2.4 Education and Training
2.4.1 Primary Education
Gowran National School, located opposite the Church, west of the town centre, is the only school in Gowran. The school has a current enrolment[1] of 224. This is a large increase from the enrolment of 171 at the time of the last plan, in 2003.
The school has 8 classrooms, a school hall, and has a playing pitch and an all weather court. Based on a pupil-teacher ratio of 28, the school has a physical capacity of 224. At present therefore the school is at capacity. The school site contains an orchard which was developed in conjunction with a local FÁS community employment scheme.
The site area of the school is 1.6 hectares (excluding the community centre), and this provides space for any necessary expansion.
The Department of Education & Science have published guidelines entitled ‘Identification and Suitability Assessment of Sites for Primary Schools’ (TGD-025, September 2007) which recommend a range of site areas to accommodate various school sizes, see Table 2. According to these Guidelines, the site area of Gowran school could accommodate a school of 16-24 classrooms. The area required also depends on the shape of the site, site access, availability of site utilities, and the capacity of the site to meet specific criteria set out in the Guidelines, but in general it can be seen that the site is sufficiently large to accommodate future expansion, particularly of one or two classrooms.
Table 2: School Site Area Analysis
| Size of School | ||||
| 4 to 8 Classroom | 8 to 16 Classroom | 16 to 24 Classroom | 24 to 32 Classroom | |
| Required site size for two storey building (hectares) | 0.71 | 1.04 | 1.5 | 2.025 |
| Required site size for single storey building (hectares) | 0.77 | 1.14 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
Source: Identification and Suitability Assessment of Sites for Primary Schools’ (TGD-025, September 2007)
In accordance with The Provision of Schools and the Planning System: Code of Practice for Planning Authorities, the Department of Education and Science, and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Planning Authority consulted with the Forward Planning Unit of the Department of Education and Science in the preparation of this Plan.
The Department of Education were satisfied that the projected population increase proposed under this plan would not require the provision of a new school or a significant expansion to the existing school.
2.4.2 Secondary Education
There is no secondary school in Gowran; the nearest secondary schools are in Goresbridge, Thomastown and Kilkenny City.
[1] As of June 2009 for 2009-2010 school year