The Department of Education has advanced its plans for the new second level school in Ballincollig and parents will decide the type of school by means of an online vote. At a recent Zoom meeting one of the applicants for the patronage of the new school, Le Chéile, presented their plans in a well-attended zoom webinar chaired by Pat Kinsella, former Principal of Coláiste Choilm. Among those who made presentations at the meeting were four Principals who had set up successful second level schools in green field sites, two of those schools under Le Chéile patronage, a significant umbrella organisation that acts as patron for 73 schools in Ireland. The need for the new school was explained by Tony Lee, former Principal of St Als, Carrigtwohill, who said there are up to 150 students in the Ballincollig catchment area that cannot get a second level place in the Ballincollig schools for the coming school year, and the need for places will be even greater in the years to come as Ballincollig continues to grow. Fr. George O’Mahony, PP, spoke of the need for this new school in the parish and how its opening will alleviate so much stress for parents and students and even grandparents. Terry McMahon urged people to vote for the Le Chéile school, explaining that the Le Chéile school will provide education through English. He said Ballincollig is already well served by an excellent Gaelcholáiste that will continue to cater for the Irish speaking students. People can access the voting page at: http://patronage.education.gov.ie/survey-list.aspx Parents will need their eircode and the pps numbers of their primary school children in order to vote, and all votes must be cast by 9am, on November 16th.
