Admission Policy 2025-2026

Admission Policy of St. Mary’s National School

School Address: Castle Street, Cloghan, Co. Offaly

Roll number: 20068W

School Patron/s: Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois

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 6^th October 2025. It is published on the school’s website and will be made available in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.

The relevant dates and timelines for St. Mary’s National School 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.

2. Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school

St. Mary’s National School is an inclusive Catholic co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnois.

“Catholic Ethos” in the context of a Catholic primary school means the ethos and characteristic spirit of the Roman Catholic Church, which aims at promoting:

the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil, including the intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual aspects; and
a living relationship with God and with other people; and
a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of

Jesus; and

the formation of the pupils in the Catholic faith, and which school provides religious education for the pupils 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

St. Mary’s National School 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.

St. Mary’s National School is a Catholic Primary School concerned with the spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual development of a child, in a warm, caring environment, in partnership with parents, parish and community. Our school is an inclusive Catholic School where all children are treated equally, are helped to grow in knowledge and understanding and are encouraged to live a healthy, responsible Christian life.

St. Mary’s National School celebrates the uniqueness of the child and will seek to develop each child’s potential to the full. We aim to provide a safe, and sensitivity for the feelings, rights and views of others. We are fully committed to offering excellence in education and promoting the highest possible achievements for our pupils by:

- offering a broad-based curriculum, facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, promoting enjoyment in learning and providing knowledge and skills to equip students for work and leisure as active, confident and responsible members of a rapidly changing society and - providing a secure yet challenging environment where children can feel free to develop their lively, enquiring minds.

We strive to ensure that all children leave our school with the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy, an enthusiasm for learning, a thirst for knowledge, appreciation of their religion and the world they live in, and above all, many happy memories. This will enable them to achieve their full potential in school, to live happy, fruitful lives and to fully participate in life as mature, responsible adults.

Children enrolled in St. Mary’s National School are required to co-operate with the school’s Code of Behaviour and other policies on curriculum, organisation and management. Parents/guardians are responsible for ensuring that their children co-operate with these policies in an age appropriate way.

3. Admission Statement

St. Mary’s National School will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:

the gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,

the Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
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, ‘gender ground’, ‘civil status ground’, ‘family status ground’, ‘sexual orientation ground’, ‘religion ground’, ‘disability ground’, ‘discriminate’, ‘ground of race’ and ‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Equal Status Act 2000.

Additional information must be included (as applicable) in this section, in the case of single gender schools, post-primary denominational schools, denominational primary schools of a minority religion, all denominational schools, special schools and schools with special classes as set out below. All schools must include the below text as part of their admissions statement; St. Mary’s National School will cooperate with the National Council for Special Education in the performance by the Council of its functions under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 relating to the provision of education to children with special educational needs, including in particular by the provision and operation of a special class or classes when requested to do so by the Council. St. Mary’s National School will comply with any direction served on the patron or the board, as the case may be, under section 37A and any direction served on the board under section 67(4B) of the Education Act. St. Mary’s National School is a school whose objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values and does not discriminate where it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not (insert details of particular religious denomination concerned) and it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

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

Children with Special Educational Needs are welcome to enrol in St. Mary’s National School. We aim to provide all children in our school with an appropriate, inclusive education. The Board of Management may request copies of relevant medical and/or psychological reports. Where such a report is not available, the Board of Management may request that the child be assessed. The purpose of the assessment is to assist the school in establishing the educational and training needs of the child relevant to his/her disability or special needs and to profile the support services required.

Special Educational Needs Children, like all children in St. Mary’s National School will be resourced in accordance with the level of resources provided by the Department of Education and Science. These resources may include access to the provision of any or a combination of the following: Visiting teacher service, Resource teacher for special needs, Special Needs Assistant, Specialized equipment – furniture, Transport Services.

The school will meet with the parents or guardians of the child to discuss their needs and the schools’ suitability or capability in meeting these. If considered necessary, consultations with the school, parents and other professionals will be held.

