Appointment Procedures

Post Description/Schedule of Dates

In-school management needs and priorities may vary from school to school depending on a broad range of factors including school type, school size, the location of the school, and the levels of educational attainment of pupils. Accordingly, in-school management should generally be responsive to the flexibility and change that may be required from time to time.

The duties which may be delegated to post holders are outlined in Sections C, D and E of Department of Education and Skills Circular 16/73 and are outlined in Appendix A. The duties listed are not exhaustive and may be elaborated upon at local level. In the main, the list of duties cover curriculum, academic, administrative and pastoral matters.

The principal, following consultation with staff, should agree the schedule of post of responsibility duties. The schedule will address the central needs of the school.

The agreed schedule of duties should be submitted to the board of management for approval.

From the schedule, the board of management/chairperson should arrange, in consultation with the principal, to assign a specific duty or duties to the vacant post(s). The range of duties attaching to the post(s) should be inclusive in nature to facilitate applications from all of the teaching staff.

The determination of duties should, in so far as is possible, be achieved by consensus between the board of management and the teaching staff. However, if, following protracted consultation, consensus is not possible, final decisions in the matter rest with the board of management.

It should be noted that all post holders who are being paid an allowance in a school, including Privileged Assistants and other holders of post of responsibility allowances on a personal basis, must undertake post of responsibility duties.

Advertising a Vacant Post of Responsibility

This procedure should be followed for all posts of responsibility in a school:

• Notice of a vacant post of Deputy Principal shall be posted in a prominent position within the school so that all teaching staff may have access to it. In addition, notice should be sent to teachers on leave.
• The notice should contain a statement of the duties attaching to the post.
• The notice should remain on the notice board in the school for five consecutive school days.
• The notice should specify the closing date for receipt of written applications, which should not be earlier than ten school days from the last date of the posting of the notice.
• Teachers who wish to apply for the vacant post of Deputy Principal should do so in writing to the chairperson of the board of management within the time limit specified on the notice.

Note: Please note that the period of five school days referred to above, includes the day on which the notice of the proposed appointment is first published.

Please note that the period of ten school days referred to above, includes the last day of the posting of the notice.

Duties which may be delegated

The following points are taken from sections C, D and E of Circulars Pre 1996:

1. The effective supervision of the pupils during breaks, lunch periods, assembly and dismissal.
2. The care and safe custody of school requisites, equipment and teaching aids.
3. Co-operation with the manager in matters relating to school maintenance, heating and cleaning, care and general appearance of school and school grounds.
4. The organisation and supervision of special and/or learning support classes.
5. Supervision and work for pupils whose teachers are absent.
6. School records and official forms.
7. Arrangements for talks and demonstrations and for visits to selected schools.
8. Arrangements, in agreement with the manager, for effective liaison with parents.
9. Arrangements for educational tours and outings.
10. The promotion of savings.
11. The supervision of school and class libraries.
12. Responsibility for organising particular areas of the curriculum throughout the school.
13. Responsibility for a particular school activity e.g. games, choir, orchestra, drama, etc.
14. Arrangements for the supervision of pupils during religious exercises.

Appointment of Successful Candidate

1. The board of management's proposal to offer the post to a particular teacher shall be posted within the school in the following terms:

The Board of Management of (name of school)..... proposes to offer the post of.......(specify post) to...... (name of teacher), provided that an appeal in writing by an unsuccessful candidate against the proposal has not been lodged with the Chairperson of the Board of Management within ten school days* of the publication of this notice. (Date of publication and signature of Chairperson to be included with notice.)

* Please note that the period of ten school days includes the day on which the notice of the proposed appointment is published.

2. Subject to there being no appeal, the board of management shall notify the Department of Education and Skills of the appointment of the successful applicant.

Post of Responsibility Written Contract

3. The board of management shall confirm the appointment to the teacher. Before taking up an appointment, the post holder will enter into a contract to undertake the duties of the post to which s/he is being appointed. The contract may be evidenced in any of the following three formats:

• a written agreement including the duties drawn up between the board of management and the teacher in question and signed by both the teacher and the chairperson of the board; or
• a letter from the teacher in question addressed to the chairperson of the board of management indicating her/his willingness to accept the post together with the duties attaching to the post; or
• a letter from the chairperson of the board of management to the teacher in question confirming the nature of the agreement reached with the teacher and outlining the duties attaching to the post.

It is not necessary to submit a copy of the relevant contract to the Department of Education and Skills but a copy should be retained by the board of management and the teacher.

4. Once appointments have been made, a board of management should notify the Department of Education and Skills of same using form POR 3. This form is available online at www.education.ie

Review of Duties Assigned to Posts - Contract Review (Revised Procedures as per DES Circular 08/2011)

It is a central objective of the Agreement that Public Service reform provide for better arrangements for those who avail of such services. In this regard, the additional contracted hours provision serves to protect against erosion of class contact/tuition time.

In addition, it is essential to have flexibility in re-organising post of responsibility duties within a school. For this purpose, the school management may reassign post holders to alternative responsibilities appropriate to the level of the post (special duties or assistant principal) as required by the priorities and needs of the school. In such reassignment management will have regard to the genuine needs of the school as discussed and identified in consultation with staff, will act reasonably and will consult with the relevant post holders(s). It is accepted that where difficulties arise in this matter, recourse may be had to stages 3 and 4 of the grievance procedure. The reassignment will take effect pending the outcome of this procedure.

Last updated: May 2014