Admission Policy

1.Introduction

This Admission Policy complies with the requirements of the Education Act 1998, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and the Equal Status Act 2000. In drafting this policy, the board of management of the school has consulted with school staff, the school patron and with parents of children attending the school.

The policy was approved by the school patron on 17thApril 2020. It is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hard copy, on request, to any person who requests it.

The relevant dates and timelines for Arklow CBS admission process are set out in the school’s annual admission notice which is published annually on the school’s website at least one week before the commencement of the admission process for the school year concerned.

This policy must be read in conjunction with the annual admission notice for the school year concerned.The application form for admission is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.

Arklow CBS is an all boys voluntary secondary school with a Catholic ethos under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.

‘Catholic Ethos’ in the context of a Catholic voluntary secondary school means the ethos and characteristic spirit of the Roman Catholic Church, which aims at promoting:

a) the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil, including the intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual aspects; and

(b) a living relationship with God and with other people; and

(c) a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; and

(d) the formation of the pupils in the Catholic faith, and which school provides religious education in accordance with the doctrines, practices and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and/or such ethos and/or characteristic spirit as may be determined or interpreted from time to time by the Irish Episcopal Conference.

In accordance with S.15 (2) (b) of the Education Act, 1998 the Board of Management of Arklow CBS shall uphold, and be accountable to the patron for so upholding, the characteristic spirit of the school as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school.

”The characteristic spirit of our school is based on the vision and values of the ERST Charter. The five characteristics of an Edmund Rice school underpin the operation of Edmund Rice Secondary School, namely:

• Nurturing faith, Christian spirituality and Gospel-based values
• Promoting partnership
• Excellence in teaching and learning
• Creating a caring school community
• Inspiring transformational leadership

For further information on the Edmund Rice Schools Trust and the ERST Charter, see www.erst.ie.

In Arklow C.B.S., the ERST Charter values are underpinned by a philosophy of education that has at its centre the unique dignity of the human person. We see the interaction of people from different backgrounds—spiritual, ethnic, language, special needs—as a gift that will enrich the community of the school and promote the growth and learning of all. We value each student and their family. We welcome and are sensitive to each one, seeking to respond to their individual needs through:

The Curriculum: We provide a broad range of subject areas, encouraging students to take increasing responsibility for their own learning and decision-making.

Pastoral Care: We support and challenge our students to make the most of their time in school, providing programme of language support, help with study, and personal counselling where necessary and developing links with family, working in partnership with parents and guardians.

Faith Development: We have a special commitment to development of the spiritual dimension of the lives of our members. Faith formation and the Religious Education programme play a key role.

1. Students follow the State programme in Religious Education which is suitable for students of all faiths and those of no faith.
2. The school celebrates the major Christian feasts, and the major feasts of other faiths are acknowledged and celebrated in an appropriate way.
3. We hope that the values inherent in the culture of the school will be internalised in the values, attitudes and behaviours of all members of the school community, and will find expression in their respect and care for one another

3. Admission Statement

Arklow CBS will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:

(a) The gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(b) The civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(c) The family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(d) The sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(e) The religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(f) The disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(g) The ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned

(h) The Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or

(i) The ground that the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned has special educational needs As per section 61 (3) of the Education Act 1998, ‘civil status ground’, ‘disability ground’, ‘discriminate’, ‘family status ground’, ‘gender ground’, ‘ground of race’, ‘religion ground’, ‘sexual orientation ground’ and ‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Equal Status Act 2000

Arklow CBS is an all-boys school and does not discriminate where it refuses to admit a girl applying for admission to this school.

Arklow CBS is a school whose objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values and does not discriminate where it admits a student of the Catholic faith in preference to others.

Arklow CBS is a school which has established a class, with the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, which provides an education exclusively for students with a category or categories of special educational needs specified by the Minister and may refuse to admit to the class a student who does not have the category of needs specified.

4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the school/special class

Arklow CBS, with the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, has established an ASD class to provide an education exclusively for students on the ASD Spectrum that have a recommendation for an ASD class.

5. Admission of Students

This school shall admit each student seeking admission except where –a) the school is oversubscribed (please see section 6 below for further details)

b) a parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student

Arklow CBS provides education exclusively for boys and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of the gender provided for by this school.

Arklow CBS is a Catholic school and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of the Catholic faith where it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.T

he special class attached to Arklow CBS provides an education exclusively for students on the ASD spectrum and the school may refuse admission to this class, where the student concerned does not have the specified category of special educational needs provided for in this class

6. Oversubscription

In the event that the school is oversubscribed, the school will, when deciding on applications for admission, apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below to those applications that are received within the timeline for receipt of applications as set out in the school’s annual admission notice:

Offer of Places Procedure:

Parents and guardians: Please read the criteria below very carefully and make sure you have full accurate details on your child’s application form. The offer of a place will be based solely on what you put on the application form.

