Board of Management
Under the Education Act 1998 all national schools must be managed by a Board of Management. This body, which is a legal entity has the responsibility for the day to day management of the school. It has a responsibility to run the school according to the ethos determined by Educate Together, in keeping with the act and any regulations set by the Department of Education and Skills. The Board must, at all times, comply with legislation, the rules for National schools, the Constitution of Boards of Management and directives from the Department of Education.
Many schools have sub committees of the Board of Management, which may focus on specific areas like Premises, Publicity/Fundraising or Implementation of Ethos. The function of the Board is to govern the school, form and implement policy, and appoint staff. More information on School Boards of Management and their responsibilities can be found here.
At the end of the four year term, an Annual General Meeting is held where a new administration is formed. The Board of Management has eight members: the School Principal; two members nominated by the Patron; two members elected by the parents; two members elected from the wider community; a teacher elected by the school staff.
This current board will reside from November 2019 to November 2023, and aim to meet about once a month during the school year. Their Board of Management Annual Reports can be found below.
Chairperson
Fintan Murphy
Fintan is CEO of Damson Cloud a technology company based in Dublin and London. He has held many leadership positions in both a professional and voluntary capacity.
As a past pupil of one of the first Educate Together schools in Ireland, he has grown up with the ethos of ET and has a deep understanding of its values. He was Chairperson of Lucan East PTA for 2 years, where his own son attended.
Fintan was appointed Chairperson, following a recruitment process by the Educate Together patron. He was honored to be asked to Chair the Board of Griffeen Valley ET for the next 4 years and is committed to leading the Board of Management over the coming years and ensuring the success of Griffeen Valley ETNS.
Andrea Burke-Khan
Secretary
Andrea is the Acting Principal at Griffeen Valley ETNS. where she has worked for the past seventeen years. During that time, she has been a class teacher, special education teacher, Assistant Principal and Deputy Principal. She has been the Acting Principal since November 2018 and will continue in this role until at least June 2021.
Prior to working at this school, she taught in primary schools in London where she was a Borough Lead Literacy Teacher and member of the schools management team. Andrea has experience of Educate Together as a parent of two children and as a Director and Secretary to the National Board of Directors of Educate Together (2007 – 2014).
Andrea is wholly committed to the Educate Together Ethos and the core values of its charter; Equality based, Co-educational, Child-centred and Democratically run. As principal she seeks to underpin these values in the learning experiences of our pupils and in the day to day running of our school.
Maria Barry
Educate Together Nominee
Maria joined the Board in January 2020 as a Patron Nominee following a recruitment process by the Patronage.
She is a teacher educator and researcher in history and citizenship education in DCU’s Institute of Education. Maria is a qualified post primary teacher and has 20 years experience of working across both primary and post primary settings in the areas of teaching, curriculum development and human rights programmes for children and young people. Previously, Maria served on a number of other Boards including, Irish Development Education Association (IDEA), the Ubuntu Network and Development Perspectives.
Maria is delighted to join the Board and is firmly committed to its ethos, community spirit and care for pupils.
Daniel Rodriguez
Community Representative
Though originally from New York City, Daniel has lived in Ireland (“this lovely green island”) for the past 12 years, where it is now his home. His wife, Helen, and himself have always tried to be part of the Griffeen Valley Educate Together parental support network ever since their son, Zachary, first enrolled in Junior Infants in 2015. They now also have a lovely boy, Rocco, in the school who started in Junior Infants in 2022.
They recognise that this school has been, and is still, going through a lot of changes and challenges like very few other schools have had to face. Daniel volunteered for the Parent Representative to the Board of Management in 2020 to lend support to Andrea and the GVET school community as a business analyst, graphic designer and as a parent committed to his two sons’ educational and social development.
Daniel believes that this is an excellent school with wonderfully dedicated teachers, administrators and support staff who are all here to create the best and safest learning environment for their children.