Minutes of 2020 Zoom Compass A.G.M. - 21st November, 2020

Present: Executive Committee Members –Patrick Empey(President), Paul Rolston (Deputy-President), Julie Carr(Secretary), Nigel Bannister (Treasurer), Nita Mishra, Mary Lillis, Claire Cox, Alyson Findlay, Hilary Rabbette, Clive Jones and Eoin Murphy.

Parent Representatives from: Wesley College, Stratford College, King’s Hospital, Villiers School, Royal School Cavan, Dundalk G.S., Midleton College, Kilkenny College, The High School, Wilson’s Hospital, East Glendalough School, SandfordPark, Drogheda G.S., Templecarrrig, Rathdown and St Columba’s College

The President opened the meeting by welcoming attendeesespecially in strange times and said it was hard not meeting and greeting everyone.  He specifically welcomed Mai Fanning President of Npcpp who was at the heart of all issues during the summer months and also Martina O’Shea President of PACCS.  He continued to state that the Agenda for the meeting had been circulated prior to the meeting and we will first go through AGM Procedures.  The second half of the meeting will include a presentation on Npcpp and what is happening and how it works which will be followed by an open Q&A Session.

A.G.M. Business:  The minutes of the 2019 A.G.M. and Secretary’s Report had been circulated prior to the meeting.  

Adoption of the minutes were proposed by: Alyson Findlay and Seconded by: Eoin Murphy

The Secretary then read through her Report for the year.  

The President thanked the Secretary for her very comprehensiveReport and that he would only like to add a few points.  He first wanted to recognise and acknowledge the work by all school staff from Boards of Management, Principals, Teachers, Administration, Catering Staff, Ground staff and Cleaners since Covid first emerged. From the adaption and adoption of new styles of teaching to coping with exams to re-starting in September, we as parents all had a debit of gratitude.  He noted that this reminded us of the great dedication of many teachers.  There was enormous effort to support each individual student.  He also noted that the levels of responsibility and work load of Principals and Board of Managements’ was large enough without a pandemic and he could only imagine the days and weekends spent managing all this. .  Finally he made mention particularlyof boarding schools and their enormous work to try and secure a safe environment for so many of our children.  It helped them significantly to return to some kind of normality in what has been a difficult time for them.

To put it in context for new attendees at the AGM he explainedthat Npcpp Directors and Compass Executive Members were a voluntary group.  Npcpp was established as a company limited by guarantee for governance reasons and has 12 directors made up of 3 Directors from the 4 Constituent Bodies.  It is a conduit for parents to communicate with DES.  Npcpp also works in the areas of providing training courses for P/TAs, Oirechtasrepresentation and lobbying and providing the Leaving Cert Helpline.

He then went on to say that Compass had planned for more physical engagement and communication with Parents but obviously that has been affected by the COVID virus restrictions.  Unfortunately only one Interactive took place.  

Most of Compass work was supporting Npcpp with their work with the DES.  Our Directors took on various roles within the organisation.  Position papers were produced by Nita Mishra with the support of Eoin Murphy at the last moment for Npcppmeetings with the DES.  This puts huge demands on the time ofour Directors and the President expressed Compass genuine gratitude for their contribution.

Communication has been a challenge for us and remains a work in progress but the Outreach Group is still trying to endeavour to beat the obstacles.  This group tried to respond to issues during the period of uncertainty.  

The President finished by thanking Claire Cox, Nita Mishra and Eoin Murphy who were stepping down from the Executive, for their work and dedication to Compass.  He also particularlythanked the Secretary, Julie Carr, for her hard work and she is also due to step down.

The Treasurer stated the accounts, that had been circulated prior to the AGM, had been audited by Mark Stokes. Our main source of income is from Npcpp which comes from DES funding and also Affiliations fees that schools now pay directly to Npcpp.  As accounts were self explanatory and there were no questions on same they were proposed by Richard Heywood Jones and Seconded by Paul Rolston.

