St. Brigid's N.S.

Dizzy Bug

Hi,

Does anyone know what is happening with St. Brigid's N. S? Are they moving? I hear space is limited for Sept 08 and could be housing children in prefabs on a separate site in Charlesland?

scivvy

They don't know what they're up to from what i can gather. i've got a child there and don't intend sending my other chikdren if they move. they've overcrowded the school so much this year that they only have room for one infant class next year which may not be enough to house all the siblings of the children already attending there. They also say that they may rent out some building that was intended to be used as a pub in charlesland and use part of the carpark as the playground. I don't think i'd be happy with this.

scivvy

Has anyone got any news about what the Board of Management have decided? Parents really need to know what's happening in order to plan forward.

Dizzy Bug

scivvy wrote:

Has anyone got any news about what the Board of Management have decided? Parents really need to know what's happening in order to plan forward.

I was speaking with a parent who has a child in St. Brigid's and they have not heard anything since June, so maybe no decision made just yet. They were very unhappy with the situation with overcrowding and the fact that no chance to move child to a town centre school as other schools were full.

eigrod

We are now seeing up close and personal the manifestation of Fianna Fáil's building policy over the past 15 years that showed an absolute total disregard for putting adequate infrastructure in place first, or at the very least in tandem with the building projects.

I feel for the parents, but only the ones that didn't vote Fianna Fáil.

scivvy

:

eigrod wrote:

We are now seeing up close and personal the manifestation of Fianna Fáil's building policy over the past 15 years that showed an absolute total disregard for putting adequate infrastructure in place first, or at the very least in tandem with the building projects.

I feel for the parents, but only the ones that didn't vote Fianna Fáil.

I'm a parent of a child in this school and didn't vote fianna fail but i'm afraid it's a situation that our local councillors were aware of some years ago and they didn't do anything about it and two of them are f. gael. I feel it's also the fault of the Board of Management, they seem to have overcrowded the school on purpose to enable them to go to the Dept of Ed and ask to move. Only one sixth class left this year so only one junior infants should have been taken in but they took 3 classes in. As far as i'm aware this is the first time in the history of the school they've ever taken in this amount. They say they're moving for educational reasons but i don't think it's in my child's educational interest to be in an overcrowded school.:mad: Also the dept have agreed to build a school in charlesland regardless who takes it so really that would solve Brigid's problems. At the end of the day i reckon the nuns want out and that's just the bottom line. Also it doesn't make sense to open up another catholic school when there is a huge need for multi denominational.:mad: :mad: :mad:

dubrunner

eigrod wrote:

We are now seeing up close and personal the manifestation of Fianna Fáil's building policy over the past 15 years that showed an absolute total disregard for putting adequate infrastructure in place first, or at the very least in tandem with the building projects.

I feel for the parents, but only the ones that didn't vote Fianna Fáil.

Ridiculous comment.

Hammiepeters

dubrunner wrote:

Ridiculous comment.

Not totally ridiculous dub. Not at all.

eigrod

dubrunner wrote:

Ridiculous comment.

You might enlighten us as to why ?

dubrunner

Hammiepeters wrote:

Not totally ridiculous dub. Not at all.

Again another classic example of FF bashing from HP.

Come back when you have something constructive to say on these local issues, not constantl laying the blame at the door of politicians.

mikedragon32

If this can't be brought back on topic very quickly the thread will be locked.

Read the charter, particularly in relation to off-topic posting and abuse/flame.

Ru

mikedragon32 wrote:

If this can't be brought back on topic very quickly the thread will be locked.

DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!

I missed my chance to rant..............

Anyway, to continue to the topic. I was informed that all St. Bridgits attending students will be offerd a place in the new school. Unfortunaltely, this still won't solve overcrowding unless the school is monterous in size.

scivvy

Ru wrote:

DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!

I missed my chance to rant..............

Anyway, to continue to the topic. I was informed that all St. Bridgits attending students will be offerd a place in the new school. Unfortunaltely, this still won't solve overcrowding unless the school is monterous in size.

The problem isn't just the overcrowding in the school the fact is the majority of parents don't want to move. There are quite a few parents that don't drive and they rely on walking to school (including myself) so moving the school to charlsland isn't really an option for us. Charlsland is in need of it's own school . the dept of ed said that the greystones area was in need of 64 new classrooms within the next ten years. By moving an already existing 13 classes to a proposed 32 classroom school this only gives us an extra 19 classrooms so there's still a huge shortfall. The new school should be a NEW school for every one in the charlsland / Eden Gate area.
If zapi get the go ahead for the 260 units they want and if the harbour goeas ahead, and also the proposed 2000 units for charlsland golf club the demand for school places in the future is going to be enormous. So closing an existing school is insane.

Ru

scivvy wrote:

If zapi get the go ahead for the 260 units they want and if the harbour goeas ahead, and also the proposed 2000 units for charlsland golf club the demand for school places in the future is going to be enormous. So closing an existing school is insane.

