Parents interested in seeing the new secondary school for Galway city come under the patronage of Educate Together are encouraged to attend a public meeting in the NUI Galway Lifecourse Building at 8pm on Monday June 25.
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. The location will be decided at a later date by the Department of Education, and entry to the school will be open to all pupils living within the catchment area.
Patronage of the school has yet to be awarded by the Department of Education. The Galway Educate Together Second Level Startup group is seeking to become the patron of the new school, and believes it has a strong case, given the growth of Educate Together primary schools in County Galway over the last few years, and expressions of interest from more than 1,600 parents in such a second level option for their children. Galway is the last major city in the State not to have an Educate Together school available at second level.
The Department is expected to launch a survey of parents in the next few days, and GET2LS has urged supportive parents to attend the public meeting, and to register their interest on the Department’s website. This final stage of the patronage process will only take account of expressions of interest registered through the Department’s own web service.
“Parental preference is a key element in deciding which organisation is granted patronage,” according to GET2LS chair Roisin McManus. “It is vital parents take the time to register their support."
