Admission Policy of
Creggs National School
Creggs, via Roscommon, Co.
Roscommon. F42 D592
Roll number: 19818J
School Patron: Bishop
Kevin Doran
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 on the 03.09.2020 and has been updated
to reflect Circular 0039/2025. 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 Creggs Central National School’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 notice 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
Creggs National School is a Catholic co-educational
primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of
Elphin, Bishop Kevin Doran.
“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:
(a) the full and harmonious development of
all aspects of the person of the pupil, including the intellectual, physical,
cultural, moral and spiritual aspects and
(b) a living relationship with God and with
other people and
(c) a philosophy of life inspired by belief
in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and
(d) 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 Creggs National school 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.
Mission Statement and
general objectives of the school
Our mission is to:
•
Encourage
tolerance and respect within the school community.
•
Develop
the whole person socially, academically and spiritually.
•
Expect
that each individual will work to his/her maximum potential, accepting the
varying abilities of each child.
Our school philosophy provides an overall framework for general
and more specific whole school aims and objectives and is the foundation from
which all aspects of our school community develop:
•
To
create high standards of learning experiences for all children, providing
access to all areas of the Curriculum at his/her ability level.
•
To
create a lively and stimulating learning environment that is exciting today.
•
To
create a caring, secure environment so that all in school feel a sense of
worth.
•
To
strive towards the integration of children in the Autism and severe/profound
classes into mainstream education, having regard for levels of ability,
available resources and suitability for such integration
•
To
develop a care for the environment.
•
To
create a partnership with parents.
•
To
develop a positive place for the school within the community.
3. Admission Statement
Creggs
National School will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the
school on any of the following:
(a) the gender ground of the student or the
applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(b) the civil status ground of the student
or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(c) the family status ground of the student
or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(d) the sexual orientation ground of the
student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(e) the religion ground of the student or
the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(f) the disability ground of the student or
the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(g) the ground of race of the student or the
applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(h) the Traveller community ground of the
student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
(i) 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.
Creggs NS will cooperate with the NCSE in the
performance by the Council of its functions under the Education for Persons
with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 in relation to the provision of
education to children with special educational needs, including in particular
the provision and operation of a special class or classes when requested to do
so by the Council.
Creggs NS will comply with any direction served on
the board or the patron under section 37A and 67(4)(b).
|
Creggs National School is a school whose objective is to provide
education in an environment which promotes 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. Creggs National School is a school
which has established classes, with
the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, which provides an education exclusively for students with a
category or categories of special educational needs specified by the Minister
and may refuse to
admit to the class a student who does not have the category of needs specified. |
4. Categories of Special
Educational Needs catered for in the special classes
|
Creggs National School with the
approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, has established two classes
to provide an education exclusively for students with Autism and 1 class for
children with severe/profound needs. Admission
to these classes is subject to the applicant being known to the NCSE and
having received a letter
of eligibility from the NCSE confirming that the student
meets the criteria for placement in an Autism class, in line with Circular
0039/2025 |
5. Admission of Students
This
school shall admit each student seeking admission except where –
a) the school is oversubscribed (please see section 6 below for
further details)
b)
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.
|
Creggs
National School is a Catholic Primary School and may refuse to admit as a
student a person who is not Catholic where it is proved that the refusal is
essential to maintain the ethos of the school. The
special classes attached to Creggs National School provides an education
exclusively for students with Autism and severe/profound needs and the school
may refuse admission to this class, where the student concerned does not have
the specified category of special educational needs provided for in this
class. For applications to the Autism
and severe/profound classes, professional reports must include:
Students
admitted to the Autism or severe/ profound classes will continue to be
enrolled unless a transfer to another setting is requested by
parents/guardians or agreed with the NCSE and relevant professionals as being
in the best interests of the student. |
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:
|
·
Applicants with siblings currently
enrolled in the school (including stepsiblings, resident at the same address)
and children of school staff. 2. Locality ·
Children residing in the locality and
who are 5 Miles/8 Km or less in walking distance from the school, priority
home address closest to the school.
This will be measured by Google maps, using Eircode to Eircode walking
distance. 3. Others ·
All other applicants, priority closest to
the school. |
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:
|
·
Priority
given to eldest applicant
|
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) a student’s prior attendance
at a pre-school service (b) the payment of fees or
contributions (howsoever described) to the school; (c) a student’s academic
ability, skills or aptitude; (d) the occupation,
financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student’s parents; (e) a requirement that a
student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a
condition of admission; (f) 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 siblings of a student attending or having
attended the school and children of a parent who attended the school. (g) the date and time on
which an application for admission was received by the school. (h) a student’s behaviour,
perceived ability to integrate, or potential future behaviour 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. |
8. Decisions on
applications
All decisions on
applications for admission to Creggs National School will be based on the
following:
·
Our
school’s admission policy
·
The
school’s annual admission notice
·
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 Creggs National School
you must indicate—
(i) 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 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
Creggs National School. where—
(i) it is established that information
contained in the application is false or misleading.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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
(iv) 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—
(i) an application for admission to the
school has been received,
(ii) an offer of admission to the school
has been made, or
(iii) an offer of admission to the school
has been accepted.
The
list may include any or all of the following:
(i) the date on which an application for admission was received by the school;
(ii) the date on which an offer of
admission was made by the school;
(iii) the date on which an offer of
admission was accepted by an applicant;
(iv) 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 Creggs National School 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 Creggs National School 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.
Late applicants will be
placed at the end of the waiting list in order of the date of receipt of the
applications.
15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and
during the school year
|
Parents wishing to enrol their child in
any class other than Junior Infants should contact the school Principal (contact details
are on our school website) to discuss enrolment and to complete an application form for
admission. 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: Applications for admission will be
considered with this Admissions Policy, the school’s Admissions Notice and
the Education Act 2018. Where the
school is oversubscribed, the selection criteria in section 6 will
apply. The school will not refuse
admission on the grounds the needs of existing pupils, availability of
resources or any criteria other than those set out in this policy. |
|
Parents wishing to enrol their child in
any class following the commencement of the school year in which admission is sought are advised to contact the
school Principal (contact details are on our school website) to
discuss enrolment and to complete an application form for admission. In determining whether or not to allow
enrolment into any class, after the commencement of the school year in which admission
is sought will be considered with this Admissions Policy, the school’s
Admissions Notice and the Education Act 2018.
Where the school is oversubscribed, the selection criteria in section
6 will apply. The school will not
refuse admission on the grounds the needs of existing pupils, availability of
resources or any criteria other than those set out in this policy. |
16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees
The board of Creggs National School or
any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or
contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-
(a) an application for admission of a student
to the school, or
(b) the admission or continued enrolment of a
student in the school.
17. Arrangements
regarding students not attending religious instruction
|
The following are the school’s
arrangements for students, where the parent A written request should be made to the
Principal of the school. A meeting
will then be arranged with the parent(s) or the student, as the case may be,
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
19. Implementation and Review
This policy has been updated to reflect
Circular 0039/2025. It will be reviewed again before September 2026 to ensure
continued compliance with Department of Education requirements
20.
Policy Ratification
This Policy was
ratified by the Board of Management of Creggs
N.S. on 11.02.2025 and was reviewed on the 22/09/2025.
Signed:
_____________________________
Chairperson, Board of Management
_______________________________
Principal
No comments:
Post a Comment