Admissions Policy
1. IntroductionThis Admission Policy complies with the requirements of the Education Act 1998, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and the Equal Status Act 2000. In drafting this policy, the board of management of the school has consulted with school staff, the school patron and with parents of children attending the school.
The policy was approved by the school patron on [date]. It is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy, on request, to any person who requests it.
The relevant dates and timelines for Cloontuskert N.S. admission process is set out in the school’s annual admission notice which is published annually on the school’s website at least one week before the commencement of the admission process for the school year concerned.
This policy must be read in conjunction with the annual admission notice for the school year concerned.
The application form for admission is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.
2. Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school
Cloontuskert N.S. is a co-educational school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of Elphin. Our school strives to provide a well-structured, caring, happy and secure environment for the intellectual, spiritual, physical, moral and cultural needs of the pupils. Cloontuskert N.S. will endeavour to enhance the self-esteem of everyone in the school community, to instil in the pupils’ respect for people and property and to encourage in them the ideal of being responsible. This can only be achieved when there is a high level of respect and co-operation between staff, parents and pupils.
Mission Statement
Cloontuskert N.S. nurtures a positive, co-operative educational environment. It aims to enable our pupils to have full lives as children, to equip them to avail themselves of further education and to prepare them to live full and useful lives as adults in society.
3. Admission Statement
Cloontuskert N.S. will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:
As per section 61 (3) of the Education Act 1998, ‘civil status ground’, ‘disability ground’, ‘discriminate’, ‘family status ground’, ‘gender ground’, ‘ground of race’, ‘religion ground’, ‘sexual orientation ground’ and ‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Equal Status Act 2000.
4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the school
Children enrolling with special needs will be resourced in accordance with the level of resources provided by the Department of Education & Skills to the Board of Management. The Board of Management, through the Principal, may request a copy of the child’s medical and/or psychological report. If this is not available, the Board will request that the child be assessed immediately. This report is requested to assist the school in establishing the educational and training needs of the child relevant to his/her disability or special education needs and to profile the support services required. Following the receipt of the report, the Board will assess how the school could meet the needs specified in the report. Where the Board deems that further resources are required, it should, prior to enrolment, request the DES to provide the resources required to meet the needs of the child as outlined in the psychological or medical report. These resources may include for example, access to or the provision of any or a combination of the following: teacher for special needs, special needs assistant, specialised equipment for furniture, transport services or other.
The school will meet with the parents of the child to discuss the child’s needs and the school’s suitability or capability in meeting those needs. If necessary, a full case conference involving all parties may be held. The Board may decide to defer enrolment of a particular child, pending
5. Admission of Students
This school shall admit each student seeking admission except where –
a)section
c)
6. Oversubscription
In the event that the school is oversubscribed, the school will, when deciding on applications for admission, apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below to those applications that are received within the timeline for receipt of applications as set out in the school’s annual admission notice:
In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), the following arrangements will apply:
7. What will not be considered or taken into account
In accordance with section 62(7)(e) of the Education Act, the school will not consider or take into account any of the following in deciding on applications for admission or when placing a student on a waiting list for admission to the school:
vi.
In relation to (2) parents and grandparents having attended, a school may only apply this criteria to a maximum of 25% of the available spaces as set out in the school’s annual admission notice).
vii.
8. Decisions on applications
All decisions on applications for admission to Cloontuskert N.S. will be based on the following:
(Please sesection 14 below in relation to applications received outside of the admissions period and section 15 below in relation to applications for places in years other than the intake group.)
Selection criteria that are not included in our school admission policy will not be used to make a decision on an application for a place in our school.
9. Notifying applicants of decisions
Applicants will be informed in writing as to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the annual admissions notice.
If a student is not offered a place in our school, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated in writing to the applicant, including, where applicable, details of the student’s ranking against the selection criteria and details of the student’s place on the waiting list for the school year concerned.
Applicants will be informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the school’s decision (see section 18 below for further details).
10. Acceptance of an offer of a place by an applicant
In accepting an offer of admission from Cloontuskert N.S., you must indicate--
(i) whether or not you have accepted an offer of admission for another school or schools. If you have accepted such an offer, you must also provide details of the offer or offers concerned and
(ii) whether or not you have applied for and awaiting confirmation of an offer of admission from another school or schools, and if so, you must provide details of the other school or schools concerned.
