FOREWORD
Through our principles, beliefs and actions we demonstrate to our partners and fellow parents
what it is that our proud organisation represents. Tens of thousands of committed parent
volunteers along with our few but dedicated staff contribute daily to advancing parental
involvement in the education of all children and in improving educational opportunities for
them.
We are partners in the education of our children, and have a responsibility and duty to
exercise our rights while being supportive of each other as we make our contribution towards
developing the education system as it impacts on our children.
We as parents and guardians of both pre-school and primary school children must represent
the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that each parent or guardian has for their child and we also
must insist on the fulfilment of each child's potential within the education system.
There are many new challenges facing parents, children, and the whole education
environment today that did not exist before. Many of these challenges find their roots in social
changes. There are many conflicting demands on parents’ time, and because of changing work
schedules most voluntary agencies are discovering that there is a shortage of volunteers and a
shortage of available time amongst volunteers. There is a growing lack of community
involvement and drop off in social contribution. There is great pressure on family and
community life, resulting in breakdowns in relationships and community structures. There are
many parents and guardians who must face the prospect of educating their children alone.
There are refugee parents in a strange land struggling with a different language and society
and there are native Irish parents and guardians who also feel equally excluded from society.
Many of our children have special needs and educational requirements that remain ignored.
Our core values and aspirations as an organisation will not change but we must reflect the
changes in the lives and environment of our members and those we represent.
There are many positive changes and advances that influence our organisation. The Education
Act was a major break-through for parents and its full potential has not yet been realised.
There is government commitment to partnership and consultation in education and there is
greater spending on resources. We have many more partners who share our concerns for the
education of all children, as many agencies now exist for improvement within the education
community.
As an organisation we must now look towards the future. We should not be afraid to
challenge ourselves and provide the answers that will make our organisation relevant and
successful. We must assess how we utilise and respect the scarce time available to National
Parents Council Primary from volunteers and our employees. We should work towards the
goal of removing any layers of tiring bureaucracy and look instead to inclusion, support,
involvement, representation and ease of access to our irreplaceable organisation. We should
look outward and forge new relationships and partnerships. Many of our members can
provide the necessary links. We can change and improve our organisation without altering our
goals and aims.
Desmond Kelly Chairperson
INTRODUCTION
There have been many positive developments in education. NPC is gratified that so many of
the priorities signalled by parents are also national priorities. New legislation that makes
statutory provision for children’s and parents’ rights is beginning to be implemented. There is
a stronger focus generally on children and their needs. Through the National Children’s
Strategy the State has, for the first time, tried to bring government departments, voluntary
agencies, parents and children themselves together to generate a shared vision for children.
NPC at all levels will need to continue to keep the agenda for children as a priority and thus
ensure that legislation is enacted and resources are allocated to secure that agenda. Funding
for addressing disadvantage and for provision for children with special needs continues to
grow. The new curriculum in which NPC made a significant contribution, is beginning to be
delivered to children in their classrooms. The curriculum guidelines for parents ‘Your Child’s
Learning’, developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in cooperation
with NPC, marks a welcome step forward in the recognition of the importance of parents’ role
in children’s learning.
In recognition of the effective contribution made by NPC, the Minister for Education and
Science, Dr Michael Woods,T.D., has provided funding to engage two additional staff
members for three years. They will assist in a number of areas including developments arising
from the Education Act and work connected with the introduction of the revised primary
curriculum into schools.
Yet many challenges remain. While partnership in education at national level is well
developed by national standards, partnership at school level still has ground to make up.
There is an entrenched attitude of resistance to parental involvement at some levels and in
some circles. The right of parents and children to give their views on the quality of schools as
a part of Whole Schools Evaluation is a fundamental issue which cannot continue to be
ignored. There is a lack of will to address the issue of poor teaching, in a supportive way.
The school year continues to be eroded. There is an ongoing problem of lack of access to
information about education, or any say in local decisions due to the highly centralised nature
of Irish education. There are poor connections between the education services and other
services, to the detriment of children. There are ongoing challenges facing parents of children
with special needs. Some of these problems will only be resolved in the context of significant
structural and cultural change.
The Department of Education itself has been challenged by the Cromier Report. NPC will
give the department its wholehearted support in moving towards a student-centred, userfriendly, accessible education service, driven by children’s needs, rather than provider’s
concerns.
