What does the enacted Admissions Bill mean for Catholic primary schools?

The Admissions Bill (2018) was paused last year by the Minister for Education stating workload for schools the reason for not fully enacting the Bill, which supposedly ended the so-called Baptism Barrier in primary schools. While still a very fraught and flawed Bill, which still allows schools to discriminate on the basis of gender and […]

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Is it ok for a school to ask for your religion?

Before the Admissions Bill came into practice, all denominational schools were allowed to prioritise enrollment applications from families of the same religious belief as their school’s patron. Put simple, Catholic schools could prioritise Catholic children over non-Catholic children. In order for schools to be able to do this, they would ask for a Baptismal Certificate […]

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Phase 2: Report

In April 2018, Opting Out was born with the intention of giving primary schools the opportunity to demonstrate how they accommodate pupils and teachers from minority and non-faith backgrounds. Out of 3,115 primary schools in Ireland, 2,996 of them are run with a denominational ethos. We wrote to the various management bodies to see how […]

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Opting Out’s Mid Term Report

In April, Opting Out was born with the intention of giving primary schools the opportunity to demonstrate how they accommodate pupils and teachers from minority and non-faith backgrounds. Out of 3,115 primary schools in Ireland, 2,996 of them are run with a denominational ethos. The aim of the first phase was to give 6 months […]

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Balance in Sex Education

The focus on Relationships and Sexual Education in schools has been heightened by calls for removing the influence of the ethos in its teaching. This is coupled with the focus on the referendum on May 25th, where abortion is being discussed in many schools, (albeit mainly secondary schools.) Because the Catholic church is very much […]

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School Ethos and RSE

The Irish Independent covered the topic of Relationships and Sexual Education and the effect of the ethos of a school on its delivery. With over 90% of schools having to follow a Catholic programme, topics such as contraception, same-sex relationships, sex outside of marriage, etc. cannot be covered. Moreover, a number of secular schools are […]

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