SCOIL CHRÍOST RÍ in Cloughleigh, Ennis is to become Clare’s first designated DEIS plus school.
Increased funding plus the sanctioning of additional teaching posts and support staff have been approved for Scoil Chríost Rí as a result of its new designation. It is one of 121 schools nationally included in the DEIS Plus scheme, deemed to have the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton (FG) has announced a €48m investment in the new DEIS Strategy and DEIS Plus scheme. The measures represent a the biggest full-year investment in targeted supports to address educational disadvantage since the establishment of the DEIS programme in 2006.
Nationally, the measures announced under DEIS Plus and the DEIS Strategy will deliver over 400 additional roles, including approximately 350 teacher posts, benefiting some 700 schools nationwide. No school will lose existing DEIS supports under these changes.
Clare currently has 109 primary schools, 28 of which are designated as DEIS schools. There are sixteen post-primary schools in Clare, three of which are DEIS. Scoil Chríost Rí is the first school in the county to be marked as DEIS plus.
Scoil Chríost Rí first opened in 1978 on the banks of the River Fergus. In April 2018, staff and students moved into the current building with the €6.5m officially opened by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (FG) in April 2019.
As part of the DEIS Strategy, the ten year plan aims to address educational disadvantage and promote equity across all schools supported by this investment. The strategy includes strengthened wellbeing, inclusion and community partnership supports, additional community link workers, increased capitation funding and additional supports for teacher professional learning, free period products in all schools by 2027 and a robust monitoring and evaluation framework with annual reporting. The strategy will be delivered through three phased implementation plans to 2035.
Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) services are to be extended to 130 additional schools, including those outside the traditional DEIS programme, widening the safety net for vulnerable children and young people.
According to Minister Naughton, “A strong evidence-based approach was used to identify schools for inclusion in the DEIS Plus scheme. Using the most up-to-date data available, a newly refined identification model used indicators of concentrated and persistent disadvantage over a three-year period to identify the schools where additional support will have the greatest impact”.
She added, “Every child and young person deserves the chance to stay in school, to feel supported, and to thrive. This programme is about putting their needs at the centre, about strengthening their wellbeing and giving the opportunity to break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage. The DEIS Strategy to 2035 and the introduction of the DEIS Plus scheme will deliver a more responsive, evidence-based system of supports, reaching children and young people wherever educational disadvantage exists. These measures ensure that we are targeting resources where they are needed the most and support schools to make a real and lasting difference”.
Circulars will be issued to schools in the coming weeks outlining arrangements for new posts and other matters under the scheme, and the DEIS Plus scheme appeals process, the Department of Education have confirmed.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) said he was “delighted” with Scoil Chríost Rí’s new designation. “This means a lot more funding for the school and the sanctioning of new teaching posts and support staff”.
He continued, “For many decades fantastic work has being done at Críost Rí to level the playing field for young people and ensure that they get the same life opportunities as others, the approval of Deis Plus status will significantly help this ongoing body of work”.
