Tipperary students make a powerful impression on the Ombudsman for Children

A development programme for primary school pupils implemented in a school in Tipperary Town could become a model for schools throughout the country.

A growth mindset initiative established in the school has made a powerful impression on the Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon.

Dr Muldoon visited the school recently and witnessed first hand the progress made as a result of the initiative at the school which is attended by pupils representing 24 nationalities.

He told pupils and staff at the school that he would like to see the St Joseph’s model shared with other schools around the country.

The Ombudsman for Children was invited to the school by the IPPN President Louise Tobin, who as principal at St Joseph’s was responsible for the introduction of the initiative.

The school principal is seconded to work in her role as IPPN President until August 2025.

“During the course of my work with IPPN over the years, I met the Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon regularly at conferences and meetings.

“We discussed the need for DEIS for the schools in Tipperary Town and other issues.

After listening to the award winning school choir and taking questions from the pupils, Dr Muldoon said he was blown away by the energy, confidence and awareness displayed by the pupils at the school.

He told the pupils that he believed in the growth mindset concept and praised all in the school for actively implementing such an initiative.

He said it was obvious that this initiative was embraced enthusiastically not only by the pupils but by all of the staff at the school.

Dr Muldoon told the pupils that the work they were doing on a growth mindset and developing their personalities to embrace positivity, kindness, awareness and understanding would stand to them throughout their lives.

He wanted them to realise that sometimes plans don’t work out and said the work they were doing now on a growth mindset would enable them to have the confidence to keep going and find other solutions after experiencing a setback.

Dr Muldoon also paid tribute to the pupils at the school for the role they are playing in the shaping of the creation of a new national curriculum for primary schools.

St Joseph’s is one of 20 schools in the country that are involved with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in the development for the new curriculum framework and Dr Muldoon sat down with seven pupils driving this work during his visit.

He heard what they had to say about the contribution they made to the policy and how it had changed their school life.

Pupils told him how school life had changed for the better with new projects introduced as a result of their involvement in the national role.

Pupils were delighted to say school life was much more enjoyable as a result of the introduction of new activities such as outdoor learning, IT, a new cycling education course, a six week swimming programme, playing in soccer tournament and their experimentation with new curriculum activities.

One of these included watching the progress of hatching eggs and in a weeks time they would be ready to hand over responsibility to the farmer.

The pupils of fourth class were delighted to be part of the Nore Valley Chick Hatching Project. This involved ‘taking care of eggs in an incubator for twenty one days and then caring for them as newborn chicks’ explained project leaders Eileen O’Dwyer and Rebecca O’Sullivan.

There was great excitement in the lead up to ‘hatching day’ with fourth class even capturing the event on video!

“Our chicks are like celebrities in the school, we named them Matilda, Millie, Katie, Bob and Chickira and we love when other classes come to our room to interact with them. It’s been brilliant fun” said the girls.

“On the day of the Ombudsman’s visit the whole school showcased the work that they have done on our growth mindset project. The pupils showed that this is all about positivity and a can-do attitude, that mistakes are okay and that we can indeed learn from them. Dr Muldoon was very interested in this great project and praised the children for their songs, dances and obvious belief in positivity. He said we should share the great work we have done on this project across the sector with other schools. And we certainly plan to do this,” said Louise Tobin.

“It was a super visit to St. Josephs. I was so proud of the children’s knowledge of the Ombudsman’s role, children’s rights and the brilliant questions they asked him,” she said.