Podcast 387, IPPN Conference 2020 (29-1-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

On this week's podcast I speak to the President (Damian White), Deputy President (Brian O'Doherty) and Chief Executive Officer (Páiric Clerkin) of the Irish Primary Principals' Network at the annual conference of the Network. The IPPN is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Among the topics we discuss are the following:

Damian White

• Workload and making the job of principal more sustainable into the future
• The PIEW model: Prioritise, Implement, Embed, Wait.
• Prioritising initiatives in a school. Refers to the Looking at our Schools document.
• Identifying and making room for urgent new initiatives within the PIEW model.
• Wellbeing
• Support groups for principals
• Working with local education centres
• Relationship between the Centre for School Leadership, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and the IPPN
• Relationship between the IPPN and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)
• On having the Secretary General and not the Minister address the conference

Brian O’Doherty

• Difference between roles of President/Deputy President and Chief Executive Officer of IPPN
• Being principal of a large school
• Working collaboratively with an administrative Deputy Principal
• Principalship and school budgets
• The financial and support services unit (FFSU) and reporting procedures
• Challenges in managing cash flow in schools
• Questions principals should ask about school finances

Páiric Clerkin

• Reflecting on life for principals before the IPPN (on the 20th anniversary of its founding)
• Progress made over the last 20 years
• The importance of dialogue in our education system
• Reflecting on factors that brought about the establishment and success of the IPPN
• The challenge of sustainability for principals
• The importance of remembering small schools and teaching principals when considering policy changes
• What he’s reading: Uplifting Leadership: How organisations, teams, and communities raise performance by Hargreaves, Boyle and Harris.