11. Circumstances in which offers may not be made or may be withdrawn
An offer of admission may not be made or may be withdrawn by Cloontuskert N.S. where-
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)section
12. Sharing of Data with other schools
Applicants should be aware that section 66(6) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 allows for the sharing of certain information between schools in order to facilitate the efficient admission of students.
Section 66(6) allows a school to provide a patron or another Board of Management with a list of the students in relation to whom-
1.
2.
The list may include any or all of the following:
13. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription
In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available, a waiting list of students whose applications for admission to Cloontuskert N.S. were unsuccessful due to the school being oversubscribed will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought.
Placement on the waiting list of Cloontuskert N.S. is in the order of priority assigned to the students’ applications after the school has applied the selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy.
Offers of any subsequent places that become available for and during the school year in relation to which admission is being sought will be made to those students on the waiting list, in accordance with the order of priority in relation to which the students have been placed on the list.
14. Late Applications
All applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual admission notice will be considered and decided upon in accordance with our school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act.
15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and during the school year
In general, pupils may be enrolled during the school year if places are available. The enrolment criteria outlined in this document will apply.
Applications for enrolment for children transferring from other schools will be subject to the rules governing National Schools and the criteria for enrolment set out in this policy. Under the terms of the Education Welfare Act (2000), information concerning attendance and the child’s educational progress is to be provided by the school from which the child is transferring.
Decisions in relation to applications are guided by the principles of natural justice and acting in the best interest of all children and are made by the Board of Management in accordance with school policy and ethos of the school. While recognising the rights of parents to enrol their child in the school of their choice, the Board of Management of Cloontuskert N.S. is also responsible to respect the rights of the existing school community and in particular, the children already enrolled. This requires balanced judgements, which are guided by the principles of natural justice and acting in the best interest of all children. As a general principle, and in so far as is practicable having regard to the school’s enrolment policy, the children shall be enrolled on application, providing there is space available. However, the BOM reserves the right to refuse enrolment in exceptional circumstances if, in the opinion of the BOM, there is evidence of an unacceptable risk to other pupils, school staff or school property, or if the applicant has special needs such that, even with additional resources available from the Department of Education and Skills, the school cannot meet such needs and/or provide the applicant with an appropriate education. Any unsuccessful enrolment application must be resubmitted in full before being reconsidered by the Board.
16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees
The board of Cloontuskert N.S. or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-
(a)
(b)
17. Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction
The following are the school’s arrangements for students, where the parents requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction in the school. The parents/guardians should submit in writing to the Principal requesting that the student attend school without attending religious instruction in the school. These arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students.
(a) The child may stay in the classroom with an alternative educationally
appropriate activity will be provided where alternative supervision is not
possible.
(b) Supervised project work/research in another room (where a member of staff
is available)
(c) Parent/guardian absenting the child for the purpose of receiving religious
instruction elsewhere.
18. Reviews/appeals
Review of decisions by the Board of Management
The parent of the student may request the board to review a decision to refuse admission. Such requests must be made in accordance with Section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
The timeline within which such a review must be requested and the other requirements applicable to such reviews are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
The board will conduct such reviews in accordance with the requirements of the procedures determined under Section 29B and with section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
Note: Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Right of appeal
Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, the parent of the student may appeal a decision of this school to refuse admission.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(ii) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due a reason other than the school being oversubscribed.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.(see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Appeals under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 will be considered and determined by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
The timeline within which such an appeal must be made and the other requirements applicable to such appeals are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
Review
This policy will be reviewed and updated each year or earlier if deemed necessary by the Board of Management.
1. IntroductionThis Admission Policy complies with the requirements of the Education Act 1998, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and the Equal Status Act 2000. In drafting this policy, the board of management of the school has consulted with school staff, the school patron and with parents of children attending the school.
The policy was approved by the school patron on [date]. It is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy, on request, to any person who requests it.
The relevant dates and timelines for Cloontuskert N.S. admission process is set out in the school’s annual admission notice which is published annually on the school’s website at least one week before the commencement of the admission process for the school year concerned.
This policy must be read in conjunction with the annual admission notice for the school year concerned.
