Pilot phase of Inventory of School Accommodation
Letter from Tony Dalton

Dear all,
In relation to nomination of schools to participate in the Pilot phase of the Inventory of School Accommodation the following might be useful to you.  

Primary Schools – categories of schools for possible inclusion in pilot phase

•    Small schools: circa 4 or 5 teacher (mainstream posts) rural or urban schools

•    Single stream schools – 8 mainstream posts covering standards from Junior Infants through 6th class

•    2, 3 or 4 stream urban schools (16, 24 or 32 mainstream posts)

Preferably the schools put forward for inclusion in the pilot phase would cover the range of school accommodation possibilities and thus provide a good mixture that reflects the national position regarding the school building stock.

It would be desirable therefore to get a representative sample covering the following accommodation scenarios if at all possible: -

o    School with the bulk or all of its accommodation in permanent buildings (both of a very old and of recent vintage) 

o    School with a mixture of permanent and temporary accommodation

o    School with the bulk or all of its accommodation in temporary structures

o    School with the bulk or all of its accommodation in rented non-purpose built building or similar (e.g. sports club buildings or other converted buildings not originally designed as a school building)

o    School with accommodation that does not fit neatly into any of the above scenarios.

You might let me know if you have any queries in this regard and many thanks for your assistance

Regards,
Tony

Text of talk given by Fr Aidan McGrath at conference of Education Assembly organised by CORI Education.

October 2007

The role of the Catholic Church as a provider of Primary schooling has been much in the news of late. The catalyst was apparently the lack of school places for new Irish children in North County Dublin. In other places, a policy of prioritising access to Primary schools for Catholic children ahead of other children who were older or lived in the neighbourhood evoked malaise.