I 100% agree that moving the school is an idiotic plan. It defeats the purpose. But Zapi only provide the school. They don't care what happens with it.
I "personally" don't think they give a rat’s arse about our children or us. They exist to make money like all businesses. If building a school increases their chance of making money, then do so. If they cared, they would build the school, staff it and have minimal or no fees. They can certainly afford to do so.

What is the council’s opinion on this situation, or do they have one?

scivvy

Ru wrote:

But Zapi only provide the school. They don't care what happens with it.
I "personally" don't think they give a rat’s arse about our children or us. They exist to make money like all businesses. If building a school increases their chance of making money, then do so. If they cared, they would build the school, staff it and have minimal or no fees. They can certainly afford to do so.

What is the council’s opinion on this situation, or do they have one?

Don't be under the illusion that zapi are providing any school . If and I stress only IF they get planning permission for the 260 units then they will sell a five acre site to the Dept of Ed capped at one million per acre for the dept of Ed to build a school. ZAPI ARE NOT BUILDING ANY SCHOOL.
There only seems to be 2 concillors who care about the situation in Greystones and they don't even live there. Tom Fortune and Deirdre De Burca. I don't have time to go into what the others think.

Dizzy Bug

scivvy wrote:

Don't be under the illusion that zapi are providing any school . If and I stress only IF they get planning permission for the 260 units then they will sell a five acre site to the Dept of Ed capped at one million per acre for the dept of Ed to build a school. ZAPI ARE NOT BUILDING ANY SCHOOL.
There only seems to be 2 concillors who care about the situation in Greystones and they don't even live there. Tom Fortune and Deirdre De Burca. I don't have time to go into what the others think.

Does this mean that Zapi are holding the children of Greystones education to ransom?

Why relocate St Brigid's if there is a possibilty of no school or a long delay before planning process is complete? Also if Dept of Ed say that an additional 64 classes are needed surely this is more reason not to close St. Brigid's?

Charlie-Bravo

scivvy wrote:

ZAPI ARE NOT BUILDING ANY SCHOOL.

Well let's hope they don't build the school because they built the running track at the Charlesland Recreational & Sports Centre and only put in 6 lanes instead of 8! duh! did anyone in their design team go to sports day when they were at school or even watch athletics on TV?!

...thinking about it they could easily tender for the construction work tendered by the Dept of Education...reap the profits from the contract...ensure small-sized classrooms (no wait, we want small numbers in the classrooms - not small classrooms; they'd better get the design brief right).....

scivvy

Dizzy Bug wrote:

Does this mean that Zapi are holding the children of Greystones education to ransom?

Why relocate St Brigid's if there is a possibilty of no school or a long delay before planning process is complete? Also if Dept of Ed say that an additional 64 classes are needed surely this is more reason not to close St. Brigid's?[/QUO

Cannot understand why they are moving when they know the dept will open up the new school and this will cope with the overflow. Nobody knows for sure but it seems like there is already a deal done on the existing school. The nuns are building a new convent so they are obviously moving. I heard only yeasterday that the principal Sr. Kathleen wasn't coming back in Sept, is there any truth to this? If parents were informed before we would have never enrolled our child there.

As regards zapi, they don,t give a crap about schools otherwise they would have provided one in the first phase. It's the councillors job to zone appropiate sites for schools and the dept of Ed's job to buy sites and get the schools built and staffed.. zapi are developers, there to make money and nothing else.

cheers

Dizzy Bug wrote:

Does this mean that Zapi are holding the children of Greystones education to ransom?

If planning permission is now delayed because of further information being needed does this also mean that the whole school issue for the charlsland area will also be delayed.Why doesn,t the Dep of Ed just cpo the site and get on with it.

scivvy

Yes the dep of ed should just C.P.O the two sites and start building the new school instead of waiting for wcc to make a decision, after all a school is badly needed pretty soon in the charlesland area and ST.B's children are bearing the brunt of it.

cheers

Did anyone see the front of the Bray people yesterday? Seems like St Brigid's are going to Charlesland after all. Just another blow for the people of Greystones losing this amenity. This will affect some of the businesses in the town surely. What is happening with our town?

mikedragon32

cheers wrote:

Did anyone see the front of the Bray people yesterday? Seems like St Brigid's are going to Charlesland after all. Just another blow for the people of Greystones losing this amenity. This will affect some of the businesses in the town surely. What is happening with our town?

How exactly does a school moving one mile become a loss of amenity and a blow for the people of Greystones?

scivvy

mikedragon32 wrote:

How exactly does a school moving one mile become a loss of amenity and a blow for the people of Greystones?

It's more than one mile Mike, it's exactely 3.3 km. Have you ever tried walking a few children to school with a buggy school bags and in the depts of winter that far? Cheers is right, it is a loss to the children from the town . The dept have said that they would build a school for the children of charlsland which is great, it's going to badly needed but there is no need to close st.b's down.

Charlie-Bravo

Looking forward to sending yung'un to the new Charlesland School (especial if there is plenty of space as the SUV driving original greystonians don't fancy the extra mileage on their kid-killing machines)

Son of Jack

1. Trafalgar Rd and surrounds are chock a block with traffic every school day at drop off and collection time. How many children DO walk?

