New Multi-denominational Gaelscoil for Dún Laoghaire
March 10, 2016
The application made by An Foras Pátrúnachta for a new multidenominational Irish-medium school to serve the Dún Laoghaire was rejected by the Minister for Education & Skills in his announcement re school patronage in May 2017.
Information on the Department of Education & Skills process, as well as the Patronage Assessment Report for the area, is available on www.education.ie.
Read our Press Release about the Minister’s announcement here.
Why choose an Irish-medium school for your child?
Read about the benefits of immersion education here.
Further info on An Foras Pátrúnachta is available on www.foras.ie.
The latest info on the Dún Laoghaire campaign is available on Facebook.
(Gaeilge) The Breadwinner/An Saothraí
May 15, 2018
Opportunities for Irish-medium schools in the Minister for Education’s announcement
April 13, 2018
Gaeloideachas welcomes the announcement made today by the Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton, that 42 new schools are to open in 2019-2022. “It’s a positive announcement that will help us to ensure that Irish-medium schools will be available as a choice for more children whose parents are interested in immersion education. It will also help to meet the huge demand for multidenominational education through the medium of Irish” said Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin, Gaeloideachas CEO.
New schools
Gaeloideachas will consult with prospective patrons who wish to provide Irish-medium education in the areas identified for new schools by the Department of Education. The organisation welcomes queries and comments from members of the public regarding the possibilities they see for development in their local area.
Campaigns to establish new Irish-medium schools have already been run in some of the areas on the Department’s list, including: Marino, Drumcondra and Dublin 1, Dublin 2, 4 and 6, Dún Laoghaire and Kilkenny. Gaeloideachas hopes to build on the huge work these communities have already put into campaigning, and to see a positive result from it now that the opportunity has been announced. There are opportunities in many of the other identified areas also, where there is a demand for Irish-medium education and where the statistics provided by schools to the organisation each year show that most of the Irish-medium schools in the Department-identified areas are oversubscribed.
A holistic approach to development needed to support existing schools
Gaeloideachas acknowledges, however, that an announcement such as the one made by the Minister today creates both opportunity and challenges for existing schools. There are schools in these areas that would like to expand but have not been allowed to do so, and schools that have been disadvantaged for years due to sub-standard accommodation. Gaeloideachas will continue to campaign for the wishes and the needs of these schools to be met, and to be taken into account in the planning process. Some of the pressure on the system could be alleviated by existing schools if they were provided with adequate accommodation, and could enrol additional students.
We ask that the Department adopt a holistic approach when planning for the future capacity of our education system. This is particularly relevant for the post-primary sector, where it would be both possible and practical to award independent school status to Irish-medium units operating within schools in some of the areas identified for development. At present, Irish-medium units operate in schools around the country without adequate support or protection from the State to ensure their success and sustainability. This process presents the Department with an opportunity to work with school patrons to ensure that Irish-medium post-primary education will be permanently available in these regions.
Equality for Irish-medium education?
It is not yet clear what the process to determine the patronage and ethos of the new schools will be. The Department has indicated that the process in place since 2011 has been revised, but that parental choice will remain central to the decision. The patronage determination process will have a huge influence on the number of Irish-medium schools that will open in the coming years. Gaeloideachas has been lobbying since 2015 for the process to be revised to ensure equal opportunity for applications for Irish-medium schools. The previous process put parents who wanted Irish-medium education for their children at a disadvantage, as their campaigns were unable to compete with those for majority-language English-speaking schools. Information on the Department’s new process will be published in the coming weeks, and Gaeloideachas hopes that it will support the development of the sector, in accordance with the State’s commitments under the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language.
All information on the campaigns to establish new Irish-medium schools and to secure appropriate accommodation for existing schools will be published on www.gaeloideachas.ie and on social media. Anna Ní Chartúir, Gaeloideachas President, said “we really hope that the coming years will see Irish-medium schools expanding and thriving”.