Ireland is changing. The aspirations and needs of parents and children are changing. The
Education system must develop to meet the needs of today’s children and parents. NPC is
looking at itself and how it too needs to change and welcome the challenge of change.
Fionnuala Kilfeather
Chief Executive
SOME MAJOR WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE YEAR
New primary curriculum - supporting parents
In support of the new curriculum, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment
developed guidelines for parents. NPC played a major role which included testing a draft of
the guidelines with a wide range of parents throughout the country. This proved a very
useful and rewarding exercise. Many changes were made and the Minister launched the
parent friendly guidelines ‘Your Child’s Learning’ in October 2000. The guidelines have
been distributed for parents to every school in the country.
Quality in-career development for teachers and good information and support for parents are
essential to the successful implementation of the curriculum. NPC has urged that information
sessions on the curriculum will be made available to parents in their child’s school. The
Department is now planning to provide this training.
A series of workshops for parents to help them to help their own child was developed by the
Relationship and Sexuality Education Support Service in partnership with NPC. A pilot
scheme and evaluation have been completed and training materials have been developed.
Discussions are taking place with the Department on making the programme widely available
to parents.
NPC has also been concerned that the implementation of the new curriculum will take too
long. We have proposed ways speeding things up without overburdening teachers.
NPC is continuing to insist that essential non-teaching activities must take place outside
tuition time. Such arrangements must be negotiated with the teacher unions as part of the
benchmarking process.
Education Act 1998
Although the Education Act is in operation since December 2000 the Department of
Education and Science continues to consult with the partners on some sections. The three
sections mentioned below relate to students over the age of 18 as well as parents.
Complaints procedure for parents
As provided for in the Education Act, the Department of Education and Science is preparing a
complaints procedure for parents at school level. Negotiations on the procedure, which will
be much more parent friendly than the existing procedure, are almost complete. NPC has
insisted that following the formal hearing of a complaint, the board of management must give
the reason for any decision as well as the decision itself. The opinion from the Ombudsman
would seem to support our position. NPC proposes a user-friendly booklet for parents about
the complaints procedure.
Appeals procedures for parents and students
NPC has also been involved in negotiations on an independent appeals procedure for matters
not resolved at school level. A parent, a student over 18 or the Education Welfare Board can
appeal to the Department on a decision made by the school board to expel, suspend (for over a
specified time) or refuse enrolment to a child. The appeals committee will consist of three
persons to include an Inspector and two others with the expertise, experience and
independence to serve on the committee. A facilitator will be made available where this
would help the parties resolve matters. There is a time scale for the procedure and parties will
be kept informed. The decision of the Appeals Committee and the reason for the decision will
be given to both parties. Where necessary directions which are binding will be given to the
school board. NPC made representation on all these issues. Appeals may be brought in other
areas yet to be negotiated. The appeals procedure will be reviewed from time to time.
Access to school records
The Education Act requires schools to use available resources to ensure that parents have
access to school records relating to the educational progress of their child. NPC is seeking
parents views on how this access should be provided.
Parents and School Planning
The Steering Committee for the School Development Planning Initiative is made up of staff
of the Department of Education, the National Coordinator for the School Planning initiative at
primary level, the Director of the Drumcondra Education Centre, from where the School
Planning Initiative is administered, and a representative of NPC-primary, INTO and the
Catholic Primary School Managers Association( CPSMA).
The school planning support service offers school communities access to training in school
development planning, materials for planning, and a team of trained facilitators to guide and
assist with school planning. The schools will be offered access to initial training and support
on a phased basis. Small schools, and certain other categories of school have been targeted
for 2000/2001.
NPC has been strongly supportive of the school planning initiative. We want to see this
support service established on a permanent basis, and not only as a short-term initiative.
NPC has expressed its strong position that work on school planning must not erode the
minimum entitlement of children to 183 full school days.
The role and involvement of parents in school planning is an integral part of the school
planning process that the facilitators explore with school teams. The Steering Committee has
agreed to explore additional ways in which the work of school planning can be inclusive of
the role of parents, as envisaged in the Education Act. One of the first steps will be to work
on materials for parents about the contribution they can make to school development
planning.
