Educate Together to contest patronage for primary school

THE patronage process for a new primary school in Newtownmountkennedy/Kilcoole is due to start later this month.

It was announced in April that Newtownmountkennedy/Kilcoole was to get a new eight-classroom school which is expected to open in 2019. In the last Census, Newtownmountkennedy was considered to be one of Ireland’s fastest growing towns.

Anne Gregory is campaigning for Educate Together to get the patronage of the new school once the patronage contest opens later in the month.

‘We have formed a committee and will set out promoting Educate Together in local shops, crèches and other areas. Newtown is struggling with placements for young children because the demand is so great. Further school places are badly needed for the whole Newtown, Kilcoole area. It will be great to get a new school regardless of its patronage, but we are hoping it will be an Educate Together school. Families who moved to the area in recent years deserve to be able to send their children to local schools,’ said Anne.

Meanwhile An Foras Pátrúnachta has announced that it plans to apply for patronage of the 13 new primary announced by the Minister back in April, including the school in Kilcoole/ Newtownmountkennedy.

‘ The demand for places in Gaelscoileanna continues to grow at a rapid rate with many of our schools oversubscribed,’ said General Secretary of An Foras Pátrúnachta Caoimhín Ó hEaghra. ‘We hear regularly from parents who wish they could send their child to an Irish-medium school but don’t have that option available to them, and that demand is backed by national research.’

An Foras Pátrúnachta is currently the patron for over 70 schools in 22 counties across Ireland.

A number of suitable sites are being considered by the Department of Education and Skills for the new primary school but confirmation of a location has yet to be confirmed.