There were four places now available on the Executive and it had been requested that any nominees be forwarded to the Secretary by 6pm on the 21st November, 2020.  The following three names have been received:

Susannah Love – High School – Proposed by Julie Carr and Seconded by Alyson Findlay

Jenny Cahill – Kilkenny College – Proposed by Patrick Empeyand Seconded by Nita Mishra

Richard Heywood Jones – Proposed by Paul Rolston and Seconded by Julie Carr

All the remaining Executive Members are available to remain on the Committee and with no objection from the meeting they were elected.

The President asked for anyone else who may be interested in joining the Committee to contact the Executive after the meeting.  Subsequently both Tara Murphy and Tracey Monson offered their services and were elected,

With regard to the officer positions:-

Aylson Findlay was proposed as President by Julie Carr and Seconded by Nigel Bannister

Nigel Bannister was proposed as Treasurer by Eoin Murphy and Seconded by Nita Mishra

Julie Carr was proposed to continue in the role of Secretary in an interim and ex officio capacity by Patrick Empey and Seconded by Nigel Bannister

Update on Npcpp Involvement in Education: The President introduced Mai Fanning and acknowledged the huge effort and contribution she had made during these difficult times and all her achievements at the Advisory Group.

Ms Fanning replied by saying she was delighted to be invited to the AGM.  She mentioned that our own President had covered a lot about representation at National level but never before has it been more important. The voice of parents and students is paramount to any decisions being made and is being received positively in the Advisory Group.  The Group was initially initiated because of Leaving Certificate issues and then continued with the safe return to school but is still active.  Indeed a new group is now working on contingency plans for the 2021 Leaving Certificate.   She acknowledged that Parents and students are already concerned as to what may happen. The primary way of gaining an insight into concerns parents have is generally when they themselves contact Npcpp.  Issues are arising in school particularly with continuous assessments.  The Parent Student Charter was due to be at a more advanced stage but had been further delayed as more important issues have prevented it moving as fast as Npcpp would have liked.  The Charter will bring an open line of communication and involvement so issues can be dealt with.  There is a need to advocate for all students and bring forward what is best for parents at all times.  Mental Health has become a paramount issue.  A new survey is about to be launched to help Npcppascertain what are the back to school concerns so they can pitch these at an upcoming meeting.  She thanked all Compass Directors for their support to Npcpp.

Following Ms Fanning’s update Paul Rolston, one of our NpcppDirectors, gave a short presentation.  He mentioned that the Npcpp President and Martina O’Shea, Treasurer of Npcpp are critical to all Npcpp achieved and in moving the Organisation forward.  Indeed he said Ms Fanning has gained full respect for her work. During the Advisory talks Npcpp worked closely with the Union of Students in Ireland, Npc Primary and Irish Secondary Schools Union.

In the presentation it was explained how Npcpp was set up and the partners they engage with. The Company was established under the Education Act. The organisation seeks to provide information, training, representation at Government level and support the work of the Constituent bodies.  They have also been involved in Joint Oireachtas Committees on areas of education and reform.  They are also represented on other bodies including NCCA and Teaching Council.  The Leaving Cert Helpline that is run by Npcpp was never more important than this year.  There are varioius areas that they provide training in including Antibullying inconjunction with DCU.  It is funded by grants from the DES and affiliations received from schools.  They are endeavouring to provide a professional secretariat to make it a professional body representing parents but have at time run into obstacles and detractors.

It was agreed a copy of the presentation would be emailed to all attendees after the meeting.

The presentation was followed by a Q and A session.  The President noted that participants had been requested that any issues/questions be emailed if possible prior to the AGM.  Some had been received in the areas of Compass representing minorities, funding, support for schools during and beyond Covid, inclusivity and how better communication/engagement can be achieved.  

In responding to a number of the issues The Npcpp President noted 

Other issues raised included:

The President of Compass then closed the meeting and thanked everyone for joining.