The application form for admission is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.
2. Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school
Cloontuskert N.S. is a co-educational school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of Elphin. Our school strives to provide a well-structured, caring, happy and secure environment for the intellectual, spiritual, physical, moral and cultural needs of the pupils. Cloontuskert N.S. will endeavour to enhance the self-esteem of everyone in the school community, to instil in the pupils’ respect for people and property and to encourage in them the ideal of being responsible. This can only be achieved when there is a high level of respect and co-operation between staff, parents and pupils.
Mission Statement
Cloontuskert N.S. nurtures a positive, co-operative educational environment. It aims to enable our pupils to have full lives as children, to equip them to avail themselves of further education and to prepare them to live full and useful lives as adults in society.
3. Admission Statement
Cloontuskert N.S. will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:
- the gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
- the ground that the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned has special educational needs
As per section 61 (3) of the Education Act 1998, ‘civil status ground’, ‘disability ground’, ‘discriminate’, ‘family status ground’, ‘gender ground’, ‘ground of race’, ‘religion ground’, ‘sexual orientation ground’ and ‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Equal Status Act 2000.
4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the school
Children enrolling with special needs will be resourced in accordance with the level of resources provided by the Department of Education & Skills to the Board of Management. The Board of Management, through the Principal, may request a copy of the child’s medical and/or psychological report. If this is not available, the Board will request that the child be assessed immediately. This report is requested to assist the school in establishing the educational and training needs of the child relevant to his/her disability or special education needs and to profile the support services required. Following the receipt of the report, the Board will assess how the school could meet the needs specified in the report. Where the Board deems that further resources are required, it should, prior to enrolment, request the DES to provide the resources required to meet the needs of the child as outlined in the psychological or medical report. These resources may include for example, access to or the provision of any or a combination of the following: teacher for special needs, special needs assistant, specialised equipment for furniture, transport services or other.
The school will meet with the parents of the child to discuss the child’s needs and the school’s suitability or capability in meeting those needs. If necessary, a full case conference involving all parties may be held. The Board may decide to defer enrolment of a particular child, pending
- The receipt of an assessment report and/or
- The provision of appropriate resources by the DES to meet the needs specified in the Psychological and/or medical report.
5. Admission of Students
This school shall admit each student seeking admission except where –
a)section
- a parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student.
c)
6. Oversubscription
In the event that the school is oversubscribed, the school will, when deciding on applications for admission, apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below to those applications that are received within the timeline for receipt of applications as set out in the school’s annual admission notice:
- Health and welfare of the children
- Siblings of pupils already in the school or the children of staff members
- Children from the Parish and neighbouring parishes. In the case of excess enrolment priority will be given to children from the parish over children in bordering parishes.
In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), the following arrangements will apply:
- Ages of the children, starting with the oldest applicant, until all places are allocated.
7. What will not be considered or taken into account
In accordance with section 62(7)(e) of the Education Act, the school will not consider or take into account any of the following in deciding on applications for admission or when placing a student on a waiting list for admission to the school:
- a student’s prior attendance at a pre-school or pre-school service, including naíonraí,
- the payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school;
- a student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude.
- the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student’s parents.
- a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a condition of admission.
vi.
In relation to (2) parents and grandparents having attended, a school may only apply this criteria to a maximum of 25% of the available spaces as set out in the school’s annual admission notice).
vii.
8. Decisions on applications
All decisions on applications for admission to Cloontuskert N.S. will be based on the following:
- Our school’s admission policy
- The school’s annual admission notice (where applicable)
- The information provided by the applicant in the school’s official application form received during the period specified in our annual admission notice for receiving applications
(Please sesection 14 below in relation to applications received outside of the admissions period and section 15 below in relation to applications for places in years other than the intake group.)
Selection criteria that are not included in our school admission policy will not be used to make a decision on an application for a place in our school.
9. Notifying applicants of decisions
Applicants will be informed in writing as to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the annual admissions notice.
If a student is not offered a place in our school, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated in writing to the applicant, including, where applicable, details of the student’s ranking against the selection criteria and details of the student’s place on the waiting list for the school year concerned.
Applicants will be informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the school’s decision (see section 18 below for further details).
