Educate Together Schools are set up and
developed by groups of parents in a local area, who wish to send their
children to a national school that is multi-denominational, child-centred,
co-educational and democratically run. The schools are fully recognised
by the Department of Education, are non-feepaying and operate under
the same rules applying to all national schools.
Multi-Denominational
Educate Together schools from the outset respect all ethical and religious
traditions. Every family's background and ethical preference is respected
and cherished within the school. The school does not teach any particular
faith or creed but facilitates any group of parents to organise religious
instruction for their children outside the main school programme. However,
this does not mean that Educate Together schools avoid issues of ethics
and morality. Educate Together schools have well developed ethical education
programmes such as the Learn Together programme which teach children
core values of appreciation and respect of social, cultural and other
human difference; health and safety; social responsibility and rights
and other features necessary to inform a child's developing mind to
live in our rapidly changing society.
Child Centred
While covering the curriculum set out by the Department of Education
for all National Schools, the educational programme of an Educate Together
school is developed creatively through genuine dialogue between teachers
and parents for the common good of the children.
Co-Educational
All Educate Together schools are co-educational and have active programmes
to counter gender stereotyping and inequity in all aspects of school
life.
Democratically Run
As all Educate Together schools are set up by groups of parents, parents
have unparalleled access and involvement in the running and development
of the school. The patron body (a structure that is insisted upon by
the state) is a charity set up by the parents in the locality which
is governed by a constitution, and whose decisions are controlled by
general meetings and whose officers are regularly elected. This body
allocates its representatives on to the Board of Management (the body
that handles the day-to-day running of the school) in a democratic fashion
that respects parents' wishes. This, in addition to directly elected
parents' representatives, ensures that parents have a huge influence
in school affairs. This unique level of parental involvement, can only
develop properly if it fully recognises and respects the professional
role of the teacher and builds a genuine partnership between the professional
and the parent to produce the maximum educational benefit to the children.
Partnership in Education
With their unique ethos and democratic structure, Educate Together schools
deliver a tremendous opportunity for parents, teachers and children
to develop an educational community which provides an optimal environment
for children to develop their intellectual, academic, social, cultural
and physical life. Because they are so rooted in a living community,
the schools can and do become important community resources making their
facilities available in an appropriate way outside school hours.
Educate Together
Educate Together is the patron body to Ireland’s multi-denominational
schools. Established in 1978, it now has 60 national schools nationwide,
all teaching the full primary curriculum. We are committed to delivering
an excellent education to your child. Our schools are child-centered,
learning communities where boys and girls learn together and parental
involvement is encouraged.
In an Educate Together school children are
equally respected, regardless of social, cultural or religious background.
They are encouraged to be active learning participants in the classroom
and to contribute to school policies. This approach gives an excellent,
rounded education, in an environment children will enjoy. It also nurtures
their self-confidence to be active citizens in their communities.
Published by Educate Together 8H Centrepoint,
Oak Road, Dublin 12 Tel: 01 4292500 Fax: 01 4292502
website: www.educatetogether.ie
email: info@educatetogether.ie
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