Minister Bruton announces patronage of 9 new Post-Primary schools to be established in 2017 and 2018
November 3, 2016
The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton T.D., today announced the patronage of the nine new post-primary schools to be established in 2017 and 2018. In all cases the Minister accepted the recommendations of the New Schools Establishment Group. These schools were announced in November 2015 to serve a number of locations nationwide under increased demographic pressures. Minister Bruton said “The basic aim of this Government is to use our economic success to create a fair and compassionate society. In few areas is there as much capacity to deliver on this as in education. As part of this, we are determined to provide more choice for parents. As a country we are experiencing a significant, ongoing, increase in our school-going population. The establishment of these new schools forms an essential part of plans to ensure that sufficient new school places are in place to cater for the growing cohort of pupils at post-primary level over the coming years. Additional places will also continue to be provided by extending existing provision, as included in the Six Year Programme of Capital Investment in Schools 2016-2021”.
The Minister observed that, “Parental preference has become a key determinant in deciding the patronage of new schools and I’m pleased to say that the views of parents as expressed through the process are strongly reflected in the decisions I have made on the patronage of these nine new schools”.
Patronage of the new schools in Limerick City & Environs (East); Malahide & Portmarnock; Firhouse Dublin 24; and Dublin South City Centre is being awarded to Educate Together. Education and Training Boards have been awarded patronage of the new schools for Limerick City & Environs (South-West) (Limerick and Clare ETB), Swords (Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB) and Portlaoise (Laois and Offaly ETB, with An Foras Pátrúnachta as Trustee Partner). The Edmund Rice Schools Trust has been appointed patron of the new school to serve Carpenterstown and Castleknock. The remaining school in Lucan, Co. Dublin will involve a partnership approach with Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board and a new entity, Scoil Sinead Ltd.
These new schools will provide significant additional pupil places in the areas they will serve and between them will have capacity to cater for up to 8,200 additional post-primary pupils when fully developed.
The Minister also stated that in making his decisions he was particularly conscious of the clear parental demand for diversity of provision in many of the areas where the new schools are being established. All applications were assessed on the basis of published criteria, including the extent of diversity in existing schools and the scale of diversity to be provided by the new school or schools.
Minister Bruton said “The best and quickest way of providing diversity and choice for parents is by providing additional multi-denominational schools for parents. I have committed to trebling the rate of delivery of these schools to reach 400 multi-denominational and non-denominational schools by 2030. I am very pleased with the range of patrons involved in these new schools being announced today and that eight of the nine schools will have a multi-denominational ethos. I am particularly pleased that the outcome of this process has resulted in the inclusion of a new player at post-primary level, further increasing diversity of provision in our post-primary school system. I am confident that these new schools will give parents and students real choice.”
Following consideration of feedback from patrons on previous patronage processes, the process has evolved to incorporate the medium of instruction of a proposed new school as part of the assessment process. This makes parental preference for Irish-medium instruction an integral part of the patronage assessment and recommendation process. It is open to all prospective patron applicants to propose provision of Irish-medium education in their application for a new school. Parental preferences for each patron, together with the extent of Irish provision, if any, currently available in the area, are key in relation to the outcome of this process. In this regard, prospective patrons were requested to submit completed parental preferences indicating the language through which parents would prefer their children to be educated.
The assessment process analyses existing Irish-medium provision in the area and also takes into account existing Irish-medium provision in the adjacent school planning areas. Consideration is given to demonstrated demand and long-term sustainability, including provision of a sufficient range of subjects.
Minister Bruton stated “I am pleased that parents had an opportunity to express their preference as to whether they wish their child to be educated through the medium of English or Irish. I am very pleased that as a result of the parental preferences and assessment of existing Irish-medium provision in each area, the new post-primary school to serve the Portlaoise area will have an Aonad Lán-Gaeilge and that consideration is being given to the establishment of another Aonad Lán-Gaeilge in Carpenterstown/Castleknock.”.
The Minister expressed his gratitude to the members of the New Schools Establishment Group for their valuable input to the process, ensuring an objective and transparent process. The Department will be contacting each of the patron bodies in relation to the logistics of the establishment of these new schools.
All of the schools are being established to meet an identified demographic need.
