Revised Criteria and Procedures for Establishment of New Primary Schools Report of the Commission on School Accommodation February 2011 FOREWORD..........................................................................................................................................4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................5 SUMMARY OF PART ONE – CURRENT POSITION....................................................................................5 SUMMARY OF PART TWO – FUTURE SCHOOL PLANNING......................................................................6 SUMMARY OF PART THREE – PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................7 PART ONE – CURRENT POSITION ...............................................................................................10 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................10 TERMS OF REFERENCE........................................................................................................................10 METHODOLOGY FOR THE REVIEW ......................................................................................................10 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................................................................................11 PROCEDURE FOR THE OPENING OF NEW SCHOOLS DURING NSAC’S TERM OF OFFICE .........................11 CHANGE IN DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS ....................................................................................................12 PATRONAGE .......................................................................................................................................15 Development of the Patronage System..........................................................................................15 Definition of a Patron ...................................................................................................................15 Function of the patron...................................................................................................................16 Who can become a patron?...........................................................................................................17 DIVERSITY..........................................................................................................................................18 ESTABLISHING PARENTAL PREFERENCES FOR A SCHOOL TYPE............................................................23 THE IRISH LANGUAGE.........................................................................................................................23 DIVESTING PROCESS BEING ADVANCED ..............................................................................................24 DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PATRON MODEL.............................................................................................24 PUBLIC CONSULTATION ......................................................................................................................25 MAIN ISSUES RAISED IN THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION PROCESS ...........................................................25 Minimum number of pupils required to establish a school ...........................................................26 Views about the Community National School concept..................................................................26 Accommodation and shared campus arrangements......................................................................26 Views on policy of all-Irish education ..........................................................................................26 Lead in time to establishment of new school.................................................................................26 Co-trusteeship patronage model...................................................................................................27 Proposals in regard to the regulation of patrons..........................................................................27 MAIN ISSUES RAISED IN CONSULTATION WITH NSAC MEMBERS ........................................................27 NSAC view re minimum number of pupils required to establish a school ....................................27 NSAC view re concept of diversity of provision/ characteristic spirit ..........................................27 NSAC view re inspection process for new schools........................................................................28 NSAC view re establishment of Special Schools ...........................................................................28 NSAC view re decoupling of registration of patron from applications for new schools...............28 INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS..........................................................................................................28 School funding ..............................................................................................................................29 Planning for school accommodation ............................................................................................29 Establishment of new schools .......................................................................................................29 Campus development ....................................................................................................................29 PART TWO – FUTURE SCHOOL PLANNING..............................................................................31 OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................................31 DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS –POPULATION PROJECTIONS......................................................................32 DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS – METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................35 DATASETS USED FOR DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS ................................................................................36 Central Statistics Office – Census Data and Regional Population Projections............................36 General Register Office (GRO) Dataset .......................................................................................37 Department of Social Protection dataset ......................................................................................39 An Post Geodirectory....................................................................................................................40 LIAISON WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES...................................................................................................40 CHOOSING A PATRON(S) .....................................................................................................................41 FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS/ VALUE FOR MONEY/ COST OF SCHOOLS ..................................................41 SHARED CAMPUS ARRANGEMENTS .....................................................................................................45 Rationale for a shared campus .....................................................................................................45 Definition of a campus ..................................................................................................................45 Guidelines to be developed ...........................................................................................................46 Protection of school ethos/spirit ...................................................................................................46 Shared facilities ............................................................................................................................46 Campus management arrangements.............................................................................................47 2 PART THREE – PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................48 OUTLINE OF APPROACH ......................................................................................................................48 IDENTIFICATION OF THE NEED FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW SCHOOLS .......................................48 PROPOSED PROCESS FOR CHOOSING THE PATRON OF A NEW SCHOOL..................................................50 PARENTAL DEMAND FOR CHOICE; TRANSFER AND CHANGE OF PATRONAGE .......................................51 GENERAL ISSUES IN RELATION TO THE ROLE OF THE PATRON .............................................................52 PARENTAL DEMANDS FOR CHOICE OF PATRONAGE .............................................................................52 Irish language...............................................................................................................................53 Multi-denominational provision ...................................................................................................53 OPTIMISING EXISTING EDUCATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ....................................................................53 ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL SCHOOLS..............................................................................................53 CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATION ......................................................................................54 PATRONAGE ADVISORY GROUP..........................................................................................................54 LIST OF APPENDICES......................................................................................................................56