Admission Policy of Saint Joseph’s NS , Kinvara, Co. Galway

Roll number: 15523Q

School Patron: Bishop Brendan Kelly

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 [date]. 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 St. Joseph’s NS 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

Saint Joseph’s NS, Kinvara is a co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop Brendan Kelly.

“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 St.Joseph’s NS 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.

Ethos of St. Joseph’s National School.

The ‘ethos’ of St Joseph’s NS encompasses collective attitudes, beliefs, core values, traditions, aspirations and goals. These are reflected in the actual practices which are carried out in the school on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. While it is impossible to outline all aspects of the school ‘ethos’, the following characteristics are experienced and promoted as essential elements in the establishment of a supportive and positive ‘ethos’.

In St Joseph’s NS where the ethos is that of a Christian Catholic school, religious instruction, in accordance with the doctrine and tradition of the Catholic Church is part of the education given to children who belong to that Church.
The pupils are prepared for the reception of the sacraments of First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation, in accordance with arrangements in the diocese.
Prayer is a feature of the school day.
The school aims at promoting the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the pupil, including his / her relationship with God, with other people and with the environment.
The Principal and staff aim at maintaining high professional standards and creating a safe and happy environment.
A spirit of mutual respect is promoted within the school community. Pupils are drawn by example to appreciate and respect people of different religious affiliations and of different nationalities.
Close contact is maintained between school and home. Parents / guardians and teachers support one another and collaborate with one another in leading the children to the fullness of their potential at the different stages.
The ancillary staff in the school are highly esteemed and respected. It is recognised that their work makes a valued contribution to the process of education.

Mission Statement

St. Joseph’s NS promotes Gospel values in a Christian learning community, where children can grow in knowledge and understanding and in the acquisition of skills, attitudes and values. We are fully committed to offering excellence in education by:

promoting the highest possible achievement for our pupils;
encouraging children to grow within the Catholic faith;
establishing the foundations for lifelong respect for learning and personal development;
welcoming input from parents to complement the skills and experience of our professional teaching staff;
providing opportunities for children to develop, academically physically, spiritually, morally, culturally, musically and artistically.
ensuring that our school is central to the parish, reaching out to embrace the wider community;
Uniting all staff, parents and B.O.M. in our aim to be a leading school in the Diocese of Galway

Our aim is that all children should leave St Joseph’s NS with the basic skills of literacy (as Gaeilge agus as Béarla), numeracy, an enthusiasm for learning, a thirst for knowledge, an appreciation of their religion, history, heritage and the world they live in. The ability to think for themselves and about others but above all, many happy memories.

3. Statement

St Joseph’s NS 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.

St. Joseph’s NS is a Denominational School.

St. Joseph’s NS is a school whose objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values and does not discriminate where it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not from the Roman Catholic faith community unless it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

St Joseph’s has one special education class for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

St. Joseph’s NS is a school which has established one class, for children diagnosed with autism. This class has been established with the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills. It provides an education exclusively for students with this category of special educational needs specified by the Minister. The school 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 class

St Joseph’s NS with the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, has established one class to provide an education exclusively for pre-school children with a diagnosis of ASD and a recommendation from an authorised professional recommending that this setting is appropriate for this pupil. An additional admission policy is in place for this class and the procedures set out in this policy are available on the school website and can be forwarded on request in hard copy.

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.

5.1 Public Notification for Admission to St. Joseph’s NS.

There is a defined Registration period for Junior Infants to be agreed by the BOM each year. This is at least a four week period from late January to the end of February. Other pupils may be enrolled during the school year (if newly resident in the area). Enrolment Notices will be provided to local Creches, put on notice boards in local shops, advertised in the Parish Bulletin, School Newsletter, on the school Facebook Page, website and given to local print media. The annual admission notice as per the Schools Admission Act 2018 will be published on the school website and the public notices will refer to this fact. A hard copy of this notice will be provided on request by the school office. .Children wishing to transfer from other schools are enrolled subject to the Rules governing National School. If necessary waiting lists will be established for classes and places allocated on a first come first serve basis. This will be determined by the date of receipt of a completed enrolment form. See S.15 for specific details on this.

St. Joseph’s NS is a denominational school.

St. Joseph’s NS is a catholic school and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of the catholic faith where it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

The special classes attached to St. Joseph’s NS provide an education exclusively for preschool students with a professional diagnosis for ASD. The school may refuse admission to these classes, where the student concerned does not meet the specified category of special educational needs provided for in this class.

