Lucan East ETNS will be accepting applications to the Lucan Common Enrolment System from next Thursday 8th October. If you would like to apply for a place for your children in any of the four LCES schools (Lucan East ETNS, Adamstown Castle ETNS, Esker ETNS and Griffeen Valley ETNS) you can do so by filling the form on the link below:
This can also be found on the Enrolment Tab on our school website.
What is the Lucan Common Enrolment System (LCES)?
Adamstown Castle, Esker, Griffeen and Lucan East Educate Together Schools are involved in the Lucan Common Enrolment System. When a parent/guardian makes an application to one of the schools they are applying to a centralised system. Children are assigned to one of the four schools based on specific criteria. The primary aim of the system is to promote inclusive local schools, to improve traffic management and mobility in Lucan and to encourage strong, integrated local communities.
Below is our Annual Admission Notice and our Admissions Policy:
Admission Policy of Lucan East Educate Together National School
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 18th September 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 Lucan East Educate Together National School’s (ETNS) 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.
Lucan East Educate Together NS is part of the Lucan Common Enrolment System (LCES) along with Adamstown Castle ETNS, Esker ETNS and Griffeen Valley ETNS. All admissions will involve a centralised application to the four schools. Children are assigned to one of the four schools based on specific criteria.
The total number of places available for Junior Infants for each school year will be published on the LCES annual admissions notice. All applications received in the Lucan Common Enrolment System process will be offered a place or placed on a waiting list. Offers will be made based based on the agreed criteria of siblings and proximity between home and school.
The primary aim of this system is to promote inclusive local schools, to improve traffic management and mobility in Lucan and to encourage strong, integrated local communities.
2. Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school
Educate Together schools are committed to the values laid down in Educate Together’s Charter. Our schools are learner-centred, equality-based, co-educational and democratically-run. This means that all members of the school community, whatever their social, cultural or belief background, work together in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. Students follow an Ethical Education curriculum, learning about morality and spirituality; equality and justice; belief systems and an ethical approach to the environment. It teaches students about different belief systems as well as atheism, agnosticism and humanism, without promoting any one worldview over another. Our equality-based ethos informs all policies and practices in the daily life of the school. In exercising this policy making and decision-making responsibilities, the school’s Manager/Board of Management upholds the characteristic spirit of the school.
Educate Together schools provide for equality of access in line with the Educate Together Charter and offer places to siblings enrolled in the school at the same time in the first instance.
The definition of a sibling in this policy includes step siblings and foster siblings who are enrolled in the school at the same time.
3. Admission Statement
Lucan East ETNS will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any of the following:
- the sex or gender ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the civil status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the family status ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the sexual orientation ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the religion ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the disability ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the ground of race of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
- the Traveller community ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
- 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.
4. Categories of Special Educational Needs catered for in the special class
Lucan East ETNS, with the approval of the Minister for Education and Skills, has established a special class to provide an education exclusively for students with Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders[1]. This class is referred to in this policy as a ‘special class.’
5. Admission of Students
Names of all applicants for mainstream classes, Junior infants and other year groups (Senior infants to Sixth class) are placed on the LCES database hosted by Aladdin, an independent database company. Children on the database will be allocated to one of the four participating schools, until all available places are filled. The LCES, using an agreed algorithm through the Aladdin database, will determine the school to which the child will be assigned based on the agreed criteria of siblings and proximity. (See Section 7 below)
A separate admissions process will be run for applications to Lucan East ETNS special class. If the class is oversubscribed, please see Section 7b below.
Lucan East ETNS shall admit all applicants assigned by the LCES, except where –
- the school is oversubscribed (please see section 7(a) below for further details)
- 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
- Where a student is less than 4 years of age on the 1st September of the school year concerned.
- Where a child is 13 years of age or older on the 1st September of the school year concerned.
- The special class attached to Lucan East ETNS provides an education exclusively for students with Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the school may refuse admission to this class, where the student concerned does not have the specified category of special educational needs provided for in this class.
6. 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:
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.
7. Oversubscription
- Mainstream classes – Junior infants and other year groups (Senior infants to Sixth class)
The Boards of Management of each school in the LCES will determine the number of places that are available to offer through the LCES system in any given year. In the event that the participating schools are oversubscribed, the school Principals (on behalf of their respective BOMS) 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 LCES annual admission notice for Junior Infants.
Priority Category 1: Siblings
Applicant students who are siblings of children and enrolled in an individual school at the same time.
Priority Category 2: Proximity to the school
Applicant’s proximity to the school. Proximity will be determined by reference to the distance between the applicant’s house and the school as determined on the GCS (Geographic Coordinate System) in the area. An individual school will offer remaining places to the children who are in closest proximity to that school, in the order of proximity, as determined by the Aladdin data base.
Due to the close proximity of Lucan East ETNS and Griffeen Valley ETNS one GPS reference point (being the center point of the roundabout between the two schools) is used to allocate places randomly between these two schools.
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), places will be offered or added to a waiting list by the earlier date of birth of the student.
- Special Class for children with Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)
If the special class is oversubscribed the school will apply the following selection criteria to students. These will be applied in the order listed below to applications received within the timeline as set out in the school’s annual admission notice for the class for children with Autism. The child must have a diagnosis of Autism meeting DSM IV/5 or ICT diagnostic criteria, irrespective of cognitive ability and must have a recommendation for placement in a special class in a mainstream school.
Priority Category 1:
Applicant students who have reached the age of 4 before the 1st of September of the year they are starting school.
