The staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the school's enrolment on 30 September of the previous school year. This is in accordance with guidelines agreed between my Department and the education partners. An independent appeals board is now in place to decide on any appeals to ensure transparency and openness in the system. The staffing at Holy Child senior girls' school for the 2003-04 school year was considered by the appeals board. Having considered the appeal with regard to criteria outlined in Department circular 19/02, the board was satisfied that a departure from the staffing schedule is not warranted in this case. The school's board of management was notified of the decision of the appeals board on 10 April. The appeals board's decision is final. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to intervene in the operation of the independent appeals board.
This school is among 2,350 primary schools participating in Giving Children an Even Break, which is a key component of my Department's strategy to discriminate positively in favour of children who are at risk of school failure or who are experiencing educational disadvantage. Schools receive a range of additional supports including teacher posts and other non-teaching supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The additional supports to be provided reflect the level of concentration of pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in schools invited to participate in the programme. The levels of disadvantage were established as a result of a comprehensive survey of primary schools carried out by the Educational Research Centre in March and April 2000 at the request of my Department.
The aim of the survey was to gain an indication of the level of disadvantage in each school using principals' responses to a questionnaire comprised of items relating to disadvantage. Resources were allocated to schools on a sliding scale and schools with greater proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds were allocated proportionately more resources than those with fewer numbers of such pupils. In the urban dimension, schools identified as having the highest concentration of pupils with characteristics that are associated with educational disadvantage were considered for additional staffing to implement a maximum class size of 20:1 in junior classes, infants through second class, and 27:1 in senior classes, third through sixth class.
Based on data supplied for the ERC survey by the school to which the Deputy refers, the school was selected in 2001 for inclusion in this category. It was allocated additional funding based on the percentage of disadvantaged pupils. Unfortunately, the school overstated the levels of disadvantage on the survey form which resulted in a miscalculation of points by the ERC. The ERC re-examined the data supplied and calculated the correct points total in respect of the school. The new total is lower than that on which the original level of staffing and funding allocation was based. Consequently, the posts allocated to the school will be suppressed at the end of the 2002-03 school year and the teachers in question will be placed on the diocesan teaching panel.