6. Oversubscription

A pupil must be four years of age on September 1st of the year they commence school or the first day of the relevant school term (year). 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:

In the event of the number of children seeking enrolment in any given class/ standard exceeding the number of places available preceding or during the school year (due to the Board of Management being unable to provide suitable accommodation, or recruit the required teaching staff) the following criteria will be used to prioritise children for enrolment:

i. Children of the parish or the traditional catchment area served by the school.

ii. Brothers and sisters of children in the school.

iii. The children of staff who are working in a full time capacity in the school.

iv. All children who apply to the school and not residents within the parish boundaries or catchment area are entitled to a place in the school if there are vacancies in the school after the groups from (i) to (iii) have been allocated places.

v. In exceptional circumstances the Board of Management on foot of a written request may consider the enrolment of children not catered for in the above categories.

vi. In order to accommodate groups (i), (ii) and (iii) Boards may have to operate a cut off in age of applicants to give places to groups (i), (ii) and (iii) if there is pressure for places in the school. The oldest children applying will be given priority and offered places in Junior Infants. Schools within the parish co-operate with one another in this area taking into account the wider needs of the parish community and its apostolic mission.

vii. The maximum class size in the school is not to exceed 29 pupils in Junior or Senior Infants and 30 pupils in any class from First Class to Sixth Class. Maximum enrolment therefore will therefore fall between 29 and 30 pupils x (Number of mainstream class teachers).

The catchment area for St. Joseph’s NS is the Parish of Kinvara. This area is specifically served by the existing Bus Eireann School Service.

Please note that a copy of the child’s birth cert and PPSN are required with every enrolment in order to meet the Pupil Online Database (POD) requirements. A copy of a utility bill is also requested as proof of address and used by the Board of Management to establish that the child’s parent(s)/guardian(s) live within the school catchment area.

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 places) then the following criteria will be applied:

● If the children are twins then both children will be offered places.

● In other circumstances the BOM will arrange for the drawing of lots to determine which child will be allocated the place(s).

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 preschool or preschool service, including naíonraí.

(b) The payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school;

(c) a student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude. Please note that an appropriate professional diagnosis is required for admission to the special classes in the school.

(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 S.6 (ii) above where siblings are currently attending the school.

(g) 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. Please refer to S.16 for procedures regarding admission to classes other than Junior Infants.

8. Decisions on applications

All decisions on applications for admission to St.Joseph’s NS 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 Saint Joseph’s NS, 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 St Joseph’s NS 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

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 St. Joseph’s NS 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 St. Joseph’s NS 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 a 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.

If necessary waiting lists will be established for all classes (other than Junior Infants) and places allocated on a first come first serve basis. A waiting list for Junior Infants will be established when admissions for this class are considered by the Board of Management. In other classes (Senior Infants to Sixth Class) places will be determined by the date or time of receipt of a completed enrolment form. In the event of a child being unavailable to take up a place in these classes when a parent/guardian is contacted by school management then such a place will be offered to the next available child on the list. All enrolments are made under the terms of Education Admissions to School Act (2018) and The Education Welfare Act (2000). As per S.6(vii) class sizes will not exceed 9pupils in Infants and 30 pupils in any other mainstream class. Information concerning the child’s attendance, educational progress and (where relevant) copies of relevant professional reports will be requested from the parent(s) or guardian(s) at this time.

The procedures in S.15 above will apply during the course of the school year for all classes other than Junior Infants where the waiting list if applicable will be determined as per S.6 above.

16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fee

The Board of St. Joseph’s NS 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.

In this circumstance a written request should be made to the Principal of the school. A meeting will then be arranged with the parent(s)/guardian(s) or the student, as the case may be, to discuss how the request may be accommodated by the school. The Kinvara Parish Policy in this regard will be provided to and discussed with the parents in question.

18. Reviews/appeals

Review of decisions by the Board of Management

The parent of the student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, 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, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, 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)

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 has been considered by the Board of Management of St. Joseph’s NS and ratified on

Signed: Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly.

Chairperson Board of Management Saint Joseph’s NS ,Kinvara, Co. Galway

Signed:

Dominic Gallagher.

Principal Saint Joseph’s NS, Kinvara, Co. Galway.