Tag Archives: Educate Together

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During a recent post about the difficulties encountered by parents seeking a non-denominational school in Ireland to send their children.Bingo wrote:

It’s going to be tough decisions to be made in terms of choosing between the Catholic School next door that all your child’s friends are going to but which you don’t want to send them to because of your beliefs and the difficult to gain entry to Secular School 8 miles away…

To which ‘Teal’, a parent, has responded:

We made the ‘tough decision’ 4 weeks ago when our son’s two closest friends since birth went, respectively, to a Protestant primary school and a Catholic primary school.

Never mind that all three children are four years old (that is SO young to be going to school!) but my son was number 63 on the waiting list for our local Educate Together school. We had nowhere to send him, so he is being educated at home, for now.

I am not religious and it seemed hypocritical for me and my non-Catholic Irish partner to send our kid(s) to a Catholic school. While I am not a die-hard atheist, I am not a Catholic.

It makes as much sense for me to send my children to a Catholic school as it would for most of you to send your kids to a Muslim school. It wouldn’t do your kids any harm, but would it make sense if you never intended to practice the faith?

I was born and raised in Canada where freedom of conscience and religion is enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and where “no religious dogma or creed” can be taught in schools. It’s been this way for over 40 years.

I am also an Irish citizen and my partner and children were born in this country. Is the message that I should go back to where I came from if I don’t want my kids to go to a Catholic school?

I’ve lived here for 15 years and am quite shocked that anyone would see that as a solution to this dilemma. For those that don’t, thank you for thinking outside the box and for showing that your Catholic education did not shape you into a small minded bigot.

 

Previously: Finding A Non-Catholic School
(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

 

00060085Good luck with that.

Martijn Leenheer and his family moved from Holland to a rural village in County Leitrim, Ireland, in search of a quieter town for raising their son, Finn.

An atheist, Leenheer was concerned about exposing his son to Church doctrine at the local Catholic school, and he chose to opt Finn out of the 30-minute religion class—a constitutional right afforded to all Irish parents.

Three months later, Leenheer was surprised to learn his son was still sitting in the class on most days, as well as reciting prayers in other parts of the school day. Leenheer contacted the principal to clarify things, but was repeatedly ignored, he said.

“We didn’t realize we chose the most rural bit of Ireland to live in,” said Leenheer. “We never thought it was going to be this serious, this in-your-face-religion.”

Leenheer’s insistence on opting his son out led to his family being ostracised in his community, he said. He pulled Finn out of the Catholic school, moved to a new neighborhood and enrolled him at an Educate Together school in Sligo…

 

A New Problem in Ireland: Where to Find a Non-Catholic School? (The Atlantic)

(Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

90288289Paul Rowe, of Educate Together

Settle down, class.

…it has emerged that there are not enough school places to cater for the growing number of families seeking an alternative to denominational education across the south of the city.
According to Educate Together CEO Paul Rowe, the Dublin 2, Dublin 4, Dublin 6, Dublin 8 and Dublin 10 areas all need new schools…

“Simply put, Dublin city needs more Educate Together schools.  Evidence of growing parental demand is undeniable. Our schools and start-up groups are reporting that hundreds of children are being signed up to our already over-subscribed waiting lists.”
Mr Rowe said demand for school places was particularly acute in Dublin 2 and Dublin 8.

Demand grows for Educate Together schools (Neil Fetherston, Dublin People)

(Wanderley Massafelli/Photocall Ireland)


HF writes:

With the great appetite that currently exists for secularizing our schools, you might be interested to look at how the government is treating the children in one Educate Together school in Carrigaline, Co Cork. It’s a modern day hedgeschool.

Since it was founded in 2008, this has been a school without a school. The first group of students were educated in the local soccer club, with lunch breaks in the bar. More recently the school was based in a building designed as a pre-school in a Celtic Tiger estate. Last year, they outgrew this and moved the older children to some rooms in an
industrial estate a couple of miles away, where they play in a cordoned off section of the car park.

This additional “facility” is on the left in this street view.They are across the car park from a tyre depot and a fire safety training place (which sometimes holds exercises in the car park). The school has a site and planning permission for an actual school, but the government doesn’t see it as a priority. A Campaign has begun for a permanent building.

Anyone?


Luke O’Shaughnessy writes:

I’m communications officer for Educate Together. I noticed this post on your website recently in relation to Educate Together. The letter’s author may (or may not) be pleased to learn that the Minister for Education has today announced the establishment of the first ever Educate Together second-level schools… which we’re delighted with.

 

Educate Together Makes History As First new Second Level Patron Since 1930s