A new Tallaght Strategy

PROFILE: ROBBIE O'LEARY, PRINCIPAL OF KILLINARDEN SACRED HEART NATIONAL SCHOOL, TALLAGHT:From his calm and motivated school, Robbie O'Leary explains why we should not rush to judgment on programmes to help disadvantaged schools – especially when possible Budget cuts loom.

THIS IS NOT a zoo. There are no burnt-out cars, no loose horses. The corridors are quiet, the atmosphere in the classrooms is calm, the children seem engaged. So why, when graduate teachers are reportedly desperate for jobs, does a school such as Killinarden Sacred Heart National School in Tallaght receive half as many applications for teaching posts as other schools?

The reason, according to principal Robbie O’Leary, is that Killinarden is a DEIS Urban Band 1 school, one of 200 deemed by the Department of Education to be the most disadvantaged in the country. This designation can be both a blessing and a curse: the supports are invaluable but the brand doesn’t flatter.

Part of the problem, says O’Leary, is that DEIS schools have no voice. There is no organised representative body to present the public face of the DEIS sector and to trumpet the great work that is happening under the initiative, which was set up with the aim of delivering equality of opportunity in schools.

“Groups like the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation and the Irish Primary Principals’ Network do great work on behalf of teachers and principals, but they can’t speak for us,” says O’Leary. “Our experience in the DEIS Band 1 schools is completely different from other schools.”

Never has the sector needed an advocate more than it does right now. Last month the chief inspector at the Department of Education, Harold Hislop, questioned the €200 million-plus investment in DEIS, pointing to stubbornly disappointing standards in literacy and maths in disadvantaged areas. One of the main declared aims of DEIS was to reduce literacy problems in disadvantaged schools from 30 to 15 per cent, to which end the scheme gathered all the existing initiatives into one basket and added another €40 million to raise the bar. Five years into the programme, however, reviews show little or no movement in literacy levels. Soundings like these, on the precipice of a dizzying Budget, make O’Leary queasy.

“I don’t want to set myself up as a spokesperson for the sector, but if we’re going to have a debate about DEIS schools, I want everything laid on the table,” he says.

O’Leary has been principal of the 280-strong Killinarden school for seven years, since before DEIS was introduced, and has taught there since the beginning of his career.Sacred Heart is an orderly, homely, well-equipped place with enviable facilities and, more desirable still, an integrated and motivated teaching force. It didn’t happen by accident, according to O’Leary.

“Have DEIS schools delivered?” he asks, in chorus with Harold Hislop. “In some areas, yes; in others, no. But in areas where DEIS has failed to deliver we need to look at the promises of DEIS and what has actually come to fruition. We also need to look at the measures. The major literacy programme in this school, First Steps, is not complete, and yet it was evaluated last spring. Why evaluate the programmes before they have run their course?”

O’Leary is not the first to point out gaps in DEIS. A report of the National Economic and Social Forum last year highlighted delays in implementing the DEIS programme and a lack of literacy goals for schools. By 2009 some schools had still not received all the supports promised, according to the report, which criticised the dearth of information on the scheme, a lack of co-ordination among agencies and poor literacy data to show what was working.

But critical aspects of DEIS are working, says O’Leary. “I commend the department for its vision in introducing DEIS, and particularly in backing progressive, proven literacy schemes like First Steps. But it’s not a simple cause-and-effect scenario. We may be nearing the end of the DEIS implementation period, but it takes time to integrate these programmes in schools.”

In Killinarden the challenges are considerable. A high proportion of children come from single-parent families, while addiction and crime are a feature of this community. Research indicates that when children from disadvantaged backgrounds arrive at primary school they are, on average, one and a half years behind their cohorts in terms of learning and development. Early intervention is the only solution.

“This school has to be an oasis of consistency and fairness,” says O’Leary. “We have worked very hard to make it that way.”

An oasis doesn’t come cheap. O’Leary’s office is piled high with new copies of Horrid Henry, Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl books. There’s a revolving-door reward system for good behaviour to be observed. DEIS Band 1 schools don’t have the capacity to fundraise, so these systems are paid for through DEIS funding components such as the School Completion Fund.

