Specialist Schools Programme

The original objectives of the Specialist School concept were designed to be a fully supportive direction of travel for the new post primary arrangements.  The focus had been:-

• To provide opportunities for pupils to benefit from wider learning experiences and to ensure maximum impact of the available expertise and resources, by promoting co-operation and collaboration among schools and between schools and other providers of education and training for 14-19 year-olds;
• To provide parents with greater choice among a range of schools, which have differing areas of focus;
• To raise standards and realise performance improvement for all young people; and
• To develop links between schools, their local communities and the economy to ensure that all young people are given a strong foundation for lifelong learning and work.

The Specialist Schools programme was an important element of the overall support for the implementation of the Entitlement Framework (EF) and 44 schools were designated as specialist schools over a 4 year period. Evidence suggests that these schools actively contributed to the change agenda within the local area.  

On 22 April 2009 the previous Minister of Education, Caitríona Ruane announced that the Specialist Schools Programme would come to an end in August 2011.  It was envisaged that a new more inclusive model would be developed in advance of the ending of the Programme and in the context of ESaGS.

However, in the current budgetary context, it was not possible to set aside funding for the replacement model that was originally visualised.

To ensure that the main benefits from the specialist schools programme are not lost DE’s continued focus is to identify ways in which the excellent practice and partnership working demonstrated within so many specialist schools can be shared more widely, including through making use of the teachers and leaders within those schools in helping to provide professional development opportunities for other teachers and school leaders.