INTO: Duties stretching nursery principals to breaking point

The study, by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) NI, listed responsibilities ranging from managing staff and operational budgets to implementing policies on special educational needs and child protection.

Nursery education is often regarded as the Cinderella of the education system with most resources targeted at primary and secondary schools. Nursery principals also do not receive a management time allowance unlike their primary and secondary counterparts.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Nursery principals in Northern Ireland are qualified teachers, many with postgraduate qualifications, who are committed to improving children’s life chances but despite repeated government-funded research showing the critical impact that quality early years’ education has on a child’s future, their contribution is often under-sold.

“We need to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work, recognised by the Department of Education inspectors that Northern Ireland’s nursery principals do to ensure that children are equipped to take advantage of the next phase of formal education.

“As we work with the Department of Education to achieve the best for Northern Ireland’s pupils at every phase, the NAHT will ensure that attention is drawn to the excellent contribution being made by nursery principals. As the result of rigorous qualifications and strong leadership, state nursery provision is often among the very best of its kind for standards, welfare and safety.”