A confidential survey of sixth-class pupils and parents, carried out at Killinarden earlier this year as part of the DEIS evaluation process, found that 80 per cent of pupils enjoyed reading at home and 75 per cent had an ambition to go to college. Ninety-two per cent of parents surveyed said they believed their child would stay in school until the Leaving Cert. “We are making a difference,” O’Leary says simply.

But cutbacks are biting, in several key areas. Firstly, the moratorium on posts of responsibility is reducing the ability of schools to deliver services. The increase in the pupil-teacher ratio means more students in every class – O’Leary, for example, has had to make four classes into three this year.

Also, access to outside services, such as clinical psychology and speech and language therapy, has become unreasonably complex and frequently impossible. The General Allocation Scheme, which supposedly provides extra teaching resources to deal with special-needs requirements, seems to have stalled. The Department of Education stated that the scheme would be reviewed after three years, and also that pro-rata posts would be allocated. Neither promise has been kept.

“In 2005, based on a ratio of one Sen teacher per 80 students, the school was granted three,” O’Leary says. “The fact that the school population has risen by more than 40 in the meantime has been ignored by the department despite pledges of regular reviews and constant communication. We have pupils who need and are entitled to additional support, and they have not received it. That is blatantly wrong. In schools where numbers are growing the department has not implemented its own circular.”

And yet everyone is talking about SNA supports as a target for cutbacks. It’s very disquieting, according to O’Leary.

The spectre of more special education cutbacks has been hovering for some time. O’Leary felt the chill during Killinarden’s spring inspection.

“We had two inspectors here in spring,” he says. “They conducted a very professional and rigorous review, taking in parents, teachers and pupils. They returned with useful and insightful recommendations for the school. I couldn’t fault them. But among the four criteria they were examining – literacy, numeracy, attendance, parental involvement – one area was missing: special education. There was no mention of it at all.”

O’Leary says he respects Harold Hislop’s expertise and his right to cast a cold eye over the DEIS programme. But he does not want the progress of the last five years to be waved away without a fight. He cites the Australian literacy development programme, First Steps, as an example of the uneven implementation and assessment of DEIS.

“First Steps has three components: reading, writing, and listening and speaking. We have just today started training on the third component,” he says. “After that it will take time to integrate the programme into the other initiatives at the school. It’s a great programme, I think it will make a big difference here. I commend the department for introducing it. But it was evaluated almost six months ago and decisions are being made on the basis of that evaluation. It’s bewildering.

“Someone needs to speak out for DEIS schools. How unfair it would be to judge us based on 18 premature evaluations, when the department has not honoured many of the promises it made. If we are going to debate the value of the scheme, let’s be honest about it. Schools are open to informed criticism. The First Steps programme is a metaphor for the whole situation.”

Five keys to success:

Sacred Heart National School in Killinarden is one disadvataged school that is moving in the right direction. Literacy and numeracy standards in this school are steadily rising, thanks to a range of formal and informal initiatives that create an environment of learning and ambition among students, say staff.

These include:

1. Parental involvement The school has a parents’ common room, organises parent trips to sites of cultural interest, and regularly invites parents into the classroom to take part in learning activities.

2. ICT The school uses a range of ICT strategies in learning – Nintendo DS, mathletics.com, a mobile laptop bank, and interactive whiteboards. ICT is so well integrated into the curriculum that a book on the subject is about to be published for the benefit of other schools

3. School pride The school crest is everywhere, and high quality, professionally printed material such as posters and photos of students celebrates school achievements

4. Behaviour Policy A six-point behaviour plan is understood by all and students are well-rewarded for playing by the rules

5. Local pride Material on the history, culture and sport of Tallaght has been produced at the school to get students interested in their own area. Principal Robert O’Leary, a Waterford man and proud hurling fan, says he wants “to fill in the space between pupils and Man United and get them interested in success closer to home.”