Madam, – Seán Flynn’s article (Front page, April 15th) cites Department of Education inspectors’ criticisms of Gormanston College, Co Meath.
As a graduate (1999), prefect and student of the year at Gormanston College, I can state that Gormanston is one of the better education establishments in the country, both in terms of academic quality and life preparation. But this context did not form part of your report.
Instead vague or trivial shortcomings such as “low staff morale” and “lack of shared vision” (which sound very ambiguous) are quoted. If these things can be defined, are there not lots of schools and companies that have exactly these problems? Why single out Gormanston? Another dubious grievance relates to updating health and safety guidelines. My answer would be: who cares?
And finally: “the anti-bullying policy is in need of attention”. Enough of this political correctness! I’m now more thankful than ever for having attended Gormanston College, as it seems it did not waste time on this kind of bureaucracy.
If there are problems, let the school sort them out. I do not speak for the college nor any student who attended it (and I doubt the college publicly or maybe even privately hold this view), but it is a private establishment, to which parents (many of them former students) voluntarily send their children to receive their education.
The Government and its henchmen should get their busy-body, do-gooder nose out of the school’s business. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As a student of Gormanston College, I deem the report (Front page, April 15th) to be an unjust snapshot. I am a sixth-year student, and I have attended the college since first year. I would be quick to admit that there are some flaws in its running, but I would also be the first to commend it for its many positives.
Although the school inspectors’ report provides many areas which rapidly require improvement and the full attention of the management, it also highlights many of the successes of the college. It was to my surprise that your report ignored the positives.
The main aim of the college is to help build well-rounded individuals who are equipped for success in every aspect of society. In my opinion, the school is very successful in doing this. Students are lucky to receive a very high level of teaching, as indicated in the Department of Education’s, Whole School Evaluation and individual subject reports undertaken in the past 12 months.
Examples of some of the positives given in the report are: the good rapport between teachers and students, the “atmosphere of mutual respect”, and the students’ work generally being of a very good standard. These are hardly the mark of a poorly run school.
Many of the department’s recommendations and bones of contention have already been addressed, for example: there are now teacher-based classrooms and the roles of head girl and vice-head girl have been introduced.
The bullet-pointed list of the inspectors’ criticisms, includes that “policies on substance abuse and relationships/sexuality need to be updated”. In fact, the inspectors’ report states: “Priority should also be given to the development of updated policies in the areas of relationships and sexuality education and substance use.”
On a personal note. I have been absent from the school, due to illness, for a considerable amount of time over the past two years, and the school has been overwhelmingly supportive of me. My teachers and the new vice principal have been in constant contact by phone, e-mail and letter. For this reason, I felt it necessary that a student’s voice was heard on this matter, and that my school’s reputation wasn’t allowed to be tarnished as a result of only one side of the story being told. – Yours, etc,