Winter 2012

MICHAEL McCARTHY TD

EDUCATION

Michael McCarthy TD with Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn TD

INTRODUCTIONSchools are the heart of our local communities. In townsand villages across West Cork, they are vital components ofcommunity life, engaging parents, children and educators inone common goal.

As a local TD in West Cork, I am in continuous contact with ourschools and I am acutely aware of the issues they deal with ona daily basis, from class sizes to curriculums, and facilities toforward planning. In a bid to establish a more comprehensivepicture of the local school system, I recently undertook asurvey of primary and secondary schools in the region, focusingon areas such as capacity, facilities, curriculum andmanagement. The results can be seen inside. I hope it goessome way towards ascertaining the current needs of localschools and helping to chart a way forward for the future.

Despite the current backdrop of immense budgetary pressure,there have been many positive developments in our localeducation system this year. My colleague, the Minister forEducation and Skills Ruairi Quinn, gave several local schoolprojects the green light in March in his five-year SchoolBuilding Programme. A further three schools got a boost whenthey were included in the Prefab Replacement Scheme, whichwill see them each get new classrooms to replace old prefabs.It was also recently confirmed that 17 schools in County Corkare to get new special needs classes this winter.

Much work remains to bedone however. Please beassured that I will continueto work tirelessly on behalfof local schools and indeveloping strong, smartpolicy in this vital area alongwith my colleagues inGovernment.

With the right policies andclear goals, our children cancontinue to get theeducation they deserve.

Best wishes,

FIVE LOCAL SCHOOLPROJECTS GET GREEN LIGHTFive local school projects got the go-ahead in March when Ministerfor Education Ruairi Quinn announced he was including them in hisfive-year School Building Programme.

The projects approved under the €1.5 billion programme include thenew Clonakilty Gaelscoil, the Skibbereen Post Primary SchoolAmalgamation (Mercy Heights, De La Salle, Rossa College), and theamalgamation of St Joseph’s and St John’s NS in Kinsale. ClonakiltyCommunity College and Kinsale Community School have also beenring-fenced for extension works as part of the plan.

I have been campaigning for these projects for a number of years so Iwas extremely pleased to see them finally get the green light by aLabour Minister for Education. I look forward to the works gettingunderway soon.

MATTERS

Constituency Office:Market Square, Dunmanway, Co. Cork

Phone: 023 885 5705Dáil office: 01 618 3844Email: michael.mccarthy@oir.ieWeb: www.michaelmccarthy.ie

CONTACT MICHAEL:

Capacityl In primary schools, the average class size was 21 pupils. In

secondary schools it was 27 pupils.

l Half of the primary schools surveyed said they were pleasedwith current class sizes. Less than half the secondary schoolswere pleased with the size of their classes.

l Four out of five primary schools said they were comfortablyable to meet current demand from the local area. Thiscompares to just two in seven secondary schools who saidthey can meet demand.

l In terms of September 2012, three in five primary schools saidthey were ‘comfortably able to meet demand’. The remainderstated they were either ‘under-subscribed’ or ‘over-subscribed’.

l Around half of all primary schools said they expected theywould have sufficient capacity to meet demand in five years’time. Meanwhile, four in seven secondary schools said believedthey would have capacity problems in five years.

Curriculuml In general, there was a very positive attitude to the current

curriculum among principals.

l On average, there is an 80% satisfaction rate with thecurriculum among primary school principals. Secondaryprincipals were less satisfied at 65%.

l When asked what the main problem areas with the curriculumwere at primary level, the most common terms used were‘overloaded’, ‘jam-packed’ and ‘too broad’. Meanwhile, someschools accused the curriculum of being too ‘book-based’ formodern, tech-literate pupils.

l Irish and Maths were the most common subjects to crop upwhen schools were asked what aspects of the curriculumprimary pupils consistently struggle with. A regular complaintwas the lack of reinforcement of Irish at home when pupilsreturn to their parents, with the result that, as one principalput it, ‘teachers fail to see the point of such intensive efforts’.

l Literacy and numeracy also featured heavily as the mostcommon problems among secondary pupils.

l Roughly 10% of the curriculum is dedicated to extra-curricularactivities in the primary cycle. The figure is slightly higher atsenior cycle.

