Mums angry after kids miss out on P1 places

Mums angry after kids miss out on P1 places

25 April 2012 - by Ciara Colhoun

PARENTS of children turned away from a rural primary school are hoping to persuade education officials to provide them with extra places.

Local mothers, whose children have been unable to secure a P1 place at St. Mary’s Primary School, Dunsford, are hoping to persuade the Department of Education to provide more places at the school.

They were disappointed to learn last week that their children had not been accepted at the school, which has this year been allowed to accept 12 new-starts.

Cathy Rogan is upset after being informed in a letter last week that her four year-old son Callum has not been accepted into St. Mary’s.

She said she was particularly annoyed that other parents who live a similar distance from the school had been accepted and hoped officials would agree to grant her a place on appeal.

Cathy said she agonised over the right choice of school for her child and said she chose St. Mary’s because of its good reputation and friendly atmosphere.

“You want the best for your children and you spend a lot of time and energy looking for the right place for them,” she said.

“It then feels that they are being discriminated against because of a capacity issue. It does not seem reasonable that they can only accept 12 children, surely they should be allowed to take in more pupils.”

Michelle Magee, whose four year-old daughter Colleen has also been turned down from the school, said she too was very disappointed by the news and praying the SEELB would change its mind and allocate extra places.

“The school has such high standards and that is why I chose it for my child,” she said.

“It is very disappointing to hear she has been turned down.”

St. Mary’s principal, John Magee, confirmed that several children had to be turned away after governors were forced to make very difficult decisions. He said the Department set the intake limit.

“Governors are always anxious to do their best to ensure they meet the wishes of parents and give them the option of enrolling children in the school,” he said.

“They do all they can to ensure parents who put St. Mary’s PS down as their first choice into the school.

“In the event of oversubion, governors write to the Department of Education to see if they would allow a temporary increase in admissions numbers and the Department has the final say.

Cathy and Michelle are being supported by councillor William Walker, who has promised to lobby the SEELB and Department of Education on their behalf.

Mr. Walker said he was concerned that St. Mary’s PS was being disadvantaged by its approved enrolment of just 81 pupils.

“The government is talking about rural schools needing over 100 pupils to be considered viable, yet it is forbidding this school from increasing its Primary 1 intake,” he said.

“It just does not make sense. I am a great believer in parental choice and if there are potentially spaces available within the school, these parents should be given their first choice.”