Representation
Overview
The representative role in Educate Together is managed
by the Chief Executive Officer who works closely with the
Board
of Directors to ensure that the views and needs of the organization
are accurately represented to Government and to the public
through
the media.
The Chief Executive function is performed by a fully paid employee
of Educate Together, while the Board of Directors are volunteer
officers who
are elected at Annual General Meetings (AGM).
Paul Rowe, CEO Educate Together
Decision-Making
Fundamental policy decisions are taken at AGM by
delegations from members of Educate Together. The members of Educate
Together
are either incorporated patrons of Educate Together schools
or Boards of Managements of schools that are committed to implementing
the Educate Together Charter. This corporate structure does not
have individual members. As a result we are building an organisation
for friends and supporters who are not directly involved in member
schools called “Friends of Educate Together”.
Primary Education
Deirdre O'Donoghue heads the Primary Education Department at Educate Together. This is made up of two sections:
School Support and New Schools.
School Support
Educate Together schools work in what someone described
as a “committee rich environment”. This
means that although
people come together to further the aims and
objectives of the school, sometimes individuals have widely differing
views on how
that might be achieved, and indeed on what those
goals and objectives are.
Educate Together believes that respecting
diversity isn’t limited to something we ask our teachers to
pass on through the
Ethical Education Core Curriculum, but is
something that adults also need to model, on our committees, in
our dealings with
one another, and in how we do school business,
internally and externally. School
support is part of how we put that belief into practice.
Training
- We provide training for:
- Boards of Management
- Patron/Executive Committees
- Parent/Teacher Associations
- Teacher/Staff
- Any group within the school community that
feels it would benefit from exploring issues that arise from
time to time in schools.
Some training is general, where two or
more schools are “clustered”, and the emphasis is on updating
and sharing information, best practice and knowledge.
Other training sessions might be more specific, designed
in consultation with the relevant interested parties (Board, Patron,
Principal, parents, staff and students, etc.)
.
Training sessions have been run on
individual school communities on:
- The Education Act
- Keeping the Ethos alive
- The roles of various committees in our
school, etc.
Training is also available for groups
who are looking to open a new school. This training would cover:
- Provision of general information
- Looking to the future
- How to build good working committees
- Networking with other start-up groups
Services Provided to the Boards of Management
Educate Together provides a confidential service to
Chairpersons of Boards of Management, Patrons, and Principals. Over the years,
Educate Together schools have
dealt with a variety of issues, and we have built up a knowledge
base, which can be made available confidentially.
Where legal
advice is required:
- We can recommend solicitors with particular skills
in dealing with educational issues
- We also have access to mediation, facilitation
and conflict resolution skills
School Support is a developing area, and is underpinned
by Educate Together’s belief that partnership in education can
be an enriching
experience for all involved, not just the children.
 Back to top
New Schools
Overview
The New Schools Department in Educate Together
has responsibility for the planning and development of new schools.
This covers the following tasks:
- Working to facilitate the growth of voluntary
committees in local areas to establish new Educate Together
schools
- Assessing demand for Educate Together schools
throughout the country
- Drawing up Strategic Plans for the development
of a national network of Educate Together schools
- Working with the Planning and Building Sections
of the Department of Education and Science and Local Authorities
to plan new Educate Together schools
- Working with newly established schools to advance
their progress to permanent accommodation of the highest possible
educational standards
Three new Educate Together National Schools opened in September 2007: Adamstown Castle Educate Together N.S. , Bracken Educate Together
N.S. and Esker Educate Together N.S. Click here for further details.
To get in touch with a New Schools Officer please contact:
Back
to top
Second Level Education
We believe that the Educate Together ethos and approach should be available at second-level, giving children the opportunity to further
develop themselves, not only academically but socially, in preparation for becoming active members of society in 21st century Ireland.
The second-level Project was therefore launched in October 2007 to explore how this can best be achieved.
Administration|
To enquire about or register for Educate Together events, general meetings or training please contact Louise and Barra.
Supporters and Volunteers
We depend on many supporters and volunteers in advancing
human rights based education in Ireland.
Volunteers are involved in the following areas:-
- Maintaining contacts with opinion formers in
political, media, business, education, trade union, community,
NGO and social circles
- Creating media for press, radio, TV and the web
- Providing legal and other advice
- We often need people to volunteer on Boards of Management-if you have facilitation experience, bookkeeping experience or experience on committees?
- Do you have IT skills? , web skills?
- Do you have admin skills?
- Would you be interested in helping our with ET event- one off- being an extra member of staff on the day- giving information to people, helping set up etc??
If you would like to volunteer with the national office please contact Louise Byrne, who will discuss your options with you.
If you would like to volunteer with Educate Together on a local level please contact your nearest school.
Back to top
|
