Gold star for pilot project supporting rural schools

Small schools have long been the lifeblood of rural Ireland, with generations of children coming through a unique education model typified by low pupil numbers and as few as two teachers guiding them through their primary school years.

Some schools saw their numbers increase during the pandemic when many families opted to relocate from urban to rural areas. The arrival of Ukrainian and other refugee families in recent years has further bolstered pupil numbers, yet there remains a fear that Government support of small schools isn’t quite what it should be.

At this year’s annual conference, the Irish National Teacher Organisation (INTO) called for the Small Schools Project – a pilot programme introduced in 2021 to support small schools – to be rolled out nationwide.

The project, which initially was a two-year scheme, has since been extended until 2026. It is designed to ‘inform the development of a policy of support for small schools so that they will have a sustainable future and continue to play an important role in their communities’.

The project encourages small schools to cluster together in local groups, enabling them to collaborate and identify common challenges and trial innovative solutions.

Education Minister Helen McEntee published an independent evaluation report of the scheme earlier this month, which outlines the positive impact of the project on the schools involved.

“Schools are at the heart of communities across the country and regardless of their size, they play a vital role in community life. The Small Schools Project continues to trial new initiatives that will be of benefit to small schools in addressing challenges they face for the future,” she says.

“The Programme for Government provides for a number of measures to support small schools, including introducing a new national Small Schools Project and trialling new administrative supports.

Small schools are those with four or less mainstream teachers and account for 39% of all schools across the country in the academic year 2024/25.

Learnings from the evaluation of the current project will form a strong basis to inform the future policy direction in relation to all small schools.”

Small schools are those with four or less mainstream teachers and account for 39% of all schools across the country in the academic year 2024/25. They are accommodated in 1,262 school buildings and represent 12.6% of total enrolments of all primary school pupils.

Six clusters of small schools are participating in the pilot project; two in Galway and one each in Donegal, Kerry, Waterford and Wicklow.

Massive isolation

Diana Keatley Robb, is principal of Killygordon National School, near Ballybofey in Co Donegal, which is one of four schools involved in the Donegal cluster, alongside Dunfanaghy NS, Ballymore NS, and Creeslough NS.

“We’re the furthest school geographically in the cluster as we’re in the east of the county, so we’re about 50km away from the other three who are all in the north west,” she explains.

“We are all under the patronage of the Church of Ireland and we meet up every six to eight weeks in person at a central location which gives us a chance to engage and collaborate. This is a much better set- up than online meetings which we did at the start.”

Diana is a teaching principal in her school of 22 pupils with one other teacher and a part-time special education teacher.

“For us, there is massive isolation in being a small school and we didn’t appreciate how much we were operating in a vacuum until this project came along. This gives us the opportunity to collaborate regularly, to work on projects together and to reduce the administration burden that is getting heavier for principals in all schools,” she says.

“Our principal release days give us the time and space to plan strategically for projects that will benefit all four schools and that power of four is proving very strong indeed.

“We implemented a wellbeing initiative in our first year of the programme where we looked at the wellbeing of our staff.

“In a two-teacher school, lunchtimes can be very isolated as one teacher will be on yard supervision and the other will be in the staffroom eating a sandwich on their own. We secured funding for lunchtime supervision so that the teachers could take their lunch together, not every day, but some days during the week. A small thing like this has had a massive impact. It gives teachers the chance to check in with each other instead of being ships passing in the night,” she says.

Recognition is key

“The children’s wellbeing was also a key part of the initiative and we organised a chess project in each school and then all met up to take part in a chess competition. Over the past two years, we’ve also focused on delivering music lessons in each of the schools and were able to perform a collective concert in Letterkenny.

“We are also hoping to secure funding to appoint someone to an executive officer role that would support all four schools to reduce the administrative role that principals currently have in schools. Our primary function is to deliver teaching and learning but when there’s a broken window or a blocked toilet, fixing these things is the job of the principal.”

Diana says the project inspires some confidence that the Government is committed to a future for rural schools with small numbers.

“Thankfully, there has been a move away from the cost benefit argument when it comes to small schools and we’re being acknowledged for the key role we play in communities.

Our primary function is to deliver teaching and learning but when there’s a broken window or a blocked toilet, fixing these things is the job of the principal.

“Department recognition on this is key with the funding provided through the project affording us the opportunity to try new models and initiatives and gives us the freedom to pursue ideas generated within the cluster.”

David Brennan is the National Small Schools co-ordinator. He says the role of small schools in rural Ireland is “vital”.

“I’m from a rural area myself so I know how vital schools are, they are the medium in which a community gels together so we need to ensure their future,” he says.

“The Small Schools Project is not just about keeping schools open; it’s about making them stronger, more dynamic, and central to the future of rural and community life.

“This project is sharing good practices and building relationships among the schools in each of the six clusters but there remains a lot of learning still to happen before the scheme can be rolled out nationally.”

In Co Kerry, Ursula Coffey is the co-ordinator of a cluster which straddles the Skellig peninsula and takes in five primary schools, having started out with three in 2022.

“We started out in 2022 with three schools; Scoil Náisiúnta Cílín Liath, Scoil an Gleanna and Scoil Naomh Mhichíl in Ballinskelligs, which would all be relatively close were it not for the mountain separating them,” she says.

“Last September two more schools, Scoil na mBraithre and Scoil Náisiúnta an Clochan joined and it’s been working well. Our cluster is a little different to others in that we have different patrons as Scoil An Ghleanna is under the governance of Kerry Education and Training Board.

“If you’re in a two-teacher school, there’s a very small opinion pool at play whereas when you widen it out, getting the perspective of other principals, you get more views.

“One of the common challenges facing our schools is the fact that while we’re all Gaeltacht schools – our pupils don’t speak Irish at home.

“The other big bonus has been the implementation of better IT systems, from the student roll to parental communications, that has been introduced in all five schools.

“It means the schools can upload education plans and other documentation that can then be shared.

“Having five schools speaking together makes a big difference and while they were wary at the start – many feared it was a step towards amalgamation – there’s been huge buy-in and that collective voice has power,” concludes Ursula Coffey.