NICIE Annual Report 2011/2012 ney our nal J Internatio Education: An ated egr Int Contents Section One: NICIE Personnel Chairperson’s Foreword 3 Chief Executive’s Report 4 NICIE Board of Directors 6 NICIE staff 9 Section Two: NICIE 2011-2012 Events 11 Development and Training Report 16 The Entitlement Framework 21 Projects 22 Section Three: NICIE Standing Committees and Other Forums APTIS 27 Special Educational Needs Coordinators Committee (SENCO) 27 Teachers’ and Early Years Committee Report 28 Integrated Schools Finance Association Report 28 Section Four: Financial Information Treasurer’s Report 30 Section Five: Governance Audit Committee 33 Finance, General Purposes and Staffing Committee 33 Steering Committee 33 Planning and Policy Committee 33 Appendices N I C I NICIE Patrons 34 E A Integrated school enrolments 35 n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 1 1 / 2 0 1 2 1 2 5 IE Y IC ears of N Section One: NICIE Personnel 2 Chairperson’s Foreword Colleagues, Patrons and Friends, We can be proud that seven per cent of Northern Ireland pupils now attend integrated schools. But our goal remains to have this option available for all. We gladly thank our friends in the Department of Education, but we regard the Department’s capping the intake in some of our schools and colleges as a breach of its statutory duty under Article 64 (1) of the Education Reform Order 1989. A special word of thanks to Dr Claire McGlynn for the Trojan work she put into arranging the international conference for integrated schools. People attended from Israel, Croatia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Berlin. A new international umbrella group was formed to share experience, advice and advocacy. My final thanks to our chief executive Noreen Campbell and all of our staff and our Patrons. It is through their work that we achieve our agreed aims and goals. I regret that we will now miss the encouragement of a valued Patron, Lady Lucy Faulkner, who passed away earlier this year. My time has come to stand down from the N I C I board. To ensure continuity for our new chief E A executive and the difficulties over our sites n n and bank facilities, I stayed as chairperson u a l for a longer term than normal. I thank R e everyone for their work and encouragement p o r in 2011-2012. We still have much to do in this t 2 extraordinarily important work. 0 1 1 / 2 0 1 Colm Cavanagh 2 Chairperson Board of Directors 3 Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education Chief Executive This year saw that courage commemorated as we drew to a close the thirtieth anniversary celebrations of Lagan College. The importance of the integrated movement was recognised locally. But we sometimes ignore that the greatest admirers of integrated education are to be found in the wider world, particularly in other societies where there is division. It was fitting, therefore, that this year The story of Integrated marked the inaugural conference of the Education is one of Integrated Peace Education Global Network organised by NICIE and QUB and held in making connections, March of this year. Educationalists from of reaching across around the world came to this conference where they shared with each other their borders. The parents experiences of establishing integrated who founded All schools in their different countries. A full report of this conference can be found Children Together, elsewhere in this document. and subsequently The year under report saw the development Lagan College, did of two important projects for NICIE. The Sharing Classroom: Deepening just that, crossing Learning project, funded by the International the religious divide to Fund for Ireland and managed by senior development officer, Bernie Kells, worked ensure their children across a range of schools, supporting teachers in welcoming pupils from other could be educated schools into their classrooms. This is together. challenging, innovative and important work. N NICIE also took the lead in developing a I C I range of resources to support schools in E A commemorating a decade of controversial n n u anniversaries. Funded through the a l Reconciliation Fund at the Department of R e p Foreign Affairs in Dublin, a website, Facing o r t the Past, Shaping the Future , has been 2 0 created to provide teachers with a series 1 1 / of approaches across primary and post 2 0 1 primary phases and through a range of 2 subjects. Training for teachers in teaching 4 controversial subjects was also delivered. This resource is both important and timely. My thanks go to Dr Carmel Gallagher and to Sheelagh Dean for their work on this project. I want to record NICIE’s appreciation for these on this process. NICIE’s capacity has been grants which allow us to extend and deepen greatly enhanced by the creation of this panel. our work. NICIE also acknowledges the core funding we receive from the Department of NICIE took part in a range of discussions Education which makes our work possible. including