David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Education and Skills for taking this matter and his support of and interest in the school in question, Our Lady of Mercy national school, Stradbally, County Waterford. I also have received correspondence from the Minister and the Department in response to a parliamentary question on this matter.

I am making a case for a third classroom at the school in question. Previously, the school had boys from junior infants to first class. Since a change of status in 2013, the school now has boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class. Accordingly, it finds itself in urgent need of additional accommodation and classrooms. To ensure it will be prepared and ready to offer its pupils a safe and healthy environment, it has been looking at future projected enrolments.

In June 2014 the school was granted a new classroom, as the existing classroom for the second teacher did not meet the Department's size requirements. The school also had communal toilets. From a child protection point of view, the board of management was not happy with junior infants pupils using toilet facilities with sixth class pupils. In its previous application to the Department the school flagged that it needed two new classrooms. Its enrolment numbers for 2017 and 2018 will be 68 and 77 pupils, respectively. An application for a developing post will be provided for the Department as soon as a staffing schedule for next year is published.

The school is in the middle of building the second classroom and its principal acknowledges the support the school has received from the Department in that regard. The board of management will also convert the two existing smaller classrooms into a learning support room which will also act as a library and a resource room. Next year, accordingly, the school will need a new classroom for its third teacher.

The school has examined the records and baptismal certificates in the parish of Stradbally. Taking into account school leavers, the expected total number of pupils attending will be 68 in 2017, 77 in 2018, 84 in 2019 and 99 in 2020. This will involve a 100% increase in the current number of pupils by the end of 2020. The school is requesting funding from the Department for the purpose of building the additional classroom to ensure it will be in a position to manage the increase in the number of pupils adequately. There are also two preschools in the area, as well as an after-school club. The school expects enrolments to grow steadily in the next five to ten years.

The school is appealing to the Minister to work with it as it plans for the future. It genuinely acknowledges the support it has received up to now from the Department. It is looking at current and future needs and trying to plan for the future. In so doing it is asking for the Department's support. Will the Minister outline if he will be able to work with the school and what can be done to accommodate its future needs because of the additional projected enrolments?

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