Report on the National Trustee Forum 4th Annual Conference.
12/10/11 Mullingar Park Hotel.
Monsignor Jim Cassin, Chairperson of NTF opened the Conference by listing the issues that are pertinent to the Forum. These issues include:
· The Role, Responsibilities of Joint Patrons, Relationships within NTF and rationalising them.
· The challenging changes that are occurring in the structure of the VECs and the DES
· The need for training of Boards of Management.
· The Single Catholic Patron Entity.
· The role of Bishop and Diocesan Advisor
· The anomalies that occur when handing the role to a Trust Body; the role of the Link Person. Is the relationship too complicated to work?
The presentation by Marie Céline Clegg, IBVM was a recap and a consolidation of the practical implications of the Role of the Joint Patron in a Community School. While she felt that the NTF is ‘coming into its own’, Marie Céline wondered if there was a tendency towards the ‘IDD Syndrome’ [Implementation Deficit Disorder] in action! Delegates were asked to reflect on their own experience of how the role of Joint Patron was practiced in their schools. Delegates discussed the areas of responsibility of the Joint Patron including the production of the Characteristic Spirit, Communication with the Board of Management regarding Core Policies, the Appointment of the Board of Management, Appointment of Selection Committees, and the acquisition, change of use and disposal of Buildings / Assets. Examples of best practice in communication and involvement between Patrons and Boards of Management were given from the floor.
Mr. Seán Ashe, CEO of Co. Kildare VEC chaired the next presentation which was a narrative on the process and formulation of a characteristic spirit in our newest Community School, Kildare Town CS.
Seán Ashe described the characteristic spirit as the “Real touchstone by which the school will judge its orientations and actions”. Fr. Adrian Carbery, Parish Priest in Kildare Town, brought us on the journey towards the new Community School, beginning in April 2000 with the idea of amalgamating the three existing schools [Presentation, De la Salle and VEC] in order to acquire better facilities for the children of the area. The size of the proposed school went from 600 to 1,000 as time and demographics progressed and, after a slow start, in 2008 the green light was given to the construction of a PPP school half a mile outside Kildare Town.
By this time CEIST was representing the Presentation order and the Diocese of Kildare was representing the De La Salle Order. With the VEC, Ceist, the Diocese and advice from ACCS, the Patrons embarked on the ‘greenfield task’ of constructing a Characteristic Spirit for their new state of the art school. While the Patrons were very conscious of the heritage of the Kildare area, the Patrons felt that just outlining the Christian heritage of St. Brigid and St. Conleth would not give sufficient parity of esteem for other beliefs, faiths and non-believers.
Mr. Brendan Dunning took up the narration of the story at this stage. The twists and turns in getting from A to B to Z were described. An impasse was reached between patrons at a point around descriptions that could be considered to be exclusive e.g. ‘Every student a child of God’. Eventually, with the support of Ciaran Flynn from ACCS, the parties agreed that a compromise wouldn’t honour either party and the decision was made to allow both viewpoints to be expressed. Include the difference!
The school’s motto reflects the spirit and ethos developed with all stakeholders. Illuminate, love, serve combines the traditions of the three schools. Mr. Seán Ashe concluded the journey taken by Kildare Community School patrons by complimenting all involved in their concise and precise description of the development of the characteristic spirit.
Ms. Teresa McNeill, Assistant Principal Officer, School Governance Section, DES then gave a progress report on the Review of the Deed of Trust for Community Schools. A group representing the Patrons and including ACCS have been considering changes that may be required in the Deed of Trust to take account of:
· Changes in legislation, particularly the Education Act and the Education Welfare Act
· New property models including Public Private Partnership that aren’t accommodated in the lease
· Policy changes e.g. Enrolment, Behavioural, Financial, Religious Worship.
· Employment changes i.e. Changes in Employment Legislation, types of contracts.
We were given an overview of the present Deed of Trust and specifics where the First and Second Schedule needed amendments. The work of the group is ongoing and a report with recommendations will be submitted to the DES and ACCS with a view to adoption of these recommendations.
At last year’s NTF Conference, Mr. Martin Hanvey ‘threw down a gauntlet’ to the Catholic Patrons. Could the Patrons form themselves into a Single Catholic Patron “entity” for Community School Patronage? Dr. Eilis Humphreys, CEO of Le Chéile and Secretary of ATCS reported on developments in response to this proposal. Eilis clearly outlined the issues that are of concern to our Patrons.
· How can Patrons who are unable to continue functioning as Patrons be facilitated?
· The possibility of forming some sort of ‘alliance’ to ensure that active patronage continues into the future.
· How can Patrons ensure that the characteristic spirit is kept alive
The current challenges to exercising patronage were listed by Eilis. Communication is the biggest problem, while lack of administrative backup for religious patrons is also a factor. Religious groups may move away from an area and/or there is a lack of personnel to deal with the schools.
Eilis then proposed alternatives to the present model of patronage. She posed the question: What might a new model for existing, or new, schools look like? Three models were put forward:
· Model 1: Co-ordinator for existing trustees. This would be a liaison, advice and support function. Whether this would be linked with either ATCS, ACCS or be an independent office hadn’t been explored.
· Model 2: Federation of existing trustees. The Role and Responsibilities of this Federation could include exercising trusteeship on behalf of existing trustees via an agreed memorandum, linking and consulting with trustees. The other half of the role would mean working directly with schools and liaising with VEC patrons and the DES. The advantages and challenges that this model would pose were then detailed.
· Model 3: A New Trust Body. This would be a radical development and many questions regarding clarification of legal positions, future plans of Religious Congregations and Dioceses, the role of proposed Local Education and Training Boards would need to be answered to decide whether this would be a realistic possibility.
Eilis’ report certainly challenges the Status Quo and should give a direction to our patrons for a possible way forward.