Facilitiesl On average, primary schools rated their ICT facilities 6 out of

10. They also gave their PE facilities 6 out of 10.

l ICT facilities are rated slightly better in secondary schoolswhere they get an average of 8 out of 10. PE facilities fared at5.5 out of 10.

l Three out of four primary schools now run a book rentalscheme. Of those who don’t run a scheme, the vast majoritysaid they plan to introduce one in the near future. It’s a similarstory at secondary level, with five out of seven schoolscurrently running book schemes.

l One in three primary schools surveyed currently use e-Books.No secondary school surveyed currently uses them.

l Just over half of primary schools utilise their building forcommunity purposes during out-of-school hours. The vastmajority of secondary schools regularly open their doors tolocal groups and organisations.

l Of those primary schools who don’t currently utilise theirbuilding for other purposes, 50% said they planned to opentheir doors to their local communities soon.

l More than one in three primary schools surveyed have prefabson site. Over half of the secondary schools also have prefabs.

Here is a summary of the results:

ThE SURvEy l 90 primary schools and 17 secondary schools were sent the written questionnaire

l 50% of primary schools and 40% of secondary schools responded

l The survey was carried out in June and July of this year

Michael launching the school bank in MICC Dunmanway this year

Michael and pupils of St. John's NS, Kinsale recently as they raised theschool's fourth Green Flag.

Miscellaneousl On average, primary and secondary schools in West Cork hold

five fundraising events every year.

l One in nine schools surveyed raised their concerns aboutincreases to the staffing schedules in small schools.

l The scale of paperwork principals must deal with on a regularbasis with is an ongoing concern.

Management and Administration l Three in five primary schools are happy with the Board of Management structure. Secondary schools are equally favourable towards their

boards, with five in seven schools saying they are pleased with the current set-up.

l Of those schools who are dissatisfied with the BoM structure, they identified issues such as a lack of training for board members, the needfor members to take more responsibility, and the workload being ‘too onerous for lay people’. One principal claimed that the voluntarynature of BoM work ‘results in the bulk of work being devolved to the principal’.

l Nine out of ten primary schools are satisfied with the current patronage arrangement at the school. Similarly, the vast majority ofsecondary schools are also positively disposed towards the patronage of their school.

l In terms of the Department of Education making population data available to schools so that they can plan ahead, primary schools saidthey are 40% satisfied with the quality and availability of data. This is slightly higher in second level, where satisfaction rates are at 45%on average.

NEW STUDENT GRANT SYSTEMEASIER AND QUICKERThis year saw the launch of the new student grant body, SUSI(Student Universal Support Ireland), which makes it easier forstudents to apply for grants and so far it is working well.

SUSI is a more streamlined,accessible, online system ofapplication that replaces the oldarrangement which saw studentsgo to their local authority orVEC, all of whom used differentapplication, assessment andpayment processes.

Not only does the new systemsimplify the process forprospective students, but it alsowill yield significant savings ofaround €5 million each year forthe Exchequer. For moreinformation, visitstudentfinance.ie.

THREE LOCAL SCHOOLS TOHAVE PREFABS REPLACED

RAISING EDUCATION ISSUES INTHE DAIL

Three local schools are getting new classrooms under the PrefabReplacement Scheme announced earlier this year. The scheme is thebiggest initiative ever undertaken to replace rented prefabs in schoolsand the local schools benefiting are Scoil Bhríde in Crossmahon, ScoilEoin in Inishannon, and St. Mary’s NS in Castledonovan.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to endprefab reliance in schools and I am glad to see this particular pledgebeing delivered on, as it will positively impact upon the schoolexperiences of thousands of children across the country.

Michael was special guest at an annual awards night in MICC Dunmanway

Tel: 023-8855705

Email: michael.mccarthy@oir.ie

Web: www.michaelmccarthy.ie

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KNOCKSKEAGH NS GETSTHREE NEW CLASSROOMS There was also good news for Knockskeagh NS inClonakilty recently after Minister Quinn approvedsubstantial funding to provide three new classrooms onthe school campus.

The new units will directly benefit teachers andschoolchildren in the community by improving the quality ofthe school environment and ensuring it is safer and moremodern.

I have been consistently liaising with Minister Quinn on thismatter and I am glad to see a positive outcome in the case.

NEW SPECIAL NEEDS CLASSES FORCORK SCHOOLSA total of 91 new special needs classes were due to be created acrossIreland in September as part of the Government’s commitment toimproving inclusive education.

Of the 88 primary and post primary schools to benefit nationally, 17 schoolsin Cork will offer the additional classes.

I commend the hard work and dedication of all the teachers and principalswho are accommodating this realisation of inclusive education. Thisdetermination is recognised by Labour in Government and Minister Quinn,has allocated 15% of his budget, some €1.3billion, to the provision of specialneeds education alone.

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Michael with children's rights campaigner Senator Jillian vanTurnhout signing a pledge of support for the Children's RightsReferendum.