Datos clínicos recogidos Pag. 48

A perceived consequence of being identified as a ‘foreign’, ‘black’ or ‘international’ school was that Irish students from the locality would bypass the school and go to other schools; commonly known as white flight. As noted in the literature review this occurs when ‘white’ or ‘native’ students leave or bypass a school due to the sudden enrolment of ME students, notably newly arrived immigrants. The end result is the creation of schools with a high concentration of ME students.

There is an overarching view held by participants in Schools 2 and 3, the girls’ schools, that there was never a mass departure of Irish students who left the school. The reason for this, according to staff, was that the size of the ME student population never warranted such flight. In School 1 there is an acknowledgment that this may have occurred in small numbers for the first year or two; however, there was a belief that there was never a sizable exodus of Irish students. The staff in School 1 were fervently adamant that the school experienced ‘social flight’ rather than ‘white flight’. This commenced in the 1990s, before the enrolment of ME students, and continued through the early years of the millennium, the period during which the school was gradually becoming a ‘less academic’ school (Appendix 40).

There was a fear in all three schools, Schools 1, 2 and 3, that if they established themselves as a school specifically catering to ‘foreign’ students or a ‘black school’ then Irish parents from the local area would send their sons and daughters elsewhere. The sentiment below expressed by a teacher is shared by others (Appendix 41).

I think there may have been a perception out in this com m unity that we were a school catering specifically to foreign girls. So m aybe some o f the girls that m ay have wanted to come here some o f their parents m ay have questioned in which direction the school was going. I would say there was a perception to a degree out there (Guidance Counsellor, School 3).

The issue of white flight also prompted one teacher from School 4 to comment on the identity of School 1 and the impact this may have had.

I think School 1 got a big reputation early on. I’m not sure that m any Irish parents would have been too eager to send their kids there (Teacher, School 4).

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This viewpoint was discussed at length and supported by all who took part in one focus group in School 1. They zealously stressed that Irish students did and continue to bypass their school due to the fact that the majority of their students were ‘foreign’. One teacher’s views is presented below and supplemented by the response of another (Appendix 42).

The bottom line is we all feel that we are doing a great job and we are, lots of fantastic things are being done, but the reality is it’s not wanted. What we do is not wanted. The reality is that we need to ask why do people not want to come here? I think it is because 60 to 65% of the school are foreign students (Teacher, School 1).

The analysis of enrolment records further vindicates the concerns expressed above. The reality in all four schools was that as the number of ME students increased the number of Irish students decreased. This is illustrated in School 3 on Graph 4f below, and on Graphs 4g, 4h and 4i for the other three schools. (Appendix 43).

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Significantly, the four schools remained under-subscribed throughout the decade and therefore were never in a position where they had to turn away Irish students. The slight exception to this was in School 2 where they were in the process of rewriting their admissions policy due to an increase in their student numbers. Therefore, in absolute terms the graph and the conclusion that was drawn from it is a valid one.

While some teachers in School 1 were convinced that their new identity contributed to the fall-off in Irish enrolment, this view did not reflect the dominant view across the four schools. Evidence suggests that the fall-off in the number of Irish students reflected demographic changes in the area rather than the initial concern they had of being identified as ‘black’ schools. The generally held view was that make-up of the incoming first years mirrored the make-up of the student population in the primary school from whence they came. This is succinctly stated below by the HSCL teacher in School 2.

It w ould be different in some schools. For example there is a fee paying school (close by) and I would imagine, but I am only surmising, that they would not have quite a large a cohort o f international students. W hereas the prim ary schools that are in our cluster, we would all have a similar student intake (HSCL Teacher, School 2).

Supplementing this was evidence that the number of students coming in from the feeder primary schools never decreased in such a way as to warrant attention. Further, staff in Schools 2 and 3 made specific reference to the fact that students had ‘nowhere else to go’, that their parents lacked the ‘drive’ to send them elsewhere and that the number of ME students never passed a ‘tipping point’ (Appendix 44).

4.4.2.1 School Identity and School 4

No participant in School 4 alluded to any initial or ongoing fear that the enrolment of ME students would result in an uncertain and unfavourable identity. Further, there is no evidence that any aspect of ‘white flight’ occurred. As the guidance counsellor noted, Irish students never bypassed the school because the tradition of students from the area coming to the school was a strong one as well as,

... the convenience o f them coming to a school so close is another thing. Like the culture in the inner city here is such that the idea o f a parent sending their child even a mile and a half up the road to the other boys’ school is unheard of.

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W hy send them up there when they can go here? So I do not think that this happened here (Guidance Counsellor, School 4).

One other teacher further endorsed this view stressing that, like in Schools 2 and 3, the phenomenon never ‘registered’ with their admission figures (Appendix 45).