Sir, – Catherine O'Brien (September 10th) asks some valid questions of the community national school model. She claims that it is time for some answers, and I couldn't agree more. I hope the fact that the community national schools are now moving formally under the patronage of the Education and Training Boards will mean that the general public will be much better informed about these schools.
Ms O’Brien questions the practices around holy communion and confirmation in particular, so I will focus only on these in this letter.
First , it is important to note that facilitating rites of passage for any child is in response to parental requests for support in this area. As we serve the needs of the community, we are happy to respond to such requests and work with all of our religious and belief communities on this. In my former school, which is currently only up to third class, parents who want their children to make their holy communion are given an option for their child to opt out of one Goodness Me, Goodness You lesson per week. During this lesson, the rest of the class continues with its normal Goodness Me, Goodness You lesson with their class teacher, and the Catholic children are taught more explicit content about the sacrament by one of the infant teachers whose children have already gone home. This arrangement is available to parents from any belief group who wish for the school to facilitate some work around specific rites of passage or celebrations.
It is also important to note that community national schools do not provide “sacramental preparation” in the form given to children in Catholic denominational schools. We work with the parents and parish to support the families by providing “sacramental education”. It is up to the parents and parish to “prepare” their children for the communion day, and the only aspect we can support is in deepening the child’s understanding of the sacrament. Again, this is only during Goodness Me, Goodness You time once per week, and no curricular time is given over to this.
In May this year, we had our first group of children making their holy communion. The success criteria for me was that the Catholic children understood the meaning behind their special day and also that no other child of any other faith or belief felt disadvantaged by the support given to these children. The children made their communion during a normal Sunday Mass, along with Catholic children from Citywest Educate Together, who we work closely with. I was delighted that so many families from other belief groups came to the school after the Mass and brought food and drinks to contribute to the celebration.
On talking to these parents, many said that they were delighted to do so as they felt their faith and belief was so well-acknowledged and supported by the school, and that the Catholic families always made an effort to join in their own particular celebrations. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS CONBOY,
Primary Support Officer,
Education and Training
Boards Ireland,
Naas, Co Kildare.