Kildare schools "doing their best" to accommodate new pupils in September

Principals of secondary schools across County Kildare are working with stakeholders to address waiting lists for pupils hoping to start in September.

Solutions are being currently explored to accommodate a ‘high number’ of students seeking a secondary school places in Kildare town, it has emerged.

Kildare Town Community School (KTCS) stretched itself to accept 220 pupils last September and is under pressure again ahead of the new school year in September but it has already reached its 1,000 pupil capacity.

The principal John Hayes said that KTCS is a community-focused school committed to providing education and that all stakeholders were doing their best to find a solution.

He told the Leader: “We have seen a boom in the local population which has seen more parents seeking school places.

“At the moment, there is a high number of students on our waiting list and it must be an anxious time for those parents, especially in the middle of a pandemic.

“But all the stakeholders are involved in trying to find a solution which can be delivered to address this shortage of school places.”

The school is writing to parents of students on the waiting list to keep them informed of developments.

Mr Hayes added: “Kildare Town Community School has a capacity for 1,000 students and we are currently at that capacity, so as we stand, that capacity would have to be increased.

“But we are looking at a number of possibilities which are potential solutions.

“Every avenue will be explored in an attempt to resolve this issue.”

KTCS is a public private partnership (PPP) school and stakeholders include its Bord of Management, the Department of Education as well as private sector partners.

Meanwhile, Pauric Nolan, principal of Scoil Mhuire in Clane said they have a waiting list for first year next year.

“We cannot cater for everyone and have not been able to do so for a number of years,” he said, speaking of the wider area around Clane.

Mr Nolan said they can still look after their traditional base within Clane “but that is getting very tight.”

He said they never had a waiting list for the first year up to recently. “In the last two years we have had a lottery for places in it.”

The school has 1,200 students now and it is not getting any bigger, he said.

Eddie Collins, principal of St Farnan’s in Prosperous, said they need their new school building badly.

“We will lack space very shortly if the construction of the new school (which will cater for 1,000 students) is not speeded up,” he said.

Their numbers this year are up on last year.

He expects 120 new students in first year next September, compared to 105 last year.

The system has been difficult overall due to lockdown, he said.

Mr Collins said he is particularly anxious about the status of the school’s ASD capacity and the school’s ability to provide for students with autism.

Maria Barry, principal of St Wolstan’s girls school in Celbridge, which also has students from Clane, said that this year the school does not have a problem with places. Ms Barry added that she did not know what the situation would be like next year for them.

She said Celbridge has three secondary schools, including Salesians boys school and the new Celbridge Community School.

She said that the Department of Education has been looking at the situation where students or their parents, concerned over place availability, make applications to different schools.