Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB schools are multi-denominational, equality-based schools

The Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) Patrons’ Framework on Ethos was launched at an event in the Killashee Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare, recently.

This Framework on Ethos is the culmination of 10 years of empirical research, critical reflection, consultation and visionary policymaking involving all ETB schools, their 16 patron ETBs, ETBI and other relevant stakeholders.

The framework clearly sets out that all ETB schools in Mayo are state, co-educational, multi-denominational schools underpinned by the core values of excellence in education, care, equality, community and respect.

In the last decade, Ireland has experienced major cultural, religious, political, social and demographic changes, and ETB school leaders have been consistent in their request for clarity from their patron ETBs on how to articulate the ETB ethos, in particular the place of religions and beliefs in ETB schools.

The framework provides ETB schools in Mayo with a shared language to communicate what their ethos is and how it can be lived out on a daily basis.

Commenting on the framework, Dr Séamus Conboy, director of schools at ETBI, said: “I am delighted that we are at this significant milestone in clarifying with and for our schools in Mayo what it means to be a state, multi-denominational school underpinned by the values of excellence in education, care, equality, community and respect.

“As ETB schools in Mayo are ‘state’ schools, they have particular responsibilities in respect of the common good in an increasingly diverse society. Research carried out across ETB schools in 2016 found that although values such as equality, respect and care are evident throughout the schools, there was little coherence within or between schools with regard to their understanding of their overall ethos or what it meant to be an ETB school.

“ETB school leaders called on their patron ETBs to provide clarity on the overall ethos of the state school sector. This framework provides this clarity and answers the calls from school leaders for clarity in relation to the ETB school ethos.

“With 279 ETB schools around the country at both primary and post-primary level, we needed to be clear on our ethos. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB has an ethos coordinator who will support schools in their ETB with the implementation of the framework. Each school has an ethos leadership team, which is responsible for the implementation of the framework at a school level.”

Dr. Conboy added: “There are approximately 55 ETB post-primary schools with legal agreements with other religious and secular patron bodies which provide for their participation in the organisation and management of these specific schools. Discussions are still ongoing at both national and local levels with the other bodies involved in these schools in terms of the use of the Patrons’ Framework in these contexts.”

The launch brought together parents, students, school leaders and ethos coordinators from within the sector, as well as other school patron and management bodies, academics from various universities, and other educational stakeholders.

It included musical performances by students from schools under the patronage of Kildare and Wicklow ETB. The day saw a variety of presentations on the development and implementation of the Patrons’ Framework, a panel discussion on ‘Ethos in Action’, and a keynote address from Professor Anne Looney, executive dean of Dublin City University’s Institute of Education.

Delivering the keynote address at the event, Professor Looney said: “The historical importance of what is being celebrated and launched cannot be underestimated. For too long, schools under the auspices of Vocational Education Committees and the subsequent Education and Training Boards have been defined by what they were not. In towns around Ireland, they were seen as 'not the sisters’ and 'not the brothers’ and ‘not for the likes of us’.

“For the last decade, these schools and those who manage them have been wrestling with the complex task of establishing a positive identity built on who they are, what they value and promote, and how they serve their communities.

“The ETB sector has shown that the articulation of ethos in a contemporary pluralist Ireland is hard work, requires critical engagement and is an ongoing and continuous process. Ethos does not hang on a wall or adorn a blazer; it is reflected and embodied across all aspects of school life. ETB schools, primary and post-primary, now have not just a Patrons' Framework but an identity and an identifiable voice and presence.

“The most effective frameworks – as this one is – are grounded in a process, not in a product. This framework represents a proposal for how schools can use and own it, so it becomes a genuine support for quality in school ethos.”

The ETBI Patrons’ Framework on Ethos has been developed by ETBI and Dublin City University (DCU) in conjunction with Ireland’s 16 ETBs and ETB schools, primary and post-primary. The ETBI Patrons’ Framework on Ethos is available online here.