ETB PARENT REPRESENTATIVE
Some tips
MY NAME AND ETB
Rose Callan – Female parent rep on DDLETB
 I was on the board of County Dublin VEC
 The Dublin Dun Laoghaire Education Training
Board (DDLETB is the new name for the
amalgamation of County Dublin and Dun
Laoghaire VEC’s.
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FIND OUT ONLINE WHAT YOUR ETB DOES
Look at the website – get a brochure
 For example DDLETB has
 Post primary schools. There are 21
Community colleges, 4 Gaelcholáistí and 9
youth reach centres.
 Primary Schools. There are 5 community
national schools under the patronage of DDLETB
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…AND FURTHER EDUCATION
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They provide further education through PLC
courses, Adult Education and other community
based education programmes delivered at local
level. They have also taken over the further
education and training programmes of FAS which is
now called Solas.
FUNCTION OF THE BOARD
My understanding is that the DDLETB run the
schools on a day to day basis. They pay the staff
and provide training and support services to the
principal and teachers of the school.
 The board has an non executive function whereby
they oversee the activities of the management
team and have some input into broad policies and
objectives.
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COUNCILLORS ON THE BOARD
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An ETB will have eighteen members in total – ten
councillors from South Dublin, Fingal and Dun
Laoghaire county councils, two members of staff, two
parents’ representations and five members
nominated by groups identified by the Minister as
having a special interest in education (community
representatives).
At least two of our new community reps are past
councillors and members of political parties
However they are mostly amenable to you asking
questions or finding out how something works locally
Get their support for an issue that you want to raise
AT MEETINGS
Meetings will be held every second month
 DDLETB’s are the third Monday of every month
to avoid clashes with the county council meetings
 The first meeting is very important as it will be
where the chair for the next five years is selected
 Also membership of sub committees and school
boards may be decided
 If you would like to be chair or on a sub
committee you must decide really soon
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SUB COMMITTEES
The most popular seem to be
 Youth and Sport
 Audit
 Finance
 Adult Education
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SCHOOL BOARDS
You can choose to join a school board
 Each school board should have 3 ETB nominees
 The chairperson normally is an ETB nominee
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WHAT ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING?
There is often a teaching and learning plan
 There was one in County Dublin it was called the
Education Plan 2009-2013
 The main aims said the….
 Plan is guided by principles that include high
quality education, flexibility, innovation, mutual
respect, a culture of reflective practice, fairness
and efficiency.
 It stated that would be a focus on the use of ICT
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COUNTY DUBLIN VEC EDUCATION PLAN
2009-2013 WORKING GROUP
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Marie Griffin, CEO (Acting)
Deirdre Keyes, Education Officer
Geraldine Condron, County Co-ordinator of Tutor Training,
BTEI and VTOS
Olive Laffoy,
, Donabate Community College
Marian Lynch, National ITABE and Skills for Work Coordinator
Rosemarie McGill, County Co-ordinator of Research,
Development and Literacy Services
Jim McVeigh, County Youth Development Officer
Fionnuala Ní Chaisil,
, Coláiste Baile Pobail
Lotrail
Marie Rooney, County Co-ordinator of Quality Assurance
Emer Roy, Administrative Officer, Corporate Services
Ken Smartt, Regional Co-ordinator of Youthreach and
STTCs.
WHAT HAPPENS AT MEETINGS
The Agenda will have been sent out or emailed
 At the start there is usually a minutes silence for
any deceased teachers, principals or relations of
board members etc
 Then the previous minutes are read and any
matters arising as at normal meetings
 If you want something discussed it must be on
the agenda. It is hard to change that without
suspending standing orders
 Remember it is a lot more formal than primary
school boards
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WHERE YOU CAN ADD SOMETHING
At the start of the meeting there will be schools
minutes
 You can signal to the chairperson that you wish
to say something and make a point there
 If you are on a school board it is often a good
opportunity to have an issue minuted so that you
can draw attention to it at the meeting.
 If it is a building issue – there is often a buildings
report and you can query planning issues or
reinforce your point about students not having a
playing pitch and so on
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TRAINING
WITHIN THE
ETB
The ETB’s provide training in lots of areas – put
your name down as soon as possible or ask when
will training be available
 Examples  Health and safety – child protection
 Training to be on school boards
 Interview training
 Section 29 training
 Advice from a barrister about school issues
 Ask for a presentation on a topic or something
the ETB do that you want to know more about
e.g. Community National Schools
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS