Newtown School, Waterford. Photo: Photo courtesy of Newtown School, Waterford.
Newtown report
High levels of student satisfaction at one of Ireland’s leading Quaker schools
A recently published academic report has revealed extremely high levels of student satisfaction at one of Ireland’s leading Quaker schools. The research was conducted at Newtown School, Waterford, by sociologist Joan Hanafin of University College Cork. It was entitled Educating for Life in the Quaker Tradition.
The students at Newtown identified a range of Quaker values as central to their experience of education at the school: equality, tolerance, friendship, community and peaceful co-existence. Kindness, caring and a respect for ‘that of God in every person’ were also cited by many students as distinctive values in the school.
The research project was particularly concerned with exploring what a contemporary Quaker education stood for. The set of qualities most associated with a Quaker education and mentioned by nearly half of all students were equality, respect and fairness.
