A NEW primary school will open its doors for the first time in New Ross this coming September.
Parents in the town, who have been campaigning for an Educate Together school, have expressed delight at the announcement by the Minister of Education & Skills, Jan O’Sullivan T.D., that such a facility will open in New Ross in this year.
In the wake of the announcement Chief Executive Officer of Educate Together, Paul Rowe, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to open a new school in New Ross and to meet the demonstrated demand for educational diversity in the area.’’
Educate Together’s Regional Development Officer, Niall Wall, also commented on the development and said it will be a very positive thing for the town: “This is a positive development, not just for parents seeking an Educate Together school in New Ross, but also for the wider community as it will compliment existing school provision in the town.”
One member of the local Educate Together Start-up group is former Fine Gael Councillor, Niamh Fitzgibbon.
The owner of a Montessori school in the town she welcomed the news that the new primary school is on its way to the town.
“We are delighted with the news that a new Educate Together School is to be opened in New Ross in September,” she said.
“I would like to thank everyone who has offered support throughout the campaign, especially the parents of children who have expressed an interest in enrolling their children in the school,” she added.
Another local parent and member of the start-up group, is Regina Dooley.
She described the news as fantastic and said it will benefit parents and children in terms of choice.
“This is fantastic news and the town and surrounding areas will now have a greater choice of primary education,” she said.
While the final location for the new school was not finalised as The Echo we can confirm that the recruitment process to appoint a Principal teacher for the new facility will begin immediately.
Educate Together is also currently working closely with the Department of Education to finalise a location for the new school with a decision on that expected to be finalised within the coming days.
The enrolment process will also begin immediately and parents who wish to pre-enrol their children in New Ross Educate Together National School should send contact details to [email protected]
Currently in Ireland, over 95 per cent of schools are under Catholic Church or Church of Ireland management and all stakeholders have been involved in discussing ways of addressing the dominance of denominational provision for some time.
The announcement of the New Ross school, along with two other Educate Together schools being set up in Tuam and Castlebar, will be seen by many people as a positive step in addressing an imbalance in denominational provision.
Of the 3,200 primary schools in Ireland, 2,900 are under Catholic patronage.
Educate Together currently runs 74 primary schools nationwide, representing 2 per cent of the schools in Ireland.
The organisation said it plans to work closely with all stakeholders, parents, the Department of Education and the local authority in New Ross to ensure that the new school will be located in an area that is accessible, convenient and suitable.
Min. O’Sullivan welcomed the progress made to date in discussions with patrons following nationwide divesting surveys.
“This development will bring to nine the number of new schools opened under the patronage divesting process,” she said.
She went on to comment: “I am conscious of the lead-in period necessary for establishing a new school: the advertising of the school, the enrolment process, appointment of the Principal, obtaining planning permission, where required, and other matters and that is why I am giving the go-ahead for all four schools at this time.”
The establishment of the new school in New Ross, and the other areas around the country, follows on from surveys of parents on patronage choice.
In 28 out of 43 areas surveyed ‘a viable number of parents’ said they would avail of an alternative patronage model of provision if it was available to them.
“The engagement with patrons is very positive and I thank them for the openness of their approach,” said Min. O’Sullivan.
The process of divestment of primary schools forms part of implementing recommendations from the 2012 report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector.
