Small Schools Project for all 1,300 small primary schools to protect these school communities and develop new administrative supports‘. This has been a core focus of our advocacy work in recent years, as highlighted in our Sustainable Leadership reports.
We also welcome the commitment to the provision of additional supports for schools and boards of management in stating that the Government will, among a number of other initiatives over its lifetime:
