intouchnov2013.pdf

Issue No 139November 2013ISSN 1393-4813 (Print)ISSN 2009-6887 (Online)

Budget 2014

Section 37 submissionNorthern Ireland newsSubsearch upgraded

Newteachers

InTouch November 2013 3

GENERAL SECRETARYS COMMENT

Keeping in TouchInteractive dialogue with members, and key news items

ast June Ruair Quinn, Minister for Educationand Skills, put a fairly large increase in primary

class sizes on the budget agenda. Havingreversed a decision to reduce resource teachinghours to special needs pupils under pressure fromthe INTO, he let it be known that an increase inclass sizes at primary was one way to pay for it.

That was a challenge the INTO Executive couldnot ignore and, at the margins of the ICTU Con-ference in Belfast, a special CEC meeting drew upa campaign plan for the rst six weeks of thisschool year. Before the school year started HeadOce sta and CEC members had it ne-tunedand ready to roll out.

A nationwide series of well publicised publicmeetings brought the matter to the fore. A post-card campaign with other education partnershighlighted the need to protect primary education.An intensive campaign of lobbying of publicrepresentatives throughout the country pushedthe issue well up the political agenda. The resultwas that class size did not feature on the list of cuts

imposed in the budget.However, the campaign was not a complete

victory. While we did succeed in stopping furtherincreases to the stang schedule in small schoolswe did not manage the reversal of increases announced two years ago. This issue will be discussed by the CEC later this month.

The result of six weeks hard work by INTOmembers is that Irelands classrooms will not be even more overcrowded and up to a 1,000 additional jobs will become available next year.This is of major signicance to NQTs who are featured in this edition of InTouch.

To everyone who played a part in this campaign,no matter how small, I extend my thanks and congratulations. It clearly shows what INTOmembers can do when challenged to campaignon issues that matter.

Meeting the challenge

SheilaNunan,GeneralSecretary,and NoelWard,DeputyGeneralSecretary/GeneralTreasurerparticipatein a recentLetterkennyBranchmeeting viaSkype.

L

3 EditorialMeeting the challenge onclass size.

What you need toknow

7 Budget 2014. 9 Section 37 submission

Subsearch upgraded. Extra resource teachers. 10 things you should

know about Budget 2014.

10 Connect Want to jobshare? Interested in a teacher

exchange?

Tell us what you think byletter or text message. 50 forbest letter published. Keep up-to-date via Facebook, Twitter,website or RSS feed

In the News13 Education conference to

discuss numeracy. Northern Oce

expansion. Like to be on a National

Committee?14 DES consultation on

inclusiveness in schools. Surrogacy and maternity

leave: conicting opinions. Calcutta teachers visit

Head Oce.15 INTO accounts: funds

and responsibilities.16 News and reports from

Principals and Deputy Principals Conference.

19 In the MediaMedia coverage of class sizecampaign.

20 INTO LearningUtilise your Croke Parkhours for whole-school CPD.

21 Membership PlusHave you registered yet?Free new mobile app.

22 Solidarity Solidarity Summer

School now in its 5th year.

Keeping InTouch INTO News

InTouch General Editor: Sheila NunanEditor: Tom OSullivanAssistant Editor: Lori KealyEditorial Assistants: Selina Campbell, Ashling

Lynch, Cara KirwanAdvertising: Mary Bird Smyth, Ashling LynchDesign: David CookePhotography: Moya Nolan, ShutterstockCorrespondence to: The Editor, InTouch,

INTO Head Oce, Vere Foster House,35 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

Telephone: 01 804 7700Fax: 01 872 2462LoCall: 1850 708 708Email: [email protected]: http://www.into.ieInTouch is published by the Irish NationalTeachers Organisation anddistributed to members and educationalinstitutions. InTouch is the most widely

circulated education magazine in Ireland.Articles published in InTouch are also availableon our website www.into.ie

The views expressed in this journal are thoseof the individual authors and are not necessarilyendorsed by the INTO.

While every care has been taken to ensurethat the information contained in thispublication is up to date and correct, noresponsibility will be taken by the Irish NationalTeachers Organisation for any error whichmight occur.

Except where the Irish National TeachersOrganisation has formally negotiatedagreements as part of its services to members,inclusion of an advertisement does not implyany form of recommendation. While everyeort is made to ensure the reliability ofadvertisers, the INTO cannot accept liability forthe quality of goods and services oered.

Contents

Information andadvice for NQTs pgs 27 - 33

Class size pgs 7,9

Nanoscience pg 45

Maths calculations pg 52

4 InTouch November 2013

Bumper CrosswordWin a Christmas hamper courtesy of

Comhar Linn pg 62

23 School LeadershipLeadership in challengingtimes seminars forprincipals.

24 Healthy LivingHealthy hair with henna.

25 Financial Advice Salary protection

products. Are you paying too much

for credit?

27 Tips and advice for NQTs. Louise OKeee writes

about her own experience as an NQT.

28 Working as a professional.29 Achieving a work-life

balance.30 Short-term and weekly

planning.31 Organising your

classroom.32 Your assessment folder.33 Preparing for parent-

teacher meetings.

35 Childrens sight problems.36 St Ciarans Peregrini make

a signicant journey to Zambia.

37 Tributes to deceased teachers.

38 The forgotten mourners Childrens Grief AwarenessDay is on 21 November.

39 Celebrating World Teachers Day at Filte.

40 Digital Schools of Distinction programme launched.

Creagh NS honours teachers camogie win.

41 Unite for quality education

Early childhood gathering. Vere Foster lecture.

42 Junior Entrepreneur Programme.

43 Internet Safety inPrimary SchoolAdvice from PDST.

44 Arts EducationPartnershipSt Patricks Collegecollaborates with TEAM.

45 NanoWOW!Bayside SNS teacher andAMBER develop sciencepack for schools.

48 Media EducationDr Marian Henry on howwe can encourage childrento become discerningmedia users.

52 Towards FormalCalculationsMaths tips from DrLorraine Harbison.

56 The SchoolWoodland GardenSESE tips from PaddyMadden.

58 Irish ResourcesTips from COGG.

59 Book Reviews Sounds good phonics Guide to writing,

punctuation and grammar.

61 NoticeboardUpcoming events.

62 Comhar LinnCrosswordBumper crossword thismonth. Win a Christmashamper.

63 Scoilnet PanelResources for schools.

INTO Advice Finishing TouchesTeaching Matters


November 2013

Newsdesk

Northern Ireland News

Newly Qualied Teachers

Aine OToole Navan Branch Secretary,meets newly qualied teachers at arecent National Induction Projectsession in Navan Education Centre.INTO representatives visited NIPsessions around the country in Octoberto meet NQTs. Aine (centre) is pictured

with Mchal Baoill, Katie Curtin, Maria Murphy andDenise Dunne. Photographer: Jenny Matthews

orn Cover pic

Media education pg48

Subsearch upgraded pg 9

Watch out for thissymbol in InTouch newssections. It means thenews item may be ofinterest to membersboth North and South

Budget 2014 7

Section 37 submission 9

Subsearch upgraded 9

Newly qualied teachers 27

Northern Ireland news 35

orn On the cover

The school woodlandgarden pg 57

Principals and DeputyPrincipals Conference pg 16

Register for MembershipPlus pg 21

TenChristmas gift

packs to be wonMol an Oigecompetition

pg 60


Keeping InTouch

Budget yields 895 extraprimary teachers

Previous Budgetmeasuresimpacting in 2014

The allocation for 2014 also takes account of savings deriving from savings measures announcedin previous Budgets.

Teachers

Teacher allocation measures introduced in earlierBudgets will also impact on teacher numbers inschools in 2014. These include the changes in Budget 2012 announced to the staffing schedulesfor smaller primary schools with up to four teach-ers. This change will see approximately 75 postslost in 2014. A further 80 primary posts will be loston foot of the Budget 2011 decision to reduce language support posts over a four year period.

Student contribution

As signalled in Budget 2013 the student contribu-tion, at 2,500 for the 2013/14 academic year willrise by a further 250 in each of the 2014/15 and2015/16 academic years, to a maximum of 3,000.

Capitation grants

On foot of school funding cutbacks in Budget 2012,funding for capitation and related grants toprimary and post-primary schools in 2014 will bereduced by 1%. The overall cut will be achieved by areduction in the standard capitation rates, withother related grant rates remaining unchanged.The new standard mainstream capitation rates in2014 will be 173 for primary and 301 for postprimary.

Under the education provisions of Budget2014 announced in October, an extra 895primary teachers will be recruited nextyear to cater for increasing enrolments andprovision for pupils with special educationneeds. The INTO welcomed the fact thatthere was no change to the stang sched-ule in larger schools. However, INTOGeneral Secretary Sheila Nunan said it wasa matter of grave concern that in two,three and four teacher schools that class

sizes were being increased again. Teachersare frontline sta in the education sector,whether in small rural schools or large urban ones, said Sheila.

The INTO led a signicant lobbyingcampaign against proposed cuts in therun up to the Budget which consisted ofpublic meetings, a postcard campaign toTDs, signicant media coverage andmeetings with public representatives. TheINTO had argued that increases to Irish

class sizes would undermine initiatives inschools including literacy and numeracy,School Self Evaluation and antibullying.

As well as additional teachers, the education budget for the next school yearalso provides for the introduction of seedcapital for book rental schemes at a rate of150 per pupil in DEIS schools and 100in non DEIS schools. There is also an additional 9million for the implementationof the literacy and numeracy strategy.

Parents, teachers and management representatives in Ennis, at one of the many ClassSize meetings organised around the country in September.

Estimated changes in teacher numbersin schools for 2014/15 school year

Primary sector(posts)

Estimated additional posts to cater for increased demographicsand provision for additional resource teachers +1050

Job losses from previous budget measures (small schoolsand language support) 155

Estimated net changes in overall number of posts +895

The INTO is delighted to announce the launch of thenew and improved INTO SubSearch website whichwent live on Thursday 24 October.

Subsearch offers a facility to connect availableteachers with substitute posts nationwide. Theimproved site hasnew featuresincluding verificationof Teaching Councilnumbers, verificationof roll numbers forprincipals whichwill help speed upthe registrationprocess byprepopulating schooldetails a morepowerful reportingtool which willprovide more specificreports to help theINTO to identifysubbing trends. The

revised site includes the location of all primaryschools throughout the country. The upgrade alsoimproves ease of use on smartphones and tablets.

Register on subsearch at Subsearch.into.ie. Findthe mobile website at msub.into.ie


Keeping InTouch

1There will be an extra 895 primary teachersemployed in the next school year.2 The president and general secretary wishto thank all members involved in therecent class size campaign.

3 The changes announced in Budget 2011 forsmaller schools will come in to eect but theINTO will continue to campaign against it.

4The extra teachers arise because of nochange to stang schedule for larger

schools and for extra provision for pupils withspecial education needs.

5The capitation grant in the next school yearwill be 173 per pupil.6A book rental grant scheme will be given toschools on the basis of 150 per child in DEISand 100 per child in non DEIS schools.

7Stang and grants in DEIS schools areretained at present levels.

89m is allocated to implement the literacyand numeracy strategy next year.9The student contribution at third level willincrease by a further 250 to 2,750 for thenext academic year, and a further 250 in thefollowing year.

10 Further details of the Budget areavailable under theBudget 2014 heading on theINTO website.

10 THINGS you should know about Budget 2014

Subsearch website upgraded

INTO makes submission on Section 37of Employment Equality ActsSection 37 of the Employment EqualityActs provides, in relation to school em-ployees, that an institution whose envi-ronment promotes religious values doesnot discriminate (a) if it treats a personmore favourably on the religion groundwhere it is reasonable to do so to main-tain its religious ethos, and (b) if it takesreasonably necessary action to preventan employee or prospective employeefrom undermining its religious ethos.

The INTO opposed the introduction ofsuch exclusions for certain institutionswhen employment equality legislation was

rst published in the form of a Bill, andcontinues to view Section 37(1) as unnec-essary and inappropriate. In addition,teachers in certain circumstances viewthese provisions as threatening, partly dueto their lack of denition and their poten-tially wide scope, especially in the case ofSection 37(1) (b). The INTO also called forthe deletion of S.37.1 in its submission tothe Forum on Pluralism and Patronage.

The INTO has now made a submissionto the Equality Authority in relation to aproposed amendment to s37. The submis-sion is available on the INTO website.

NCSE announcesextra resourceteachingallocations

The National Council for Special Ed-ucation (NCSE) announced on 21October the outcome of applicationsreceived for special education sup-port up to 20 September last. The result is that over 260 full timeequivalent posts are allocated at pri-mary level.

This will bring the total allocationof special education posts to over5,700 in approximately 3750 schoolsat primary and post primary level.

NCSE Chief Executive TeresaGrin said:The NCSE is delightedthat additional posts have beenmade available in the Budget to meet increased demand for supportdespite the dicult economic times.We also have a small number ofposts left to deal with emergency applications during the year.

INTO General Secretary SheilaNunan said that the additional allocations would be welcomed inschools. She said that INTO opposi-tion to the threatened cuts to re-source teaching hours before thesummer meant that children wouldnow get support needed. She alsosaid, however, that previous cutsmeant that allocations were only at85 of what they should be. On thepositive side Sheila said thatthe announcement would be good newsfor the hundreds of qualied teacherswithout regular work.


I dteagmhil

A scheme to allow permanent teachers totemporarily exchange posts was intro-duced in September 1994. The full termsof the scheme are outlined in DES Circu-lar 12/97 which should be consulted forfull details.

Seeking an exchange?Each teacher wishing to participate inan exchange must nd a partner toexchange with. As in previous years, inorder to facilitate teachers making contactwith a partner for the purpose of anexchange, a list of teachers interested inan exchange will be compiled in INTOHead Oce.

Teachers who wish to have their nameson the list must email their details toHead Oce by Friday, 17 January 2014.

The completed list of candidatesfor exchange will be available in theMembers Area of the INTO websiteby close of business on Monday,20 January 2014.

Please note: The INTO has no role inmatching teachers or approving exchanges. The purpose of the INTO list is simply to facilitate teachers makingcontact with potential partners.

Applications for teacher exchange mustbe submitted to boards of management

on or before 1 March 2014.

If you wish to be included on theteacher exchange register pleaseprovide all of the following detailsby email to [email protected] :

1. Your name2. Your school location3. Mobile no.4. Email address5. Seeking transfer to6. I wish to be contacted bynnmobile onlynn email onlynn either

Interested in teacher exchange?

LIVE JOB SHARING REGISTERNOW AVAILABLE

Teachers interestedin job sharingcan now avail of a FREE live registerprovided by INTO Head Office in theMembers Area of the INTO website until28 February 2014.If you wish to be included in this register, or view details ofpersons wishing to jobshare, log into the Members Area ofwww.into.ie. You may need to register to enter this area ifyou are accessing for the first time.Details can also be emailed to [email protected] register will be updated on a daily basis and is FREE tomembers.However, if you wish to place an advertisement for job sharing in the December or January/February issues ofInTouch, usual rates will apply. The ad copy deadline for theDecember 2013 issue is 8 November, and 6 January for the January/February 2014 issue. Please email [email protected] note: The closing date for job-sharing applicationsto boards of management is 1 March 2014.

Stay informed

Get news on the move at our mobilewebsite m.into.ie

Check our website www.into.ie

Subscribe to the INTO enewsletterinto.newsweaver.ie

INTO NewsThe Irish National Teachers Organisation whos who, whats new, and whats happening


INTO Education Conference todiscuss numeracyThis years Consultative Conferenceon Education will take place on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 Novem-ber 2013 in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise.

The conference will focus on thetheme of Numeracy in the PrimarySchool.

Conference AppIf you are a delegate to the confer-ence make the most of the event byusing the INTO conference app.Once downloaded, delegates will be

able to view the agenda, nd details of speakers and navigatetheir way to the venue. Duringthe conference you will be ableto receive reminders of keyevents and news alerts.

Download to your iPhone oriPad from iTunes or to your Android phone fromplay.google.com/store

If you already have the app onyour phone from previous INTOconferences you will just need totap the update button.

INTO Northern Oce expansion and new training facility

Reviewing plans and progress on building workto the extension of INTOs Belfast Oce (fromno.23 College Gardens into no.24) are:Back (l to r) Barney Magill (INTO Belfast),Christy Kilcoyne (CJK Building & MaintenanceContracting), Niall Bowers (Quantity Surveyor),

Gerry Murphy Northern Secretary, INTO).Front (l to r) Nuala ODonnell (Senior Ocial,INTO), Lisa McVeigh (DMVF Architects),Grinne Cleary (INTO Accountant), NoelWard (Deputy General Secretary/GeneralTreasurer).

Like to beon anationalcommittee?

National Committeeelections noticeThe attention of members isdrawn to Rule 40 of the INTORules and Constitution whichgoverns elections to the offices ofpresident, vice-president, districtrepresentatives on the CentralExecutive Committee, BenefitFunds Committee (Divisions 3,4and 5), National Appeals Panel(Divisions 3,4 and 5), EqualityCommittee and the Principalsand Deputy PrincipalsCommittee.

Rule 40 states that a membermay not be nominated for theabove positions unless thatmember has given notice inwriting of intention to be acandidate to the GeneralSecretary not later than 5 p.m. onthe first working day in Decemberproceeding, for publication in theBulletin issued prior to thebranch annual generalmeetings.

A full list of members who haveindicated their intention to becandidates in accordance withRule 40 will be published on theINTO website in December.

Current members of committeeswho do not intend seeking re-election are requested to giveample notice to the branches intheir respective districts.

Nuacht CM


EQUALITY NEWS

The INTO has been invited to make a submission to the DES on inclusiveness inprimary schools. You may already beaware of this consultation because an information leaflet for parents on the topicwas sent to schools last month.

This consultation follows from the recommendations of The Report of the Forum on Pluralism and Patronage. In addition to recommendations about howdemand for alternative patronage mightbe established and the process managed,the report also made a number of recom-mendations about how all primary schools,particularly those in areas where a choiceof patronage is not available or warranted,

might move towards being more inclusiveand showing greater respect for the diversityof pupils now present in them.

The recommendations from The Reportof the Forum in this regard broadly cover:orn Equitable enrolment policies.orn Dealing with opting out of

religion teaching.orn School policies on the

conduct of religious andcultural celebration.

orn Responsibilities of boardsto reflect and upholddiversity.

orn Dealing with complaints.The full report of the

Forum, and the information leaflet forparents is available on the DES website.

The DES is seeking the views of INTO inrelation to these matters, and we wouldinvite members to participate through

sending their views to DeirdreOConnor, INTO EqualityOfficer ([email protected])before 15 November. The DESis also seeking examples ofbest practice in promotinginclusiveness in schools, andwe would be very interested inhearing from schools whowould like to be considered assuch.

DES consultation on inclusiveness in schools

The ECJ recently released what appear to be contradictory opinions in relation to surrogacy and maternity leave. The rst case, that of Ms Z, a teacher in acommunity school in Ireland was refusedmaternity leave by her school when shebecame a mother following the birth ofher child through a surrogacy arrange-ment. The matter was referred to the ECJby the Equality Tribunal. The teacherclaimed that the refusal discriminatedagainst her on grounds of gender, familystatus and disability.

In an opinion issued on 25 September,the A.G. Wahl stated that she could notrely on the protection of the PregnancyWorkers Directive (92/85), as she had not

been pregnant. However, he then consid-ered whether she had been treated lessfavourably than a comparable male worker(a male parent of a child) and stated thatshe had not been so treated. He also ruledout discrimination on the grounds of disability (she was unable to have a child),on the basis that this was not a conditionwhich prevented her from full and eec-tive participation in her professional life.

On the same day, A.G. Kolkott issuedan opinion which seems to conict withthis, in relation to C.D., an NHS worker inEngland, who also became a motherthrough a surrogacy arrangement. Unlikein Ireland, surrogacy is permitted in certain circumstances in the UK, but

there are no specic rules on maternityleave. A.G. Kolkott took the view that intended mothers, in particular those who are breastfeeding as C.D. was, are entitled to some protection under thePregnant Workers Directive. He also considered the importance of promotingthe special relationship between motherand child. However, he stated that thesurrogate mother and the intended mother must share the maternity leave.

Both of these statements are opinions,rather than binding decisions, and theseapparently contradictory opinions willhave to be resolved by the ECJ in duecourse.

Visitors from CalcuttaThe Hope Foundation works mainlyfor the protection and welfare ofstreet children in Kolkata (Calcutta).Froebel College of Education (NUIMaynooth) has been involved withHope in an education project for anumber of years. The project is supported by the INTO SolidarityFund and by INTO Comhar Linn CreditUnion.

Recently, three Hope workers,teachers and mentors from Kolkatavisited INTO Head Office to discuss

the project. Pictured are (front, l to r)Madhumita Aditya, Priyanka Mukher-jee and Chaitali Poddar. In meetingSheila Nunan, INTO General Secre-tary, Noel Ward, Deputy General Secretary and official John O'Brien,they were accompanied by FroebelCollege NUIM President MarieMcLoughlin, Head of EducationSamie O'Neill, and lecturers/projectparticipants Laura Thornton, TrionaStokes and Brian Tubbert, togetherwith Brendan Kelly of Comhar Linn.

Conflicting opinions on surrogacy and maternityleave from the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

INTO News


INTO accounts information and insights: Article 2

Funds and responsibilitiesOur Rules and Constitutionspecify that INTO income is tobe apportioned over a numberof funds. Each is establishedfor a particular purpose andexpenditure under each fund isgoverned by INTO rule.

Funds detailed in INTOrules (Rules 106 117), togeth-er with expenditure provisions,are set out below:orn General Fund by far the

largest INTO fund, thismeets all administrative expenditure associated withINTO oces and commit-tees, legal expenditure onlower-cost cases, AnnualCongress and all conferencecosts, plus aliation andprofessional fees.

orn Publication Fund coversall administrative, printingand postage costs associatedwith production of theINTO magazine, reports andother publications.

orn Contingencies & Legal Fund pays for ballot, campaignand related expenses, includingstrike pay in circumstanceswhere the CEC (Central Ex-ecutive Committee) autho-rises strike action, and formajor legal expenditure.

orn Benevolent Fund used for paymentof grants including death grants on thedeath of a spouse or civil partner of amember, or on the death of an INTOmember, and grants in exceptional cases of hardship where the BenetFunds Committee (BFC) is satisedthat circumstances justify this.

orn Political Fund provides for grants towards the expenses incurred by amember seeking election as a publicrepresentative or to the GoverningBodies of Universities.

orn Solidarity Fund supports the devel-opment of educational initiatives fordeveloping countries (including supporting INTO members involved in relevant development work).

orn Capital Expenditure Fund used tomeet major expenditure incurred in theprovision and maintenance of INTOproperty.

orn Training Fund meets costs incurredby the INTO in providing trainingcourses for oce holders (includingsta representatives and branch ocers) and members.

orn Professional Development Fund meets costs incurred by INTO in promoting the professional develop-ment of members, including throughthe organisation of CPD courses.

orn Benefits & Services Fund covers expenses incurred by and for INTO inconnection with providing benets andservices to members; a signicantspend currently is on the MembershipPlus card scheme.

For the year 2012, the largest spendingoccurred through the General and thePublications funds (39 and 10 of INTOexpenditure, respectively). The smallestexpenditure was through the Political andthrough the Benets and Services funds(0.02 and 0.8 of spending respectively).

The remaining six fundsaccounted for the otherspending.

Responsibility forexpenditurePolicy responsibility for expen-diture generally rests with theelected Central ExecutiveCommittee (CEC). In speciccases, INTO rules also autho-rise the elected Benet FundsCommittee (BFC) to haveoversight. The BFC has exclu-sive responsibility for spendingunder the Benevolent Fund. Inaddition, legal expenditure under both the General andContingencies and Legal fundsmay only be authorised on foot of application to a jointmeeting of the CEC and BFC.

Day to day INTO expendi-ture is authorised by the headof the relevant section withinthe INTO oces and then examined and sanctioned bythe Finance Section which includes the INTO generaltreasurer/deputy general secre-tary and our accountant.INTO rules also prescribe anumber of checks and balancesin respect of supervision of

accounts. For example. the Examiners ofAccounts (see photograph) are appointedon an annual basis by the CEC and meetquarterly, while the Accounts Committeeis elected from INTO districts.

A full overview of the oversight, auditand reporting provisions regarding INTOaccounts will be provided in the next InTouch.

Niamh Coyle (Monaghan) and Joe Carmody (Ennis), Examiners of Accounts, reviewing the INTO half-yearly accounts 2013

PDP Conference


Principals and Deputy PrincipNews and reports from PDP Conference 2013

Its really important that principal teachersfeel that they belong and have a placewithin the INTO and work within thestructures of the INTO, said GeneralSecretary Sheila Nunan in her keynoteaddress to the conference. Sheila said shewanted a conversation with school leadersabout how the INTO might reposition itselfto support school leaders more effectively.It is time for us to commence thatdiscussion with each other about whetheror not the INTOs structures and way ofdoing business meet the needs of schoolleaders today.

The General Secretary acknowledged theimpact of recent cutbacks on schools. Shesaid that school leaders have, in addition to salary cuts, seen resources significantly depleted in schools. That all of this shouldhave happened when the 2007 Benchmark-ing Award was poised for implementationonly adds to the injury.

But she was very clear that the next timetrade unions are in discussions it will beabout the implementation of the restora-tion commitments contained in the agree-ment.

Sheila said that the INTO had gonethrough a very difficult democratic processin relation to the Haddington Road Agree-

ment and that many school leaders were af-fected by the measures for those earningover 65,000. Returning to the theme ofschool leadership she said she believedthat, in government and among the public,there was a clear consensus about the com-plexity of school leaders work in terms ofadministration, budgeting, managing human resources, being accountable forteaching and learning, quasi-marketing andlocal fundraising activities.

But, she said, despite the excessive paperwork, the constant change and thebureaucracy it was important to be positive.One of the things that struck me veryforcibly on 1 September this year is theenormous trust and confidence that theIrish people put in their primary school sys-tem. I think it is a tribute to our profession,to your role as school leaders that, notwith-standing the pressure, we do not have ma-jor stories about crises in our primary schoolsystem. It is a very significant fact that, na-tionally and internationally, the quality ofIrish primary education and teachers is well-recognised.

Sheila said the INTO had to position itselfto be strategically ready to advance policyissues. This, she said, would requiregrounded, well thought out, well argued,

well debated policy positions. She paid tribute to the significant work done by theINTO in the 1990s on school leadership.Such work, she said, delivered release daysfor teaching principals, the lowering of theappointment schedule for administrativeprincipals and a huge increase in middlemanagement.

She said setting the agenda for schoolleadership was more challenging today asthere were other agencies influencing policy.She also pointed to the global influencesshifting the policy focus from the provisionof education to educational outcomes and the justification of expenditure so theprincipal in effect, becomes the accountingofficer ...and if theres one clear trend internationally, it is that principals are required to stand over the quality of teaching and learning in school.

Sheila said the teaching profession couldnot avoid the accountability and evaluationdebate and the INTO, and particularly principals within the INTO, needed to decide where to position ourselves on that.Because if we dont want the metrics andcriteria that are set down in narrow terms,in terms of the performance of pupils, thenwe need to determine what the new metrics and what the new criteria are going

The INTO Biennial Principals and Deputy PrincipalsConference 2013 took place on Friday 27 and Saturday28 September, 2013 in the Killashee House Hotel, CoKildare. The theme of the conference was Schoolleadership at the Crossroads, which addressed key

issues of concern for school leaders including staffing,funding and workload.

The conference was an opportunity for school leadersto examine these and other issues, to share good prac-tice and to examine INTO supports for school leaders.

Sheila Nunan,General Secretary,with BredaFitzgerald,Cathaoirleach of thePDP Committee.

Ultan MacMathunaand Declan Kyne,

Leas Cathaoirleach,of the PDP

Committee.

INTO News


als Conference

Sheila Nunan and Brendan OSullivan with Clare Geogheganand Tony Holland of Prim-Ed.

to be. If we dont want a narrow testing approach, we need to articulate an alterna-tive and stand over it.

Sheila said what was needed was a focuson how the INTO as an organisation can advance that debate. We do need to lookat our structures in the INTO, and ask aquestion, do principal teachers believe thatthe way we do our business in the INTOserves them in engaging in debate on keyissues?

In relation to INTO Principals Fora, Sheilaquestioned how useful they were as a forum for principals. Feedback from Fora officers supported the case for examiningtheir effectiveness. I dont believe weregetting constructive engagement withthem and I think we need to examine howthey are working and if theyre not workingask why. Are they worth retaining, or do weneed to replace them?

Sheila said other issues that needed to beconsidered included the inadequacy ofschool management structures, the recruit-

ment process for principal teachers, the issue of a qualification for leadership, andcomparators in pay including the fact thatprincipal teachers in primary are paid lessthan post primary principals. We can also,in exceptional cases, have a situation wherea principal teacher who has the ultimate responsibility in the school, can be paid lessthat someone else in their staff.

She said the definition of the role ofschool leaders was set out by the EducationAct. Do we need the role more clearly defined? she asked. Sometimes we do,and sometimes we dont, she said.

Its time to research what posts of responsibility should look like, in terms ofsupporting principal teachers. What do we need in terms of back office function,such as administrative and secretarial caretaking support and how should that be delivered? Sheila asked.

The general secretary said the Principalsand Deputy Principals Committee neededto take the subject of school leadership and

give it a root and branch review. She saidthe CEC with the PDC would be looking attrying to set out a framework for develop-ing a review and a new plan for the role ofthe principal teacher.

We cant continue to incrementally nipand tuck as we go along, she said. I think itis time for a fundamental review which wewill start ourselves but will then have to adjoin management when we are readyand then the Department because therewill be resourcing implications, she said.

Concluding her address, she said shewanted to send out a clear message thatthe INTO is an organisation that helps andsupports school leaders. Sheila also high-lighted the statistics in terms of support forprincipals from INTO Head Office and thatsupport continues to be enhanced throughcasework, CPD and policy development.

Enjoying one of the discussion groups at the PDP Conference inKilashee House Hotel, Kildare.

DelegatesIta Cordu,CarmelHume andCarmelDillon attheconference

Photographer: Tommy Clancy. To see photos from theconference visit www.ickr.com/

photos/irishnationalteachersorganisation/

PDP Conference


Some highlights from the discussion groups

Eective school stang

ornWhile delegates generally agreed thatthe NCSE was sincere in its desire to re-form the allocation model, there was awidespread feeling that the DES will tryto turn it into a cost cutting exercise. Re-sponsibility to profile schools and allo-cate resources could lead to furtherworkload.ornThe amount of SEN resources given to aschool should be set for a three-five yearperiod.ornMany delegates raised concerns overCircular 02/05 (SNA additional hours)and the lack of clarity in the languageused. School leaders have not receivedtraining in managing SEN teams and thisshould be sought.ornInfant classes should have a maximumof 20 or 25 with a classroom assistant.PTR should have a regard to the amountof classes in the classroom and theamount of SEN pupils in the room.ornThe 30 September cut-off date needs tobe examined so the system might betterrespond to fluctuations in numbers.ornTeaching principals need a minimum ofone day per week or equivalent hoursrelease time and this allocation shouldbe combined with GAM hours. The lattershould be known well before June.

Eective school management

ornBecause of reductions in capitationfunding and the stopping of the minorworks grant, the majority of schools rep-resented at the conference were run-

ning a deficit. There was consensus thatthe fund-raising activities of schoolsmeans the DES does not have to fundschools properly.ornThere was general agreement on theneed to filter external demands and givepriority to key areas to enable schoolleaders to manage change effectively.ornThe DES should produce model policiesready made for all schools to adaptand/or adopt.ornIt was also suggested that the relation-ship between the principal and theboard of management should be rede-fined with roles and responsibilitiesmade explicit. Principals need profes-sional Human Resources (HR) back-up.ornThe on-going reduction in Posts of Re-sponsibility (PORs) is a major concerngiven the workload associated withschool leadership. The reduction also af-fects succession as unpromoted teach-ers are losing out on opportunities todevelop leadership skills.ornThere was widespread criticism of re-peated requests for the same or similarinformation from the DES and othergroups with whom schools interact.ornThere was discussion about some schoolleaders raising the bar unnecessarily inthe amount of paperwork produced anddemanded of staff. This, it was argued,was having a demoralising effect.ornThe demands placed on school leadersby the new Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT)requirements were widely criticised.ornThere was discussion about some schoolleaders raising the bar unnecessarily inthe amount of paperwork produced anddemanded of staff. This, it was argued,was having a demoralising effect.

ornIn relation to overall workload, it was ar-gued that some principals are their ownworst enemy and that they should sayNo occasionally, concentrating on oneor two things only and doing them well.Having said No to a few things recentlya principal found this liberating!

Eective evaluation ofteaching and learning

ornOn School Self Evaluation (SSE), somedelegates felt that the results/outcomesdidnt justify input but, in general, therewas support for the concept of SSE. Itwas generally agreed that the Depart-ments guidelines on SSE were not userfriendly, were overly complex andschools had to navigate a lot of verbiageto make some practical sense of them.ornSchool leaders reported a positive re-sponse from parents when their childrenwere in the junior end of the schoolsand that there was little feedback fromsenior parents.ornA number of delegates viewed develop-ments in whole school evaluation asbroadly positive, and that while overlystressful, it reinforced the positive as-pects of the school. There was wide-spread criticism that school evaluationwas unfair and unbalanced and did notreport overcrowded class sizes, substan-dard buildings and underfunding.ornConcerns were expressed at how someparents are handling standardised testscores and that these were being usedto compare children, which was damag-ing to young peoples self-esteem.

Delegates at thePDP Conference

Sean McMahon,INTO Vice

President speakingat the PD

Conference.

In printINTO media co-ordinators on Budget2014

Reinforcements will just keep up withbaby boomTeacher Paul Moroney believes the extrateachers will not reduce classroom sizes due to the baby boom. Paul (28), whoteaches in St Patricks Boys NationalSchool in Mallow, Co Cork, welcomed the announcement of up to 1,400 extrateaching jobs at primary and post-primarylevel. The extra teaching jobs are to copewith the projected spike in population,he said. It is good that the class size is notto increase and that we arent losingteachers we are just keeping what wehave in one sense.Irish Independent, 16 October 2013

Pupils and teachers feel the squeezeTHE protection of class sizes may be heralded as a success for Ruair Quinn butwith more than 30 children being taughtin six of its 10 classes, Budget 2014 is noreason to celebrate at Ballybrown NationalSchool. As principal at the school nearPatrickswell on the outskirts of LimerickCity, Joe Lyons acknowledges another hitto stang schedules would have been hisnightmare scenario for sta and pupils.We have 35 in one class this year, because kids simply dont arrive in thesame numbers every year. The reallybright children can get on in any class but theres less individual attention forweaker children, he said.

