Call for community for support amid 'interim arrangements' to split school across two campuses

A CORK school has urged the Department of Education to review and reconsider what has been described as an “unworkable” proposed accommodation plan scheduled for implementation in September 2024 which would involve splitting the school across two campuses.

The Board of Management of Owenabue Educate Together National School (ETNS) said that under the department’s plan, most classes will remain in the current accommodation in Herons Wood, while two classes will be in prefabricated classrooms on the site of Carrigaline Educate Together National School in Kilnagleary, on the opposite side of Carrigaline.

A number of concerns have been highlighted by the school, among them the logistical difficulties for parents commuting between the locations if they have multiple children attending the school, and a concern that classes on the second site will have “limited access to essential facilities”.

School principal Trina Golden said: 

“The current plan from the Department of Education is not child-centred, and makes maintaining our relationship-focused school culture impossible.”

She said the school is now appealing to the Carrigaline community to support the school in urging the department to reconsider what she described as an “unworkable plan” — a plea echoed by the board of management’s chairwoman, Tanja Buwalda.

Parent nominee to the board of management Maeve McGinn said the proposed arrangement is “beyond comprehension”.

“Not only is this separating friends and siblings, it is isolating a number of pupils away from the main school with almost no facilities or supports,” she said.

“Furthermore, parents with siblings in the school cannot possibly get their children to school on time, given the time it will take to travel between locations.”

Owenabue ETNS, which opened in September 2020, is currently in temporary accommodation in Herons Wood.

The school is awaiting the development of a permanent school earmarked for development at a site in Janeville, Carrigaline.

A Department of Education spokesperson said: “A project to provide a new 16-classroom primary school building for Owenabue Educate Together NS is being advanced by the Department of Education and is currently at Stage 1, preliminary design.

“Pending the completion of this new school building, interim arrangements for the accommodation of the school have been put in place.

“In order to facilitate the continued growth of the school, additional accommodation is required for the 2024/25 school year.

“The department is currently engaging with the school patron, Educate Together, to put a solution in place in this regard.”