Leadership of controversy-hit Cork City school needs 'significant improvement', report finds
The leadership and management of a Cork primary school which has been at the heart of controversy in recent weeks requires "significant improvement", a new report published by the Department of Education has said.Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers, a co-educational school in the northside of Cork City, made headlines in April when parents briefly removed about 100 students, almost a third of the total student population, due to concerns described as "health and safety".Principal Adrian Breathnach made a statement shortly after, saying allegations he was under the influence of alcohol at school earlier that week were “completely untrue and unfounded”.Mr Breathnach said he had forgotten to bring his vertigo medication to school, leaving him disoriented, and called claims otherwise “an orchestrated campaign”. He subsequently went out on stress leave.The Government has now published a whole-school evaluation report based on an inspection undertaken in February, which found improvement could be made in all five areas assessed.The main issues were documented under the leadership and management section. It said the principal's “overall leadership of teaching, learning and daily management practices required significant improvement to reach a good standard".The report also noted: “There was evidence of disharmony within the school community that has impacted negatively on the effective operation of the school.“There was also a need to develop more effective communication structures with the wider whole-school community.”There was evidence the board of management had not held the required number of meetings in the past year, which had “contributed to deficiencies” in areas like oversight of child protection procedures and reporting to the school community.Though noting the board worked collaboratively with the evaluation process and spoke positively about their commitment to the school, the report recommended structures be put in place so management was more “transparent, consistent and effective”.There was also “scope for improvement” in the standard of learning, with the report saying pupils needed to be challenged on a more consistent basis.It comes as several parents emailed the board and the Department of Education saying their children were “confused and distressed” when their peers were removed from the school, and criticising the board for what they claim was a lack of communication.The report found the school met the requirements in relation six of eight child protection checks. By the time of the report’s publication, the school had furnished evidence of compliance with all requirements.The board of management of Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers said it noted the findings and recommendations of the report “and undertakes to work with all stakeholders to endeavour to implement these throughout the school”, adding it had already engaged with internal school management and staff to commence implementation.
