Ideas are sought for ‘New School Name’ from the local community
By Maurice Garvey
IDEAS from the wider community of Ballyfermot are sought by the committee for the area’s newest school.
The Trustees and school communities of St John’s College, Caritas College and St Dominic’s College are planning for the amalgamation of the three schools into one Catholic voluntary secondary school.
St John’s College is amalgamating with Caritas College and St Dominic’s College
The proposed opening date is September 2022.
St John’s building is deemed the most appropriate site for the new school, which will cater for 800 students.
The ‘New School Name’ Campaign, was launched on November 2 and will run until November 13.
During this time, the three schools are reaching out to the wider community of Ballyfermot, in order to get collective input into suggestions and ideas for possible names for the new school.
There will be widespread consultation with parents, students, staff and the local community through the local schools and community services in Ballyfermot and social media.
News that the three schools were considering amalgamation first broke in the public domain in January 2019.
It led to concerns from parents regarding a lack of same sex schools in the community.
Patrons of the three schools, Le Chéile and CEIST, stated last year that they were “no longer in a position to provide the equality of access for all boys and girls in the area to the wider educational opportunities and facilities required for the next 50 years.”
“With the amalgamation of these three great traditions, a whole new exciting opportunity lies before us to shape the future of education in the area,” said the patrons.
A New School Committee has been established with representatives from all stakeholders in the process – the Trustees, Boards of Management, school leaders, teachers, support staff and parents.
From this group, smaller task forces have been set up to work towards achieving certain milestones and one of these is the process of selecting a name for the new school and establishing the new school’s identity within the community of Ballyfermot.
According to the new committee, the vision for the new school is to provide the “best possible secondary education for the young people of Ballyfermot in a co-educational setting that can offer outstanding educational opportunities with the widest choice of subjects and extra-curricular activities possible, in modern educational facilities.”
Individuals are asked to submit their entries – online at shorturl.at/xANY4 or by email to newschoolballyfermot@gmail.com or by text to 086 794 3544 – to be in with a chance of winning one of five One4All vouchers for any name that appears in the final shortlisted top five possible names.
Ideas and suggested names should be entered under the following three criteria
● Ballyfermot – Its History and Community Spirit.
● The Ethos, Traditions & Values of our Three Schools.
● A New Catholic, Co-Educational School Open to All.
Closing date for online entries is 1pm, Friday, November 13.
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