Two distinct areas of growth within the Limerick City school planning area were identified – Limerick City and Environs (South-West) and Limerick City and Environs (East). Given this, it was decided to open two schools, each with an initial capacity of 600 pupils to meet the anticipated demand in the area. In this regard, a new 600 pupil post-primary school for Limerick City and Environs (South-West) is due to open in September 2017 and a new 600 pupil school for Limerick City and Environs (East) is due to open in 2018.
Details on the arrangements which apply to the patronage of these new schools are available on the Department’s website.
The detailed Assessment Reports for each of the areas concerned are also published on the Department’s website.
New Schools Establishment Group
The patronage process for new schools is overseen by the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG). This independent advisory group was set up in 2011 to advise the Minister on the patronage of new schools following its consideration of a report prepared by the Department on the applications received. The group is chaired by Dr. Seamus McGuinness (retired senior lecturer in the Education Department at Trinity College Dublin) and also includes Ms. Sylda Langford (retired Director of the Office of the Minister for Children) and Prof. Seán Ó Riain (Sociology Department, NUI Maynooth).
Minister Bruton accepted the recommendations of the Group in all cases.
Government Launches Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022
October 28, 2016
Today, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, together with the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton and Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs, Sean Kyne launched the Department of Education and Skills’ Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022. The launch was held in Scoil Náisiúnta Mhic Dara, An Cheathrú Rua (Carraroe), Co Galway.
The development and implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022 is a central commitment contained in Minister Bruton’s Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 which was published in September of this year.
Speaking at the launch, the Taoiseach said that he believed that the Gaeltacht was enormously important for the future of the language and Irish culture.
“This Policy is the first comprehensive strategy for education in the Gaeltacht since the establishment of the State. The Government is strongly committed to implementing the actions in the 20-Year Strategy for Irish and this Policy on Gaeltacht Education sets out how we will support Gaeltacht schools to provide high-quality, Irish-medium education to the children of the Gaeltacht,” said the Taoiseach.
Minister Richard Bruton described the challenges faced by Gaeltacht schools as they taught children who came to school with very varying levels of familiarity with spoken Irish.
“As Minister for Education and Skills, I want to ensure that the right conditions exist to develop excellent Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht,” said Minister Bruton. “Under the Policy, schools in the Gaeltacht will have the opportunity from 2017 to seek recognition as Gaeltacht Schools in line with linguistic criteria. I hope that the recognition process will be encouraging and inspiring for schools, and that schools will be attracted to participate in it,” he added.
Under the Policy, a recognised Gaeltacht school will be a school where the school commits to delivering all curriculum areas and subjects through the medium of Irish. Schools that opt for Gaeltacht school status will have up to five years to achieve this status. These schools will gain access to packages of additional teaching and other resources in a staged way as they demonstrate progress towards Gaeltacht school status.
“Our goal is to see recognised Gaeltacht schools being the schools of first choice for parents in the Gaeltacht,” said Minister Bruton.
Recognised Gaeltacht schools will also be required to engage with their communities in the Gaeltacht language planning process under the Gaeltacht Act, 2012.
Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs, Seán Kyne welcomed the publication of the Policy, and especially the commitment that schools would be able to participate fully in the language planning process in each Gaeltacht area.
“The requirement that Gaeltacht schools participate in the language planning process illustrates how important it is for schools and their communities to work closely together to strengthen the use of Irish,” he said.
Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022:
- Sets out a vision for Gaeltacht education that recognises the role that schools and early-years settings play in providing high quality Irish-medium education and in fostering Irish-language proficiency and usage in the wider Gaeltacht community
- Aims to support and improve the quality of Irish-medium instruction in Gaeltacht schools and pre-schools, so as to ensure that Irish-medium instruction is the first choice of parents in each of the Gaeltacht areas
- Sets out a comprehensive range of interlinked actions to ensure the availability of a high quality and relevant Irish-medium educational experience for all young people living in Gaeltacht areas and in this way to support the use of Irish as the main language of Gaeltacht communities
- Introduces a policy whereby schools located in Gaeltacht planning areas can opt to seek recognition as a Gaeltacht school – a Gaeltacht school will be a school where the school commits to delivering all curriculum areas and subjects through the medium of Irish and engages with the community in the Gaeltacht language planning process. Schools that opt for Gaeltacht school status will have up to five years to achieve this status. These schools will gain access to packages of additional teaching and other resources in a staged way as they demonstrate progress towards Gaeltacht school status.
