Admissions

Admission Policy 

The College welcomes all eligible students who apply, including those with special educational needs.  The College is aware, in regard to admissions, of the principles and requirements of a democratic society and will both respect and promote respect for social diversity as regards values, beliefs, traditions, languages and ways of life.  The College is also required by law to have regard for the efficient use of resources and will have regard to all these considerations in managing the admission of students.  The College is fully aware of its obligations to provide for maximum accessibility of students to the College and to promote the right of parents to send their child to the school of their choice. While bearing all these in mind, the College also has a legal duty to the patron and trustees to uphold the characteristic spirit of a school, which is stated at the beginning of this document.

Participation Policy

It is the aim of the College to enable students to participate as fully as possible in all school programmes, both curricular and extra-curricular.  To enable this to happen, the board has put in place procedures to keep students and parents informed of all school activities and opportunities.  These procedures are also aimed at facilitating the involvement of students in the operation of the school, having regard to their age and experience.

Current Fees

The current fee for the academic year is €3700.  School fees are normally paid through a direct debit system.

Procedures

All applications for enrolment must be made on the prescribed Enrolment Application Form – copies of which are available from the College or from the College website.

In every application for enrolment the parents/guardian making the application are deemed to be giving to the College an implicit undertaking that they and the student for whom they are applying, will cooperate fully with the ethos of the College and will abide by the College Code of Conduct.

In the process of accepting an offer of a place, the parents/guardians must provide an explicit declaration that they and the student for whom they are applying, will cooperate fully with the ethos of the College and will abide by the College Code of Conduct.  Failure to provide such a declaration may entitle the College to refuse to enrol a student.

If an offer of a place in the College is not accepted within the time limit set out in the Letter of Offer and in the manner indicated, the College is entitled to regard that offer as having lapsed, and may proceed to offer that place to another applicant.

With the exception of applications concerning students to whom scholarships or bursaries are being offered, application forms received later than one year prior to 1 September in the year that the applicant is scheduled to commence his/her studies at the College will not be entitled to the priority stipulated below.

Final decisions are made by the Board in line with current legislation and with the resources available to the College.

ORDER OF PRIORITY IN ADMISSION IN FIRST YEAR

1. Recipients of scholarships/bursaries.  Ordinarily, the Board awards not more than four academic scholarships annually, on the basis of the results obtained in a scholarship examination. 

2. Brothers and sisters of former or current students, ranked by the date on which applications were received.
3. Sons and daughters of College staff, ranked by the date on which applications were received.
4. Nephews/nieces and grand-nephews/grand-nieces of Dominican Friars and Sisters, ranked by the date on which applications were received
5. Sons and daughters of past-pupils, ranked by the date on which applications were received.
6. Grandsons / grand-daughters of Past Pupils of Newbridge College ranked by the date on which applications were received.
7. Nephews and nieces of Past Pupils of Newbridge College ranked by the date on which applications were received.
8. At the discretion of the College, applications which exhibit special circumstances or needs, or a special relationship with the College.  Not more than five such special discretion places shall be available in any year.
9. All other applications, ranked by the date on which applications were received.  For purposes of prioritisation, applications for admission by or on behalf of persons resident in the greater Newbridge area shall be treated in each case as though the original application had been submitted on a date 24 months prior to actual receipt.  ‘Residency in the greater Newbridge area’ shall mean being a resident in the parish of Newbridge, or attending school in the parish of Newbridge, and/or being resident within a four-mile radius of the front gate of the College.  
It shall be sufficient, in the first instance, for the person making the application to provide a written statement to the effect that the young person for whom the application is being made ‘resides’ in the ‘greater Newbridge area’.  However, in the event of any query regarding this statement, the bona fides of the residency claim shall be determined by the College and its determination on the matter shall be final.
10. In order to broaden the experiences of our students, the College is open to accepting a limited number of students from overseas provided a suitable guardian is available.

The implementing of this order of priority shall take account of the need to maintain an equivalence among male and female students, both in each intake and in the College as a whole.

Parents have the right to appeal a refusal by a school to enrol a student (s. 29 of the Education Act  [1998]).  The appeal must be made within 42 calendar days from the date the decision of the school was notified to the parents.

TRANSFERS FROM OTHER SECOND-LEVEL SCHOOLS

The College may consider accepting a student from another second level school on having taken all the steps it deems necessary to satisfy itself that the reasons for the transfer are appropriate, that the transfer would be in the best interests of the student, and that the College would be able to accommodate the student.  The College may consult with the educational welfare officer as part of the process of deciding on an application for a transfer.

ENROLMENT OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Currently, the D.E.S. does not provide Newbridge College with an ex-quota Special Needs Teacher.  Consequently, there may be situations in which the College is unsure of its capacity to meet the special needs of applicants for enrolment. Where parents /guardians have reason to believe that their son/daughter is in need of any kind of special needs support, they should advise the College of this fact in writing (by providing a copy of all relevant assessments) at the time the application for enrolment is submitted.

Where, on the basis of the assessment reports provided, the College concludes that it needs further information before determining its capacity to meet the special needs of any applicant, it reserves the right to require the parents/guardians to provide any further reports and information that it may deem necessary.

Where the College concludes that resources over and above what it has available are required to meet the special needs of an applicant, it will, prior to the enrolment of the special needs student, request the D.E.S. to provide the necessary resources, which may include any or all of the following: visiting teacher services, resource teacher, special needs’ assistant, specialised equipment or furniture, transport services.  Furthermore, before a decision on enrolment is made, the College will meet with the parents to discuss the child's needs and the school's suitability or capability in meeting those needs. It may, in some instances, be necessary to defer enrolment until the D.E.S. has sanctioned the provision of the resources deemed essential to meeting a student’s special needs.

Where a student with special needs is enrolled at the College, the College will provide all relevant members of staff, on a confidential basis, with details of the various assessments that may have been provided to it in respect of that student – in order to ensure that the student’s special needs are met to the maximum extent.

RIGHT TO REFUSE AN APPLICANT

The College reserves the right to refuse an application for admission  in exceptional circumstances.

DATA PROTECTION

Parents/guardians applying to have their sons/daughters educated at Newbridge authorise the College to use the data they supply for all bona fide school purposes.