Parents are urged to register their support online and attend next week’s public meeting.
The Galway Educate Together Second Level Startup group (GET2LS) is ready for the next stage in the process to decide on patronage of Galway’s new second level school.
The Department is expected to launch a survey of parents in the next few days, and the Educate Together group has urged supportive parents to attend their upcoming public meeting, and to register their interest on the Department’s website.
The public meeting will be held at 8pm on Monday 25 June, in the NUI Galway Lifecourse Building (ILAS), for parents interested in learning about the Educate Together model.
“Parental preference is a key element in deciding which organisation is granted patronage,” said GET2LS chair Roisin McManus.
“It is vital that parents take the time to register their support for Educate Together.”
The meeting will provide information on the Educate Together ethos and model, and be addressed by representatives of Educate Together, including Regional Development Officer Jennifer Buttner, amongst others.
Maggie Hall, GET2LS PRO, said: “Educate Together offers an ethos that is inclusive and child-centred.
“It offers an approach to education that is democratic and nurturing.
“Many Galway parents are already familiar with it at primary level, with five schools across the county, but Galway is the last major city not to have an Educate Together school available at second level.”
The new school, due to open in 2019, is a ‘regional solution’ aimed primarily at the Galway city and Oranmore school planning areas, and is intended to meet the increasing demand for second-level education in Galway, with an anticipated enrolment of 1,000.
Educate Together is committed to including an Aonad (Irish-language stream) in the school if there is sufficient parental demand. The location of the school will be decided at a later date by the Department, and entry to the school will be open to all pupils living within the catchment area.
Educate Together CEO Paul Rowe commented: “Students need a breadth of skills and attributes to succeed in today’s diverse world and changing workplace.
“They need to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn throughout their lives. Our second level schools aim to provide an education that will enable all students to contribute meaningfully to their communities, embrace the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society and develop the knowledge and skills necessary to live their lives and to build their careers in the 21st century.”
Further information is available at www.GET2LS.org. The Department of Education is expected to announce the parental preference survey in the coming days, with responses due by a date in July.
The Educate Together public meeting is 25 June at 8pm in the ILAS (Institute for Lifecourse and Society) building on the NUI Galway campus, near Corrib Village.
