Cork school loses teacher after delay in families moving into area leaves shortfall in pupil quota

Parents and pupils on the picket line outside Cloughduv National School in Co Cork, after the school lost a teacher due to being just two pupils short of the required number to retain the post. Picture: Dan Linehan

A primary school in a growing Cork village has launched a bid to save a teaching post that it lost after families moving to the area were delayed getting their keys.

As of last week, Cloughduv National School lost a developing teaching post after it narrowly missed the quota required by the Department of Education to retain the position.

Some children due to enrol at the school are now expected later in the term, pending the completion and release of new local housing developments.

The village, located in the parish of Kilmurry, has undergone rapid development recently, going from approximately 200 homes to more than 450 within two years.

Parents and students are picketing outside Cloughduv NS this week during mid-term break in a bid to highlight the impact losing a teacher will have on the school community. This includes larger class sizes and increased pressure on staff.

The school is expected to grow to more than 180 students by next September. The number of teachers allocated to a school is approved annually by the Department of Education based on enrolment numbers.

Cloughduv National School is expected to grow to more than 180 students by next September. Picture: Dan Linehan

While schools can request additional resources from the department based on projected enrolments, these are withdrawn if these enrolments do not materialise before the end of September.

According to a department circular, there are "no exceptions" to this requirement. 

Following an unsuccessful appeal by the school, which included written confirmation from families that their children would be enrolling at a later stage than the department's deadline, the post was withdrawn last week.

“While we respect that circulars must be followed and understand the stringent nature of these guidelines, we are asking for flexibility and understanding in our case,” said school principal Stephen O’Callaghan.

“Cloughduv is a growing community, and our enrolment patterns are directly linked to ongoing housing developments in the area.

“Losing this developing post, even temporarily, will place significant strain on our teaching resources and will inevitably impact teaching and learning standards across the school.

Parents and students are picketing outside Cloughduv NS this week during mid-term break in a bid to highlight the impact losing a teacher will have on the school community. Picture: Dan Linehan

"We are appealing for the department to view our situation in context and to allow for the retention of this post, even on a temporary basis, until our confirmed enrolments are fully realised."

Parent Cian O'Leary, whose children attend Cloughduv NS, said the school may be small "but it's growing very fast." 

“As a parent, I just find it bizarre and frustrating that the department can’t have a little bit of understanding and say ‘ok, you didn't hit your numbers, but we can see they are forecasted, and they will be actualised by the end of the year’.

There was a shortfall in the numbers because parents have been delayed getting their keys for their homes, so they were unable to move out and have their kids start in the school.

Mr O'Leary has lived in Cloughduv his whole life. "The development in the village has been bananas, in a good way," he said. 

"It's been great, but the other side of the situation is that it is a small village and there are infrastructure challenges, the school being one. In time, we’ll be fighting to get additional school buildings and all that type of stuff. At the moment, the priority is to get sufficient teachers to cover what we have.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education said schools may appeal to a board where they can provide evidence that the required enrolment will be present by the time the school closes for the Christmas holidays.

"The school appealed under these grounds but did not have sufficient enrolments before Christmas and the decision of the board was to not grant the appeal post."

The staffing of Cloughduv NS will remain as it was last year, he added. "The provisional post granted was an additional post, not one that the school already had."

"The Government remains committed to reducing class sizes and will consider how best to achieve this in the context of the annual budgetary process."