The preservation of stang will at leastbe good news for the teacher who startedat the school last month, meaning her jobthere is good for another year, but therewont be enough new pupils to appointanother class teacher.Irish Examiner, 16 October 2013

Marlborough Street protest over classsizes

Leniency urged in upcoming budgetSeveral hundred parents, teachers andchildren protested outside the Depart-ment of Education in Dublin yesterdaycalling for no increase to class sizes in theupcoming budget. INTO President Bren-dan OSullivan told attendees at theprotest that the Government had other

choices open to them in the budget thanto balance the books on the backs of chil-dren in our primary schools.The Irish Times, 3 October 2013

Dont make class sizes bigger, say protestersTeachers, parents and pupils braved therain as they gathered outside the Depart-ment of Education to protest against thethreat to class sizes in the Budget.Theprotest was organised by the INTO andwas attended by several hundred people. INTO President Brendan OSullivan toldthe protesters that he was calling uponMr Quinn to not increase pupil-teacherratio in mainstream schools.Irish Independent, 3 October 2013

Department urged to scrap planned education budget cutsINTO General Secretary Sheila Nunansaid they show there is no basis for fur-ther education cuts.When a departmentdoesnt spend its allocated funding, itshouldnt come looking for another roundof cuts. The Minister should protect pri-mary education and maintain class sizes.Irish Examiner, 3 October 2013

Regional meetings

Teachers and parents express angerover class sizesMore than two hundred parents andteachers attended a public meeting in theClanree Hotel on Monday to show theirdisapproval of the expected class size in-crease in the upcoming budget

Michael Weed, member of the INTOsCentral Executive Committee, shared recent gures that more than 16,000Donegal children, 86.6 percent of thecountys primary school population, arealready in classes larger than the EU aver-age

Colm Breathnach, Principal in Drum-keen NS, spoke from the oor as both aparent and a principal. To the Ministerand anyone else that thinks class size does not matter, I ask this; what wouldyou want for your own child?Donegal News.27 September 2013

Fury voiced over class sizesThe threat of more overcrowded classesbrought hundreds of parents and teachersto a public meeting in the NewparkHotel.According to the INTO, 27 of

children in Kilkenny are in supersizeclassrooms of 30 children or more. Thepublic meeting, one of many around the country, drew a large crowd of approximately 350 people...The people ofKilkenny want them to prevent even moreovercrowded classes in primary schools,said local teacher and INTO ExecutiveMember, Joe McKeown.Kilkenny People, 27 September 2013

Leave our schools alone!Kerry parents protest at increases in classsizes... They all spoke at the meeting andI think they went home with sore ears,said INTO representative, Gerard Doyle.Its no good making promises when theycant keep them There are choices, andthey have to come back to our doorsteps.Kerrys Eye, 26 September 2013

Teachers anger at overcrowded classrooms The threat of more overcrowded classesin Co Oaly brought 180 parents andteachers to a public meeting in the Tullamore Court Hotel last Thursdaynight. According to Bryan OReilly ofINTO, 20 percent of children in Co Oaly are in supersize classrooms of 30 children or more...

The people of Oaly want them to prevent even more overcrowded classes inprimary schools, said local teacher andINTO organiser Sandra Noone.Tullamore Tribune, 26 September 2013

INTO to hold Castlebar meeting on classsizesThe INTO is holding a a public meetingin the Welcome Inn Hotel, Castlebar, at 8p.m. on Monday, 30 September on pri-mary-school class sizes... Speaking to theThe Mayo News ahead of the Castlebarmeeting next Monday, Pat Stenson, Mayo Sligo CEC Representative, DistrictFour, said that any moves to save moneyby increasing class sizes would be short-sighted.

Ireland has the second-largest classsizes in the EU, coming only second to theUK.The Mayo News, 24 September 2013

INTO News

In the media



Nuacht CM

INTO LEARNING

Continuous Professional Development packages

Utilise your Croke Park hours for whole-school CPD!Croke Park CPD packages are self-contained whole-school professional development and training packages. Theyaim to support principals and teacherswho wish to use school Croke Park hoursto organise and facilitate whole schoolprofessional development.

The School Self Evaluation packageconsists of three separate whole-schoolCPD sessions each containing a virtualaudio-visual presentation, discussion activities and SSE guidelines and referencematerials.

The three sessions will be staggeredthroughout the 2013/2014 school year.The rst session will commence mid-November, the second session in late January and the third session late March/early April. These sessions will supportschools through the SSE process fromgathering and analysing teaching andlearning evidence and evaluating it to developing an SSE Report and an imple-mentation plan.

Homework between sessions will enable schools to fully benet from thesessions and ensure that the required SSEReport is developed and implemented. Afacilitated discussion forum between sessions will allow schools to seek advice

and to share experiences. This package containing the three

sessions costs 100. For further details andregistration see www.intolearning.ie/cpd-packages. Registration opens Monday, 4November 2013.

Other Croke Park hour CPD packagesinclude:l Child Protection 25.l Bookmaking 25.l Literature Circles 25.l Comprehension 25.

Supporting Literacy Developmentacross the Primary School onlinecourseThe INTO Learning online SupportingLiteracy Development across the PrimarySchool course aims to raise awareness ofwhat is meant by literacy, in particular theoral language, reading and writing aspectsof literacy. The course will link verystrongly to the curriculum and explorestrategies and approaches for literacy development and assessment. The coursewill also include suggestions to integrateand support literacy across a number of curricular areas as well as providing approaches for harnessing ICT to supportliteracy development.

The course will be delivered over fourmodules:l Module 1: Oral language development.l Module 2: Reading development.l Module 3: Writing development.l Module 4: Online resources.

The course is suitable for all teachersacross the primary spectrum but mostparticularly those in the junior/middleclasses, learning support and those wish-ing to obtain an overview of the continuumof literacy development for planning/assessment/whole school CPD purposes.

Course commencementThe course will commence on Monday, 11November 2013 with Module 1. Subsequentmodules will be released on a weekly basis.The course will remain online and accessibleuntil the end of January. A course facilitatorwill provide support for the four weeks ofthe course (11 November 2 December).

Course cost and registrationCourse registration opened on Monday,21 October. The course costs 65 and pay-ment can be made by debit or credit cardby logging onto moodle.intolearning.ie

Branch officers at training

Over 100 INTO branch officers fromaround the country attended two recenttraining events in the INTO LearningCentre. Topics covered included the roleof officers, leadership and delegation,structures and participation, as well asrecruitment and organisation at branchlevel. Branch secretaries also had an ICT training element included in thetraining. These seminars are part of anongoing roll out of training for activistsat district and branch level in the INTO.

Two further sessions for officers willbe held on 7 and 8 November and 21and 22 November next and details havebeen posted on the officer extranet. Aswell as this a number of other initiativesin relation to training, particularly in thecontext of getting younger members in-volved in the Organisation, will be heldduring the course of the current schoolyear.

Noel Ward, Deputy General Secretary addressing branch ocers on current issues at arecent seminar.

INTO News


BENEFITS

Membership Plus your member benet programme

Membership Plus is the benet programme availableto INTO members where you can enjoy up to 50discount at over 650 restaurants, shops, gyms, golfclubs, days out venues and much more.

Oers are available across all areas of the country andinclude such names as Jurys Inn, Stena Line, PizzaHut, wagamama, DID Electrical, Carlton HotelGroup, Argos and many more.

To view the full range of discounts, be kept up to datewith new oers and enter fantastic competitions,simply register your new 2013/2014 Membership Pluscard which was in your September copy of InTouchmagazine.

To register your card, go to http://intoroi.membershipplus.ie and click on theregister button.

We are excited to announcethat can now download ournew free mobile appallowing you to see whatoffers are available closest toyour current location,browse by category, saveyour favourite offers andmuch more.Whether you are out andabout and need to see whereyou can save with your cardor want to see what offersare close to home, our newApp brings over 650 offersto your fingertips.The app is free to downloadfrom the App Store foriPhone users or GooglePlay for Android users.

New app to nd oerson the move

Suggest a venueIf the hottest new restaurant has opened down the road fromyou or your favourite place to shop is not yet in MembershipPlus then visit the Membership Plus website to Suggest a Venue. Our venues team will then work on obtaining a discountwith that company which will then be published on the NewOers page on the Membership Plus Website

On 23 August at the new facility, theCWU Conference Centre on NorthCircular Road, in the heart of Dublin,approximately 100 people gatheredat the fifth Annual ICTU Global Soli-darity Summer School. Given thedate of the commencement of theschool and it being the 1913 cente-nary year, the theme was aptly titled100 years of lockout: Learning fromthe past to shape the future.

The mission of the summer schoolthis year was ambitious, seeking toenhance the engagement of ICTU affiliates with global development,through the lens of the Decent Workagenda. Assisting in this endeavourwas Padraig Yeates, journalist, historianand trade unionist, scheduled to givethe keynote address Rememberingthe Dublin Lockout, 1913, and assessingits impact, along with an array of in-vited guests from Australia, Denmark,Iraq and Bahrain to mention a few.

But first, the Minister of State forTrade and Development, Joe Costello,formally opened the summer schoolwith his own address covering anumber of aspects of the work of IrishAid, inviting the trade union move-ment to engage on a new programmeof volunteerism to assist especiallywith the Africa Strategy. He also confirmed his commitment to pushfor the inclusion of decent work as aMDG in the forthcoming discussionson the post 2015 programme.

Delegates were also welcomed byJohn Douglas, General Secretary ofthe Mandate trade union and Presi-dent of Irish Congress of TradeUnions, and John OBrien, Chair, ICTUGlobal Solidarity Committee and

INTO Official.Following a fascinating keynote

address, the panel discussion wasmoderated by Sheila Nunan, GeneralSecretary, INTO and delegates heardcontributions from Peter Rossmann,Director of International Campaignsand Communications, InternationalUnion of Food, Farm and Hotel Workers(IUF); Gordon rskov Madsen, Execu-tive Member, Danish Union of Teach-ers [DLF] and Alex Bukarica, Legal andIndustrial Director, CFMEU, a largeAustralian construction and miningworkers union. All contributors, froma variety of jurisdictions, detailed experiences where union membershad recently encountered lockouts asa tactic used by employers.

Day two of the school began with apanel discussion, titled Develop-ments since the Rana Plaza disaster,Bangladesh. By invitation, Primark, asa leading clothing retailer in Ireland,outlined their efforts to date to engage on the serious health andsafety matters following the disasterand those relating to compensationfor injured workers and families whowere suffering severe financial depra-vation following the deaths of workersthere. The discussion was chaired byJohn Douglas, General Secretary ofMANDATE, that represents workers in Primark (Penneys) here in Ireland.The company answered serious questions on this matter and took onboard some criticism from delegates.

