A Letter For Parents

Dear Parent/Guardian

Unfortunately, we continue to deal with unprecedented challenges and uncertainty.

We are mindful of the pressures on parents/guardians during this time and have therefore organised Shelley Crawford to speak via zoom on Saturday 17th April at 11am. The topic will be on resilience. Please find attached her Biographical note.

There will also be an opportunity for you express any worries or concerns you may have in respect of your children’s education at this time,

We would like to encourage you to seek out and engage with COMPASS and the NPCPP on an ongoing basis.

The National Parents Council Post Primary, or NPCPP, is the singular representational body for ALL parents with children in ALL types of post primary education in Ireland.

COMPASS has sent forward nominees for membership of NPCPP who have gone on to be nominated and accepted as Directors on the NPCPP board, who ensure that the voice of Minority Religion schools is heard.

COMPASS, through NPCPP, has been heavily involved at national level, in all advisory groups and Oireachtas committees regarding the planning in education and in particular, recently, contingency planning during these extra-ordinary times.

In those meetings, the NPCPP is the only volunteer organisation present, requiring an immense investment of personal time and effort over the past year for which COMPASS is very grateful.

NPCPP has collaborated very closely with National Parents Council Primary (NPCPrimary) and the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU) to enhance and strengthen advocacy for students and parents at the Advisory Group and other national forums in recent times.

This unified approach has seen maximum and effective recognition of the issues and concerns experienced by parents, students and families and has resulted in a considerable shift in mindset at national consultations to deliver better decisions, options and support for our students and those endeavouring to manage at home.

NPCPP is committed to further developing and consolidating these close working relationships and is currently active in exploring all avenues, including possible appropriate collaborations or mergers, to ensure that this strong voice for parents and students is maintained and enhanced into the future.

NPCPP currently supports, informs and represents parents from all types of post primary schools through two-way communication and by way of national outreach forums and surveys.

The average response level to recent NPCPP surveys has been in excess of 5,000, but the Council strives to continue the recent growth in engagement with parents. Parents or Parent Bodies not already registered or engaged can register interest with NPCPP by email to communications@npcpp.ie or through COMPASS.

The DES has recognised that the NPCPP fully represents the Voice of the all post primary Parents, has stated its full support for NPCPP as that Voice and has rejected attempts and requests by splinter groups to be involved in National consultations.

The executive committee of COMPASS is satisfied that the ethos and diversity of the minority religions which COMPASS champions are represented in NPCPP and that therefore the DES have a direct connection to those ideals through the NPCPP.

If you are interested in joining this meeting on 17th April, please contact the Julie Carr (the COMPASS Secretary) at the above email address before 10pm Wednesday 14th April. The relevant link will then be forwarded to you.

The Executive has also decided to defer the AGM of COMPASS until later in 2021.

Again I would like to remind you the Executive can also be contacted through the Secretary’s email above.

Kind Regards

Alyson Findlay

President

SHELLEY CRAWFORD

Shelley is an Organisational and Coaching Psychologist who has worked in the education sector for her entire adult life, first as a secondary school teacher and later as a lecturer and coaching psychologist in the higher education and corporate sectors.  A mother of 5, she created and developed the Jess (TM) Resilience-building model (for adults and children) and the Jess (TM) Trust-building model, which was first presented at the EMCC International Conference in March 2017.   The Jess models were based on her research of 15 years after she and her family experienced significant traumas.  All of the Jess resilience-building, trust-building and wellbeing management programmes are grounded in robust positive psychology, social and health psychology, cognitive behavioural principles and neuroscience research. 

Shelley has worked with organisations such as Irish Life, MetLife, Red Hat, Inspire Leadership, IPPN, NEPS, Cork Institute of Technology, University of Limerick, the Edelia Group and her private clients, many of whom are leaders in education, using Jess to enhance their employee well-being.  Jess is also used in the UK, Australia and South Africa.  An experienced European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) Programme Accreditation Assessor, Senior Practitioner Coach and Accredited Supervisor (ESIA), Shelley leads the EMCC Global Workgroup for Programme Accreditation where she is exposed to cutting-edge programmes from around the globe.  Over the past 20 years, Shelley's work has involved extensive travel in Europe, Africa, Australia, South Africa and the USA.  In her spare time, Shelley spends time with her children, riding her horse and painting, reading, practising yoga and walking.