Report of a meeting with the Department of Education and Science

Tullamore, Co Offaly. 24 th Janaury 2005 11.30a.m.

B.E.A.G. Attendees: Josephine Gahan, Barbara Nolan, Tony Freegrove, Fr. William Howell P.P., Helen Doyle

Points for Consideration:

• Tradition: Students from Ballygarrett National School (BGNS) have attended Gorey Community School (GCS) since it's inception, and previous to the merging of three local schools to form GCS, our pupils attended these schools.
• Choice: Every other school in the area has a choice of secondary school within reach. Not only are the pupils of BGNS being refused a choice of another school, they are being limited to a particular type of education, Vocational Educational as opposed to secondary or community school ethos.
• Subject Range: The second level education being forced on our children does not offer them the range of subjects that heretofore have been made available to them. For example, many of the population of our area have a very musical background and this choice is not catered for in Kilmuckridge Vocational College (KVC). Neither are several other subjects that might have an effect on the career choice of a child.
• Unique Situation: As mentioned previously, we are the only school affected by this decision who do not have a realistic option for second level education for our children. Geographically Ballygarrett is defined by it's isolated costal location. After GCS and KVC, if we look Eastwards our other options would be in Wales!
• Small Numbers: For GCS to cite overcrowding as a reason for excluding traditional feeder schools is almost laughable. We have conducted a survey of all pasrents of children attending BGNS from 1 st class upwards. The results are attached. In September 2005, when you exclude siblings of present students and those living within the catchment area, this decision will mean excluding XX children from GCS.
• Negative impact on the area. If the department allows GCS to exclude the children from BGNS, it will have a generally negative impact on the area. Our national school has recently added an additional classroom and may be in line for an additional teacher in 2005 / 2006. We have added additional parking for staff and parents dropping off their children. There is already anecdotal evidence of parents preparing to either move their children to different schools of indeed move out of the area completely.
• Disrcimination: The decision of GCS to disqualify children from attending based on where they attended National school could be deemed discriminatory. If a family move to the Gorey area from any other county or country, they are guaranteed a place in GCS. This has been specifically said to a new parent in the school by the principal of GCS. There is also the issue of limited career choices if GCS continue in this vein. For example, the lack of subject choices and options in KVC could mean that a child attending BGNS could not go on to be a pharmacist, or a carpenter etc. We are currently taking legal advice on this issue.