I thought it would be nice to give a little update on something I posted about last November. Back then we had just had a pre-enrolment day for an Educate Together school we hoped would get the go ahead in Greystones. Over 230 children were pre-enrolled that day but it was only the beginning and at that point we had no idea whether or not we’d be successful. Well, it’s almost a year on and this Monday morning our brand new school will open for its very first term!
It’s a cliché I know, but it really has been a rollercoaster. There was the elation when our school was approved, quickly followed by fear that we wouldn’t get a site. Then there was the happiness of finding out that the school would be built on a beautiful spot on old farmland only to hear soon after that the building wouldn’t be ready. It’s been a lesson in local politics, planning and the workings of the department of education but today the keys were handed over and we have a school (there are more photos of the handover on the school blog). I’m so proud of all the others in the Start-Up Group, I wasn’t able to give as much time as I would have liked to the project lately thanks to crazy work commitments and the lion’s share of the work fell on just a few shoulders. There’s an understandable weariness now that the school is ready so I hope everyone will be able to step back and just enjoy the moment when the doors open.
There’s still a lot to be done, only one of the buildings is ready (we only need one for now since there will only be 2 classes for the first year and there’s plenty of room in just one of the buildings to house both our school and the Gaelscoil we will be sharing with), the tarmac was still being laid as we did our tour. Not to mention we will be spending the weekend moving the furniture into the classrooms. Still, the school looks amazing, would you believe these are actually temporary buildings and that construction began just 2 months ago? They’re a far cry from what you would expect when you hear the word “prefab.”
On Monday, 12 new Educate Together schools will open around the country, that’s the largest number of new ET schools ever to open in one year so far. Now we just need an Educate Together secondary school!
