Educate Together gets new school patronage

GROUP SECURED TWO-THIRDS OF PARENTS VOTES

EDUCATE Together has been awarded the patronage of a new school for Wicklow town, after winning 59 per cent of the vote.

The school will open in September 2019 and accommodate up to 600 pupils. The exact location has still to be determined.

Parents were asked to select their choice from four applicant patrons – Educate Together, Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, Le Chéile Schools Trust and Scoil Sinéad Limited – through an online voting process.

Louisa Meehan of the Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School Campaign said: ‘We were thrilled when we heard the news. We could not have been happier. We received a lot of support. When we were out campaigning and talking to parents, we were receiving great feedback.’

EDUCATE Together has been awarded the patronage of a new school planned for Wicklow town, after winning 59 per cent of first preference votes.

The school will open in September 2019 and accommodate up to 600 pupils. The exact location has still to be determined by the Department of Education and Skills, who remain in talks.

Parents were asked to select their choice of four applicant patrons – Educate Together, Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, Le Chéile Schools Trust and Scoil Sinéad Limited – through an online voting process. The patronage process was overseen by an external independent advisory group, the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG).

Louisa Meehan of the Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School Campaign has thanked all the volunteers involved in the push.

‘We were thrilled when we heard the news. We could not have been happier,’ said Louisa.

‘We received a lot of support. Even when we were out campaigning and talking to parents, we were receiving great feedback. We got a huge amount of votes and had the support of parents form all sorts of different backgrounds. We had over 30 parents giving up their time for our campaign and they all made very worthwhile contributions. We handed out flyers and did leaflet drops to estates in the area with a density of children. We campaigned in Tesco, Centra and outside the local banks.

‘We are, of course, thrilled and honoured to have been trusted by the community to deliver a new school under the Educate Together ethos and we are very excited by this opportunity. We are also looking forward to developing excellent relationships with the existing second level schools in the community and engaging with all national schools in a collaborative and mutually supportive manner’.

Of the total valid first preference votes of 587, Educate Together received 346, followed by Le Chéile Schools Trust with 196 votes, KWETB with 40 and Scoil Sinead with five votes.

Paul Rowe, Educate Together CEO, has praised campaigners for their efforts.

‘I want to pay tribute to all the volunteers that stepped up to campaign for the school,’ he said. ‘This is true people power and the opening of this equality-based school is their achievement. These volunteers have been giving up their free time canvassing at shopping centres, delivering leaflets and talking to other parents about what Educate Together means to them and their children. They are doing all this for their children, local families and the wider community – Educate Together would be nothing without the support of these committed volunteers’.

Principal recruitment for the school will begin shortly. Parents who expressed interest will be contacted and the admissions process for the school will open in the coming weeks.

‘We will be starting off the process very soon. The enrolment procedure will start in the next few weeks,’ said Louisa.

The Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School Campaign is also supportive of Educate Together efforts to secure the patronage of the new school primary planned for Newtownmountkennedy.

‘We are backing that campaign as well. The process has started and the Department should be making an announcement within the next two weeks. Educate Together ran a great campaign in Newtown and we are hopeful that it will prove successful,’ said Louisa.

Admissions policies will be available at www.educatetogehter.ie. Educate Together is waiting for confirmation of accommodation from the Department of Education and Skills.