- Seeks to align the work of Gaeltacht schools closely with the language planning process under the Gaeltacht Act.
(Gaeilge) Módúl oiliúna ar airgeadais ar fáil do na boird bainistíochta
October 27, 2016
Gaeloideachas – a new name for Gaelscoileanna Teo.
October 10, 2016
A new name for the organisation Gaelscoileanna Teo. was announced today at the official launch of their Education Conference in Kilkenny, organised in partnership with COGG.
At an Extraordinary General Meeting on October 9th, members of Gaelscoileanna Teo. voted to adopt the name Gaeloideachas – Guth don Oideachas lán-Ghaeilge agus Gaeltachta (A voice for Irish-medium and Gaeltacht Education) as the organisation’s new name. It recognises the organisation’s broad remit; Irish-medium primary and post-primary schools both in Gaeltacht areas and outside of them, as well as Irish-medium preschool services in non-Gaeltacht areas.
Speaking after the meeting, the organisation’s President, Cathnia Ó Muircheartaigh, said “we’re very grateful to our members for their participation in the consultations around the change of our name. Their involvement in the discussions demonstrated how important an issue this was for them and as an organisation, we’re delighted to be able to recognise members’ desire for a more inclusive and representative name”. With regards to the organisation’s brand, he said “while we recognise that Gaelscoileanna Teo. is a strong brand, we’re confident that the organisation will go from strength to strength with the new name”.
The Mayor of Kilkenny, Patrick O’Neill, will officially launch the Gaeloideachas and COGG’s Education Conference this afternoon at an event to showcase some of what will be on offer on November 11th and 12th in the city. Speaking about the Conference, the Gaeloideachas public relations officer, Seán Ó hArgáin, said that “it’s a great honour for the Cultural City of Kilkenny to be chosen as the venue for this year’s Education Conference. We’re expecting more than 300 delegates from all over Ireland to attend over the two days, to take part in professional development, networking and social events.”
To register for the conference, click here.
Exhibitors at the 2016 Education Conference
October 5, 2016
We’re delighted that the following exhibitors will be joining us for this year’s Education Conference. The conference will be held in the Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny, on November 11th and 12th and you can register to attend here.
- Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge
- Activate Speech
- An Gúm
- An Spailpín Fánach
- An tÁisaonad
- An tOireachtas
- Breacadh
- Ceol Ireland
- CJ Fallon
- Clever Mind Toys
- Cló Iar-Chonnacht
- Coláiste na Rinne
- Coláiste Uisce
- Conradh na Gaeilge
- Coláiste na bhFiann
- Éabhlóid
- Edco
- Feachtas
- Féasta 100
- Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge
- Foras na Gaeilge – An Foclóir
- Freedom Surf School
- Futa Fata
- Gael Linn
- Gaelchultúr
- GDK Network Systems Ltd.
- Glór na nGael
- Irish For Parents
- Junior Cycle for Teachers
- Lámh Chúnta
- Leabhar Breac
- Léargas
- Lurtel
- Primary Planet
- Rockfield Educational Supplies
- Spraoi
- TG4
- Tradtime
(Gaeilge) Seisiún Oiliúna ar úsáid www.irishforparents.ie
September 30, 2016
(Gaeilge) Folúntas: Oifigeach Forbartha le Gaelscoileanna Teo.
September 29, 2016
(Gaeilge) Cruinniú Urghnách Gaelscoileanna Teo., 6 Deireadh Fómhair 2016
September 12, 2016
(Gaeilge) Comhdháil ar Riachtanais Speisialta Oideachais sa bhunscoil lán-Ghaeilge agus Ghaeltachta
September 12, 2016
Na Naíonraí Gaelacha – Annual Conference
September 12, 2016
Na Naíonraí Gaelacha holds an annual conference every year in November and organise interesting lectures and seminars. The 2015 Conference was held on the 2nd and 3rd November in Athlone. The 2016 Conference and AGM will be held on the 7th and 8th of October in the Kilmurray Lodge in Limerick.
You can download the conference programme here: Comhdhail-na-Naionrai-Gaelacha-2016-Clar
