Educate D8 meet Minister Norma Foley

After a long campaign, on October 9th, Educate D8 finally met with Minister for Education, Norma Foley to discuss the need for a new post primary school in Dublin 8. The meeting was arranged by Councillor Ammar Ali (FF) and Senator Catherine Ardagh (FF) and also attended by Deputy Patrick Costello (GP), Louise Fitzpatrick and Joe Fitzpatrick from Educate D8 as well as Assistant Princial Hubert Loftus and Special Advisor to Minister Foley, Áine Doyle.

The Minister and her team listened attentively to the challenges faced by families in Dublin 8 and acknowledged that the data clearly shows a lack of provision of school places and a lack of multi-denominational school for the children of the area. They countered this with details of schools in nearby catchment areas, which Educate D8 welcome and appreciate but clarified that these schools were not built to service the needs of our community and will and should, always prioritise their own local students.

We concluded the meeting with a promise of a follow up meeting in the next couple of months where we will explore the data that highlights the lack of school provision some more.

See below for the details of paper shared during the meeting.

Educate D8 Meeting with Minister Norma Foley

9th October 2024

Educate D8 is parents advocacy group, set up in 2022, in light of decades of underinvestment in secondary school provision in Dublin 8. Our primary objective is to secure a much needed, inclusive post-primary school for the children of the area. 

We are privileged to have the opportunity to meet with Minister Foley and her team to discuss our request. 

The Ask:

Urgently review school planning decisions for the Dublin 8 area in light of census data, planned development & historic underinvestment, and grant a much-needed multi-denominational post-primary school for Dublin 8.

Key Messages:

1. 45% of children in Dublin 8 must leave the area to go to post-primary school, meaning that 2135 will need to go to school elsewhere in 2026.

2. Current school provision in the area does not reflect demographics.  62% of the population is not catholic, yet there are no multi-denominational schools.

3. Department modelling appears to favour areas that are already over-provided for in terms of school places, perpetuating years of under investment in disadvantaged areas like Dublin 8.

Impact of Current Dublin 8 School Provision on Post Primary Students and Their Families:

Research has shown that:

• 11% of post-primary school age children walk or cycle to school in Kilmainham - compared to 75% in Clonskeagh.  Children in Kilmainham B have been shown to have the longest commutes in Dublin. [Dr. J M Mancini, Maynooth University, 2023]

• Our own parents survey showed that 89% of Dublin 8 parents would like to send their children to a local post-primary school [Educate D8 Parents Survey, 2023]

• Social & community cohesion:  Many relationships strained or severed due to lack of catchment area feeder schools (5 primary schools in Dublin 8 are not a feeder for any local post primary school, including 2 of the 3 multi-denominational schools), thus disconnecting children and their families from the local community. A survey in local primary schools showed that 6th class students in a number of schools are dispersed to 14 different post-primary schools [Educate D8 Primary School Audit, 2022]

This is having a big impact on local families: 

“We applied for 14 different secondary schools for our child …. We were on multiple waiting lists.  We didn't get an offer from two preferred schools closer to home and in the end, we picked the school we thought would best suit our child based on what we were offered. However, it is an hour commute each day by multiple buses... The kids in the new school come from all parts of Dublin and there is no real sense of community so far. My child really misses their old friends and regularly asks why there wasn't a local option for them all to go to.”

“Living in Dublin 8, I understand we are at a huge disadvantage in terms of educational choice and, unless something changes soon, we like many others will have to travel outside of our local area when my children reach secondary level. Living in such a central part of the city, with its history, culture and community spirit, I find it astounding that Dublin 8 families are not supported to grow their community through their child’s school experience."

Appendices

Appendix 1: Petition

Over 900 local parents have signed a petition to urgently demand the provision of a new, inclusive post-primary school for the children of Dublin 8. 

https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/we-need-a-new-school-in-dublin-8?ref=d8newschool.ie 

Appendix 2: Response to Department of Education Correspondence:

We appreciate the high level of correspondence the office of Minister Foley has had with our campaign. However, we need to correct a number of assumptions and statements made in this correspondence. 

