SOME 50 parents continued to queue outside a Tralee secondary school in Co Kerry for a second night last night to ensure their daughters will secure a place in the all-girls school next September. Enrolment takes place this morning.
Most have been waiting outside Presentation Secondary School, the town’s only all-girls school, since early on Thursday morning, some from as early as 6am.
The parents, who have themselves agreed on a numbered ticket system, were intent on sleeping in their cars, but school principal Sheila Pontillo opened the school hall overnight on Thursday and sent in refreshments after they insisted on staying outside the school.
Ms Pontillo said she was “flattered” by the interest. However, she was unhappy with the queuing which has developed in recent years in the run-up to enrolment day. She had made it clear there was no need to queue.
Fifty of the 130 places available go to the school’s primary school girls. Sisters of siblings already in the secondary school are catered for and, after that, it is “a first-come-first-serve” system on enrolment day. Parents who come early usually succeed in enrolling their daughters.
While Ms Pontillo could not guarantee a place, it was her experience as principal over the past two years that there was no need to queue. The school has a waiting list but usually by September places became available. However, “a panic seems to set in”, she said.
The school’s board of management would have to consider the situation. “I thought this year by me going out and saying it wasn’t necessary, they would have gone away,” Ms Pontillo said.
However, parents insist there is a shortage of places in Tralee’s most popular schools and the effort is worth it. Jennifer Stack from Fenit said although having to queue was “not great”, it would ensure a place for her daughter.
“If you put in an effort it will secure a place,” she said.
Other parents agreed, saying they preferred to queue rather than be subject to the lottery system which is in place at the larger 1,250-pupil Mercy Mounthawk school in the town. This mixed school devised a lottery system to stop queuing which had developed there.
Parent Hilda Jones said she had taken two days of holidays from work and had arrived at the Presentation school at 8.10am on Thursday. She and her husband Tom were sharing the shifts. About 50 people had stayed overnight that day.
“For me, queuing is more transparent and fair,” Ms Jones said. She and her daughter liked the ethos of the school on open day.
Most parents said they liked the idea of an all-girls school, and the fact Presentation (with more than 700 pupils) was smaller than Mercy Mounthawk also appealed to them. Along with Mercy Mounthawk, the alternatives are an All-Irish and a community school.
Helen Finn said she had attended Presentation herself but this did not give her daughter priority, and queuing was the only way to ensure she could go to the same school as she had.