Education Welfare Act
The recently passed Education Welfare Act is aimed at keeping track of children’s attendance
at school and ensuring that they attend school regularly. Both schools and homes will be
accountable for attendance. The National Education Welfare Board will be established to take
responsibility for school attendance. NPC made strong representation and has secured many
changes to the Bill before it was enacted. National guidelines will be drawn up to assist the
school, parents and teachers to draw up the code of behaviour for their own school. Under the
new Act parents will participate fully in the development of the codes at school level. NPC
will monitor developments carefully. The Department established an ad hoc National
Education Welfare Board to develop a strategic plan for implementing the various functions
assigned under the Act. Following the interim period the board will be established on a
statutory footing. The provisions in the Act will be implemented within two years
New boards of management
NPC and the other partners in Education have again cooperated at national level to make
recommendations on whole board training to be delivered at local level. Local steering
groups representing the partners are being established at diocesan level.
NPC also provides specific training for parents elected representatives.
NPC and Parent School Partnership in Kosovo
NPC staff members, Fionnuala Kilfeather and Fidelma Finch spent a week working with CRS
(Catholic Relief Services) staff and with parents and teachers in Kosovo. They were asked to
do this work by CRS, as part of the CRS initiative to rebuild civil society. This initiative will
continue. A group of parents and teachers from Kosovo and CRS staff will visit Ireland to
look at the working of NPC and the Irish education system.
REPRESENTING THE VIEWS OF PARENTS ON EDUCATION THROUGH
POLICY SUBMISSIONS AND REPRESENTATION
Consulting with parents and children
NPC through its national executive, county branches, parent associations and in cooperation
with other groups gathers the views of parents and children on a wide range of issues, for
example, complaints and appeals procedures for parents, access for parents to children’s
educational records held by the school, parenting courses, children’s perceptions of parenting,
support needs of parents in the education of their children, parents elected representatives
views on the structure and operation of school boards views of children on their rights.
Submissions and presentations
NPC brings the views of parents to bear on a wide range of major education and related
issues:
Submissions/presentations this year include:
National children’s strategy
National drugs strategy
Preservice education
ISPCC parenting
Liquor licensing
Complaints and appeals procedures
Joint Oireachtas Committee: teacher shortage
Benchmarking committee
Curriculum implementation
Development needs of NPC
NPC prebudget submission
The NPC prebudget submission for 2001 stressed the priority areas for funding in primary
education. The submission also stressed the inadequacy of our funding for the role NPC is
expected to pay and has a legal obligation to play. There are over half a million parents of
primary school children, there are over 6000 parents representatives on school boards and,
potentially, there are over 3000 parent associations. Unlike other groups such as teachers,
there is constant turnover demanding constant renewal.
Representing the views of parents to the wider public
NPC members and staff contribute to education debate through public meetings and seminars
and through national and local media. Topics covered during the past year include; NPC new
guidelines for parent associations, school transport, health and safety, children’s health,
alcohol consumption, rights of parents to information about schools, benchmarking, the full
school year, curriculum and curriculum guidelines for parents, legislation, school boards of
management and whole school evaluation. A highlight of the year was RTE’s Open Mind
broadcast of an interview at ADC 2000 with Trond Waage, the Norwegian Ombudsman for
Children.
REPRESENTATION ON EDUCATION COMMITTEES
Through NPC parents are represented on a number of education and other committees. Major
committees are listed in this report. Some examples are given of committee work over the
past year.
Commission on School Accomodation
The Minister for Education and Science in 1996 established the Commission on School
Accommodation. The partners in education structured the commission to combine the
benefits of technical expertise and participation. The Commission consists of expert technical
working groups and a steering group that consists of representatives of the partners in
Education including officials from the Departments of Finance and Education & Science.
It reported in late 1998 on the Criteria and Procedures for the Recognition of New Primary
Schools. Many of the recommendations have since been implemented.
The Commission is presently working on criteria and methodology for amalgamation of
schools
Special Education Steering Committee:Curriculum Guidelines for Teachers of
Students with Learning Disabilities
The first meeting of the Steering Committee was held in April 1998. There are representatives
from all the teaching organisations, the special education department of University College
Dublin and one parent from NPC-Primary and one from NPC-Post Primary. Ongoing
consultation with parents is taking place through NPC Special Education and Integration
groups.
Education officers were appointed to chair three sub-committees which developed the
discussions further from each general meeting. Because of the huge amount of work involved
specialist readers were also commissioned to develop the subjects in conjunction with the
Education Officers.
To date, five books on the curriculum have been developed with nine sections to each. It is
hoped that these books will be finalised and in the schools by September 2001.