New Gaelscoil for Ballincollig in September 2017, but heartbreak for parents of more than 500 children as three other applications for new schools are rejected
May 4, 2017
A new multi-denominational Irish-medium school for Ballincollig
Gaeloideachas would like to congratulate the parents of Ballincollig, whose tireless campaign to open a new multi-denominational Irish-medium primary school has been recognised today by the Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton. The school will open in September 2017 for junior infants, under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta.
“Of the 3 new primary schools due to open in September 2017, we really welcome this announcement by Minister Bruton that the one in Ballincollig is to be an Irish-medium school”, said Clare Spáinneach, Vice-CEO of Gaeloideachas. “It means that a whole new generation of children will have access to immersion education, thanks to the very hard work done by local parents to establish their new school. Irish-medium education offers huge benefits to children – they will be fluent in at least two languages, and the immersion model of education helps them with their social, communicative and cognitive development . This multi-d school will cater for children from different linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds and will give them a happy and well-rounded education”.
Suitable accommodation for the school will be arranged with the assistance of the Department of Education over the coming weeks, and a principal will be appointed by An Foras Pátrúnachta. Parents interested in registering their children for a place should contact An Foras Pátrúnachta: email cormac@foras.ie or call 01 6294110.
Disappointed parents of more than 500 children in Dún Laoghaire, Pelletstown and Dublin South City Centre left without a choice for their children
It’s a huge disappointment, however, to the communities in Dún Laoghaire, Pelletstown and Dublin South City Centre that the demand for Irish-medium education in their areas has not been recognised. “The communities in each of these areas have done incredible work since the Department of Education gave notice that they were to get new schools, and we received more than 517 expressions of interest from local parents who wanted those schools to be multi-d, Irish-medium schools” said Ciara Ní Bhroin, Senior Policy & Development Officer with Gaeloideachas.
“These are parents who can’t get places for their children in existing Irish-medium schools, and there are no Irish-medium multi-d schools available in any of the three localities. The new schools due to open are all to teach through English, and will not cater for the wishes of these parents for their children’s education. Though they showed a very clear demand for Irish-medium education, there is nowhere now for them to send their children”.
No recognition for North Dublin City after parents of more than 700 children petition the Minister for a school
There was further disappointment in the Minister for Education & Skills’ announcement today re new schools for 2017 and 2018, as no mention was made of the campaign to have an Irish-medium multi-denominational primary school established in North Dublin City. The campaign under the 2016 process for the establishment of patronage gathered expressions of interest from the parents of 733 children for an Irish-medium school, but was unsuccessful. The report of the New Schools Establishment Group to the Minister in April 2016 conceded that there was evidence of considerable demand for Irish-medium education in the area, and that this should be kept under review. There was some hope that today’s announcement might include belated recognition of the wishes of those parents in North Dublin City, but there has been no further communication on the matter from the Department of Education or from Minister Bruton. “Gaeloideachas will continue to fight for the educational rights of these children and others like them” said Clare Spáinneach, “and we will continue to lobby for the reform of the processes to determine school patronage and facilitate divestment, as the current ones militate against the establishment of minority-language schools. We have made recommendations to the Department regarding the reform of these processes, as have other Education Partners, and it remains to be seen whether the genuine concerns of parents will be taken on board by policy-makers”.
The process used by the Department to determine the patronage of the new schools has been a long and arduous one for parents, who campaigned in their local communities for over a year before being left to wait through a three-month delay for a decision by the Minister. It will be a challenge for the successful patrons to have everything in place for the upcoming school year, and a challenge for parents whose campaigns were unsuccessful to secure school places for their children in alternative schools. Gaeloideachas would like to acknowledge all of their hard work, and to thank the parents, the patrons and the organisations who supported them, especially Conradh na Gaeilge, for running very positive campaigns in all four areas and for raising public awareness about the benefits of Irish-medium education for all.