Note for schools: The act does not require schools and special classes providing for a category or categories of special educational needs to change their current status. The current arrangements in relation to the category or categories of special educational needs provided by schools will continue as in previous years unless otherwise directed by the NCSE or the Department.

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

All Denominational Schools

St. Mary’s National School is a Roman Catholic School and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of Roman Catholic denomination where it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

6. Oversubscription (this section must be completed by all schools including schools that do not anticipate being oversubscribed)

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:

Siblings of children already enrolled in the school. Children who are residents of the parish • Children of past pupils. Children who are not residents of the parish, with priority given to children whose home address is closest to the school.

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:

Priority will be decided based on age, with older children being offered places in the first instance.

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:

Points (a) to (g) must be included here by all schools. There are limited exceptions to some of these (highlighted in red below) and schools must retain the exceptions that apply to them and delete those that do not: a student’s prior attendance at a pre-school or pre-school service, including naíonraí, the payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school; (c) a student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude; the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student’s parents; a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a condition of admission; 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, in the case of the school wishing to include a selection criteria based on (1) siblings of a student attending or having attended the school. 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 30^th January 2026 only).

8. Decisions on applications

All decisions on applications for admission to St. Mary’s National School will be based on the following:

Our school’s admission policy
The school’s annual admission notice (where applicable)
• The information provided 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 15 below 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 18 below for further details).

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

In accepting an offer of admission from St. Mary’s National School, you must indicate—

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 concerned and
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 St. Mary’s National

School 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.

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
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. Section 66(6) allows a board to provide a patron or another board of management with a list of the students in relation to whom—

(i) an application for admission to the school has been received, (ii) an offer of admission to the school has been made, or

(iii) an offer of admission to the school has been accepted.

The list may include any or all of the following:

(i) the date on which an application for admission was received by the school; (ii) the date on which an offer of admission was made by the school;

(iii) the date on which an offer of admission was accepted by an applicant; (iv) a student’s personal details including his or her name, address, date of birth and personal public service number (within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005).

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 St. Mary’s National School 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 St. Mary’s National School 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: Pupils may be able to transfer to St. Mary’s National School subject to space being available in the relevant class group. The standard Admission Application Form must be submitted. This application will then be considered by the Board of Management. A written response will be forwarded in respect of all applications within 3 weeks of receipt of application. (iv)Further information such as reports and relevant documentation from the pupil’s previous school will be requested after the acceptance of a place at St. Mary’s National School.

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: Pupils may be able to transfer to St. Mary’s National School at any time during the school year, subject to space being available in the relevant class group. The standard Admission Application Form must be submitted. This application will then be considered by the Board of Management. A written response will be forwarded in respect of all applications within 3 weeks of receipt of application. Further information such as reports and relevant documentation from the pupil’s previous school will be requested after the acceptance of a place at St. Mary’s National School.

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

This rule applies to all schools.

The board of St. Mary’s National School or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-

an application for admission of a student to the school, or
the admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.

Exceptions apply only in relation to fee charging post primary schools, the boarding element in Boarding Schools and admission to post leaving cert or further education courses run by post-primary schools.

17. Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction

This section must be completed by schools that provide religious instruction to students.

The following are the school’s arrangements for students, where the parents or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, who has requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction in the school. These arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students: A written request should be made to the principal of the school. A meeting will then be arranged with the parent(s) to discuss how the request may be accommodated by the school. With the agreement of the parent(s), the child will be assigned activities in another subject area and he/she will remain in the classroom during Religious Education classes.

18. 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.

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 review of that decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal 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 review of 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 review of 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)

(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.

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.

Ratification of Policy

This policy was adopted by the Board of Management on ___________________

Signed: _________________________ Signed: _________________________

Chairperson of Board of Management Principal

Date: __________________________ Date: ___________________________

St. Mary's National School

Admissions Policy