Priority Category 2:
Applicant students who are currently attending the school and are within the age range suitable for the individual class (i.e. Junior Class: JI to 2nd, or Senior Class: 3rd – 6th).
Priority Category 3:
Applicant students who are siblings of children currently attending the school and are within the age range suitable for the individual class (i.e. Junior Class or Senior Class).
Priority Category 4:
Applicant students living within the area bounded by the following four roads: N4, R113, R120 and Thomas Omar Way/Adamstown Avenue and are within the age range suitable for the individual class (i.e. Junior Class or Senior Class).
Priority Category 5:
Applicant students living within the Lucan Area and are within the age range suitable for the individual class (i.e. Junior Class or Senior Class).
In the event that there are two or more students tied for a place or places in a particular class i.e. Junior/Senior in any of the selection criteria categories above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), places will be offered or added to a waiting list by the later date of birth.
8. Late Applications
All applications for admission to Junior Infant classes received after the closing date (as outlined in the annual admission notice for Junior Infants and other year groups (mainstream classes)) will be considered and decided upon based on a) siblings and b) proximity, in accordance with our school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act
All applications for admission to mainstream classes from Senior Infants to 6th class received after the closing date will be considered and decided upon based on a) siblings and b) proximity, in accordance with our school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any regulations made under that Act.
All applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual admission notice for our special class will be considered and decided upon based on the 5 categories above 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 not later than three weeks after the date on which the school received the application. Late applicants will be offered a place if there is a place available. In the event that there is no place the applicant will be allocated the next available place on the waiting list.
9. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription
In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available in Junior infants or other year groups, a waiting list of students whose applications for admission to LCES were unsuccessful due to the schools being oversubscribed will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought
Placement on each school’s waiting list is formulated by the LCES. This list is in the order of priority assigned to the students’ applications after LCES has applied the selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy see section 7 above. The LCES operates three waiting lists, based on the three GPS reference points; Adamstown Castle ETNS, Esker ETNS and Griffeen Valley ETNS/Lucan East ETNS.
Late applications will be added to the list and dealt with in accordance with Section 8 above.
In the event of there being more applications to the school year concerned than places available in a special class, a waiting list of students will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission is being sought.
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.
Late applications will be added to the list and dealt with in accordance with Section 8 above.
Waiting lists for mainstream classes and the special class(es) will expire at the end of each school year.
10. Admissions of students after the commencement of the school year
If a place is available after the commencement of the school year in which admission is sought, the place will be offered to the next place on the waiting list if there is one or to the next application.
11. Decisions on applications
All decisions on applications for admission to Lucan East ETNS will be based on the following:
- Our school’s admission policy
- The school’s annual admission notice (where applicable)
- 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 the LCES admission policy will not be used to make a decision on an application for a place in our schools.
12. Notifying applicants of decisions
Applicants will be informed in writing as to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the relevant annual admissions notice but no later than three weeks after the annual admissions process or for late applications, three weeks after the school receives an application.
If a student is not offered a place in any of the four participating schools, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated in writing to the applicant and details of the student’s place on the waiting lists for the school year.
Applicants will be informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the LCES allocation (see section 17 below for further details).
13. Acceptance of an offer of a place by an applicant
Parents must respond within the timeline indicated in the letter of offer. If there is no response to the offer within the given timeframe as set out by the annual admission notice, the offer of the place is withdrawn. It is the responsibility of the parent to monitor the email address that they have provided to the LCES for this Application process.
In accepting an offer of admission to Lucan East ETNS you must indicate —
- 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
- whether or not you have applied for and are 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.
14. 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 Lucan East ETNS where —
- it is established that information contained in the application is false or misleading.
- 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.
- 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
- an applicant has failed to comply with the requirements of ‘acceptance of an offer’ as set out in section 13 above.
15. 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 –
- An application for admission to the school has been received
- An offer of admission to the school has been made, or
- An offer of admission to the school has been accepted.
The list may include any of the following:
- The date on which an application for admission was received by the school
- The date on which an offer of admission was made by the school
- The date on which an offer of admission was accepted by an applicant
- 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)
16. Declaration in relation to non-charging of fees
The Board of Lucan East ETNS or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of –
- an application for admission of a student to the school, or
- the admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.
17. Reviews/Appeals
For mainstream classes, the parent of the student may request the LCES to review a decision to refuse admission.
The LCES will determine the particular Board of Management to which an applicant may appeal. The LCES will select the Board based on which school the applicant would have been allocated if the schools had not been oversubscribed, based on the agreed criteria of a) siblings and b) proximity.
For special classes the parent of the student may request the Board of Management of Lucan East ETNS 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 of Management 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 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 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).
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.
18. Data Protection
The school acknowledges its obligations as a data controller under the Data Protection Acts 1988 – 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information obtained for the purposes of allocating places in the school to students will only be used and disclosed in a manner which is compatible with this purpose. Only such personal data as are relevant and necessary for the performance of this function will be retained. The school undertakes to ensure that such information is processed fairly, that it is kept safe, secure, accurate, complete, and up to date. Individuals have the right to have any inaccurate information rectified or erased. All data submitted as part of the admissions process will be destroyed within twelve months of the end of the school year the application is for (as opposed to the receipt of the application). A copy of all personal data obtained and kept as part of the admissions process will be made available to the subject of such data on receipt of a written request to the chairperson of the board of management.
[1] Please note that because not all of the schools in the Lucan Common Enrolment System have special classes for children with ASDs, admissions are managed by each individual school, but under a similar process.
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