It may be one of the newest schools in Dublin’s north inner city, but Paradise Place Educate Together National School has deep roots in the community.
The school has been there since 1855 — but last April St Mary’s Primary School on Upper Dorset Street in Dublin 7 took part in a reconfiguration process that saw it become the first primary school to switch from a Catholic to an Educate Together patron.
The reconfiguration process was established by the Department of Education to facilitate more availability to multidenominational schools countrywide. At present, almost 90 per cent of all primary schools have a Catholic ethos and approximately 5 per cent are multidenominational.
The department has set a target of at least 12 per cent of primary schools being multidenominational by 2030. St Mary’s was identified as one of the pilot schools in the reconfiguration pilot initiative.
“Our Catholic numbers are very small,” says principal Éadoain Kelly. “It’s a very diverse community here.”
Kelly says the school had grown under its original patron to be an inclusive one that embraced diversity. This, she says, was a key reason why the transfer has been a smooth one.
“There really aren’t that many changes. We always had really strong relationships with parents, children and with staff,” says Kelly. “They all are still exactly the same.”
It was business as usual in December in the school. “We certainly didn’t cancel Christmas,” says Kelly. “We would never have done carol services, and the emphasis would never have been completely on the religious side. The children still got up and sang their songs and said their poems, all those things happened as they have before.”
Perhaps one of the more visible changes in the school is the uniform. There no longer is one — or at least it’s not obligatory. “There are still children who wear their old St Mary’s uniform, you know, and that’s fine,” says Kelly.
The approach taken to the uniform illustrates why the transition has been a success, she feels. The school staff and parents had numerous meetings and conversations about what the new policy would be. “It’s about giving people time to make the change. We didn’t want to be adding expense to people by introducing something different,” says Kelly.
Initially, parents wanted to keep a uniform and eventually decided on a school hoodie. “But in the end, it was only a small number of people who opted for that and now you’ll see the vast majority of children wearing their own clothes,” Kelly says.
Staff at Paradise Place have also adapted well to the transfer.
“Like with any change, people are nervous and they have questions about what will change for them,” says Kelly. “One of the things about Educate Together is that it runs the same way as a Catholic school ... [there is a] board of management and your paymaster is still the Department of Education.”
Staff at Paradise Place were also accustomed to taking on new practices. “We like to be progressive so taking on that ethical education piece sits very nicely with what we do already. The staff were very happy to embrace it, learn more and do more,” Kelly says.
Another aspect of school life that has remained the same is time allocated to curricular areas. Switching from a religious patron to a multidenominational one does not result in increased time for teaching of literacy or numeracy. Time spent teaching the Catholic curriculum, Grow in Love, now switches to the ethical education curriculum, Learn Together.
“A lot of that fitted with our curriculum anyway, because we have a very global curriculum, the way we plan and teach very much takes account of our children’s place in the world, and a focus on children’s rights, inclusion and diversity were all big parts of what we did anyway,” Kelly says.
The move away from a single faith curriculum has had another significant impact.
“I don’t feel guilty about what we’re not doing as a Catholic school, because it doesn’t fit with our community,” says Kelly. “There were always things that I would feel guilty about not doing, but it just wasn’t possible to do them.”
Kelly says participating in certain activities suggested by a Catholic patron would have meant excluding a high proportion of the school’s population. The switch to Educate Together has removed that guilt. “It feels right.”
The process of changing patron in Paradise Place also included supporting families who want to continue to raise their children to be Catholic. The school continues to maintain links with the parish. “We are still teaching sacramental preparation during school time for this year, and the plan is to move to this outside school from next year,” says Kelly.
The positive relationship with Catholic patron was key to the switch, especially for those who were unsure about it.
“They were very supportive throughout the process and really wanted all the schools that were involved to make the decision that was right for them,” says Kelly. “I think they could see that, in our case, it was the right choice. We’re still connected to the parish, the door isn’t closed.”
Educate Together chief executive Emer Nowlan adds: “The school worked really hard to bring everyone with them and the parish in this case has also been really supportive to reassure Catholic parents that they’ll still be supported around sacraments.”
Nowlan says it was also important that the school did not rush the process. “It was a two-year process in this case, but it is important to go at the school’s own pace. The process of transition, the process of support, will take a different length of time, depending on where the school is.”
The provision of accurate information also helped. “They made sure good information was given to parents, to teachers, and the board of management,” says Nowlan. “There was very strong leadership in the school, managing that process very carefully, and we were pleased to be able to give information to the school.”
“I think sometimes problems can arise when we’re not allowed to give information to the school. We would like to see the department taking a little bit more leadership in that area.”
Kelly says while the reconfiguration process has mainly been a positive experience for the school, there are a few issues that need to be addressed to help schools navigate the process, especially in the initial stages.
“Very large meetings were offered and that could be quite intimidating,” says Kelly. “I think some more small group opportunities, workshopping through some of the ideas would be better.”
She would also like to see representatives from the patrons involved throughout the entire consultation process. “You really do need somebody who’s part of the process early on to reassure the leadership team and staff and answer all their questions.”
There is also a need for more financial support to help fund the transfer.
“When you’re a Deis band one school you aren’t in a position to fundraise,” says Kelly. “We still don’t have all of our signage changed because we can’t afford it and I do the website myself.”
Kelly says it is important for schools who believe a transfer of patron might be a better fit for their community to contact their patron.
“I think the Catholic patrons understand that, for some schools, this is the way that the world is going to go. I think they’re open to that,” says Kelly. “If it feels like it might be a good fit, reach out and ask the question.”
- Follow The Irish Times education section on Facebook and X (Twitter) and stay up to date
