Information Meeting GBMDS 12 April 2010

A meeting was held in GBMDS for the school and wider community to initiate discussion around the proposal for a 16 classroom building on the Griffith Barracks site.

Present: Members of the Patron Executive, Members of the Buildings Subcommittee, Sinéad O'Kane, Principal GBMDS.

M.Sinnott, Chair of the PE, opened the meeting and explained the context for the discussion to follow. On foot of the School's decision to remain an independent entity, the next step is to discuss possibilities for development of the school. The DES has made it clear that they will not consider any developments involving the school in its current formation of 8+1 classes and so in light of this, the PE wishes to initiate discussion around the possibility of lobbying for the building of a new 16 classroom permanent structure on the present site. If this is a decision the School community decides to progress, we need to actively recruit parents, present and prospective, and the wider interested community, to get involved in the campaign and to take up active membership of the various groups and bodies involved. J. Quigley, secretary of the PE, stressed how in times of change or development the PE of a school, together with its formal subcommittees, has a very important role to play and invited interested parties to put themselves forward for nomination to the PE at the AGM in June.

K. Maguire and E. McLoughlin, BSC, presented a detailed suitability study of the current school site and, against a backdrop of relevant population statistics and similar school build projects, outlined some possibilities for the site. Taking into account the size and location of the site, and the fact that there is a protected structure on site, the Old Guardhouse, they had some innovative and exciting ideas and suggestions but emphasised that the crucial conversations would take place on an ongoing basis between the school community and the design team (if convened) as our needs and wishes would be paramount in the planning of any new school. For instance, one aspect of the school, Kids Club, is very important for many parents and children and would have to be incorporated in any design decisions from the start. They envisaged the BSC as having a central role in collecting information from the school community and feeding it to the design team. It is estimated that a new building would take approximately 18 months to complete and alternative accommodation for the entire school would have to be found for that period. (SEE PRESENTATION).

S.O'Kane, Principal, lent her support to the proposal to further discussion on the development of the school to a 16 classroom school. She spoke about the daily difficulties and challenges faced by the staff and students as a result of the poor and inadequate accommodation, providing many concrete examples of the restrictions placed on the everyone by the substandard conditions. She also spoke of her empathy and concern for those parents who could not access the school for their children as they would wish, due to the lack of places available. The development of a 16 classroom school would be an investment in the future, not just for the children already in the school but for the wider community served by the school, and would go some way towards providing more parents with the choice they deserve in the education of their children. (SEE PRESENTATION).

The discussion was then opened to the floor.

Some comments were made exploring possibilities for development or change other than the 16 classroom proposal under discussion. It was suggested that the school's identity and dynamic as a close knit community was important and tied up intimately with its small size and they would not like to lose that aspect of the school. The integration, for instance, of all the students at playtimes, from JI through to 6th, works very well with all the children and teachers knowing each other and is an attractive aspect of our current set-up. It was commented that it was precisely the small size and character of the school which led some parents to enrol their children. There was sympathy for those people who were unable to gain places in the school but it was remarked that even with 16 classes we would still be unable to accommodate the numbers wishing to enrol in the school and therefore we would have lost a crucial aspect of the school's identity and character, yet be in the same position of not being able to meet demand for places. It was acknowledged that while expansion would not fully meet demand, that a move to 16 classes would however create sustainable numbers into the future and would at least be more inclusive than at present. There was a note of caution that we fully consider all aspects of the proposal and its implications before implementing change.

Overall the proposal for a 16 classroom school was favourably received and many positives associated with such a development were highlighted. Many in attendance at the meeting were excited and energised by the possibilities for our school. There was general agreement that this process needs due and careful consideration and that communication between all parties from the outset would be the key to success. The other vital ingredients would be parental involvement, energy and commitment. If we decide as a school to expand, we need to lobby the DES for the funds for a new building. I. Bacik, Portobello Start-up group, was asked how we might best proceed with a campaign of lobbying. She advised the meeting that persistence would be the key to success here and offered very useful advice in terms of making it easy for people to lobby by providing them with the information they need, for instance, letter templates to send and lists of local representatives they might approach. This is a national issue and we should be trying to harness the considerable media interest out there at the moment. G. Clarke, BSC, will be coordinating lobby group efforts, on foot of a mandate at the AGM, and is asking people to sign up and to join in trying to secure a new school building. She has also set up a meeting with the Forward Planning section of the DES in Tullamore, the section of the department responsible for developing new schools and buildings, on a fact finding mission which should help to inform this discussion. She will report back in due course.

The overall message of the meeting was that we need, as a PE, as a BoM, as a school, and as a community to communicate effectively and openly about all aspects of this process and indeed about all aspects of the school. We need to talk to people and to each other, not just to relate information via email and by newsletter. The website needs to be expanded and improved and it was suggested that the role of Communications Officer be created to facilitate the dissemination of information and to facilitate the sort of communication we want to be an integral part of the school community.

The way forward now is to continue this discussion in as many ways and with as many groups as possible in order to achieve consensus in order to develop and expand the school. Consensus should be our aim as a community and the way to achieve this it to ensure that everyone is fully informed about the process and the proposals and that any decision taken is in the service of the school community and the wider community we serve.

The presentation mentioned above can be downloaded by clicking on this link (4.5MB)