1. Introduction
This Admission Policy complies with the requirements of the Education Act 1998, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and the Equal Status Act 2000. In drafting this policy, the board of management of the school has consulted with school staff, the school patron and with parents of children attending the school.
The policy was approved by the school patron in August 2020. It is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy, on request, to any person who requests it.
The relevant dates and timelines for Scoil Naomh Buithe’s admission process are set out in the school’s annual admission notice which is published annually on the school’s website at least one week before the commencement of the admission process for the school year concerned.
This policy must be read in conjunction with the annual admission natice for the school year concerned.
The application form for admission is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.
2. Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school
Scoil Naomh Buithe. is a vertical co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Archbishop of Armagh.
“Catholic Ethos” in the context of a Catholic primary school means the ethos and characteristic spirit of the Roman Catholic Church, which aims at promoting;
- the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil, including the intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual aspects; and
- a living relationship with God and with other people; and
- a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; and
- the formation of the pupils in the Catholic faith,
and which school provides religious education for the pupils in accordance with the doctrines, practices and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and/or such ethos and/or characteristic spirit as may be determined or interpreted from time to time by the Irish Episcopal Conference.
In accordance with S.15 (2) (b) of the Education Act, 1998 the Board of Management of Scoil Naomh Buithe shall uphold, and be accountable to the patron for so upholding, the characteristic spirit of the school as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform, and are characteristic of, the objectives and conduct of the school.
Scoil Naomh Buithe:
- is a vertical school providing primary education for boys and girls from the age of 4 to 12+ years in classes ranging from Junior Infants to Sixth Class.
- currently has a staff of 8 x Mainstream Class Teachers, 3 x Special Education Teachers, an Administrative Principal, 6 x Special Needs Assistants, a Secretary and a part-time Caretaker.
- operates under the Rules for National Schools and Department of Education and Skills (DES) guidelines, and the school is funded by annual grants from the DES.
- follows the curriculum prescribed by the Department of Education and Skills, and all pupils enrolled in the school are expected to participate in all aspects of the (secular) curriculum which includes the following subjects: English, Gaeilge, Mathematics, History, Geography, Science, Visual Arts, Music, Drama, SPHE and Physical Education.
- provides Religious Education for pupils in accordance with the doctrines, practices and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and pupils participate in the Grow in Love programme for Religious Education (unless parents request non-participation in Religious Instruction).
- expects all pupils to co-operate with the school's Code of Behaviour.
Mission statement
Scoil Naomh Buithe is a co-educational primary school which strives to provide a child-centred, caring, friendly, enjoyable and supportive atmosphere where the intellectual, spiritual, physical, moral and cultural needs of the pupils are identified and addressed. At all times Scoil Naomh Buithe aims to provide pupils with rich learning experiences, works to instill in pupils a love of learning, and supports and motivates all pupils to reach their full potential. While Scoil Naomh Buithe is a school with a Catholic ethos, it also has due recognition for all other religions and none. Scoil Naomh Buithe encourages the involvement of parents through home-school contacts and through their involvement in the Parents Council. Scoil Naomh Buithe endeavours to enhance the self-esteem of everyone in the school community and to empower all, especially the pupils, to be kind and friendly, respectful and tolerant, confident, resilient and independent. Scoil Naomh Buithe promotes gender equity amongst the teachers and pupils.
3. Admission Statement
Scoil Naomh Buithe will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:
- the gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
- the ground that the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned has special educational needs
As per section 61 (3) of the Education Act 1998, 'civil status ground', 'disability ground', 'discriminate', 'family status ground', 'gender ground', 'ground of race', 'religion ground', 'sexual orientation ground' and 'Traveller community ground' shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Equal Status Act 2000.
Scoil Naomh Buithe will cooperate with the National Council for Special Education in the performance by the Council of its functions under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 relating to the provision of education to children with special educational needs, including in particular by the provision and operation of a special class or classes when requested to do so by the Council.
Scoil Naomh Buithe will comply with any direction served on the patron or the board, as the case may be, under section 37A and any direction served on the board under section 67(4B) of the Education Act.
Scoil Naomh Buithe is a school whose objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes Roman Catholic religious values and does not discriminate where it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not Catholic and it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the school
Scoil Naomh Buithe is a mainstream school. It currently does not host a special class because of space constraints. Children with a wide range of special educational needs (SEN) are enrolled in the school which does not discriminate on the grounds of special educational needs. Pupils with special educational needs are catered for by their mainstream class teacher with the support of the Special Education team.