meeting with the minister and the I wish to thank DE for their support and offer education committee on this important topic. particular thanks to those in Irish Medium and Our role was to challenge the underpinning Integrated Branch for their ongoing advice and assumptions on which area based planning support. was based and to promote a single system of integrated education as the best way A feature of our work in NICIE is making forward for our children. connections through the building of partnerships. This year saw the deepening of This past year saw significant discussions NICIE’s partnership with Regional Training Unit among staff, through the policy and planning (RTU). A steering group consisting of principals, committee of the board of directors, and of the vice principals and RTU officers worked to board of directors itself, as we grappled with the strengthen leadership in our integrated schools, reality that the continuing fall in pupil population to share good practice and to promote school and the dire economic conditions mitigated improvement across those schools. The annual against the development of new integrated APTIS/NICIE conference was an outcome of schools. How should we connect with other this partnership as was the very successful schools to encourage them to consider to summer school held in August that brought transform to integrated status? How might together in three venues more than seven we develop alternative routes to integration? hundred staff from across our integrated How could we best respond to the preferred schools. This has been a productive and choice of most parents, as reflected in public important partnership. We thank RTU for their opinion polls to have their children educated continuing support. together? How could we support the growth in shared education where increasingly single A new partnership was developed with the identity schools work together? Belfast Education and Library Board: Achieving Through Integration, Inclusion and Diversity. There is now broad agreement that there Under the leadership of development officer, must be changes in our system of education. Paula McIlwaine, this involves supporting a There is equally broad agreement that we number of schools around the important issues cannot neglect the importance of building of inclusion, integration and diversity. peace and developing a shared future. Our visitors from around the world see it NICIE was pleased also to continue to develop as self evident that the answer lies in the our partnership with our sister organisation in mainstreaming of integrated education. N I C I the Republic of Ireland, Educate Together. E A This included a joint meeting with the Minister NICIE was founded twenty five years ago n n for Education, John O’Dowd, on cross border this year to act as an umbrella body for the u a l schools, meetings between officers and then existing schools and to promote the R e attendance at our respective conferences. further development of integrated education. p o r That work continues today. t 2 The year past saw a continued public focus on 0 1 1 / education. NICIE played a full part in ongoing NICIE is committed to the belief that education 2 0 debates. I am pleased to report that we were has a powerful role to play in shaping society; 1 2 given approval to appoint a panel of associates integrated schools model the type of shared to support NICIE’s work, in particular with future we wish to see. It is our belief that the 5 regard to area based planning. Our associates many changes in our educational system were able to provide support and advice to provide an opportunity to move beyond integrated colleges in planning for future segregation. We look forward to playing a full development and in responding to consultation part in shaping a new educational landscape. NICIE Board of Directors Colm Cavanagh Ian McMorris Colm Cavanagh (Chairperson), Ian McMorris (Deputy Chair) solicitor, is currently Business has been a self employed Development Manager of North strategic management West Regional College, consultant since 2006. Prior Derry~Londonderry. He has worked in the to that, he was Managing Director of Ulster private and voluntary sectors and with the Weavers, before which he was director of UN Development Program in East Africa. Strategy Services with PA Consulting Group. Ian is currently on the boards of A trust representative on NICIE’s Board, Dale Farm and United Dairy Farmers, is a he has actively promoted integrated member of the Court of the University of education since the 1970s. He is co-chair Ulster and was previously on the boards of of the Foyle Trust for Integrated Education, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and which founded Oakgrove Integrated Primary Investment, the Council for the Curriculum, School in1991, Oakgrove Integrated College Examinations and Assessment, and the in 1992 and Oakgrove Integrated Nursery Economic Research Council of Northern in 1993.