1. Reinvigorate Local Schools

“There has been significant new population growth in Dublin 8 in recent years driven by residential development activity.  While some families in Dublin 8 are choosing to enrol their children in post primary schools outside the area, this population growth is a real opportunity to reinvigorate and strengthen enrolments at the established local schools.”

We agree with and support any and all much needed investment in the established local schools.  We welcome the expansion of Mercy secondary school in Inchicore and we agree that investment is required in both Warrenmount and CBS James Street.  We hope that the Department of Education will commit to this.

However, this does not go far enough to alleviate the shortfall in post primary school places and does not address the absence of a multi-denominational post primary option for students in Dublin 8.

All of the post primary schools in Dublin 8 are run by religious patrons. This is despite the South West Inner City LEA (Dublin 8) having the second lowest Catholic population in the entire country (38%, second only to North Inner City) [Source: Census 2022]. 42% of schools in Dublin are now multi-denominational, yet the most religiously diverse areas (Dublin 1,2 & 8) have the lowest proportion of multi-denominational schools, with no multi-denominational school in Dublin 8.

This is because the Department’s modelling favours areas that are already over-provided for in terms of school places when determining where to establish new (by default, multi-denominational) post primary schools, thereby perpetuating years of historic under-investment in disadvantaged areas, like Dublin 8, and forcing many local parents to continue to send their children to post primary schools outside the area.

‘Demographic Details’ published in the patronage-assessment document for Sandymount Park ETSS plainly illustrated the issue with the department’s modelling.  The models projected 2026 demand of an additional 2,075 extra pupils in the Dublin 2/4 school planning area, and demand of an additional 722 extra pupils in the Clonskeagh / Dublin 6 school planning area.  It was noted in the document that these projections have been inflated to account for the historic influx of students from outside these areas to schools within the area.  The same report projected 2026 demand for Dublin 8 at 2,135 extra pupils.  However, this number was subsequently reduced, by the department’s modelling, to just 651.  The justification given was historic patterns of post-primary student outflow from the area.

It is unacceptable that the department’s models are built to perpetuate long-standing inequalities in school provision across the capital.  It is our firm belief that the establishment of a multi-denominational school within Dublin 8 will show, in short order, that outdated assumptions based on a historic preference for student commute to so-called ‘affluent’ areas to attend post-primary schools are completely invalid in today’s Dublin.

It should also be noted that the recent, and welcome, decision to transition Synge Street to a Gaelcholaiste will further reduce the pool of post-primary school places for local families not seeking an Irish-language post-primary education.  This will also drive an influx of children to Synge Street from across Dublin 2, 4, 6, 8 and beyond, putting additional pressure on post-primary school places for local children and exacerbating the existing shortfall.

In summary, we believe that the Department of Education’s models are not fit for purpose and must be corrected for the sake of Dublin 8 children.

2. Multi-denominational schools outside our catchment area

“Some families are choosing to enrol their children in post primary schools outside the Dublin 8 school planning area, including in multi-denominational schools.  While a small number of children from Dublin 8 are enrolled in Sandymount Park ETSS, greater numbers are enrolled in Clogher Road Community College,   a multi-denominational school that is operated under the  joint  patronage of   CDETB and Educate Together.  This school’s admission policy includes provision for  Dublin 8 pupils.   In addition, Harolds Cross ETSS enrols children from Dublin 8 and  has a multi-denominational ethos.  The delivery of their new school building currently under construction will increase first year places from 90 at present to 160.   Both of these schools are located  less than 1km from the Dublin 8 School Planning Area boundary.  Also, Kylemore College in Ballyfermot also  includes provision for Dublin 8 pupils in its admission policy and is also located less than 1km from the Dublin 8 school planning area border on the Inchicore side.”

Clogher Road was built to service Dublin 12.  While it is currently accepting Dublin 8 students, Dublin 12 (also an area under pressure for school places) will be prioritised as pressure increases.

Kylemore College is built to serve the needs of the children of Dublin 10 and is fulfilling its need to do so. 

Dublin 8 is not in the catchment area for Harolds Cross ETSS, despite its proximity to some parts of Dublin 8.  

