#GRMA Day

A day to show national solidarity and appreciation, and to say thanks and “go raibh maith agaibh” to our school communities.

2020 is the year we will remember when our front-line workers became our heroes and our school leaders, teachers and ancillary staff essentially became front line workers. As school leaders the way you have led your school and your teachers in the organisation, planning and adaptations required to reopen schools in safety was a monumental achievement. It shows the quality, grit, resourcefulness and dedication of the leaders, teachers, ancillary staff and of whole school communities.

NAPD and IPPN have collaborated with the National Parents Councils and the Irish Second Level Students Union and would like you to join us in saying thanks to our school leaders, teachers, SNAs, ancillary staff, school transport services, custodial services, students, student leaders and mentors, and all involved in the huge ongoing effort to ensure our children are safe and cared for as they enjoy their day at school. The value of keeping schools open for our students in terms of their educational, developmental and wellbeing needs cannot be understated.

To acknowledge and celebrate the work being done in our school communities in maintaining a safe environment in which our children can enjoy attending school, 11 December 2020 is nominated as a day in which all of us can join together to say ‘go raibh maith agaibh!’ or GRMA!

As we approach the Christmas period in this year like no other, the advisory board to the National Association of Principals & Deputy Principals (NAPD) has developed “Go raibh maith agaibh” or #GRMA day to acknowledge this ongoing work in our schools to keep our students safe and our school premises open.

This initiative is backed by NAPD and the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), associations that between them represent school leaders working in over 4,000 primary and second level level schools across Ireland.

The Corporate Advisory Board to the National Association of Principals & Deputy Principals (NAPD) is a group of leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors who volunteer their time to advise NAPD and include:

• Catherine Duffy, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Northern Trust; Chair NAPD Advisory Board
• Celine Doyle, Dublin Airport Authority
• Seán Clancy, Deputy Chief of Staff (Support), Irish Defence Forces
• Roddy Feely, Executive Director, Ireland-US Council
• Seamus Fives, Vice President API Operations, Pfizer Global Supply
• Rita Kelly, CEO, Corporate Masters
• Paula Neary, Managing Director, Health & Public Service, Accenture Ireland
• Helen Raftery, CEO, Junior Achievement Ireland

On GRMA Day we propose that all schools take 10 minutes, to pause and broadcast a video collage being prepared to say thank you from the whole country. In curating the video tribute, input from national leaders and well-known personalities is being collated. This video will be made available on the NAPD and IPPN websites.