ETEN The Electronic Newsletter from Educate Together
Vol.8 No.3- June 10th 2008

Castaheany ETNS Moves into New School!
320 children walk from Prefabs to Permanent Building - 10 weeks before schedule!

Ongar Village, Dublin 15. PIcture shows Mary Healey, Principal and Aideen Maher, Chairperson leading the children through the gates of the school for the first time

Castaheany Educate Together National School is starting life in a new purpose-built permanent building this week. Educate Together was handed the keys by the Department of Education and Science on June 4th. The school community has moved in over the weekend and the children walked to their new classrooms today from the complex of prefabs in Littlepace that has housed the school for the past three years. This project has been delivered by the Department 10 weeks before schedule. This allowed the school to move in for the last three weeks of this school year. The school is of a 'generic repeat design' developed by the Department in recent years. This design is very energy efficient and it is hoped that the energy usage for this school will be approximately 50% of traditional school buildings.

The scene of jubilation as the children see the school doors unlocked for the first time

The hand over of the keys: Paul Rowe,CEO Educate Together, Aideen Maher, Chairperson Board of Management,
Mary Healy, Principal and Bill Kavanagh, Department of Education and Science

This new building is the first of a number of new permanent buildings that Educate Together schools are due to receive in the next three months. Other schools due to move into new buildings are in Monkstown, Mullingar, Tullamore, Gorey, Skerries, Drogheda, Swords, Lucan, Belmayne and Maynooth. This development represents the largest annual delivery of permanent buildings for the Educate Together network and will bring the percentage of Educate Together schools in temporary buildings below 50% for the first time in the movement's history.

Looking down towards the main entrance

Castaheany Educate Together National School was set up in 2004, when parents in the area discovered that the fine pictures of a school that had been put on thebrochures of their new houses were only aspirational. A parent group was set up with Educate Together's assistance and the school started life in vacant space in Griffeen Valley ETNS in Lucan. Children had to be bussed the 40 minute journey each way for all of the first year of the school's life. In 2005, the school was housed in vacant prefabs recently vacated by Mary Mother of Hope NS in Littlepace.

Educate Together would like to congratulate the school on its progress. We would like to thank the Building Section of the Department of Education and Science for their commitment and professional assistance at all stages of this building project. We would also like to thank the Principal, staff and board of Mary Mother of Hope National School and its patron theArchbishop of Dublin for their help while the school was temporarily housed on their premises. A special thanks also to Griffeen Valley ETNS for the use of vacant classrooms in challenging first year of the school.

Educate Together holds Successful Annual General Meeting

The 11th Annual General Meeting of Educate Together was held at Adamstown Castle Educate Together N.S. and Esker Educate Together N.S. on May 24th. This was an important meeting of the 44 Educate Together school communities.

Educate Together is a company with charitable status that is the patron of most Educate Together schools. Its members are the boards of management and a small number of local patrons of Educate Together schools. As company, its policy decisions are subject to democratic vote at general meetings, its finances are public and its board members are elected and serve in a voluntary capacity.

At this year's AGM discussed motions on a wide range of topics. Highlighted issues were:

The growing financial difficulties facing national schools and need for the doubling of the primary capitation grant.
Enrolment policies and policies on maximum school size
The need for continuous pressure on government to deliver on promises to solve the accommodation needs of schools
The need for the State to support Educate Together's ethical curriculum on the same basis as it supports the Catholic and Protestant curricula.
New Schools Grants and Start Up grants
Key note speeches were made by Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority, Brigid McManus, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science and Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together.

The meeting saw the election of 4 new Directors to the Educate Together Board and the election of Robert Dowling as Chairperson. Noreen Byrne was warmly congratulated for her time as chairperson and Chris Lennon and Frieda McGovern for their years of voluntary service on the Board. The four new directors are Gerry Breslin, Mark Kelly, Andrea Burke-Khan and Patricia Murphy. Gerry and Andrea are teachers in Educate Together schools (Newbridge and Griffeen valley), Mark is Director of the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and Patricia is principal of Rathfarnham ETNS and one of the four authors of Educate Together's ethical curriculum.

