The importance of people of minority faiths having continued access to education in their own ethos was highlighted at the Council of Schools Charities’ annual meeting on Monday (April 28).
The ethos of Church of Ireland primary schools needs to be part of each school’s self–evaluation and stem from dialogue with the whole school community.
“Your history is not only your history but it’s embedded in a global perspective as well,” Professor Annette Scheunpflug remarked as she gave the keynote address at Dublin City University’s recent seminar on the history of Protestant comprehensive schools.
The Revd Professor Anne Lodge, who leads the Church of Ireland Centre at DCU, has presented new research into Protestant compreheneive schools, drawing on interviews and document archives, to tell their origin and contemporary stories and how their lived ethos is expressed.
Dr Ken Fennelly, who serves as Secretary to the General Synod’s Board of Education, shared a story of three parts from his own PhD research into the history of Protestant boarding schools.
An audience gathered at Dublin City University’s Purcell House recently to explore the unique story of the five Irish Protestant comprehensive schools and how they sit within the context of education in Ireland and further afield.
The SEC provides substantial grants to enable children of a Church of Ireland/Protestant denomination to attend a second level school of their own ethos.
Schools’ finances remain extremely challenging due to ongoing significant increases in energy, insurance, cleaning and waste disposal costs, as well as in the cost of teaching materials and buses.
“The current war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the people of that country and being displaced as a refugee is even more difficult at Christmas time. Our schools have responded to the arrival of refugees from Ukraine by opening their doors, and we see this response every day in schools and classrooms.”
