Educate Together considers opening another Cork school

THE multi-denominational body Educate Together is considering opening a new school in Cork city’s southern suburbs due to high demand from parents.

Parents of children in Cork’s existing Educate Together schools are also seeking to establish a second-level school in the city or county. A starter-group is being established so they can take the secondary school project further.

A public meeting is to be held later this month so the patron body can “assess demand” for opening a primary school in the Douglas/Rochestown area. An exact date has not yet been decided.

Regional development officer for Educate Together, Niall Wall, said: “We have been delighted and encouraged by the interest coming from parents in the area and we want to connect with interested parties. If we get a viable group of parents who want to form a start-up group in Douglas or Rochestown, we can then build an enrolment list.”

Educate Together has schools in Cork city, Midleton, Carrigaline and Mayfield. They have been providing multi-denominational education since 1978 when its first school, the Dalkey School Project opened. There are now 60 Educate Together schools with over 13,000 pupils enrolled.

Earlier this month, the organisation was given formal recognition of its second-level patronage status by Minister of Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn.

The schools are based on four guiding principles: being multi-denominational, co-educational, child-centred and democratically run.

Parents have an active role in the day-to-day running of the school.

The schools work under the same regulations and funding structures as other national schools.

“Clearly, some parents are faced with the reality of only having a denominational school in their locality, and become interested in setting up an Educate Together school,” Mr Wall said.

* Contact Mr Wall on 087 9663494, email niall.wall@ educatetogether.ie. or go to www.educatetogether.ie.