10. Acceptance of an offer of a place by an applicant
In accepting an offer of admission from Cloontuskert N.S., you must indicate--
(i) whether or not you have accepted an offer of admission for another school or schools. If you have accepted such an offer, you must also provide details of the offer or offers concerned and
(ii) whether or not you have applied for and awaiting confirmation of an offer of admission from another school or schools, and if so, you must provide details of the other school or schools concerned.
11. Circumstances in which offers may not be made or may be withdrawn
An offer of admission may not be made or may be withdrawn by Cloontuskert N.S. where-
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)section
12. Sharing of Data with other schools
Applicants should be aware that section 66(6) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 allows for the sharing of certain information between schools in order to facilitate the efficient admission of students.
Section 66(6) allows a school to provide a patron or another Board of Management with a list of the students in relation to whom-
1.
2.
- an offer of admission to the school has been accepted.
The list may include any or all of the following:
- the date on which an application for admission was received by the school;
- the date on which an offer of admission was made by the school;
- the date on which an offer of admission was accepted by an applicant;
- a student’s personal details including his or her name, address, date of birth and personal public service number (within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005).
13. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription
In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available, a waiting list of students whose applications for admission to Cloontuskert N.S. were unsuccessful due to the school being oversubscribed will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought.
Placement on the waiting list of Cloontuskert N.S. is in the order of priority assigned to the students’ applications after the school has applied the selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy.
Offers of any subsequent places that become available for and during the school year in relation to which admission is being sought will be made to those students on the waiting list, in accordance with the order of priority in relation to which the students have been placed on the list.
14. Late Applications
All applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual admission notice will be considered and decided upon in accordance with our school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act.
15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and during the school year
In general, pupils may be enrolled during the school year if places are available. The enrolment criteria outlined in this document will apply.
Applications for enrolment for children transferring from other schools will be subject to the rules governing National Schools and the criteria for enrolment set out in this policy. Under the terms of the Education Welfare Act (2000), information concerning attendance and the child’s educational progress is to be provided by the school from which the child is transferring.
Decisions in relation to applications are guided by the principles of natural justice and acting in the best interest of all children and are made by the Board of Management in accordance with school policy and ethos of the school. While recognising the rights of parents to enrol their child in the school of their choice, the Board of Management of Cloontuskert N.S. is also responsible to respect the rights of the existing school community and in particular, the children already enrolled. This requires balanced judgements, which are guided by the principles of natural justice and acting in the best interest of all children. As a general principle, and in so far as is practicable having regard to the school’s enrolment policy, the children shall be enrolled on application, providing there is space available. However, the BOM reserves the right to refuse enrolment in exceptional circumstances if, in the opinion of the BOM, there is evidence of an unacceptable risk to other pupils, school staff or school property, or if the applicant has special needs such that, even with additional resources available from the Department of Education and Skills, the school cannot meet such needs and/or provide the applicant with an appropriate education. Any unsuccessful enrolment application must be resubmitted in full before being reconsidered by the Board.
16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees
The board of Cloontuskert N.S. or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-
(a)
(b)
17. Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction
The following are the school’s arrangements for students, where the parents requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction in the school. The parents/guardians should submit in writing to the Principal requesting that the student attend school without attending religious instruction in the school. These arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students.
(a) The child may stay in the classroom with an alternative educationally
appropriate activity will be provided where alternative supervision is not
possible.
(b) Supervised project work/research in another room (where a member of staff
is available)
(c) Parent/guardian absenting the child for the purpose of receiving religious
instruction elsewhere.
18. Reviews/appeals
Review of decisions by the Board of Management
The parent of the student may request the board to review a decision to refuse admission. Such requests must be made in accordance with Section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
The timeline within which such a review must be requested and the other requirements applicable to such reviews are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
The board will conduct such reviews in accordance with the requirements of the procedures determined under Section 29B and with section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
Note: Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Right of appeal
Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, the parent of the student may appeal a decision of this school to refuse admission.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(ii) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due a reason other than the school being oversubscribed.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.(see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Appeals under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 will be considered and determined by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
The timeline within which such an appeal must be made and the other requirements applicable to such appeals are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
Review
This policy will be reviewed and updated each year or earlier if deemed necessary by the Board of Management.