Sir, – Mick O'Brien (July 20th) says "for bishops and curates . . . relief from the onerous and often thankless job of school manager would be a welcome benefit".
Bishops and curates are not school managers, school principals are. Under current legislation there are three bodies concerned with management of a school – school management led by the school principal and their staff; the parents’ association and their elected committee (all volunteers); and the board of management, with two places for parents, two for school management, two patron’s nominees and the patron, either a bishop or his nominee. The board meets a number of times per year, usually about six, and some of its members support other activities throughout the year. The parents’ association meets a number of times per year, usually about eight, but also supporting other school activities and organising fund raising events. The real school manager, the principal and their team, are those with the real management work every day, often putting in after-school unpaid time. On my six years on a parents’ association, and four years as chairman of same, I never once met our patron. I did have regular meetings with school management, often outside school hours, and the support of a co-opted teacher on our parents’ association, all in their own personal time. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW DOYLE,
Bandon, Co Cork.
Sir, – As the chairwoman of the Terenure Educate Together Start-Up Committee, and a parent of two young children, I feel it necessary to address Rev Patrick G Burke's question (July 20th) as to whether the parents in Dublin 6 really want an Educate Together or are desperate for more school places.
There is no question that the schools in the area are heavily oversubscribed.
However, it is clear to us from our ongoing interaction with parents that the Educate Together model is the first choice of school for a significant number of parents in our area. It is also worth noting that our parents are a diverse group made up of people of all religions and none.
We are all committed to the ethos of equality-based education for our children.
We are also committed to working with the Department of Education on the delivery of such a school, whether this is a new school, or an existing school which transfers patronage under the divestment process.
In an area which has a number of national schools under the patronage of various religions, the response to our campaign has been overwhelming.
With more than 500 expressions of interest in such a short space of time, the parents of Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W are clearly stating that their preference is for a co-educational, child-centred, democratically run and equality-based school, which is a school reflective of the modern Ireland in which we live and the values we embrace. – Yours, etc,
NICHOLA MURPHY,
Chairwoman,
Terenure Educate
Together Start-Up Group,
Dublin 6W.