Tag Archives: INTO president

A FORMER Mullagh National School principal has made history by becoming the first Clareman elected as chairperson of the Teaching Council. Seán Mc Mahon, B.Ed, M.R.D. a graduate of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and N.U.I. Galway has had an extensive involvement in education throughout his professional career. Since 2016, Mr McMahon served as deputy chairman of the Teaching Council, the statutory professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards. He was also chair of the council’s investigating committee in relation to Fitness to Teach during this time. Seán said he is honoured to be elected council chairperson and looks forward to working with members and staff to support all school committee in realising the full potential of their collective work – teachers, parents and students alike. “The Teaching Council plays a vital role in supporting quality teaching and learning by all teachers in every school in the country. “In Ireland, we have a proud and …

INTO national president, Seán McMahon, is set to welcome up to 1,500 delegates and guests to Treacys West County Hotel in Ennis next Monday morning, at the start of the three-day primary school teachers 147th annual conference. The huge attendance is expected to bring a financial spin-off worth millions of euro to the local hospitality and retail sectors. The Mullagh National School principal is delighted that the Irish National Teachers Organisation’s conference is back in the capital town of his native county after a long absence. “It’s two decades since it was held here and I’m informed by those who were here at the time that it was a very positive experience, so I’m looking forward to next week,” he said. “I’m pleased to see also that the ICTU conference is here in Ennis in July and I would very much hope that the other education conferences will come to Ennis in future years and that it won’t be as …

SMALL primary schools facing the threat of losing a teacher due to falling numbers have been given some breathing space this week, as a result of a decision by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan. Affecting schools mainly in rural parishes, new retention regulations will give a slightly improved pupil/teacher ratio in two to four-teacher school scenarios. Nationally, close on 60% of primary schools have four teachers or less. Minister O’Sullivan revealed that the new retention schedule for the 2015/16 school year will be 19 pupils, rather than 20, to retain a second teacher; 53 pupils, rather than 56, to retain a third teacher and 83 pupils, rather than 86, to retain a fourth teacher. While generally supportive of the decision to reduce the number of pupils required to retain teachers in small schools, Labasheeda National School principal, Liam Woulfe, said the change “will not greatly aid two-teacher schools”. Following two appeals, Labasheeda was able to show that it had the required …

Mullagh National School pupils are winning the obesity battle, thanks to the use of state-of-the-art facilities, as part of its commitment to lead an active, healthy lifestyle. That’s according to INTO president, Seán McMahon, who returned to his own school to raise the Active Schools’ Flag in his first official function since becoming president. Mr McMahon described this national education programme as one of the most important initiatives currently available to schools, particularly in the context of statistics indicating that over 100,000 Irish pupils are considered to be obese. Speaking at a recent Early Childhood Ireland Conference, Dr Catherine Woods revealed that research indicates only 19% of children are meeting their recommended daily level of exercise. Even more frightening is the trend towards obesity within the overall Irish population, with forecasts of 50% being obese by 2020. While the INTO regularly call on the government to provide additional physical education funding, Mr McMahon said Mullagh National School is way ahead …

By Dan Danaher THE full implementation of an “offensive” Department of Education circular will result in a reduction in special needs assistants (SNAs) for Clare children with disabilities, a local election candidate has claimed. Clare Crusaders’ Clinic managing director, Ann Norton has described the recent DOE instruction to schools on the SNA scheme as “offensive”, “outrageous” and “disgraceful” to parents of children with special needs. Ms Norton warned that implementing this circular would result in the withdrawl of numerous SNAs in Clare schools, unless the DOE withdrew it. However, her assertion was rejected by a DOE spokeswoman who stated there is no question of reducing the number of SNA posts in the school system. In fact, the spokeswoman outlined the department had increased the number of SNAs to its highest level yet with 10,656 Whole Time Equivalent posts currently allocated to schools. In December, 2013 the Government announced it was increasing the number of SNAs available for allocation to schools, …

THE new President of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation is Sean McMahon, principal of Mullagh National School. He was presented with the president’s chain of office at the union’s annual Congress in Kilkenny on Wednesday. Mr McMahon attended primary school in Coore National School and completed his secondary education in C.B.S. Ennistymon. He then attended Mary Immaculate College of Education in Limerick, graduating as a primary teacher in 1979. He worked in a number of different roles as a primary teacher. His teaching career began in 1979 in Rathdowney Boys’ National School, Co Laois teaching fifth class boys. In 1980 he moved to Annagh National School in Miltown Malbay teaching third to sixth class, in what was then a two teacher school. This marked the beginning of years of campaigning for more support for small rural schools. During his teaching career, Sean attended University College Galway for three years graduating with a Master’s degree in Rural and Community Development in …