Thomas P. Broughan
Ceist:139. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he has taken to restore the cutbacks to posts of responsibility in primary and second level education. [14364/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 22 March 2017
Ceisteanna (139)
Freagraí scríofa
It is widely accepted that the quality of school leadership is a key determinant of school effectiveness and the achievement of good learning outcomes. Indeed international research indicates that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning.
Budget 2016 provided 250 posts to second level schools to enable Deputy Principals to be more fully available to assist the school principal with the leadership of the school. At primary level Budget 2016 provided for additional release days for teaching principals to range between 15 and 25 days depending on the size of the school.
Budget 2017 has provided for the equivalent of 170 additional posts to second level schools to employ an additional Deputy Principal to assist the school principal with the leadership of the school. With effect from September 2017, schools with pupil enrolment in excess of 700 will be allocated additional Deputy Principal posts.
Budget 2017 also provides for the commencement of the restoration of middle management posts in both the primary and post-primary sector.
The recently established Centre for School Leadership (CSL) is a collaboration between my Department and the representative professional bodies for school principals. It has been created to offer professional and practical support to schools leaders. This support structure for leadership teams in schools will attempt to ensure that school leaders have opportunities to access, share and create knowledge and experience within their leadership roles. The work of the Centre draws on best international practice and research in the professional development of school leaders. Priorities for the Centre include a new postgraduate qualification for aspiring school leaders, a mentoring programme for newly appointed school principals, coaching support for serving principals, a review and alignment of leadership programmes with Department standards.
Last year my Department published “Looking at Our School 2016", a quality framework for primary and post-primary schools which is designed to support the efforts of teachers and school leaders, as well as the school system more generally, to strive for excellence in our schools.
The current review of the post of responsibility structure in schools will, in the context of restoration of posts, address the further development of a distributed leadership model.