The variety of workshops filled theremaining hours of the Saturdaymorning ranging from debate on therepressive situation in Bahrain; tradeunionism in the Middle East in

general; development educationin trade unions; internationaltaxation incl. transaction tax; thesituation in Sri Lanka and theDecent Work agenda into thefuture. The final plenary sessionsadded substance and createdfocus to the GS agenda for thecoming year and theannouncement that next yearsschool would be going North,was welcomed with anticipation.

This programme is only able towork when trade unionmembers engage with the issuesand raise their own ideas as well.To this end, the next GlobalSolidarity Champions trainingcourse will be held in Dublin on30 October to 1 November, andany INTO members interestedcan contact [email protected] forfurther details. Travel andaccommodation expenses arecovered by the INTO. Make yourinterest count!

Nuacht CMSOLIDARITY

Solidarity Summer School in its 5th year

Marie Casey attendedthe Global Solidarity

Summer School

John Douglas, President ICTU; Joe Costello, Minister of State; David Joyce,Equality Ocer, ICTU; Fiona Dunne, Global Solidarity Ocer, ICTU; JohnO'Brien INTO Ocial and Chair ICTU GS Committee.


Jalila Al-Salman, actingPresident, Bahraini

Teachers Association


SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

INTO AdviceINTO advice for members on issues of importance

Due to a misprint in the October issue we arereprinting the recruitment criteria table in thisissue of InTouch.

The table shows the qualifications,registration and probationary status necessaryfor appointment to particular posts in schools.Under the terms of Circular 40/2010appointments of new teachers to posts forwhich they are not fully qualified may haveimplications for salary. Appointing anunprobated teacher to a post in which theycannot be probated and are not eligible mayhave implications for that teacher's ability tocomplete probation within the given time.

Post Full TC recognition TC Provisional/ TC Restrictedrecognition with Conditional Recognition

including probation Recognition including probation conditions (ILR/other Montessori

shortfalls)

Principal (subject to Circular 02/02) YesMainstream Yes Yes YesSpecial school/class Yes Yes Yes YesGAM EAL YesResource post (SEN) Yes Yes Yes YesHSCL YesEarly start class Yes

Teacher recruitment Qualications, registration and probation

Leadership in challenging timesINTO Learning hosts one day seminars for principals

Following on from the very successfulseminars for principal teachers duringthe last school year, and given the hugevolume of demand for more such semi-nars, INTO Learning is hosting furtherprincipals seminars this term. The aimsof the seminars are:orn To provide up to date and relevant in-

formation to principals on topicalschool issues.

orn To enable principals to communicatemore eectively with the school com-munity, particularly in respect of di-cult issues.

orn To discuss the prevention and man-agement of bullying amongst pupils.

orn To facilitate query and answer ses-sions with our Legal, Industrial Rela-tions and Equality and our Conditionsof Employment teams.

orn To provide a forum for principals toshare information.

Topics to be covered include the follow-ing:orn Eective communication.

Areas in which eective communica-tion is important, for example inmanaging parental complaints or starelations issues.Key skills in managing dicult con-versations.

orn Prevention and dealing with bullyingamongst pupils.The new anti-bullying procedures is-sued by the DES in 2013.Best practice in dealing with bullyingat school level, including interactionwith parents.

ornThe provision of advice on best prac-tice for principals on engagementwith sta with regard to sick leave.

orn Updates on issues including roll-books/ registers and enrolment/ad-missions policies.

INTO Learning held two seminars inOctober and two more are scheduledfor November:orn Wednesday 20 November Radisson

Hotel, Sligo.orn Wednesday 27 November Kilkenny

Ormonde Hotel.

The DES has authorised the release ofteachers to attend these seminars butunfortunately substitute cover is notprovided for such release. These semi-nars are provided free of charge. How-ever, a fully refundable booking depositof 40 will be charged with each appli-cation and is refundable on attendance.Those that do not attend and do notcancel within 48 hours will not be re-funded. The seminars will be presentedby INTO ocials and run from 9.30am 3.30pm. Lunch and refreshments willalso be provided.

Register on www.intolearning.ie/principals-one-day-seminars

An occasional column on health and healthy living.....

Healthy hair with hennaGrandma used it! Mother used it andnow its your turn! Henna has beenaround for a long time and the reason forthat are its benets. No it doesnt turnyour hair orange or at least the latesthenna products dont but what it doesdo is give you heavenly healthy hair.

The total number of hairs on yourhead is determined at birth and neverincreases only decreases over your lifespan! Healthy hair grows about halfan inch each month and will remain inplace for two to six years. After yourhair follicle falls out it will remain dormant for three months before it produces a new strand of hair so weneed to ensure that we look after thehair we have!

Heres the science bit the outer layer of the hair shaft is called the cuticleand is made up of layers of keratin orscales. The scales protect a delicate layercalled the cortex and its the cortex

which contains your hair colour ormelanin as it is known. If you dont havemelanin then you are a lovely grey.However, if you wish to colour your hairthen there are natural options, one ofwhich is henna.

You can now buy henna in a range ofcolours from black to light blonde in ahandy premixed cream. Henna hascome a long way from Grandmas timeof messy powders but the benets of ithave remained the same, not least thecontinued benet of zero side eectscompared with conventional haircolours

It is also known for its great condi-tioning treatment and shine. What isless known is its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, ideal for combat-ting dandru and/or aky/dry scalps.

Henna also increases hair volume asthe deposits of henna build up the thick-ness of your strand which in turn

helps increasing the volume ideal forthose with thinning hair or anyonegrowing back their hair.

Contact Catherine Mulcahy [email protected] if you would like anyparticular issues covered in this column. Forinformation on your natural health andbeauty needs please visit www.yourtonic.com.Tel: ROI: / Nth Ireland . Also available through Membership-Plus website and app.

Note: The information provided in this column does not seek to treat, diagnose,cure or replace medical or specialist advice.If you are currently taking prescriptionmedication and intend to also take nutri-tional or herbal supplements, always consultwith your doctor. Do not begin a course ofcomplementary therapy without first con-sulting your doctor if you are pregnant, aretrying to conceive or are breast feeding.

A quiet revolution in teaching chil-dren to successfully read has beensweeping across Ireland over the pastfour years, led by two Wexford companies, Rainbow Education andCPD College.

Jolly Phonics has been welcomedand embraced by primary schools inIreland. The programme teaches chil-dren the skills necessary to becomeindependent readers. It is based onthe ve basic skills of: learning theletter sounds, learning letter forma-tion, blending, identifying the sounds inwords and learning to recognise andspell the non-conforming set of trickywords. It encapsulates and exempliesthe best synthetic phonics principles.The Jolly Phonics programme has nowmade its way to fourth class level, withthe recent launch of Jolly Grammar andSpelling Handbook 4.

The success of its introduction to Ireland has been assisted by the all-yeararound, Jolly Phonics online trainingavailable from CPD College (www.cpd-college.com) and the easy availability ofmaterials from Rainbow Education

(www.rainboweducation.ie) where theirresident programme expert, MartinPender, is always available to adviseschools and answer teacher questions.

Rainbow Education has been supplyingresources to schools in Ireland since 1997.As experienced teachers, they under-stand the importance of top quality resources, such as Jolly Phonics, whichhelp to make teaching and learning a little easier, for teachers and pupils alike.They publish a number of popular bookand software titles of their own, manu-facture a range of hands-on resourcesand source resources from other pub-

lishers and suppliers worldwide.Continued success to all involved

and you may be interested in lookingat the additional new Jolly Phonicsproducts, available on page 34 of thisissue.

The Jolly Phonics revolution in Ireland

Comhairle CM

24 InTouch September 2013

Are you paying too much for credit?

In the present climate it is essential that consumersget the best deals available in the market place, thisis especially true when it comes to taking out a loan.The table below sets out the variable rates and thecost of credit charged by four retail banks for apersonal loan of 10,000 over one, three and ve years.

Borrowing from Comhar Linn INTO CreditUnion Ltd. will result in a signicant saving in thecost of credit over the same specied periods asoutlined below.

Please check our website www.comharlinnintocucu.iefor other loan rates available.

10,000 Loan Rate Total cost of credit(APR) 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years

Danske Bank 13.41 698 2,069 3,545Bank of Ireland 13.2 688 2,037 3,487Permanent TSB 12.0 627 1,852 3,161Allied Irish Bank 11.91 623 1,838 3,137

Comhar Linn INTO 7.8 399 1,187 2,012Credit Union Ltd Personal

Source

The National ConsumerAgency's nancial productcomparisons, informationcorrect as of 9 October 2013.

All amounts rounded to thenearest euro.

ComharLinn drawwinners -September2013Car: Toyota Auris

Joan Ward, Dublin.

Cash: 1,500

Mary Bird Smyth,Dublin.

Weekends for twoin Jurys Inn

Joe Lally, Dublin.Brian Leonard, Sligo.

Attention: INTO salaryprotection scheme

membersLet the buyer beware is an old maxim.So too is beware Greeks bearing gifts!

