Facilities:
This links in with Education Policy change in recent years, according to the following article Education Policy Outlook: Ireland (OCED) schools need to raise their quality through improvements made to the school. The same article Education Policy Outlook: Ireland (OCED)(4) also talks about how education policy change needs to also improve the students knowledge of equality. The quality of their education in term preparing the students for their futures. There is clear evidence that the school attempts to follow this education policy change to improve equality within the school. The school encourages equality with many posters lining the halls and some classes preaching and teaching equality.
The most significant change in the school however has to have been when the school built an extension to the single story of the school in 1969. This extension coincided with the introduction of the ‘Free scheme’ of education in Ireland. This policy was announced in November 1966 by sitting Fianna Fáil Td Donogh O’Malley and according to (O’Dubhlaing, Seân, 5) had major ramifications. These changes in educational policy allowed families to send more children to school andt his was a time of extreme change within Ireland both socially and economically. It is noted by (O’Dubhlaing, Seân, 5) that the decision to introduce free education was seen as the most important policy decision of the century, making second level education free opened up higher education, which in turn created thousands of jobs none of which would have been possible without the ‘Free Scheme’ (O’Dubhlaing, Seân, 5). According to (O’Dubhlaing, Seân, 5) there was a need for greater educational opportunity and equality within the social classes. Before the introduction of this policy Ireland was predominantly a country whereby children were only educated to the age of 14, following this introduction however there was near universal secondary level education. It is widely accepted that the Celtic Tiger boom of the 1990s and early 2000s was hugely influenced by the opening up of secong level education to everyone. Oatlands College itself was at first reluctant to sign up for this scheme due to very real worries about funding but eventually under strong pressure from the Department of Education eventually signed up for the scheme in 1967 (Collins and Madigan, (1)).
Oatlands College Gymnasium [2]
Subjects:
Oatlands College has an excellent selection of subjects for its students to take at both Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate level, allowing students to explore many different area’s e.g. Technical graphics, art, computer studies preparing students for the future. The selection of subjects is another example of school to following education policy change laid out in the article (O’Dubhlaing, Seân, 5).Information on the subjects taken at the Junior Certificate level and Leaving Certificate can be found here.
The school also offers an optional Transition year course. This year exposes students to a huge variety of different modules and experiences they would not usually have the opportunity to experience. Another example of the school preparing students for life after school. Guidance Counselling is available to all students present and past, a fact I myself took advantage of after leaving the school when I unsure what I wanted to do in future. This availability of the guidance counselling is yet another example that highlighting the ethos of this school, being very much inclusive with genuine caring on behalf of the staff and school for all students.
The school have specially designed departments to deal with all of the different subject departments available to the students and can be found on their website:
A brief history of Oatlands College 