Second-level
Educate Together second-level schools are finally here!
Educate Together has been campaigning for ten years for sanction from the Department of Education and Skills to open a second level-school. This hard fought campaign's objective was realised in July 2012 when the Minister announced that Educate Together second-level schools are to open in Drogheda and Dublin. Educate Together will be the first new entrant to second-level education since the 1930s.
Campaign History
In 2002 initial discussions started about the possibility of an Educate Together second-level school. Over the next few years a campaign grew. Parents in Lucan gathered a petition of over 6,000 names of parents who wanted an Educate Together second-level school in their area. In 2007 Educate Together made its first formal applications to the Department of Education to open second-level schools and sought recognition as a second-level patron.
A Trinity College Feasibility study published in 2007 showed that over 90% of parents who sent their child to an Educate Together primary school would choose the same option at second-level if it was available to them. In 2009 Educate Together launched its Taking the Next Step: A Blueprint for an Educate Together Second-level School. This document defined the innovations in educational approaches Educate Together planned to take in operating a second-level school. It was widely acclaimed by educationalists, parents and industry as a model for second-level education.
By 2011 the obstacles to Educate Together's ambitions at second-level had been overcome and the new Minister of Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, announced the formal recognition of Educate Together as a second-level patron at that year's AGM in Gorey. Early in 2012 Educate Together made formal applications for patronage of five second-level schools in Blanchardstown, Drogheda, Greystones, Lusk and Tyrrelstown.
In 2012, parents in Drogheda and Blanchardstown West welcomed the announcement that Educate Together second-level schools are to open in 2014 in their areas. Also in that year, Educate Together started working in partnership with Co. Dublin VEC to provide a new community college in South Lucan, set to open in 2014. Educate Together will be working in partnership with Co. Louth VEC in Drogheda, and with Co. Dublin VEC in South Lucan. All three second-level schools will open in September 2014:
- Ballymakenny College (Drogheda, Co Louth)
- Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School (Blanchardstown West, Dublin 15)
- Kishoge Community College (Lucan, Co. Dublin)
Our vision is for a new model of second-level school, one that places the student - your child – at its centre. We aim to create a vibrant, welcoming school community to which every student feels a real sense of belonging. Read our Brochure for Parents to find out more about our schools.
The need for innovation at second-level has never been more urgent. The content-driven, rote learning second-level model is no longer relevant in today’s rapidly changing, information rich society.
Blueprint for Educate Together Second-level Schools
The details of how our second-level schools will run are outlined in the Blueprint for Educate Together Second-level Schools. This documents in detail how the Educate Together model delivers key life skills as well as academic performance.
Second-level Brochure for Parents
People now see that our second-level schools need new, innovative approaches for the 21st century. Our Brochure for Parents provides information about what our schools will be like.
Feasibility Study on Educate Together Second-level Schools
In September 2006 Trinity College Dublin delivered to Educate Together an Initial Feasibility Study concerned with exploring the possibility that Educate Together might develop a novel type of second-level school, a type of school better suited to the needs and circumstances of twenty-first century Ireland than its current secondaries, which largely evolved in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.