Gaelscoil na Daroige to look into providing extra spaces after vote of confidence from Education Authority

THE Board of Governors at a Derry Irish medium Primary School is to look at increasing its enrolment numbers as part of the Education Authority’s plans for school provision in the North. The Education Authority’s annual action plan, which was published earlier this week, states it will ‘ensure places are located as required at Gaelscoil na Daroige’ in Ballymagroarty. The plan identifies actions to be undertaken within the pre-school, primary, post-primary and special education sectors from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. The action plan states that it will ‘encourage and facilitate the development of sustainable Irish medium provision’ within the Derry City area. It also states the Education Authority will also ‘consult on options for future provision within the controlled section in the Ballymagroarty area’. In the report the Education Authority states it will carry forward the several actions from the 2017/18 action plan, including ensuring places are located as required at Gaelscoil na Daroige. The report says the Board of Governors at the school will ‘consult on an increase in admission and enrolment numbers by June 2018’. The report also says the managing authority will further consult on an increase on admission and enrolment numbers in Drumahoe PS by March 2019. However, at both Londonderry Model PS and Newbuildings PS the ‘managing authority will consult on a decrease of admission numbers and enrolment numbers by June 2018’. Two actions will be carried forward from the Annual action plan of 2017/18 for post primary schools. These are for the ‘managing authority and trustees to consult on options for future provision within the Derry city area in the Catholic sector by March 2019 ‘. It also states the  ‘managing authority is to consult on the change of a General Learning Support Centre to an Autistic Spectrum Disorder Centre at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 by March 2019’ at Lisneal College.