You, or a representative, are invited to attend the launch of a new reportby the Catholic Schools PartnershipCatholic education at second level in the Republic of Ireland. The aim of this new report is to demonstrate that Catholic voluntary schools are a key part of our whole educational enterprise; that they make a distinct contribution to the development of Irish society and that they want to work in partnership with all of the stakeholders in second-level schools. Whilst voluntary secondary schools are an integral part of the Irish education system, this is also the case in many countries throughout the world. However the reason for this analysis at this time is that the relationships of Catholic voluntary schools with both the Church, and the State, requires reflection and clarification if such schools are to fulfil their potential. Details for this media launch:
Time and date 10:00am on Monday 13 October 2014
Venue Presentation College, Clarence Mangan Road, Warrenmount, Dublin 8
In attendance Ms Gwen Brennan,Principal of Presentation Secondary School, Warrenmount; Father Michael Drumm, chair of the Catholic Schools Partnership; and Mr Ferdia Kelly, General Secretary of the Joint Managerial Board.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Father Michael Drumm is chairperson of the Catholic Schools Partnership which has a council of twenty-two members representative of all the stakeholders in Catholic schools. This council is charged with implementing a strategy that will achieve the aims of the CSP. The members of the council are nominated by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Conference of Religious of Ireland, the Association of Trustees of Catholic Schools, the Catholic Primary School Management Association and the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools. Thus it is an umbrella body providing strategic thinking on the major issues facing Catholic schools. See www.catholicschools.ie
- Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount (see www.warrenmountsecondary.ie) is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for girls, operating under the trusteeship of CEIST, a trust body for the voluntary secondary schools of the Presentation Sisters, the Daughters of Charity, the Sisters of the Christian Retreat, the Sisters of Mercy and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. The school supports the religious and educational philosophy of its foundress, Venerable Nano Nagle, and CEIST, and provides top quality, progressive education to the girls of the local communities. Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount provides a caring space, working hard with all stakeholders to foster a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect between students, staff and community, to offer an appropriate curriculum for all students in a Christian environment which is safe, caring, and well-disciplined and to recognise and, where possible, cater for the emotional and professional needs of staff and management. The Presentation Sisters came to Warrenmount in 1892 and the current school developed into a secondary school in 1969. In 2005, the school was recognised as a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunities Within Schools) school and currently has an enrolment of 264 students. DEIS is a Department of Education and Skills initiative which focuses on addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education (3 to18 years). Its frame of reference is based on the definition of “educational disadvantage” in theEducation Act (1998) as “… the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education in schools.”
The DEIS initiative comprises of a continuum of interventions to address disadvantage, which include second-chance education and training measures to support increased participation by under-represented groups in further and higher education. A further element is the ongoing development of provision for pupils with special educational needs in light of the enactment of the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act (2004) and the establishment of the National Council for Special Education. As a result of being a DEIS school, the following schemes and programmes operate in Warrenmount:
– The Junior Certificate Schools’ Programme
– The Demonstration Library Project
– The Leaving Certificate Applied Programme
– The Home/School/Community Liaison Scheme
– The School Completion Programme
– The School Book Rental Books Scheme
– Reduced pupil teacher ratio – now at 18:1
– The Enhanced Career Guidance Initiative
– School Meals Programme
Directions: driving towards the South Circular Road in Dublin city, drive through the main Kevin Street junction and a few metres up on the right-hand-side take a right turn at the traffic lights and turn onto Malpas Street. At the end of this street take a left turn. Follow the road around as it veers right past the walls of the convent and a number of houses. At the next junction take a right hand turn and the next right hand turn on to Clarence Mangan Road. The school is half way down this narrow road on the right hand side. Parking is available and Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount can be contacted by telephone on 01 4547520.
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678