Conjoint Child Health Advisory Group
The health boards commissioned a review of the preschool and school health services in 1996
that resulted in the “Best Health for Children” report (1999). Some of the recommendations
were:
A holistic and positive approach towards child health
A child-centred and flexible approach in planning and delivery of child health services
Provision of appropriate support for all parents
Empowerment of parents in recognition of the fact that they are best positioned to act as
primary screeners of their children.
An evidence-based approach to all children health services
In-built quality assurance of all child health service activities
The Group has been establishing direct contact with personnel in relevant health boards and
committees such as the one that recently spearheaded the National Children’s Strategy. It has
also set up a number of key sub-committees to coincide with child health indicators,
adolescent health, parenting, and training of key staff at the health boards
The second National Report of Best Health for Children should be released in autumn 2001.
A parenting report (as part of this Best Health for Children Report) will present a strategic
action plan with key recommendations for supporting parents.
NPC WORKING FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
NPC has worked on its own initiative and with other organisations in promoting the rights of
children. NPC supports the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and lobbies for and on
behalf of a children’s rights based approach to education legislation and the rights of children
with special needs. Through our continued effort we have impacted on the shape of the
Education Act and the Education Welfare Act.
Children’s Rights Alliance
NPC is a founding member of the Children’s Rights Alliance. The Alliance is an umbrella
group of non-governmental organisations and individuals concerned with promoting the rights
and welfare of children in Ireland.
The Alliance facilitated a workshop with children at NPC annual conference in Wexford in
April 2000. The views articulated by children during this workshop were submitted to the
National Children’s Strategy as part of the consultation with children that took place during
the preparation of the Strategy.
A steering committee was established to assist the Alliance Education Officer with the
development of the Education Programme on children’s rights. The purpose of the
programme is to develop a multi-media programme that will contribute to a process of
enabling primary school children, their teachers and parents to dwell on children’s rights and
responsibilities.
NPC-THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION
European Parents Association (EPA)
NPC is an active member of European Parents Association that represents over 100 million
parents in the European Union. NPC members have participated in European seminars and
conferences and made contributions to European education. NPC participated in EPA
training reflection groups that discussed EPA training modules. NPC also contributed to
CONNECT which aims to support innovative projects that link the areas of education,
training and culture that are assoicated with new technologies.
EPA Alcuin Award
The Alcuin is the European Parents Association annual award for innovation and good
practice in partnership in education. The NPC nominee was, St. Sylvester’s Infant Schoool,
Malahide Dublin, whose project was entitled “Parents as Partners in Primary Education”.
NPC SERVICE-RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF PARENTS
NPC help and information line
The NPC help and information line is a confidential service for parents of primary school
children. The helpline is staffed by trained volunteers. They provide support, encouragement
and information to assist parents in responding to their children’s educational needs.
The help and information line’s third year was its busiest. We welcomed six new volunteers
and answered over 1,300 calls from all over the country. 85% of calls were from mothers.
The largest number of calls are about bullying behaviour in children and adults.
Advocacy Service
NPC is piloting an advocacy scheme to help parents who may be involved in a formal board
hearing. A parent going to a formal board heard may have an advocate to help prepare for the
hearing. The advocate will attend the hearing if the parent wishes.
NPC on line
The website, www.npc.ie is currently being revamped and the new design and content will be
launched in the near future. The new website will contain a counties information page which
will be updated regularly. Information is currently available on NPC and NPC services, press
statements and a downloadable version of the NPC newsletter ‘Newsbrief’.
NPC has recently become a contributor on the Roller coaster, a parenting website,
www.rollercoaster.ie that is visited by 17,0000 parents a month.
Public Lecture Series
In cooperation with NPC Parents Programme, three successful lectures were presented. The
themes of the lectures were; bullying, planning for curriculum implementation and teaching
children to think critically.
Promoting effective communications
NPC has recently employed a communications officer to further develop its communications
strategy and to assist the new outreach team. NPC-P maintains regular contact with the media
to promote the work of the association.
NPC Strategic Plan
During the past year, there has been very wide consultation about NPC and how it should
grow and develop. This consultation will enable parents and their representatives to take
important decisions about future directions. By working on our Strategic Plan, NPC hopes to
decide how best we can support parents in their important educational task.
