September 2006
Clare V.E.C initiated applications for recognition of Mol an Oige School & Raheen Woods School.
January 2007
The 2nd part of the application was submitted in Jan 2007.
8 March 2007
An Oral hearing was held on 8th March.
During the Oral Hearing reasons were clarified in relation to having chosen the Steiner Model of Education to implement the existing Primary School curriculum. The Steiner Model highlights key areas of change which the revised curriculum of 1999 aims to bring about, providing an active and artistic educational experience that grows from the child's own experience.
It is worth noting that there are already 27 government funded Steiner Initiatives which are fully compliant with Department requirements set by the Department of Health and the Ministry for Children. These include 12 Steiner Pre schools and 14 Camphill communities, the latter, which look after children and teenagers with Special Needs. ISKA, the Irish Steiner Kindergarten Association, is one of only 7 nationally recognized and funded voluntary childcare organizations.
14 March 2007
On the 14th of March 2007 Mr. George O' Callaghan C.E.O. of the Clare V.E.C. received a letter from the Department of Education instructing V.E.C. s countrywide that they could not be a Patron Body of a primary school, nor could they seek to establish or maintain a primary school, despite having attempted on numerous occasions since Jan. 2005 to seek clarification of their suitability as Patron. This letter clearly contradicted the statement made by Minister Hanafin to the Dail on April 17th 2006 on the matter, following a question posed by Ms. Jan O'Sullivan T.D., Opposition Spokesperson on Education.
Ms O'Sullivan:
"Does the Minister have a problem with the principle of VECs becoming
patrons of primary schools?"
Ms. Hanafin:
"Under the Education Act 1998, VEC's are not precluded from doing
so(i.e. becoming patrons of primary schools) Legally there is no difficulty
and there is no problem with the principle"
Elsewhere in the Dail debate, the Minister stated: "I will always aim to ensure school provision, the accommodation of difference and diversity and tolerance across the system. I am open to new methods of achieving this, not only in providing numbers but also patronage with proper structures and boards of management to ensure quality."
April 2007
Following the oral hearing on the 8th March 2007 and in light of a positive recommendation from the New Schools Advisory Committee, on the 24th April 2007, the Minister announced in the circumstances she was prepared to allow the school more time to find an alternative Patron who would be required to confirm compliance to the Dept.
September 2007
We have submitted details of an alternative patron body called Life Ways who will undertake the requirements set out by the Department of Education. We anticipated and looked forward to a positive response. This Patron Body was the only option we had for recognition this year, namely Sept. 2007 as other Patrons listed below are not possible:
We are not applying for recognition of the existing school which is presently run by the parents. The existing school was only ever intended as a temporary measure until a new Department of Education multi-denominational Primary school would open.
Life Ways Ireland Ltd. has no role whatsoever in the existing school.
The existing school is run by Mol an Oige Group, i.e. parents. The school has survived through fundraising and by having parents and volunteers who are prepared to work in it for little or nothing.
This school has enormous local support and has relied on Community funding for its 2 years in operation. We also have the full support of Clare V.E.C. and indeed Clare Co. Council. ( See attached Letter)
Our application has successfully met all the criteria for a new school;
Also in the Dail on 5th Feb 2007 Minister Hanafin was asked by Mr. Trevor
Sargent
"of her views on the Steiner Waldorf method of Education; and if she
will provide State recognition to Steiner schools in primary Education"
Minister Hanafin responded: "As Minister it is my role to consider
the report & recommendations made to me by the NSAC at the end of their
deliberative process & to make a decision on the recommendations made"
We, at “Mol an Oige” believe that time, is now.
History of school Prior to September 2006
1. Mol an Oige Group originally set up their school in Sept. 05 with an
enrolment of 11 Pupils, thereby falling short of the required 17 pupils
to apply for Department of Education Recognition.
2. Numbers increased to 17 during the year, which enabled the Group to start
the application procedure for Sept. 06. We now had 40 pupils.
3. For our Jan 2006 application we had Clare V.E.C. as our Patron body but
our application was not processed by the Dept. of Education due to a Dept.
decision made, despite George O Callaghan C.E.O. of Clare V.E.C. having
checked the legality of the possibility of their Patronage. Nowhere did
it say this could not be done.
4. Following this George O Callaghan of Clare V.E.C. repeatedly made many
attempts to engage with the Dept. re suitability of Clare V.E.C. as patron
for our 2007 application.