Over the coming months many memberswill be looking at the INTO Salary Protec-tion Scheme (SPS) on foot of the imminentchanges to the DES sick leave scheme entitlements. Others will also be looking atthis process as an opportunity to sell!

A wide variety of insurance brokersmake contact with schools on a regularbasis, offering the latest great value prod-uct. As with any commodity, insuranceproducts, unless perhaps recognised as a'known brand' item, being offered on ashort term introductory or special offer,should be treated with a healthy scepti-cism. Simply stated, if its going cheap, itoften follows that the cover is inferior toyour current policy.

The INTO Salary Protection Scheme(SPS) is as it says on the tin: its an INTOscheme to protect members salaries andit is specifically designed to dovetail withthe DES sick leave scheme and otherteachers terms and conditions. It is currently, and has for many years, beenoperated in partnership with the insur-ance brokers Cornmarket and Irish Life Insurance Company. However, the schemeis overseen, reviewed regularly and modi-fied by INTO to meet the needs of INTOmembers. Equally, the scheme is not opento the general public and access can onlybe made through INTO membership.

In the last couple of years a small num-ber of insurance brokers have targeted

INTO Salary Protection members with offers of better value Permanent HealthInsurance (PHI) and the following actualcase, highlights the danger of acceptingsuch offers without checking the coverdetails with INTO or Cornmarket beforemaking the switch.

This teacher works in the Leinster area.She had been in the INTO SPS for a number of years but, following a presen-tation by a broker at her school offering amarginally cheaper PHI product, she opted to switch. All was fine until thisteacher fell ill with a serious illness. Onchecking the policy terms and conditionsshe discovered the following:orn The plan did not pay any benefit until

she had a minimum of 52 weeks in acontinuous period on sick leave. There-fore, any sick leave taken in the previousfour years would not be taken into account. The INTO SPS benefit beginspayment from the time the DES paidsick leave expires and does not requirethe period of absence to be continuous.

orn The benefit payable by the PHI coverproved to be lower than the INTO SPSpolicy.

orn The PHI policy could not be modifiedto accommodate the new DES sickleave rules when operational in 2014.

orn Neither did the PHI cover include eitherthe death benefit or the serious illnesscover automatically included in the

price of the INTO scheme.orn Lastly, amongst a number of other dif-

ferences such as the omission of medicalimmunity benefit, the PHI option couldnot accommodate covering the equiva-lent full time salary for Job Sharers.This is a very unfortunate situation for this

teacher. Because of the serious nature of herillness and the fact that, like motor insur-ance, cover cannot be backdated, returningto the INTO scheme is not an option.

Insurance brokers are regulated andhave a responsibility to give best adviceunder the Consumer Protection Code2006. This means the broker mustdemonstrate where the alternative prod-uct being offered differs from your exist-ing cover. The broker should not offer ormissell an inferior product to boost theirsales. There is recourse to the FinancialServices Ombudsman in such an event ofmisselling and INTO is assisting thismember in taking a case against the broker involved.

This teacher has bravely come forwardwith her story to warn others of the po-tential of making a similar decision. TheINTO is asking all schools and members tobe extremely cautious when approachedby any financial adviser/broker to leavethe INTO SPS. Furthermore, please bevery wary of any broker that recommendsleaving INTO as a cost cutting exercise, ashas also been reported.

INTO Advice


Newly Qualied TeachersInformation and updates on issues relating to NQTs

On the following pages we reprint anumber of advice pages for newteachers, which InTouch has carriedin recent times. As well as this theINTO website has a dedicatedsection of advice and useful linksfor new teachers.

Under the terms of the HaddingtonRoad Agreement, the INTOsucceeded in getting revised andincreased salary scales for newteachers following the imposed cutsas part of the austerity measures.

Our thanks go to Mary Burke for the NQT advice pages. Mary is theNational Co-ordinator (Primary) forthe National Induction Programmefor Teachers. Contact Mary at email:[email protected] or tel: 086 813 0997.

INTO representatives have also visited NIPT workshops in recentweeks to talk to new graduatesabout issues of concern to them.

The INTO advises all new teachersto keep themselves informed of theever changing issues in primary education.

We would also urge new teachers to attend NQT or branch meetingsorganised locally by the INTO in order to ensure they are fully informed of issues. As well as this,the INTO has now reviewed and re-vised the Subsearch facility to helpyounger teachers in getting substi-tute work around the country.

Starting your career


This summer I was very lucky to be offered a perma-nent position in a school in my home county. I havebeen working as a substitute, and teaching in a tem-porary capacity also, since October 2007. I was so re-lieved and happy as I had often felt so dismal aboutpermanent job prospects due to the current situation.

However, my gaining this wonderful position thissummer was tinged with some sadness and also asense of fear. I would now have to move from aschool where I had been working as a temporaryteacher for 3 years and enter into a new (andmuch bigger) establishment. I remember, workingas a substitute teacher at the very beginning of mycareer, fearing going to work in different schools;would people have time to talk to me in the staffroom, would the pupils be receptive to a new andstrange teacher, would I be able to find my wayaround the new school? The fear of the unknownwas extremely daunting.

Settling in a school, as in any other place of work,takes time. There are new staff members, new chil-dren, new parents, a new building to navigate andnew lunch break routines to be dealt with. I felt asthough I had left all of that fear behind me when Isecured work in a temporary capacity. However, atthe end of August this year, all of these thoughtsand emotions came flooding back. But this letter isnot about fear and being afraid it is about being

positive and staying focused!I am very lucky to be able to say that since I have

started working as a teacher the positive experiencesI have had whilst working in different schools havefar outweighed the negative experiences. It is hardto travel to different schools, walking in as the substitute teacher every day and feeling somewhatout of place. I do think that a smile and a positive,friendly attitude (no matter how you may be feelinginside) will nearly always work in a teachers favourhowever. Chatting with other teachers is not easybut it is more beneficial and rewarding than decidingto eat your lunch quietly without engaging in thestaffroom. Settling in a school, no matter for howlong or short a period of time, takes effort, a positiveattitude and a smile from the teacher themselves.This sounds like a very easy thing to do its not!

I understand how frustrating and disheartening it can be for substitute and temporary teachers regarding having to move from school to school,day after day, week after week, year after year but Iwanted to write this letter to say dont give up hopeand dont be afraid! Be as positive and as upbeat asyou can. I was in your shoes for 5 long years. Iknow how it feels to long for a job that you feel willnever arrive but it will. Stay focused!

Louise O Keeffe, St Anthonys BNS,Ballinlough, Cork.

Be positive.... and stay focused!

Number of graduates from col-leges of education

Graduates State HiberniaColleges

2005 1,257 394

2006 1,198 469

2007 1,254 483

2008 1,358 494

2009 1,513 532

2010 1,552 647

2011 1,307 714

2012 1,229 748


NQTs

What does it mean to be aprofessional?A profession is often described as an occupation requiring special training and,as a consequence, we tend to think of professionals as people who are particularlycompetent at what they do. They provideus with services on the basis of havingspecialist knowledge about their area ofpractice and their capacity to use this

specialist knowledge to our benet.(Forde et al., p12) The teacher as the professional:orn Has the power to make decisions and

make recommendations on courses ofaction for the learner to follow.

orn Has the responsibility to promote the

wellbeing of those with whom they work.orn Fosters skills, understanding and

condence of their pupils to enablethem to achieve in their learning and be successful.

orn Is committed to continually improvingthe service they provide and to ensuringthey make use of best practice in theirinteractions with, and on behalf of,their pupils.

orn Needs to continually adjust what theydo in order to achieve certain goals.

orn Is trustworthy.Adapted from: Forde, C, et al. 2009. Putting Together Professional Portfolios.London: Sage. pp12-24.

Useful guidelines

orn Work on building positive relationships withyour pupils and their families.

orn Use the key skills of observation, listening,questioning and empathy wisely. Work on theseskills and practise them as these skills will playa vital role in your teaching over your entire career.

orn Learn to read the atmosphere of the classroomand learn how to respond appropriately.

orn Prepare, organise and be ready to teach everyday.

orn Explain classroom rules demonstrate, model,teach and re-teach. For the younger classes having a visual representation of the rules is important e.g. photographs of the children engaged in sharing, working together, etc.(Seek permission from the principal before taking photographs of the class).

orn Make the classroom a class-home, welcoming,

encouraging and stimulating through signage,displays of childrens work, labels, photographs,seasonal displays, subject dedicated areas.

orn Use a variety of approaches for teaching andlearning and use the pupils ideas at every available opportunity.

orn Embrace diversity and support all learners. Scaffold and structure the learning for the children so that they all have an equal opportu-nity of achieving success.

orn Greet pupils on arrival it is the small informalconversations which pay dividends in contribut-ing to a co-operative and positive atmosphere.When they leave in the evening always acknowledge their co-operation and contributionthroughout the day.

orn Model the key qualities you wish to nurture inyour class and, in particular, emphasise respect.

orn Learn from mistakes and build on the learningexperiences instead of a problem re-frame itas a challenge or an opportunity.

orn Praise and be specific with your praise e.g. I

really like the way you used colour in yourpainting. This type of feedback is the most constructive, especially if followed by strategiesto improve the learning potential.

orn Believe in your own strengths.orn Be fair, honest and consistent in your approach.orn Realise the important role that you

play as a teacher in the livesof the children that youteach every day andthe parents thatyou will workwith throughoutthe year.

orn Recognise andacknowledge theimportance of thesocial andemotional contextsin teaching andlearning.

orn Work with care and humour!