Pupils will be offered places strictly in the following category order:

a) Applicants who have a brother currently attending the school.

b) Applicants who have a brother who is a past pupil of the school and who completed his Leaving Certificate Examination at the school.

c) Applicants who are the son of a past pupil who has completed his Leaving Certificate Examination at the school, to a maximum of 25% of the available spaces.

d) A son of a member of the staff of Arklow C.B.S. who has at least 3 years of service on the closing date for applications.

e) Applicants from the main feeder primary schools: St. John’s Senior N.S., Arklow; St. Joseph’s N.S, Arklow; Carysfort N.S, Arklow; Gaelscoil an Inbhir Mhóir; Scoil Naomh Padraig, Bearna Chlé and Scoil Íosagáin, Coolgreaney.

f) Applicants from the other feeder primary schools in S.N. Phádraig Naofa, Avoca; Ballintemple N.S.; Ballyfad N.S.; Scoil Ghormáin Naofa, Castletown; Kilanerin N.S.; Sacred Heart N.S., Aughrim; Scoil Mhuire, Brittas Bay; Scoil Eoin. Redcross; St. Mary’s N.S., Barndarrig and St. Brigid’s N.S., Annacurra.

g) Other applicants

Please note that:

Only students whose applications have been received on time will be offered places in accordance with the criteria above.It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian of any applicant who is claiming right of entry under any of the above categories to clearly indicate this on their application form. Where right of entry is not claimed by the applicant on the application form by the closing date, the school cannot be held responsible for that omission. Such applications will be processed under random selection.

Places will only be offered to students in a given category after all students in each previous category have been offered a place.

In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), the following arrangements will apply:

The date of birth of each child shall be used to determine maximum eligibility starting with category a and then going to b, c, d, e, f and g. The oldest child in each category will have the greatest priority.

7. What will not be considered or taken into account

In accordance with section 62(7)(e) of the Education Act, the school will not consider or take into account any of the following in deciding on applications for admission or when placing a student on a waiting list for admission to the school:

(a) a student’s prior attendance at a pre-school or pre-school service, including naíonraí,

(b) the payment of fees or contributions to the school;

(c) a student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude; other than in relation to:-admission to a special class insofar as it is necessary in order to ascertain whether or not the student has the category of special educational needs concerned and/or

(d) the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student’s parents;

(e) a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a condition of admission;

(f) a student’s connection to the school by virtue of a member of his or her family attending or having previously attended the school; other than, (1) siblings of a student attending or having attended the school and/or (2) parents of a student having attended the school.

In relation to parents having attended, a school may only apply this criterion to a maximum of 25% of the available spaces as set out in the school’s annual admission notice.

(g) the date and time on which an application for admission was received by the school; this is subject to the application being received at any time during the period specified for receiving applications set out in the annual admission notice of the school for the school year concerned.

This is also subject to the school making offers based on existing waiting lists (up until 31stJanuary 2025 only).

8. Decisions on applications

All decisions on applications for admission to Arklow CBS will be based on the following:

• Our school’s admission policy
• The school’s annual admission notice (where applicable)
• The informationprovided by the applicant in the school’s official application form received during the period specified in our annual admission notice for receiving applications

(Please see section 15below in relation to applications received outside of the admissions period and section 16 below in relation to applications for places in years other than the intake group.)Selection criteria that are not included in our school admission policy will not be used to make a decision on an application for a place in our school.

9. Notifying applicants of decisions

Applicants will be informed in writing as to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the annual admissions notice.

If a student is not offered a place in our school, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated in writing to the applicant, including, where applicable, details of the student’s ranking against the selection criteria and details of the student’s place on the waiting list for the school year concerned.

Applicants will be informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the school’s decision (see section 18below for further details).

10. Acceptance of an offer of a place by an applicant

In accepting an offer of admission from Arklow CBS, you must indicate —

(i) whether or not you have accepted an offer of admission for another school or schools. If you have accepted such an offer, you must also provide details of the offer or offers concernedand

(ii) whether or not you have applied for and awaiting confirmation of an offer of admission from another school or schools, and if so, you must provide details of the other school or schools concerned

11. Circumstances in which offers may not be made or may be withdrawn

An offer of admission may not be made or may be withdrawn by Arklow CBS where —

(i) it is established that information contained in the application is false or misleading.