2. The work on the Marina will make for extra traffic: construction and employee. The finished Marina will generate MORE traffic: resident and visitor.

Did I read there is to be a cement factory on site? Whether or not, there will be noise and dust.

3. The La Touche is also to be developed. More noise! More dust!

Not a pleasant prospect for the present Brigid's site.

4. Many parents happy to have their children educated in the local PRIMARY school will be back behind the wheel transporting them to secondary schools outside the area.

St.David's is sadly undersubscribed. Smaller numbers make for smaller grants from the Department of Education. So it is an uphill struggle for St.David's to compete. Heroically they do try!!!


A state of the art primary school at Charlesland with enough space for play and sports? Yes please!

Though WCC not making a decision re the planning application on 16th August and asking Zapi for more detail will slow any move down.

scivvy

Son of Jack wrote:

1. Trafalgar Rd and surrounds are chock a block with traffic every school day at drop off and collection time. How many children DO walk?

2. The work on the Marina will make for extra traffic: construction and employee. The finished Marina will generate MORE traffic: resident and visitor.

Did I read there is to be a cement factory on site? Whether or not, there will be noise and dust.

3. The La Touche is also to be developed. More noise! More dust!

Not a pleasant prospect for the present Brigid's site.

4. Many parents happy to have their children educated in the local PRIMARY school will be back behind the wheel transporting them to secondary schools outside the area.

St.David's is sadly undersubscribed. Smaller numbers make for smaller grants from the Department of Education. So it is an uphill struggle for St.David's to compete. Heroically they do try!!!


A state of the art primary school at Charlesland with enough space for play and sports? Yes please!

Though WCC not making a decision re the planning application on 16th August and asking Zapi for more detail will slow any move down.

1.Of course you're going to have traffic,with any school that have over 350 pupils at collection and drop off time. Tell me a school that doesn't, but that doesn't mean that people don't walk. I for one do along with many others.

2. Just because the marina is going ahead doesn't mean the school has to move, if that's the case will St kevin's and pats have to 'relocate' also?

3. When the Meriden shopping centre was built people went on shopping in the town of Greystones they didn't move.

4. I will be quite happy for my children to attend the local secondary school as i'd rather my child spends his time studying than commuting.

5. Nobody is saying that Charlsland doesn't need a school but we also need to keep our school in the town.

mikedragon32

scivvy wrote:

They don't know what they're up to from what i can gather. i've got a child there and don't intend sending my other chikdren if they move. they've overcrowded the school so much this year that they only have room for one infant class next year which may not be enough to house all the siblings of the children already attending there. They also say that they may rent out some building that was intended to be used as a pub in charlesland and use part of the carpark as the playground. I don't think i'd be happy with this.

scivvy wrote:

It's more than one mile Mike, it's exactely 3.3 km. Have you ever tried walking a few children to school with a buggy school bags and in the depts of winter that far? Cheers is right, it is a loss to the children from the town . The dept have said that they would build a school for the children of charlsland which is great, it's going to badly needed but there is no need to close st.b's down.
It's not a loss. Charlesland is as much a part of Greystones as any other estate.

Isn't it better to have the school move down the road to a purpose built site a little more than the mile I suggested and a little less than the two you mooted, than to have no school at all. Have a look around south Dublin to see where schools have just closed for the purpose of property development.

If Brigid's move to a better site, there's an opportunity for someone else to set up a new smaller school there.

It strikes me that you're quite happy to have your kids wallow in the current location than move somewhere that could improve their educational experience, especially if, as you suggest the new school should be for the children of Charlesland. Why not have a school big enough and properly equipped for all of them?

scivvy

mikedragon32 wrote:

Isn't it better to have the school move down the road to a purpose built site a little more than the mile I suggested and a little less than the two you mooted, than to have no school at all. Have a look around south Dublin to see where schools have just closed for the purpose of property development.

If Brigid's move to a better site, there's an opportunity for someone else to set up a new smaller school there.

It strikes me that you're quite happy to have your kids wallow in the current location than move somewhere that could improve their educational experience, especially if, as you suggest the new school should be for the children of Charlesland. Why not have a school big enough and properly equipped for all of them?

The location to be exact is 2.2 miles away from it's current location.Fact.
Excellent, if someone else sets up another school there, as most of the parents will choose to stay. My child is not wallowing there, he is been educated, and I and other parents have no problem with the education they are receiving there. The experience they receive is very good and as the saying goes if it's not broken...

cheers

mikedragon32 wrote:

How exactly does a school moving one mile become a loss of amenity and a blow for the people of Greystones?

It's more than one mile. have you ever walked it? Probably not as you all get your private bus to the dart as it's too far to walk, true? Well it's another big change for greystones, the harbour area is changing and we won't go into that, the garda station will also be moving and now the school, it is a blow for those parents that rely on walking to school and there are many.

cheers

mikedragon32 wrote:

Isn't it better to have the school move down the road to a purpose built site a little more than the mile I suggested and a little less than the two you mooted, than to have no school at all. Have a look around south Dublin to see where schools have just closed for the purpose of property development.

And do you not think that's what's happening here?

mikedragon32

No, a school is being moved, not closed. There is no loss.