'Investment in primary education is vital'

My Education Week: Gerry Murphy, President, Irish Primary Principals' Network

MONDAY

Team meeting in the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) at the national support office in Cork to overview plans for our annual two-day conference which begins at Citywest later this week.

This year’s theme, The Future is Now, seeks to highlight the importance of investment in primary education for Ireland’s recovery and the emergence of a fairer, more inclusive and equal society.

We have almost 1,000 principals registered to attend. It’s a huge number and, by my reckoning, the largest gathering of primary school principals in Europe this year. Our objective is to create a platform for school leaders, invited guests and speakers to critically reflect on our primary education system, and set out a vision that helps to renew our society and economy from the bottom up.

Today, we are finalising the conference schedule. This year, we are honoured to have President Michael D Higgins address our members. Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn will speak, too, and he will, as usual, be received with courtesy as our invited guest. Other contributors include the champion of the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry; educationalist, philosopher and abbot of Glenstal Abbey, Mark Patrick Hederman; and a cofounder of the global software programming movement Coder Dojo, James Whelton.

More than 120 companies are attending an education expo at the conference, demonstrating products and services that help principals and teachers deliver the curriculum in our classrooms.

Our education advocates workshop, planned for Friday, aims to build on the very successful symposium last year which reached out to industry for ideas on public policymaking in education. This year, more than 20 industry and academic leaders from household names such as Cisco, IBM, Eli Lilly, DCU and UL will meet to discuss leadership and future skills needs.

TUESDAY

We follow up with our members on issues we discussed last week with Quinn and the newly appointed general secretary at the Department, Seán Ó Foghlú.

Among them are cuts to capitation grants that are causing a funding crisis in our schools; the withdrawal of the minor works grant; increased workload for school principals due to cutbacks, particularly those in special schools and schools with special classes; the relevant contracts tax which is turning principals into VAT collectors rather than allowing them to lead learning; the gaps in schools’ broadband and IT capabilities; the threatened closure of some schools because of the unfair increase in class size for schools with fewer than than 86 pupils; and the ongoing effects of budget cuts to DEIS schools in the form of the withdrawal of all resources for Traveller children.

I spend the day dealing with emails and phonecalls from members on the issues they would like addressed at the conference. Constant feedback from members is critical because it gives us an insight into what is happening on the frontline and helps us to fight for the issues school leaders care about.

Working on the latest draft of my speech. There are drafts and redrafts. I want to major on disadvantage and mental health – issues that are close to my heart and key to our future as a society.

If we cannot protect the most vulnerable, we fail as a society. I also hope to share some of the leadership strategies that sustained me and my colleagues in St Joseph’s School, Dundalk, Co Louth, for 32 years.

WEDNESDAY

Early-morning phone call with Brendan McCabe, the IPPN deputy president, and my very own “special adviser”. We discuss the conference and the need to stress that, for educational reform, the moral imperative must be to focus on delivering equality of opportunity in student learning and achievement for all children, regardless of background. We also spar about the always-intense GAA football rivalry between Louth and Meath.

It is lobbying time, and I have a number of phone conversations scheduled with TDs from across the political parties to impress upon them how vital it is to invest in primary education – “the fierce urgency of now”, as Barack Obama would say. While the recent Budget did not increase class sizes in primary schools, it did cut schools’ budgets for day-to-day running. As schools face into a perfect storm of rising utility costs, declining voluntary contributions and reduced Government funding, IPPN believes that it makes more sense to create a single operational grant paid quarterly to schools.

the Opposition education spokespersons, Jonathan O’Brien of Sinn Féin and Charlie McConalogue of Fianna Fáil, are very interested in the challenge of school finances and the possible negative effects of the national procurement strategy on jobs. Both have been approached by school communities and suppliers on these issues.

THURSDAY

Still working on my speech. I want to emphasise the importance of mental health. We must instill confidence through building self-esteem, self-control and other essential life skills. By developing confidence in children early, we can improve self-worth, helping them to become less vulnerable to bullying, whether online or in the playground, and preparing them to become well-adjusted adults ready to succeed in work or social situations.

I check in with comics Risteárd Cooper and Barry Murphy, famous for the hilarious Après Match sketches, who are our after-dinner entertainment on Friday evening.

Some comic relief will be welcome at that stage.

FRIDAY

The conference schedule is shaping up well. Our professional-development seminars are strong and include everything from child and internet safety to dealing with disadvantage and challenging behaviour. Literacy and numeracy are also key themes this year, I have a particular interest in maintaining the 3Rs – reading, ’rithmetic and relationships. As the educationalist Andy Hargreaves said recently, “We have to decide as a society whether we value what we test or test what we value.”

As a former finance minister, I hope Ruairí Quinn will heed IPPN’s repeated call to exempt primary schools from paying VAT. Schools spend thousands on supplies and maintenance services. With the funding crisis deepening in schools, it makes sense to introduce a VAT exemption for all not-for-profit organisations, including schools. The measure would save at least €12,000, with greater savings for larger schools. Water charges amount to another huge cost schools could do without.

We are also crunching the numbers on our pre-conference surveys which went out to over 3,300 members. Among the issues we are examining are children’s mental health and welfare; principals’ workload; small schools; and teaching principals. Early results show predictable trends:children’s mental and welfare is becoming a major problem as the recession continues and internet access increases.

SATURDAY

It has been a busy week but now it is downtime and family is the priority. My wife is beginning to think I have become a recluse with all that time spent on my speech and conference stuff.

This week I was...

Watching:Breading Bad and Tonight with Vincent Browne

Reading:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NIght-Time by Mark Haddon

Listening to:Mule Variations by Tom Waits