These factors have driven Dublin 8 students to schools as far away as Sandymount ETSS, the only multi-denominational school which was built based on the recognised need in Dublin 8.  This represents an up to 90 minute commute each way for pupils.  No family would willingly commit to this journey except in the absence of suitable local options. It’s also worth noting that, while this school was built to meet the capacity requirements of Dublin 2, 4 and 8, it is not at capacity as it was built in the location furthest away from where the bulk of the need is (Dublin 8) and close to areas already well-serviced by existing schools, including an existing multi-denominational school (Ringsend College).  

This is a stark illustration of the issues with the department’s historic intake-based modelling.

3. Expected commutes for D8 students

All families living in Dublin 8 have at least one multi-denominational post primary school within a 3.5km travel distance.  Given these maximum distances, if children attended local schools (including local multi-denominational schools) the average commute time for children at walking pace should be circa 20 minutes (consistent with the CSO national average for post primary children of 19.5 minutes).  If cycling, public transport or car travel times were accounted for the average commute time for Dublin 8 children would be shorter. 

Dublin 8 is one of the most densely populated parts of the city, and a proud example of a 15 minute city model, in all but post primary education.  The assumption of a 20 minute school commute is simply incorrect.  Data published by Dr. JoAnne Mancini shows that secondary school-aged children living in Kilmainham (Kilmainham B electoral area) have the lowest-level of active transport in Dublin City at only 11%. Our own parents survey shows that the average commute time of D8 children to secondary school is 35 minutes,  while census data shows that average commutes for this age group are 19.5 mins (census data not available yet by LEA). 72% of children from our parents survey have commutes above the national average of 19.5 minutes. 

We asked local parents to map walking and public transport routes from their homes to the closest multi-denominational schools, to test the assertion that a 3.5km commute can be completed in 20 minutes.  Reported journey times were minimum 30 minutes and often longer.  Note that the school commute coincides with rush-hour on some of the busiest roads in the country.  This delays not only public and private transport options, but also discourages cycle commuting, which is exacerbated by lack of safe cycling routes to local schools.  Needless to say, there is no school bus service in Dublin 8, unlike elsewhere in the city.

Please also note our earlier point that many students are not getting places in these multi-denominational schools outside our catchment area in any case.

It is clear to us from this response that the department does not fully understand the reality of commuting in the city, and we urge you to take our research on board in updating your modelling.

Appendix 3 - Note on new post primary school provision in South Dublin. 

Four new post primary secondary schools have opened in South Dublin in the past five years. All of these had lower capacity requirements than Dublin 8 and all except one already had an existing multi-denominational school in the School Planning Area. 

• Sandymount Park ETSS, built based on capacity requirements of up to 1,000 pupils across the Dublin 2/4, Dublin 6/Clonskeagh & Dublin 8 school planning areas. Ringsend College is located 1.5km away. Parts of Dublin 8 with high-demand for school places are 8.5km away.
• Harold's Cross ETSS was built based on an existing intake ratio in the School Planning area of 176%. 
• Goatstown ETSS was built based on capacity requirements of 687 and an intake ratio of 130%. It is acknowledged that the existing inter-denominational school in the area, St. Killian’s German School is fee paying. 
• Blackrock ETSS was granted for the Booterstown Blackrock School Planning Area despite it having the highest level of overcapacity in the entire country. The intake ratio is 305% meaning there are 3 secondary school places for every secondary school aged child who attended primary school in the area. Despite this, the Dept model calculated that there was still a capacity requirement of 750. This was calculated by accounting for children coming in from outside areas as well as “applying a discount” (i.e. inflating the numbers) as a result of the majority of existing schools being fee paying. 
• According to Dr. JoAnne Mancini, Maynooth University, this focus on intake ratios and using these as the basis of future school planning is the basis for inequality in the forward planning model used by the Dept. of Education. 

[‘Children from these communities’: unequal school provision, segregation, and the Irish educational landscape’. J.M. Mancini, 2022.]

• Combining the use of intake ratios with the practice of “applying discounts” with respect to the capacity requirements to affluent areas with numerous fee paying schools further permeates inequality, and directly leads to affluent areas receiving vastly more Dept. of Education funding than disadvantaged areas.