Following the consultations that have taken place during the year with county executives,
national executive, some parents not involved in NPC and a random sample of school
principals, a discussion paper has been prepared. This discussion paper summarises the
feedback from the consultation. It draws out some of the key issues that are coming up. This
discussion paper will be circulated widely through county branches, to give parents a further
opportunity to give their views about future goals and actions.
Some recent NPC publications for parents
NPC information brochure: available in English and as Gaeilge
Newsbrief: a newsletter published once a term covers major issues in primary education and
the work of NPC. Newsbrief is available in Irish and English.
Working effectively as a Parent Association: good practice guidelines which take account
of the rights and responsibilities of parents and parent associations under the Education Act.
The manual assists parent associations and parents in supporting their children’s education.
Areas covered in the manual include; opportuniteis for parents to learn about helping their
own child and communication between parents and the school. A copy was distributed to
every parent association.
Regional Forums
Regional forums were first introduced in 1998 in response to the interest expressed by NPC
county executives in meeting and working together. It was also an opportunity for National
Executives Members to connect with their members at regional level.
The forums have been used to give up to date information about significant developments in
education and to allow for consultation with county branches.
Five forums were hosted by NPC this year. Information sessions were held on the Parent
Guidelines for the new curriculum and on the new NPC Parent Association guidelines.
Consultation with county delegates took place through a series of workshops on Strategic
Planning process for NPC, as well as on parental involvement by parents at school level.
Training and Development Programme (Parents Programme) for parents and
partnership:
The Parents Programme is the national programme of training, development and support for
parental involvement and partnership. The purpose of the Training and Development
programme is to offer parents skills and supports to help them to play an active part in their
children’s education at every level.
We aim to contribute to offering supports to teachers, principals and boards of management in
so far as our resources will allow. We see it as essential to attempt to build a shared
understanding of the nature of home-school partnership, its scope and potential, rather than to
work in isolation from our colleagues and partners in the schooling system.
Training activities in 2000:
In Table 1 we set out the various levels at which work was done in the past year, and the
programmes which have been undertaken for each level of the work. Some programmes
aimed to promote partnership at several levels, so they appear in the able under more than one
heading.
Table 1
Aimed at:
Parents at school level
Programme
Parent Association Effectiveness training.
Renewal workshops for parent associations
Educational talks and workshops for parents
Parents and special needs
Curriculum and guidelines for parents.
Parents, teachers and children
Home-school partnership projects
Parents at NPC level (county,
Regional and national)
County conferences & workshops.
Regional meetings for parents
Induction for new National Executive .
Team building for officers/staff
Code of Behaviour.
Networking with other parents
NCCA(Curriculum), school principals
(Code of Behaviour – sharing the learning)
INTO- input into new principals programme
Inspectors(joint training of trainers)
European Parents Association.
The Network of NPC trainers:
NPC has a network of twenty five trainers around the country. Their main task is to provide
training programmes for newly formed parent associations. They also conduct training
workshops with established parent associations and with county branches. The trainers also
undertake a significant range of work in facilitating parent workshops on educational topics.
Improving trainer’s skills:
Providing opportunities for ongoing professional development is an integral part of NPC’s
commitment to the trainers.
During 2000 trainers had two 2-day workshops reviewing their work with parent associations,
revising their learning from their work experience to date and inputting into their plan of work
and training for the coming year. They set up some peer support systems for themselves in
addition to piloting the preliminaries to an accreditation process.
Training for new parents associations:
Trainers work with new parent associations aims to:
•
•
•
•
Help parents to understand the role and work of a parent association
Help the group to develop skills in working together
Help to build good partnerships of parents, staff and other members of the school
community
Gain a knowledge of good practice in working on a committee and motivating parents
to get involved.
Lectures and workshops run by NPC county branches at local level:
Through the Training and Development Programme of NPC, a fund for county level
training and development projects for parents has been in operation since 1995. This fund
is drawn upon to run a wide range of training and development activities for parents. The
broad aim of the funding programme is to promote and support parental involvement at
local level. The provisions of lectures and workshops for parents on educational topics are
a key focus of many of the projects.
As well as financial support, county executive members have access to professional
support to assist them in designing, costing, running and evaluating their projects. This
ongoing support consists of
• Regular phone support – particularly at the early stages of the project planning
• Personal contact with county teams – at county, regional or national meetings.