Montessori to bid for patronage of primary school
January 5, 2017
The race for control of a new primary school in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, due to open next September, is hotting up.
St Nicholas Montessori Society, which runs a teacher training college and a small private school in the south Dublin town, has announced that it plans to bid for patronage. “This is a new departure for us”, St Nicholas director Ian McKenna said. “We have a waiting list and we haven’t got the capacity to take them.”
He said the board of trustees saw it as an opportunity to establish a primary school, based on Montessori principles, within the State system. Mr McKenna said changes to the primary curriculum in recent years brought it closer to the Montessori model.
The St Nicholas school is based on the Montessori teaching philosophy and has 120 pupils from pre-school up to sixth class. Annual fees are €2,800 for three to four year olds and €3,475 for older pupils. The proposed new school will have 16 classrooms, with two classes for each year. The Education Department is planning for an intake of 27 for each of two junior infant streams next September.
Fees
If St Nicholas Montessori School was awarded patronage, it would have to stop charging school fees, but Mr McKenna said a benefit being within the State system would be that it would qualify for funding from the Education Department.
Dún Laoghaire is the location for one of three new primary schools opening in September 2017 for which Education Minister Richard Bruton invited potential patrons to apply. There is already keen competition for the school. Other patron bodies quick to announce their bids include Educate Together, Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, for a community national school, and An Foras Pátrúnachta, which runs Irish-medium schools.
Parental preference is a key factor in the decision-making process and the Education Department has given patrons until January 6 to submit their applications. Patrons are now asking parents to sign up to them. The Education Department will announce the outcome of the process in February.
Mr McKenna said all the patron bodies did “fantastic work”, but St Nicholas wanted to offer parents another option. The St Nicholas school, which has been running for more than 35 years, describes itself as multi-denominational, with a Christian ethos.
Irish medium schools’ patron campaigns for multi-denominational schools in Cork and Dublin
December 5, 2016
The largest patron of Irish medium schools in the country, An Foras Pátrúnachta, has today (05.12.16) announced its intention to submit an application for patronage of four new schools in Cork and Dublin.
The campaign is well underway to establish multi-denominational Irish speaking primary schools in the following areas: Ballincollig, Co. Cork (opening September 2017); Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin (opening September 2017); Navan Road West, Dublin (opening September 2017) and in Dublin 2, 4 & 6 (opening September 2018).
Following Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD’s announcement last week, patrons will be invited to submit their application for new primary schools in Dublin and Cork by Friday 6th January 2017. An Foras Pátrúnachta will be applying to the Department of Education and Skills for the four schools to be designated as multi-denominational Irish-medium schools.
Commenting today, Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, General Secretary of An Foras Pátrúnachta said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to provide excellent education and diversity of choice to communities in Cork and Dublin. We are the largest patron of Irish-medium schools at both primary and secondary level in Ireland, and our schools are open to all children, offering a range of spiritual ethos.
“Our aim is to provide an excellent education through the Irish language to every child in Ireland who wants it. We already know that there is huge demand for Irish-medium education in these areas, with hundreds of children turned away every year from Gaeilscoileanna in certain catchments due to capacity issues. We are calling on all parents to register their interest today to ensure your choice and your voice is heard.”
The patron opened its 69th school earlier this year in South Dublin, and is now educating 15,000 students per annum. Schools under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta are located in 22 counties around Ireland.
Caoimhín Ó hEaghra continued: “We meet families around the country on a day-to-day basis who are telling us that they want to provide their children with the extra benefits that Gaelscoileanna provide.
“Our schools follow the immersion education model, which helps pupils to become fluent in the language naturally by giving them daily experience of an Irish-speaking environment.
“The benefits of an education through the medium of Irish and bilingual schooling are well documented – students perform better academically, find it easier to learn a third and fourth language and also recent research indicates that students learning through Irish are achieving higher scores in English and Maths. Simply put – immersion education is excellent education.”
