Pathetic-but feels like we won the lotto.

lazygal

Just got confirmation that our child has a place for the local Educate Together. She's less than a year old but some children her age have already been wait listed. Isn't it sad that in a system funded by taxpayers of all and no creeds we have to jump through these hoops and feel excited that we can educate our child without being excluded from the communion, confirmation and religion nonsense.

robindch

Great news! hope you grab a good bottle on the way home

After I'd calmed down after getting the news 16 months ago, I celebrated by contacting the church where I was baptized and -- no longer needing to produce evidence I was a catholic so that my child would be educated -- asked them to make a note that I no longer wished to be considered a member of their organization. I still remember a light Kerry accent replying "Ah, wiv niver done dat before".

BTW, the ET school which my own Snowflake attends has exceeded my expectations in every way -- it's brilliant.

Zamboni

lazygal wrote: »

Just got confirmation that our child has a place for the local Educate Together. She's less than a year old but some children her age have already been wait listed. Isn't it sad that in a system funded by taxpayers of all and no creeds we have to jump through these hoops and feel excited that we can educate our child without being excluded from the communion, confirmation and religion nonsense.

Congrats! That is huge.
Did they actually confirm a place in a year or did they just give you a pre-enrolment number?
I have found the different ETs have very diverse approaches to their pre-enrolment lists and it can be difficult to get information from them.
Some won't confirm places at all until the year of the admission.

lazygal

We have a place, our local one is first come, first served. Got the application in when she was four months :rolleyes: and just got the letter to say there's a place for her. The local Catholic school is fine, I'd have a preference for it were it not for the Alive-O bull, but its one less thing to worry about.

jank

lazygal wrote: »

We have a place, our local one is first come, first served. Got the application in when she was four months :rolleyes: and just got the letter to say there's a place for her. The local Catholic school is fine, I'd have a preference for it were it not for the Alive-O bull, but its one less thing to worry about.

Interesting, why would it be your preference apart from the religious teaching?

Hotblack Desiato

Some people just don't dig on swine sectarian and sexist education - they don't have to be atheists to have a problem with how the vast majority of schools in this country operate.

Congrats OP and lucky you for having an ET within reach - people think lack of choice is a rural thing, but large tracts of Dublin don't have any non-religious, non-Gaelscoil option either.

Where I live has TWO Gaelscoils and a large catchment area, 5 RCC primary schools IIRC and a CoI primary. No ET though and it seems no prospect of either, at least not in time for my kids (one's just started school and the other isn't 2 yet. )

Zamboni

lazygal wrote: »

Just got confirmation that our child has a place for the local Educate Together.

Me too!
Wahay - what a fricking relief .

Hotblack Desiato

Survey recommends an ET in each area

Who knows, within a few decades parents in Ireland might have a real choice...

iguana

Out of interest what year did you apply for and does that make a difference? And does your home location count? We don't live near where we intend on living in 5 years time and the school in the area we'd be most likely to live in has it's admissions draw next month.