If you are a Principal of a school and are interested in taking part in PSI, here is an overview of the steps involved:

1. Contact the PSI Co-Ordinator to find out more about what is involved, or get answers to any questions you might have
2. Select members of your Action Team for Partnerships. This is the team that drives the partnership work in your school. They are people who are committed to working in partnership and will get together for meetings, set goals for your school, and involve the whole school community in achieving those goals.
   • The team is made up of the Principal, and 2-3 of each of the following:
     • Teachers or other school staff
     • Parents of students,
     • Students (from 4th,  5th or 6th class),
     • Other members of the community
   • You can download a short leaflet explaining what is involved for ATP team members here. It might be useful for you to share this leaflet with anyone who you are inviting the join the Action Team for Partnerships.
3. Fill in this application form and return it to the PSI Co-Ordinator
4. Agree training dates with PSI Co-Ordinator. The training is free and consists of 2 x 3 hour sessions that are facilitated by the PSI Co-Ordinator or an NPC trainer in your school. All members of the Action Team for Partnerships should take part in the training.  The training takes part at a time that best suits the team- schools often opt for sessions that take part during the school day, but training can be facilitated at any time.
5. Take part in the training. By the end of the second training session, the school’s Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) will have set their goals for the year ahead and will have identified someone to act as their leader. This is a member of the ATP team, but not the School Principal. This person leads the team and meetings from that point on. The ATP leader can be a teacher, member of school staff, parent, or community member.

If your school decides to go ahead with training to become a Partnership School, the Principal sets up something called and Action Team for Partnership (ATP).  This team then takes part in the PSI training. The training is free and consists of 2 x 3 hour sessions that are facilitated by the PSI Co-Ordinator or an NPC trainer in your school. The training takes part at a time that best suits the team- schools often opt for sessions that take part during the school day, but training can be facilitated at any time.

The training covers:

• The history and theory behind Partnership Schools Ireland and the model of School, Family and Community Partnership working that we follow,
• Joyce Epstein’s 6 Types of Parental Engagement and how they can be used to increase and diversify the parental engagement in your school,
• A snapshot of your school’s current school, family and community partnerships
• How Partnership Schools Ireland and the Action Team for Partnerships links to and supports the School Self Evaluation Process and the School Improvement Plan
• Setting SMART goals
• Writing your team’s first One Year Action Plan for Partnerships, so that your ATP is ready to get to work as soon as the training is completed.

Partnership Schools and their Action Teams for Partnerships can access a number of supports after they take part in the PSI training.

• The PSI Co-Ordinator will contact you to check-in with how the goals and activities your ATP have planned are going
• The Co-Ordinator is contactable by phone or email throughout the year for support
• Your ATP team members will be invited to attend two Regional Support Meetings during each school year. Regional Support Meetings give Partnerships Schools the opportunity to engage in peer learning and support with other ATP members in their area, as well as receiving updates and guidance from the PSI Co-Ordinator.
• ATPs members are invited to take part in two webinars each year, to refresh their understanding on certain topics such as goal setting or evaluating the work of the ATP.
• An Online Team Training Workshop is available to all Partnership Schools on our website. This online workshop provides a condensed version of the full ATP training which team members can view individually or together as a group so they can refresh their understanding of the training. The Online Team Training Workshop can also be used to provide an overview of the PSI Programme to new ATP members who were not part of the original training.
• Useful forms and templates are available to download on our website.

If your school would like to be involved please complete the application form and return to the PSI Co-ordinator

Click here to download the application form (also available under Useful Downloads)

Email: psi@npc.ie

Post: PSI Co-Ordinator,
NPC,
12 Marlborough Court,
Marlborough Street,
Dublin 1,
D01 XP86

The best way to find out more is to contact Danielle, our Partnership Schools Ireland Co-Ordinator, who will be more than happy to have a chat with you about the whole process and answer any questions you might have.

Phone: 01-8874478   

Email: psi@npc.ie

View a leaflet a leaflet on Partnership Schools Ireland

View a leaflet explaining the Action Team for Partnerships

or watch a short video here.