Admissions Policy for Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School have sent me the following statement on their admissions Policy.

I am writing to you regarding the Admissions Policy and Enrolment Procedures that have been finalised and are attached to this email. In developing the policy and procedures and in accordance with our core principles of equality, participation and inclusion, we asked stakeholders to make submissions to the development of the Admissions Policy and were pleased to receive submissions from parents/guardians, boards of management of local primary schools, school Principals and others, all of whose views have been carefully considered.

This Admissions Policy will guide the school’s Interim Board of Management until the school opens its doors to 1st Year students in September 2014. In the meantime, it will be reviewed in September 2013 to ensure that policy and procedures are working effectively. Following the establishment of the school in September 2014, it is anticipated that the Board of Management will review the Admissions Policy on an annual basis.

The Admissions Policy states that places will be offered in the following priority order:
1. Students who reside permanently in Castaheany, Ongar, Hansfield, Phibblestown and Littlepace (appendix A)
2. Students who, at the time of application, attend an Educate Together National School
3. All other applicants

In making our decisions on the above Admissions Policy, we considered the following: the Educate Together Charter; local catchment area; demand from parents/guardians whose child(ren) attend(s) Educate Together national school(s); and demand from parents/guardians of children resident in other areas and attending other school types.

Priority 1
It is important to note that patrons of the new second-level schools sanctioned by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) in 2012 gave a commitment to meet certain criteria that were laid down by the DES. One criterion was to confirm our “willingness to enrol children in the area for whom the Department has identified the need for a school.”

By defining the local catchment area for the school, we have fulfilled this criterion. Families who reside in the local catchment area are eligible to apply for places at the school under Priority 1 in the Admissions Policy, as there is an identified need for a new post-primary school in the area.

Priority 2
We also considered the views of parents/guardians whose children currently attend Educate Together national schools, and who want the choice to continue into a second-level school of the same ethos for their child(ren). At present, no other school in the area provides pupils leaving Educate Together primary schools with continuity of ethos as they make the important transition to second-level.


As Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School will be one of the first Educate Together second-level schools in the country, we are responding to the wishes of parents/guardians for choice in their child(ren)’s education. Priority 2 in the Admissions Policy, therefore, is to provide students attending Educate Together national schools with the opportunity to enrol in this school.

Priority 3
In the Expressions of Interest collected prior to our application for patronage of this school, it was clear that this model of second-level education had broad appeal. Many expressions of interest were received from families whose children do not attend an Educate Together national school, or who do not reside in the immediate local area. With this in mind, we have included Priority 3 in the Admissions Policy to enable applicants from any area and any type of school to have the opportunity to enrol in this new second-level school.


To join the mailing list for Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School, and to keep up to date with developments, please visit the website www.hansfieldsecondary.ie, email hansfieldsecondary@educatetogether.ie or call 01 4292500.

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