CALLYSTOWN NATIONAL SCHOOL

ENROLMENT/ADMISSIONS POLICY

Callystown National School Admissions policy

Admission Policy

of

Callystown National School

Clogherhead, Co. Louth

14252G

School Patron: Archbishop of Armagh

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 25/06/2020. 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 Callystown National School’s 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
Callystown National School is a Catholic co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos under
the patronage of the Arch Bishop of Armagh
“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:
(a) the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil, including the
intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual aspects; and
(b) a living relationship with God and with other people; and
(c) a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus;
and
(d) 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 Callystown
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.

3. Admission Statement
Callystown National School will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of
the following:
(a) the gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(b) the civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(c) the family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(d) the sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student
concerned,
(e) the religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(f) the disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(g) the ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
(h) the Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student
concerned, or
(i) 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, ‘civil status ground’, ‘disability ground’,
‘discriminate’, ‘family status ground’, ‘gender ground’, ‘ground of race’, ‘religion ground’, ‘sexual
orientation ground’ and ‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section
3 of the Equal Status Act 2000.

 

Callystown National School is a school whose objective is to provide education in an
environment which promotes certain religious values and does not discriminate in relation to
the admission of a student who has applied for a place in the school in accordance with section
7A of the Equal Status Act 2000.
Callystown 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.
Callystown 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.

4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the school/special class
Callystown National School promotes the inclusion of children with special educational needs and
has successfully integrated many pupils with varying and complex needs into mainstream education.
The success of our inclusion programme is fully dependent on acquiring the services necessary for
the child’s individual needs to be catered for and for there to be no significant negative impact on
the educational opportunities of the other children in the school. Where there are significant
educational needs identified, necessitating extra supports, all relevant information and reports will
be forwarded to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) as part of the school’s application
for required support.
The Board of Management of Callystown National School upholds the constitutional rights of
children with special educational needs to be provided with the supports and/or physical
infrastructure necessary to integrate them appropriately into mainstream education. It also
endorses the constitutional right of all of its children to an equal and appropriate education in a safe
learning environment and free from serious disruption. Therefore, in cases where the board feels
that a child’s special educational needs cannot be adequately met from the supports available from
NCSE and/or physical infrastructure available in the school or that the other pupils’ educational
opportunities will be severely compromised, it reserves the right not to proceed with an admission.
With the establishment of two classes for autistic students for the school year commencing
2025/26, an enrolment policy has been ratified by the Board of Management that will manage the
enrolment of pupils to these classes.

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

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:
In the event of the number of children seeking enrolment in any given class/standard exceeding the
number of places available the following criteria will be used to prioritise children for enrolment:
A. Brothers and sisters (including stepsiblings, resident at same address) of children already
enrolled with priority going to be oldest.
B. Children living within the agreed school catchment area. This area is defined as that part of
Clogherhead Parish, bounded by the dividing line with Termonfeckin Parish to the South
and West, and the townlands of Cruicetown, Reynoldstown and Dales to the North.
C. Children living within the parish – priority oldest.
D. Children of current school staff – priority oldest.
E. Children whose home address is closest to the school (as measured by a straight line on an
O.S. map) if the child is normally resident outside of the parish/agreed catchment area.
In the event of being unable to enrol a child(ren) from categories A, B, C in a given class at the
beginning of a year, or mid-year, such children will receive priority (in order of A, B, C) for the
subsequent school year over other children on the class waiting list.
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
enrolment will then be determined on age, where the older will be given enrolment priority.

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:
(a) a student’s prior attendance at a pre-school or pre-school service, including naíonraí,
(b) the payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school;

(c) a student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude;
(d) the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student’s parents;
(e) a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other
meeting as a condition of admission;
(f) 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 where a sibling is currently attending the
school.
(g) 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 31 st
January 2025 only).

8. Decisions on applications
All decisions on applications for admission to Callystown National School will be based on the
following:
 Our school’s admission policy
 The school’s annual admission notice
 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
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 Callystown National School, you must indicate
(i) 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
(ii) 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 Callystown 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.
(iii) 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
(iv) 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 school 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 Callystown 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 Callystown 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.
Applicants whose applications are received after the closing date, outlined in the Annual Admission
Notice, will be placed at the end of the waiting list in order of the date of receipt of the application.
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.
Late applicants will be notified of the decision in respect of their application no later than three
weeks after the date on which the school received the application. Late applicants will be offered a
place if there is place available. In the event that there is no place available, the name of the
applicant will be added to the waiting list as set out in Section 13.

15. Procedures for admission of students to other years and during the school year

Pupils may transfer to Callystown National School at any time subject to the school’s Admission
Policy and on whether the class size at the requested grade has reached its maximum. The pupil’s
parents/guardians will be asked to provide relevant information from the child’s previous school
including progress reports, attendance records, behaviour reports and any other relevant
documents that are deemed relevant. Admission will be subject to the provision of the above
documents. When a pupil has transferred to Callystown National School and has been registered,
the school will inform the pupil’s previous school and make the necessary adjustments to the
Primary Online Database (POD).

16. Declaration in relation to the non-charging of fees
The board of Callystown 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-
(a) an application for admission of a student to the school, or
(b) the admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.

17. Arrangements regarding students not attending religious instruction
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) or the student, as the case may be, to discuss how the request may be
accommodated by the school.
Callystown National School welcomes students of all religions and none. As a school operating under
the Catholic Ethos, Callystown National School provides Catholic religious instruction only. There is
no compulsion on any non-Catholics to participate in these lessons. The school does not have the
capacity in terms of physical or human resources to arrange for the supervision of non-Catholics
during religious instruction. Therefore non-Catholic students are accommodated in the classroom
during these lessons. The class teacher will provide alternative learning resources for them. Where a
family has a strong objection to their child being in the classroom while Catholic religious instruction
is taking place, they are welcome to bring their child away for the duration of the lesson and return
her/him after the lesson is over.

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 and Skills.
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)
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. (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 and Skills.
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.

The Board of Management reviewed and ratified this policy on the 22 nd of January 2025 .

Signed: Fr. Paul Byrne , (Chairperson, BOM)
The policy is communicated to the members of the BOM and is available to the wider
school community through the school website.