Connacht Tribune
Educate Together fights State effort to curtail new pupil numbers
Families face being split up from next year if the Department of Education’s directive for Tuam Educate Together primary school to accept no more than 13 pupils is implemented.
Parents have begun a campaign to reverse an order for five new non-denominational schools – including ones in Tuam and Castlebar – to only accept half the normal enrolments.
Already for the next academic year, the Tuam school has a waiting list, with applications in from 35 parents. The school had planned to accept 27 children.
Principal Nuala Bourke said the Department is well aware of the demand for places at the school, which opened in 2015 in a refurbished section of the old St Patrick’s College Catholic boys’ school.
The first year’s intake was twelve pupils, that jumped to 20 in the second year and for 2017/2018 a total of 24 junior infants enrolled.
“The Department says it wants to limit the school to a half-stream school so any growth isn’t at the expense of another school in the area. But we can show there has been an increase in 250 enrolments in urban and rural schools here – so clearly we’re not impacting on numbers,” she told the Connacht Tribune.
“We’ve been told the school is a real draw for prospective employees to the likes of Valeo, who don’t want to send their children to a Catholic school. Tuam is the second fastest growth area in the county behind the city so we are meeting a demand that is there across the board.
“We have children travelling in from the country because we are the only non-denominational school in the Tuam area – the nearest ones are in Claregalway and Kilcolgan.
“If we have to limit our numbers to thirteen, siblings will be split up from next year. I’ve one father who is sixth on the waiting list who keeps coming in asking if his daughter has made it to the top of the list yet. He’s very anxious about this.”
Tuam area primary schools jumped from an enrolment of 1452 in 2011/12 to 1712 in 2016/17.
Ms Bourke points out that other schools in the area have been allowed to grow to their full potential. The reason they were set up was so that children of non-religious parents were not discriminated against.
“This move by the Department is clear discrimination against us as a non-denominational school.”
Parent Cheryl Breeds wants to enrol her son in the Tuam Educate Together this September.
“It is the only equality based, multidenominational option in the area. It is also the only English medium co-ed school in the town. We can’t understand why the Department only want them to enrol 13 children, yet all the other schools in Tuam can take as many pupils as they like. It isn’t fair.”
The school had been told they would be in their current building for a year and would then be moved to a different school building following amalgamations of other schools. That has not happened and they are already in need of expansion.
The school was refurbished in six weeks before pupils moved in three years ago. There is ample room for the school to be extended if a further revamp was funded.
There are four full-time teachers at the Tuam Educate Together operating out of three classrooms. There are also three special needs assistants and a resource and learning support teacher for the 62 pupils.
A statement from the Department of Education said Educate Together had been aware that the five schools would begin as half stream schools with an intake of 13 pupils.
It added: “This arrangement has been reflected in the department’s engagement with the patron of the schools, Educate Together, and was reiterated in correspondence and communications with the schools concerned.
A case has been submitted by Educate Together to the Department of Education to expand the five schools. It said it was currently conducting a capacity review.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
