15th November 2018
DES has published Circular 70/2018 Leadership and Management in Primary Schools (pdf). This Circular is a revision of Circular 63/2017.
The principal change in the Circular relates to an adjustment to the thresholds at which a second APII post can be appointed from 15 authorised posts to 11 authorised posts. This means that 11,12,13 and 14 teachers schools which have only one APII post can now appoint a 2nd APII.
This change retains 250 posts in the system which would have been lost through retirement. This was a key demand from INTO negotiators following the partial restoration of posts in 2017. INTO continues to demand the restoration of the leadership posts
Other changes are clarifications of issues which emerged in the implementation of Circular 63/2017.