Date:    Thursday 10th & 17th September 2026
Time:    7.00 - 8.00 pm
Venue: Online via Zoom

Target Audience: Post Primary Principals, Deputy Principals, AP 1 & AP 2’s

Across two focused 60-minute evening webinars, you’ll transform the ‘School Sector Climate Action Mandate’ (updated 2025/2026), from a compliance document into a whole-school design brief. You’ll map ESD across Junior Cycle, Transition Year, and Senior Cycle, identify where coordination is missing, and build the internal structures to sustain it beyond individual enthusiasts. You’ll leave with a drafted Sustainability Policy Statement and a clear understanding of the process to unlock annual ESD grants.

By the end of the two sessions, participants will be able to:

• Interpret the School Sector Climate Action Mandate as a strategic leadership brief
• Conduct a whole-school ESD self-assessment across environmental, social, and economic strands
• Map curriculum coherence gaps across Junior Cycle, TY, and Senior Cycle
• Draft a Sustainability Policy Statement ready for board adoption
• Design an ESD coordination structure to support a whole school approach
• Have the necessary actions in place to apply for ESD to 2030 funding

Bio of Presenter: Thomas Gleeson

Thomas Gleeson is an experienced educator, school leader and educational researcher specialising in school self-evaluation, strategic planning and curriculum development. He is currently an English teacher and Assistant Principal I (Teaching & Learning) at Greystones Community College and a part-time lecturer and supervisor on the PME programme at University College Dublin. 

He is currently a PhD candidate in Education at University College Dublin, with research focused on school-based curriculum design, integrated learning and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). He also holds an MSc in Educational Leadership and Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership.

Previously, he served as Deputy Principal and spent five years with the Department of Education’s Junior Cycle for  Teachers (JCT) as a Regional Leader and Team Leader, supporting schools nationally in curriculum reform, professional learning and school improvement planning. 

He is also the founder of Educo21C, where he works with schools to develop coherent, impact-focused approaches to whole-school strategic planning to improve teaching and learning.