Educate Together is the representative organisation for primary & secondary multi-denominational schools in Ireland. It is an independent NGO that runs and supports schools that guarantee equality of access and esteem to children “irrespective of their social, cultural or religious background”. Educate Together schools are learner centred in their approach to education and are run as participatory democracies, with respectful partnership between parents, pupils and teachers. The Educate Together national office is working towards an Ireland in which all people have access to an excellent education that is inclusive of all, irrespective of belief system, ethnicity, class, culture, gender, language, sexuality, family background and ability.
As an Educate Together school, Portlaoise Educate Together National School is committed to the following four principles:
*Multi-denominational
Recognise all ethical and religious traditions.
Facilitate any group of parents who wish to organise religious instruction for their children outside school hours.
Have an Ethical Education Programme called Learn Together, which teaches children core values necessary to inform a child’s developing mind to live in our rapidly changing society. A premium is placed on appreciation and respect for social, cultural and other human difference, health and safety, individual/social responsibilities and rights.
*Child-centred
Our school teaches the Revised Primary School Curriculum for all Primary schools. Genuine dialogue and partnership between teachers and parents greatly enhances the teaching/learning process. The child is the focus of all school activity and decision-making.
*Co-educational
Our school is for girls and boys. Gender stereotyping and inequality are proactively addressed across the curriculum and in all school activities.
Democratically run
Parents have enhanced access and involvement in the running and development of the school in a very real sense. This unique level of parental involvement can only develop properly if it fully recognises and respects the professional role of the teacher and builds genuine partnership between the professional and the parent to provide the maximum educational benefit for the child.