The Home-School Partnership programme:
The aim of the home-school partnership programme is to give tangible and practical support
to the process of building partnership, by encouraging parents, teachers and students to work
together on a worthwhile project which is seen by all as educationally worthwhile.
During the past year, a number of exhibitions were held around the country, at which home
school partnership projects carried out in the various participating schools were displayed by
the participants. These exhibitions were organised by members of the NPC’s county
executive committee in each area, with assistance of some funding and advice from staff.
The purpose of the exhibitions was to disseminate ideas and experiences among parents,
teachers and children from other schools. The exhibitions are held at weekends or in the
evenings, to enable as many people as possible to attend. The average attendance was 100300. Assistance in the set up of the exhibition is sometimes provided by local artists, or by
the Arts officer of the County Council.
In many cases, the NPC committees arranged for speakers on educational topics, as part of the
conference. Entertainment is arranged for young children(for example storytelling). A
formal presentation of certificates to all participants took place at each conference.
Support for parents involved in county, regional and national structures of NPC
NPC aims to support parental involvement in education at every level of the educational
system – at parent/child level, parent/school and at the level supporting parental input in to the
national educational policy development. This ambitious aim depends on the active
participation of parents themselves, who are willing to commit to bringing their energy and
experience to working with and for other parents. It is part of the task of NPC to support those
parents, by offering them the information, skills and insights they need to do good work with
and for their peers.
A number of programmes were offered in the past year:
•
•
•
•
Training and development work at county level, supported by the national training and
development advisor
Regional forums for parents
Induction for new members of the national executive
Team building workshop for national officers
Networking with other partners
One of the strategic objectives of the Training and Development Programme was to build
linkages with other training agencies and programmes. The purpose of such networking was
seen as:
• Offering opportunities to share the learning from our programmes
• Linking with and integrating training inputs and materials on parental involvement
into mainstream in-career programmes
• Learning from others about their work and getting the benefit of the learning.
NPC – WORKING AT COUNTY LEVEL
NPC has a branch in every county, with four branches in Dublin and two in Cork. The county
branch is a structure through which parents and parent associations in a county can come
together and work for the best possible educational experience for children. Even though
many of the activities of the county branch will involve parents from affiliated schools,
county branches often open activities such as educational talks, workshops, information
activities etc. to all parents.
Through their county branch parent association delegates:
• Exchange ideas about children’s education
• Share experiences
• Develop partnerships between children, teachers and parents
• Discuss educational issues of local and national importance
NPC’s county branches offer opportunities to:
• Build a network of parents at county level who can give and receive support
• Enable parents to exchange ideas about their children’s education, parental
involvement and children’s learning
• Channel the views, ideas and concerns of parents to the national level
• Make links with teachers and others in the county who are interested in children’s
education
• Offer opportunities for sharing information about the activities of parent associations
within the county
• Offer training and development projects to improve parents capacity to help their
children and to become involved in their schools
• Disseminate up-to-date information on the work of NPC at national level to parents in
the county
County branches have undertaken a wide range of projects in the past year. Many of the
projects have been supported by the Training and Development Programme.
A major focus has been on giving parents information about the new primary curriculum.
Members of the staff of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment continue to
make presentations at well attended meetings throughout the country.
Some work done at the county level
County branches hold meetings and invite speakers to inform their members about key issues.
The implementation of the new curriculum was a topic widely covered by county branches.
Another concern was the issue if bullying and how it can be dealt with in the schools and by
parents.
In terms of publicity and promotion, some county branches published newsletters, released
press releases, developed advertising posters and connected with media to ensure that the
views of parents were heard.
In addition, county branches have contributed to the development of improved relations
between parents and the government by inviting key ministers to attend events. Regular
contact with local politicans put forward the views of parents.
Special Interest Groups
NPC provides representation to parents of children in special schools, minority religion and
scoileana lan gaeilge. This year an addition group, the intergration group, has been
recognized. This group represents the parents of children with special needs in mainstream
schools.
New Offices for NPC
NPC has moved to 12 Marlborough Court, Dublin 1. 01 8874034, fax 01 8874489, helpline
01 8874477.
Cadbury Quiz
The winner of the National Cadbury Quiz was St. Patrick’s Primary School in Tuam, Co.
Galway.
National Parents Council-Primary is a company limited by guarantee and has charitable
status. The directors of the company are the members of the national executive. The
directors formally resign at annual delegate conference. Following ADC the members of
the incoming executive take their place as directors.