(ii) an applicant fails to confirm acceptance of an offer of admission on or before the date set out in the annual admission notice of the school.

(iii) the parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student; or

(iv) an applicant has failed to comply with the requirements of ‘acceptance of an offer’ as set out in section 10 above.

12. Sharing of Data with other schools

Applicants should be aware that section 66(6) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 allows for the sharing of certain information between schools in order to facilitate the efficient admission of students.

13. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription

In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available, a waiting list of students whose applications for admission to Arklow CBS were unsuccessful due to the school being oversubscribed will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought.

Placement on the waiting list of Arklow CBS is in the order of priority assigned to the students’ applications after the school has applied the selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy.

Offers of any subsequent places that become available for and during the school year in relation to which admission is being sought will be made to those students on the waiting list, in accordance with the order of priority in relation to which the students have been placed on the list.

14. Late Applications

All applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual admission notice will be considered and decided upon in accordance with our school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act

15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and during the school year

The procedures of the school in relation to the admission of students who are not already admitted to the school to classes or years other than the school’s intake group are as follows:

The school will make every reasonable effort to facilitate a student seeking a transfer to our school. The Board of Management will decide on applications for admission to any year other than First Year by applying the following criteria:

All relevant information having been made available from the previous school, the Board of Management will decide whether or not a transfer

• Is in accordance with the school’s Admissions Policy.
• Appropriate place available.
• Is in the best interest of the student.
• Is in the best interest of the school.
• Is of educational benefit to the student.
• It may be necessary to consult the Educational Welfare Officer.

Repeat Leaving Certificate:Arklow C.B.S. does not offer a Repeat Leaving Certificate programme. Exceptionally, a request from a student to repeat the Leaving Certificate in the school may be approved by the Board of Management where such a request is deemed by the Board of Management to be:

• In accordance with the school’s Admissions Policy.
• In the best interest of the student.
• In the best interest of the school.
• Of educational benefit to the student.
  

The procedures of the school in relation to the admission of students who are not already admitted to the school, after the commencement of the school year in which admission is sought, are as follows:

Where a student is considered for a place, the decision may be taken by the Board of Management, in consultation with the student’s parents/guardians, his former school and the education welfare officer, as to whether such a place may be offered immediately or whether it would be better to wait until the beginning of the next academic year.

16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees

The board of Arklow CBS or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-

(a) an application for admission of a student to the school, or

(b) the admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.

17.Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction

The following are the school’s arrangements for parents of students and students (over 18) who have requested that the student attends the school without attending religious instruction in the school:

These arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students.

Parents of students and students (over 18) who wish to opt out of RE class should make a written request to the principal. A meeting will then be arranged with the parent or the student, as the case may be, to discuss their options. Throughout this process the constitutional right of the parent/ student (over 18 years) will be respected by the school.

The 1998 Education Act states that schools are required to promote the moral, spiritual, social and personal development of students (Section 9 (d)). At Arklow CBS the allocated time on the timetable for Religious Education responds to this. Students who opt out of RE class are required to use this time to study material relating to their own religious tradition or belief, for example sacred texts. Students of no religious faith, who opt out of RE class, are required to study relevant literature or philosophical texts. A list of suggested texts can be provided by the school. In line with the Edmund Rice Schools Trust Charter, Arklow CBS places great importance on the religious or spiritual formation of all its students. Each student has his/her own personal journey which will be encouraged and respected. Students who opt out of RE class will not be offered extra tuition or study periods.

8. Reviews/appeals

Review of decisions by the board of Management

The parent of the student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, may request the board to review a decision to refuse admission. Such requests must be made in accordance with Section 29C of the Education Act 1998.

The timeline within which such a review must be requested and the other requirements applicable to such reviews are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills.

The board will conduct such reviews in accordance with the requirements of the procedures determined under Section 29B and with section 29C of the Education Act 1998.

Note:Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a reviewof that decision by the board of management prior to making anappeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.

Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a reviewof that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998

Right of appeal

Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, the parent of the student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, may appeal a decision of this school to refuse admission.

An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.

An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(ii) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due a reason other than the school being oversubscribed.

Where an applicant has been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must request a reviewof that decision by the board of management prior to making an appealunder section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)

Where an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a reviewof that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.(see Review of decisions by the Board of Management)

Appeals under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 will be considered and determined by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.

The timeline within which such an appeal must be made and the other requirements applicable to such appeals are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills

RATIFIED BY ARKLOW C.B.S. BOARD OF MANAGEMENT ON 29September 2020.