The full proceedings of the AGM, including full texts, pictures and video clips will shortly be published on Educate Together's website. Many thanks to all in Adamstown Castle and Esker Educate Together Schools for making it such a memorable and enjoyable day.

Primary Partners Seek Meeting with new Taoiseach, Finance Minister and Minister for Education and Science to Seek for an Immediate Doubling of the Primary Capitation Grant

Immediately after the change of Taoiseach and Cabinet, the seven primary management bodies wrote to Brian Cowen, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Education and Science to seek a meeting to discuss the financial difficulties that the Boards of Management of national schools are experiencing in 2008.

These letters echo the appeal made to the previous Taoiseach and ministers earlier in the year and the letters sent to all T.D.s and Senators seeking their support for an immediate doubling of the primary capitation grant. The seven primary management leaders also made a direct presentation to the Orieachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science on April 10th. These approaches were very well received by the members of the committee and the overwhelming majority of T.D.s and Senators.

To date neither the previous nor current set of cabinet ministers have agreed to meet the management bodies.

This is disappointing. The financial difficulties of national schools are very well known and there is little evidence that can contradict the view that boards are in such serious deficits that the education of children is already suffering. There is no justification for the extremely low level of the primary capitation grant and the fact that it is only half that afforded for second-level children. Power, light, heating and maintenance costs do not discriminate according age and the grant should be raised to €352 as soon as practicable. In their presentations, all management bodies reported the view that schools will be between €20,000 to €30,000 short by the end of the year. Some schools will be unable to pay heating bills this winter.

Schools will have to try to meet these deficits by fundraising or - in the case of parish based schools - parish or diocesan contributions. Such measures are introducing serious divisions in education as those schools in well-off areas are able to access greater resources.

The amount needed to double the grant, €82million, is not significant in relation to huge education budget and the importance that a properly funded primary school system has for the future social and economic prosperity of the country.

It is a matter of national priorities. If we are realistically to base our future economy on a knowledge and thinking society, this must be based on a properly funded primary education system.

We hope that the ministers will agree to meet the representatives of the 24,000 board of management members as soon as possible.

News from Educate Together Schools Around the Country

Bracken Educate Together National School
Congratulations to Junior Infants 2 (Cherry and Banana tables) who won 1st Prize in the Amnesty International Lift Off Art Competition recently. Have a look at the winning entry here www.liftoffschools.com/Students/GalleryViewer.aspx?ID=19.
Glasnevin Educate Together National School
Glasnevin ETNS has won the Discover Primary Science award for the second year!! Best of luck for next year!!

Le Chéile Educate Together National School
The school received visits from Minister Mary Hanafin, Thomas Byrne T.D. and Minister Dermot Ahern. Minister Ahern paid a special visit to 3rd class to congratulate them on their Irish Aid project, where they finished in the top 11.

North Kildare Educate Together National School
Congratulations to the North Kildare ETNS for making the FAI Schools Five-a-Side Leinster Soccer Finals!
Rathfarnham Educate Together National School
Congratulations to Rathfarnham ETNS for receiving its second Green Flag. Well done to all the participants of the Green Team for the great energy saving campaign.

Swords Educate Together National School
The Swords ETNS community did an amazing job of raising almost €12,000 for the school in their annual Bag Pack in Dunnes. Well Done!!

Tralee Educate Together National School
Well done to Tralee ETNS for raising funds for four students and two teachers from Tralee to go to Tanzania to work with orphans.

Tullamore Educate Together National School
Well done to Tullamore ETNS for their involvement and collaborative effort with St Joseph’s National School in this year’s Shake Fest which is in aid of ‘Gach Duine’ an Ethiopian Development Project.