Ratoath school given OK for new 24-classroom building

St Paul's National School in Ratoath has been granted planning permission to build a two-storey 24-classroom school at Jamestown to replace the existing temporary accommodation. The new school will also contain a general purpose room and two special needs classrooms and a car park will be developed to provide 72 new car parking spaces. The news comes just a week after the official opening of the new school buildings at Ratoath National School by Deputy Mary Wallace who recalled that the school, which she attended as a child, had only four classrooms at the time but now has 40. Deputy Wallace said she was delighted with the news about St Paul's school. “Following continued representations that included a meeting in December last with former Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe, this project is being delivered through the Rapid Delivery Programme. “A project manager has been appointed to oversee the project from planning permission stage through to construction and finally handover to the school authorities,†she said. Projects delivered under the Rapid Delivery Programme are high-priority projects which mean the traditional processes are streamlined and speeded up to ensure minimum delays in getting the projects on site. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the chairperson and members of St Paul's board of management and all the parents who kept in contact with me and who worked with me to support the delivery of this most important school project for the families involved with St Paul's and indeed the wider community,†Deputy Wallace said. “I would also like to thank Fr Gerry Stuart who at all time provided such excellent backup, facts and figures on the parish numbers. His ongoing support and commitment on behalf of the Diocese has been very important.†She also thanked Principal, Morag McGowan, and all the teachers for the wonderful education being provided to the pupils of St Pauls National School. Meanwhile, Deputy Wallace has been elected chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills, following the resignation of outgoing chair, Deputy Paul Gogarty of the Green Party. She said she was privileged to have been elected to the role and pointed out the committee had a very important and active role in helping to formulate and influence education policy. The Oireachtas Committee system allows TDs and Senators to directly interact with those who work at in the front line and enables Oireachtas members to utilise best practice to help formulate real change. Among the groups which attended last week's meeting of the committee were the Irish Universities Association, the Higher Education Authority, Union of Students Ireland, Teachers Union of Ireland, Irish Federation of University Teachers, IBEC and the Institute of Technology Ireland. Deputy Wallace said the most important people would always be the students in the education system and that everyone has a duty to work to ensure that they can have a clearer understanding of what they are studying, why they are studying it and where that information and education will take them in the future. Deputy Wallace said she has had a lifelong interest in improving the education system and its facilites for young people. As a former member of Meath VEC, she has seen the building of three new post-primary schools in her time, in Ashbourne, Dunboyne and Ratoath. At primary school level, there have been a number of school extentions and improvements in her area, including Skyrne, Rathfeigh, Bellewstown, Stamullen, Dunsany and officially opened new buildings in Kilbride, Cushinstown, Curragha and Ratoath.