Interested parents are asked to register their interest at http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/scoileanna-nua/. The closing date for submitting applications, including evidence of parental preference, is Friday 6th January 2017.
Minister invites applications for patronage of four new primary schools to be established
December 5, 2016
The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, T.D., has today invited school patron bodies/prospective school patron bodies to apply for the patronage of four new primary schools due to be established in September 2017 and September 2018.
Today’s invitation follows on from the announcement in November 2015 of a major programme of capital investment in schools which includes the establishment of these four new primary schools in order to meet increasing demographic demand.
Three of the schools are due to open in September 2017 and will serve the following areas:
Ballincollig, Co Cork
Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Pelletstown, Dublin 7
The remaining school is due to open in September 2018 and will serve the following school planning areas:
Dublin South City Centre (Dublin 2, 4 and 6)
Inviting applications from interested patrons/prospective patrons today, 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. Parental demand is one of the key considerations in deciding on the patronage of these four new primary schools and I urge patrons to engage with parents in the relevant school planning areas in this regard.”
The schools will be established in line with the requirements and criteria for the patronage of new schools. These requirements and criteria are published on the Department’s website and will also be provided to prospective applicants. Applicants must confirm they will comply with each of the requirements and criteria in order for their application to be processed. Parental preferences from parents of children living in the areas to be served by the schools, along with the extent of diversity in the areas, will be key factors in deciding on the patronage of each school. In this regard, patron applicants are reminded that only valid parental preferences from the areas to be served by the schools will be taken into account. As part of the process, parents have an opportunity to express their preference for their preferred patron body and also to express their preference for their child to be educated through the medium of Irish or of English. Patron applicants are also reminded that the code of conduct is mandatory.
Invitation to apply for Patronage in the Establishment of New Primary Schools due to open in September 2017 and September 2018
Arrangements for Patronage in the establishment of new Primary Schools due to open in September 2017 and September 2018
Patronage awarded for new school in Dublin 15
November 14, 2016
PATRONAGE of a new 1,000-student secondary school earmarked for Dublin 15 has been awarded to the Edmund Rice School Trust (ERST).
The ERST promotes Catholic education and its charter includes a provision for “nurturing faith, Christian spirituality and Gospel-based values”.
The new school will begin enrolment shortly with a view to opening to first-year students in September 2017. The exact location of the school has yet to be determined.
Dublin West TD and Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, said the appointment of ERST at patron would enhance parental choice in Dublin 15.
“Currently, all of the secondary schools in Castleknock, including Carpenterstown, are either fee-paying or community colleges under the patronage of the Dublin & Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board,” he said.
“There is no non-fee paying school under the patronage of a Catholic body in the area. There is a new Educate Together Secondary School not too far away in Hansfield.
“The decision to appoint ERST as patron will give parents in the area more choice about the ethos in which they want their son or daughter to be educated.
“The fact that it will not be a community college means it should have no impact on the admission policy that currently applies to Castleknock Community College and Luttrellstown Community College. It will, most likely, accept children from the general area.”
Minister Varadkar believes the new school should be located in Castleknock, east of the M50, on part of the undeveloped lands of the former Phoenix Park Racecourse.
“It does not make sense to locate it too close to the existing secondary schools, which are both west of the M50. The Department would have to buy the site as the lands are privately owned.
“I am concerned, however, at the possibility that this new school might also provide for a home for a new Irish language medium Aonad.
“It is my strong view, supported by campaigners for an Aonad in Dublin 15, that the Irish language school should start its life and be located adjacent to Luttrellstown Community College.
“This would mean that the Aonad would have the assistance of an established school in its initial years, be close to the centre of the Dublin 15 and thus accessible, would not have a religious patron, and would be multi-denominational in line with the wishes of the community.”
Minister Varadkar said he would be seeking a meeting with Minister of Education, Richard Bruton, and his department officials to discuss his concerns.
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.
Forums
August 25, 2016