5. Admission of Students
This school shall admit each student seeking admission except where -
- the school is oversubscribed (please see section 6 below for further details)
- a parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student.
Scoil Naomh Buithe is a Catholic school and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of Catholic denomination where it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
6. Oversubscription
In the event that the school is oversubscribed, the school will, when deciding on applications for admission, apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below to those applications that are received within the timeline for receipt of applications as set out in the school's annual admission notice:
- Siblings of current/past pupils AND children living within the traditional catchment area which is the townlands and partial townlands listed in Appendix 1 at the end of this policy
- All other applicants
Scoil Naomh Buithe has a maximum class size of 28. Places in Junior Infants will be offered up to and including this number.
In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), the following arrangements will apply:
The school will offer places within each category in order of age, priority to the eldest.
7. What will not be considered or taken into account
In accordance with section 62(7) (e) of the Education Act, the school will not consider or take into account any of the following in deciding on applications for admission or when placing a student on a waiting list for admission to the school:
- a student's prior attendance at a pre-school or pre-school service, including naionral,
- the payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school; (c)a student's academic ability, skills or aptitude;
- the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student's parents;
- a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a condition of admission;
- a student's connection to the school by virtue of a member of his or her family attending or having previously attended the school; (other than in the case of the school wishing to include a selection criteria based on siblings of a student attending or having attended the school)
- the date and time on which an application for admission was received by the school,
- This is subject to the application being received at any time during the period specified for receiving applications set out in the annual admission notice of the school for the school year concerned.
This is also subject to the school making offers based on existing waiting lists (up until 31st January 2025 only).
8. Decisions on applications
All decisions on applications for admission to Scoil Naomh Buithe will be based on the following:
- Our school's admission policy
- The school's annual admission notice (where applicable)
- The information provided by the applicant in the school's official application form received during the period specified in our annual admission notice for receiving applications
(Please see section 14 below in relation to applications received outside of the admissions period and section 15 below in relation to applications for places in years other than the intake group.)
Selection criteria that are not included in our school admission policy will not be used to make a decision on an application for a place in our school.
9. Notifying applicants of decisions
Applicants will be informed in writing as to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the annual admissions notice.
If a student is not offered a place in our school, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated in writing to the applicant, including, where applicable, details of the student's ranking against the selection criteria and details of the student's place on the waiting list for the school year concerned.
Applicants will be informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the school's decision (see section 18 below for further details).
10. Acceptance of an offer of a place by an applicant
In accepting an offer of admission from Scoil Naomh Buithe, you must indicate-
- whether or not you have accepted an offer of admission for another school or schools. If you have accepted such an offer, you must also provide details of the offer or offers concerned and
- (ii)whether or not you have applied for and are awaiting confirmation of an offer of admission from another school or schools, and if so, you must provide details of the other school or schools concerned.
11. Circumstances in which offers may not be made or may be withdrawn
An offer of admission may not be made or may be withdrawn by Scoil Naomh Buithe where-
- it is established that information contained in the application is false or misleading.
- an applicant fails to confirm acceptance of an offer of admission on or before the date set out in the annual admission notice of the school.
- the parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student; or
- an applicant has failed to comply with the requirements of 'acceptance of an offer' as set out in section 10 above.
12. Sharing of Data with other schools
Applicants should be aware that section 66(6) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 allows for the sharing of certain information between schools in order to facilitate the efficient admission of students.
Section 66(6) allows a school to provide a patron or another board of management with a list of the students in relation to whom—
- an application for admission to the school has been received,
- an offer of admission to the school has been made, or
- an offer of admission to the school has been accepted.
The list may include any or all of the following:
- the date on which an application for admission was received by the school;
- the date on which an offer of admission was made by the school;
- the date on which an offer of admission was accepted by an applicant;
- a student's personal details including his or her name, address, date of birth and personal public service number (within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005).
13. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription
In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available, a waiting list of students whose applications for admission to Scoil Naomh Buithe were unsuccessful due to the school being oversubscribed will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought.
Placement on the waiting list of Scoil Naomh Buithe is in the order of priority assigned to the students' applications after the school has applied the selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy.
Applicants whose applications are received after the closing date, outlined in the Annual Admission Notice, will be placed at the end of the waiting list in order of the date of receipt of the application.
Offers of any subsequent places that become available for and during the school year in relation to which admission is being sought will be made to those students on the waiting list, in accordance with the order of priority in relation to which the students have been placed on the list.