Secretary’s Report for Academic Year 2020-2021

Executive Committee

At the last AGM the following members resigned from the Committee – Claire Cox (Dundalk Grammar School), Nita Mishra (Wesley College) and Eoin Murphy (Midleton College).  Many thanks to them all for the dedication and hard work.  Nita and Eoin also did tremendous work on Npcpp which we greatly appreciate.  The following kindly agreed to replace them – Susannah Love (The High School), Jenny Cahill (KilkennyCollege), Richard Heywood Jones (King’s Hospital) and Tara Murphy (Midleton College).  

There were six Executive meetings held this year. 

Again the effects of Covid lingered on in Education this year.  However, there were lessons learnt in the Leaving Certificate of 2020 and these were implemented in 2021.  Particularly with the option of Accredited Grades and changes to the format of the Exam Papers.   The impact on students was none the less extremely difficult.  On the positive side the way our students are educated has changed and hopefully for the better.  There has always been concern assessing students on years of work in one exam.  Hopefully going forward a new and more suitable format will be put in place.

Our AGM last year was dedicated to listening to the voice of Parents/Guardians.  We were delighted to have Mai Fanning, NpcppPresident, on hand to discuss and update parents on many issues.  We are grateful to her for giving up of her time which has been much in demand in recent months being the voice of Parents at various groups most notably the Advisory Group within the Department.

The Executive were extremely sad to learn of the sudden passing of one our previous Executive Members – Shane Bennet.  His work and knowledge of education and other matters had been invaluable for Compass and NPCpp.  Above all he was a true Gentleman.  He was incredibly wise and balanced, an Educationalist with very clear and thoughtful views.  Our sympathies to his family and particularly his children.

Interactive Meeting

The President wrote to Parents/Guardians in March advising them in of recent challenges and uncertainty Compass had organized for Shelley Crawford to speak on the topic of Resilience.  This meeting was also an opportunity for Parents/Guardians to express concerns they had in relation to their child’s education.  She encouraged them to contact Compass or Npcpp on an on going basis.  She also reiterated the work being done by our Directors on Npcpp and Npcpp themselves to ensure Parents’ voices were being heard.

The use of zoom for the Interactive Meeting ensured there was a great attendance to hear the excellent talk by Shelley.

National Parents Council Post Primary

Mary Lillis replaced Nita Mishra as a Director on Npcpp with Paul Rolston and Nigel Bannister continuing in the roles.

Npcpp have been working to set up a professional secretariat which is needed for a high profile organisation like Npcpp.

The involvement of the President in the Advisory Group is key to Parents/Guardians voice being heard.

They have been working hard to build and increase their database of parental contacts.

There have been discussions with Npc Primary about the formation of a single parent body but with different concerns and priorities this is on hold at present.

A New Constitution and Memo & Arts are in the process of being adopted.   

There will be a new Committee formed known as the SEED Committee – Sector/Ethos/Equality/Diversity.  It will comprise of 15 members.  The nominations for this Committee will be broadened to other relevant organisations e.g. Barnardos/First Alliance.  All and any sectors can put forward issues, ideas etc. into this Committee.  They will ensure all areas and sectors are represented.  In turn recommendation will be put to Board. Individuals will have to serve on this Committee for a year before they can be nominated to become Directors.

A professional company has been employed to look at the area of communication so that correct and factual information is available to parents.

They continue to issue surveys which parents are encouraged to partake in to raise awareness of issues.

Concerns about the teaching of the new English curriculum have been raised by Compass with Npcpp.  It is imperative guidelines are issued.

Digital training is another issue being dealt with at Npcpp.

Recent Webinars organised by Npcpp have been a great success.

As we know this is the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and does not include the everyday work of Npcpp.  This includes information and support for Parents/Guardians, Training and representation on various bodies and of course the Leaving Cert Helpline.

We would like to sincerely thank our Directors on Npcpp for all they do for Compass at Npcpp.  Not only are they Directors but they serve on Committees within and outside the organisation which include:-

Don’t forget our website is www.compassparents.org and email address is parentline365@gmail.com

Julie Carr

Secretary