Working as a professionalSome tips for the newly qualified teacher


NQTs

Now I am a teacher Achieving a work-life balanceA new teacher has much to learn and consider when they arrive in aschool setting for the first time as a qualified teacher. Taking on a pro-fessional role, becoming part of the school community and taking

responsibility for a class can be a demanding process. Fortunately,we have a strong culture of support in Irish primary schools and itis important that as an NQT you take advantage of this support.

Your initial year/s in the profession will bedemanding on your time as you get togrips with the demands of a busy career. Itis important to maintain a good work/lifebalance for your personal and professionalwell being.

Planning day to dayorn Time is a limited commodity so it will be

necessary to prioritise, plan and manageyour time.

orn Prioritise your to do list in relation towork on a high to moderate to low scale.

orn When planning lessons look for topicswhich span three or four lessons.

orn Make a grid of your use of time for a weekand see where your time is being spent. Ifyou feel that you need to make changesthen make one small change at a time.

Seek help around youorn Get as much help as possible. It is really

important that you seek advice and support. All teachers were once in yourshoes as an NQT and will empathise withyou on what that first year is like.

orn If you feel overwhelmed by the demandsof the job, talk with someone you trustat school level or [email protected] or on 086-8130997 anytime.

orn Try not to fall into the trap of comparingwhat you have covered in your class-range with a fellow NQT in anotherschool. All schools are different, all

classes are different, all children are different and all teachers are different.Work to your own pace, particularly inyour first year out.

orn Stay clear of rumours about probationetc. Check out the facts and work fromthere.

orn Have a notebook and when you get apositive comment from a pupil, parent,colleague, principal or inspector write itdown. On days when you are feelingoverwhelmed it is good to look at thisnotebook and see the positive!

orn Before you go home in the evening itmay be good to talk with your mentor oranother teacher, for a few minutes, aboutyour day. Many teachers have, what hasbeen described as a third space a dayin the week where they meet for a coffee/tea so this might be an opportu-nity for you to meet with other teachers.

It all begins at homeorn It is important to eat well, exercise and

get adequate sleep as it can be difficultto be effective in the classroom whenyou are tired.

orn Make time for recreation and social activities and maintain relationshipswith family and friends. If you find your-self making excuses for not meeting upwith friends or not going home at week-ends because of workload, then reflecton how much time you are spending onwork-related tasks.

Take care of yourselforn It is important that you find a sense of

achievement in all you do. There willbe days when you will ask yourselfWhy did I become a teacher? Thisfeeling will pass every teacher hasdays like this. Try not to over analyse just ask yourself what small step could Itake to enable me get back in thereagain and make tomorrow moresatisfying.

orn Dont be too hard on yourself teachingis a really demanding and challengingjob, very often there are no easyanswers, you will have to work throughproblems and try different approachesbut that is what makes teachinginteresting and challenging.

orn Maintain a positive attitude towardsyour work avoid negative talk orpeople who talk down the job.

orn As an NQT do take care of yourself andremember it is a sign of strength to askfor support.

Remember: The optimum work/life balance is different for every teacher andwill vary from day to day, week to weekand year to year, depending on personaland professional circumstances.

Further readingHolmes, E. 2009. The Newly QualifiedTeachers Handbook (2nd edition). Ch. 7.London: Routledge

A happy life is full of meaning, engagement and pleasure, according to positive psychology research. If one of the components is missing, our flourishing may turn into languishing.

The life of a new teacher is highly meaningful. We become educators because we want to change the lives of children, improve society or evenmake a difference in the world. When we wake up in the morning we are excited about the prospect of taking another small step towards what we sostrongly believe in. The life of a new teacher is often full of meaning.

It is also full of engagement. Research shows that when teachers are in astate of flow they lose track of time, place and self. They are so lost in practicingtheir skills and throw themselves into their new challenge so much they hardlynotice hours passing by. The life of a new teacher is often full of engagement.

However, despite experiencing high levels of engagement and meaning, anew teachers life is peppered with negative emotions. We may be excited buta little nervous about our new job. While meeting colleagues is usually a posi-

tive experience, we might put ourselves under the pressure of making the rightimpression. Finally, working with students might give us the buzz we lookedforward to experiencing, yet, it may also create some negativity when our classmisbehaves or we are uncertain how to manage certain classroom situations.

Experiencing a ratio of one positive to one negative emotion is sometimesnot enough to fulfil our pleasurable lives. This is why, to live your life to thefull, ensure you give yourself an additional boost of positive emotions: spendmore time with your friends telling them what you love about your new job,dwell that little bit longer on some of the happier moments of your day andpurposefully find ways to experience more positive emotions every day.

Enjoy a balanced life!

Jolanta Burke is a positive psychologist and a PhD researcherin Trinity College Dublin, School of Education. For more exercises,go to www.jolantaburke.com.

A balanced life full of meaning and engagement


NQTs

Date Class level Subject

Strand Strand Unit

Content objective(s)

Skills Are there appropriate skill(s) that you need to focus on in this subject area this week? Refer toPrimary School Curriculum (1999) and NCCA Planning Tool.

Dierentiation: How do you intend to differentiate the lesson for pupils with varying abilities includingpupils with special learning needs or exceptionally able? Individual pupils should be referred to by initials only.Groups should be referred to by group name. Keep it specific. Avoid generalisations.

Assessment: How will you assess what the pupils have learned? Select the specific and most appropriate methods.

Linkage and Integration: How would you make connections in learning within one subject area and between differentsubjects? Refer to Circular 0056/2011 in relation to integration of Literacy and Numeracy.

Reection: Refer to the Teacher Reflection document in Toolkit for Planning on the planning section of www.teacherinduction.ie

For further guidelines on short-term planning visit the planning section of www.teacherinduction.ie. The inter-agency planningcommittee responsible for drawing up the draft planning guidelines comprises representatives from the NIPT, DES, NCCA, PDSTand the Colleges of Education. Queries from NQTs in relation to planning should be emailed to [email protected]

Short-Term/Weekly PlanningRecommendation: Try to ensure that your plans are focused, concise and meaningful

for your class

Learning objectives (Based on content objective(s) above andpupils prior learning).

1. Key question to ask yourself before you begin What do youwant the pupils to learn this week? Refer to long-term/termlyplan. Choose the content objective(s) appropriate for theweekly plan.

2. Break down and adapt the content objective/s intomanageable learning objectives, to reflect the learning needsof the pupils in your class. Include skills as appropriate.

3. Write the learning objective(s). Refer to Appendix B inShort-Term Planning document for list of appropriate verbsto frame the learning objective e.g. describe, compare, etc.

Ensure that learning objectives are specific, attainable, realisticand can be assessed.

The teachers professional judgement will inform decisionsabout how much should be planned for with the class and the amount of time allocated to the subject this week.

Learning activities (Informed byApproaches/ Methodologies/ Strategies inlong-term plan.

1. Key question here is How am I going to achieve what I haveoutlined in my learning objectives?

2. Think about what methodologies and learning activities willbe most appropriate to fulfill the learning objectives e.g.Listen and respond to a story e.g. Owl Babies (S. Infants).Talk and discussion Questioning, based on the story; pairwork, recalling what came first/ next/ at the end.Improvisational drama Pupils will adopt the role of one ofthe characters in the story.Active learning Pupils will help the teacher to put thepictures from the story in order (large format cards).

Think also about how you are going to organise and managethe class from the point of view of pair-work, group-work,individual work, plenary work.

Resources: Identify and list theappropriate resources thatyou intend to use this week tosupport the learning outlined above.

Your initial weeks in teaching will be demanding on your time as you get togrips with the demands of a busy class-room. Some of the questions raised beloware often posed by NQTs in the first fewweeks as they begin the task of organisingand managing their own classroom.

What aspects of classroomorganisation should Iprioritise rstly?

Effective use of the space and resources inyour classroom is one of the key aspects ofsuccessful classroom organisation. Thinkabout the layout of tables and chairs andhow best you can accommodate the pupilsso that all the pupils can see and hear youwhile you are teaching. It is a good idea tohave two teaching stations in your roomso that you are not positioned in the sameplace each time you teach.

You can have one main teaching stationand a sub teaching station. It also givesyou an opportunity to view your roomfrom a different angle and see what it feelslike for pupils seated in different sectionsof the room. When the pupils have left theclassroom in the evening it is a useful exercise to sit in the chair of a junior infantpupil or a sixth class pupil and reflect onwhat it was like for that pupil sitting in that chair all day. Some key questions onclassroom organisation to reflect on are:

orn Can I move freely around the roomwhen I am teaching?

orn Is there a designated place for coats,bags, lunch boxes?

orn Do the children know the routines associated with entering and exiting theclassroom, eating lunch, tidying up?

orn Have I explai

intouchnov2013.pdf

Documents

budget agenda

cec members

primary education

toknow7 budget

special cec meeting

intensive campaign of

upa campaign plan

weeks of thisschool