14. Late Applications
All applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual admission notice will be considered and decided upon in accordance with our school's admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act.
Late applicants will be notified of the decision in respect of their application no later than three weeks after the date on which the school received the application. Late applicants will be offered a place if there is place available. In the event that there is no place available, the name of the applicant will be added to the waiting list as set out in Section 13.
15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and during the school year
The procedures of the school in relation to the admission of students who are not already admitted to the school to classes or years other than the school's intake group are as follows.
The school will, when deciding on applications for admission, apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below:
- Siblings of current/past pupils AND children living within the traditional catchment area which is the townlands and partial townlands listed in Appendix 1 at the end of this policy
- All other applicants
Scoil Naomh Buithe has a maximum class size of 28. Places in Senior Infants to Sixth Class will be offered up to and including this number.
In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories above, the date/time of birth on the birth certificate will determine which applicant is offered the place; i.e. priority will be given to the eldest.
Fully completed application forms, together with required documents as outlined on the forms, will be accepted at any time during the school year. They will be date stamped, and following the application of the criteria above on 30th June preceding the relevant school year, or the last weekday preceding this 30th June date, places if available will then be offered.
The procedures of the school in relation to the admission of students who are not already admitted to the school, after the commencement of the school year in which admission is sought, are as follows:
Scoil Naomh Buithe will accept students up to and including 30th September in any given year, subject to availability of places, and following the application of the criteria listed above.
From 1st October, and again subject to availability of places, pupils will only be enrolled if they are newly resident in the area.
16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees
This rule applies to all schools.
The board of Scoil Naomh Buithe or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-
- an application for admission of a student to the school, or
- the admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.
Note: Exceptions apply only in relation to fee charging post primary schools, the boarding element in Boarding Schools and admission to post leaving cert or further education courses run by post-primary schools.
17. Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction
The following are the school's arrangements for students where the parents have requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction in the school. These arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students.
A written request should be made to the Principal of the school. A meeting will then be arranged with the parent(s) to discuss how the request may be accommodated by the school.
18. Reviews/appeals
Review of decisions by the Board of Management
The parent of the student may request the Board to review a decision to refuse admission. Such requests must be made in accordance with Section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
The timeline within which such a review must be requested and the other requirements applicable to such reviews are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
The board will conduct such reviews in accordance with the requirements of the procedures determined under Section 29B and with section 29C of the Education Act 1998.
Note: Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.
Right of appeal
Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, the parent of the student may appeal a decision of this school to refuse admission.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1) (c) (i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.
An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1) (c) (ii) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due a reason other than the school being oversubscribed.
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)
Appeals under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 will be considered and determined by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
The timeline within which such an appeal must be made and the other requirements applicable to such appeals are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.
This policy was ratified and adopted by the Board of Management, originally at a meeting on 23rd April 2020 and again following review at a meeting on 30th November 2022.
The policy, and its implementation, will be reviewed by the Board of Management once in every school year.
The policy:
- has been made available to school personnel
- is published on the school website
- is readily accessible to parents and pupils on request, and
- is provided to the Parents' Council who were active partners in its compilation.
A copy of this policy will be made available to the Department of Education and the Patron if requested.
Signed: Patrick Logue (Chairperson, Board of Management) - 30/11/2022
Signed: Anne Philips (Principal) - 30/11/2022
Appendix 1
Townlands in the traditional catchment area of Scoil Naomh Buithe, Tenure
Monasterboice Civil Parish
- Barabona
- Bawntaaffe
- Cordoogan
- Monasterboice
- Newtown Monasterboice
- Paddock
- Sillogue
- Timullen
Mullary Civil Parish
- Bankerstown
- Castlelumney
- Castletown
- Corlisbane
- Groom
- Kearneystown
- Keeverstown
- Longstone
- Priestown
- Rathdaniel
- Rathgory
- Roxborough
- Stirue
- Stonehouse
- Tinure
Mosstown Civil Parish
- Cookspark
- Duryhole
- Hammondstown
- Mosstown South
- Puckstown
- Rathesker South
- Stirue
- Whiteriver
Colton Civil Parish
- A very small part of the east of Colton
- Branigan's Hill heading west from Tenure to Colton as far as Branigan's Cross
- Corlis road to the north of Branigan's Cross as far as the townland of Corlisbane
- The L2295 to the south of Branigan's Cross as far as the R168 (Drogheda to Colton road)
Dunleer Civil Parish
- Athclare
- Burren