Four in 10 parents sending their children to religious-run schools would like to see a change in ethos, the Department of Education revealed in April ahead of schools rising for the summer.
But which schools saw the highest demand for change? And where does your school rank?
An analysis by The Irish Times shows the primary schools with a religious ethos where demand is highest for changing patron are located in Dublin and Cork.
The Primary School Survey was conducted across more than 3,000 primary schools. However, partaking in the survey was optional, meaning results at some schools have a high margin of error, depending on how many parents responded.
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There were at least 101 religious primary schools across Ireland with a response rate of 50 per cent-plus where a raw majority of parents voiced support for a change in patron to non-religious or multi-denominational.
Some 24 of these are large schools, where more than 100 households currently send pupils.
Ten of these large schools are in Dublin and four in Cork, while the rest are spread around the country.
A support rate of more than 50 per cent of respondents does not necessarily amount to a majority in statistical terms, given the margin of error is plus or minus at least 5 per cent depending on the survey response rate for each school. In six of the 24 schools, the raw majority (50 per cent or more) who supported change translates into a clear majority in statistical terms when accounting for the margin of error.
The highest expressions of support for change among schools with more than 100 households were in Church of Ireland settings, with 85 per cent seeking change at Springdale National School in Raheny, north Dublin.
Among Catholic schools, the highest vote in favour of change was at St Vincent de Paul Junior National School, Griffith Avenue, north Dublin (61 per cent). This was followed by Scoil Neasáin in Harmonstown, Artane, north Dublin, with 60 per cent support for change, and Scoil Naisiunta Bun An Tsabhairne, Crosshaven, Co Cork (59 per cent).
A county-by-county breakdown indicates a slight cultural difference across the country, with parents in the southeast more likely to want change than those in the more rural midlands and northwest.
On average, 58 per cent of Church of Ireland school parents who responded to the survey indicated a desire for change.
However, schools under the patronage of minority faith patrons (mainly Church of Ireland) account for just 6.2 per cent of Irish primary schools.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “The school-specific results of the Primary School Survey are a starting point for conversations about the future, led by the people who know their schools best: parents, students, staff and local communities.
“The survey results are intended to support meaningful local engagement and empower communities to help shape the future direction of their schools.”
The department says that if survey findings indicate demand for change, a school’s boards of management may apply to be included in the first group of schools that wish to “act on the outcomes of the survey process”.
However, schools have been asked to undertake a period of consultation and engagement with their school community, including parents, parents’ associations, student councils, school staff and the wider local community, before making any decisions.
Schools wishing to be included in the first phase of implementation have been asked to notify the department and their patron by October 31st.
Methodology:
To analyse the results of the Primary School Survey, The Irish Times took school-level data and filtered it to households with children currently in religious schools who responded to the question: “Would you prefer your primary school to operate under a denominational (religious) patron or to operate under a multi-denominational (non-religious) patron?” You can see this data in the “Search your local primary school tool”.
On average, 39 per cent of respondents with children currently in a religious primary school wanted to see a change. When publishing the survey last April, the department reported 40.7 per cent of households wanting change – this figure included households linked to denominational schools but not currently sending children there.
To account for the margin of error, the top two charts feature T-lines, which show the lower bound and upper bound results by taking the overall percentage responding positively in favour of change in the survey and deducting and adding the margin of error percentage respectively.
As part of our analysis, we filtered the data to isolate schools where there was a higher than 50 per cent response rate and counted 101 schools to show the raw majorities of parents who responded in favour of change.
To understand the impact on large schools, we then filtered this data further to show schools with more than 100 households with pupils currently attending, where a majority accounts for the lower bound margin of error. See this data in the chart titled “The six largest religious primary schools where parents want change”.
The Department of Education’s original school-level data is available here.
