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All of their friends have school places, have had their school tours and picked their first year subjects whilst our children have not had the chance to be part of this exciting time in their lives. Instead they come home each day, rushing through the door asking if we have any news. As a parent, can you
Parents have accepted a place in two schools or have accepted one place but are ‘bed blocking’ on
![](https://www.greystonesguide.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Schoolkids-Burnaby-Park-Day-Out-Nature-THURS23SEPT21-3.jpg)
The next generation…
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I’ve had enough of hearing the same old excuses over and over again:
“This Department has no authority to compel a school to admit a student”
“We have no power in the capacity or allocation of school”
etc., etc.
Just got advice from the Education Welfare Officer saying that we should apply to as many schools as possible in the surrounding area.
I am not going to send my child to another town for secondary school while all his friends and family are here, just because he wasn’t “lucky” enough to be selected based on the “admission criteria”.
I will keep shouting, banging on doors, appealing, complaining, and making this as public as possible until it is resolved — and probably even after that.
Here are the facts: There are kids in the Greystones community who don’t have a school place through no fault of their own.
They are upset, anxious, and unsure about their future.
This is unacceptable.
We pay taxes from which local schools are funded.
Yet, our children’s right to education is denied because of:
Outdated school policies — what the heck is an “independent lottery” as a way to decide admissions (citing from St. David’s “admission policy”)? Are they really just pulling names from a hat? Why do “siblings of past pupils of the school” have priority? Are we in the 1970s??
Poor coordination between local schools. There’s a waiting list for each school, each running into hundreds of places, where every parent keeps their child on all lists in the hope of “scoring” their preferred school.
and
Lack of goodwill from all parties involved. It should be the schools working together with the Minister of Education to ensure all local children can continue their education. They should not be passing waiting lists from one to another and doing nothing.
This situation is very frustrating.