The Principal at Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel, Siobhan Keyes Ryan, describes the current situation at the school as “very difficult and challenging for everyone in the school.”
Work is now underway to prepare a temporary car park for some of the 90 staff as the former car park is to be used as a site for Portacabins to be used as classrooms.
The school had expected 5 new classrooms to be built in time for this academic year – these were needed to cater for 14 new entrants plus 16 existing students.
The Department of Education also failed to deliver the Portacabins in time for this year when it became clear that the construction work would not be completed in time.
It is now expected that the 5 Portacabins will be ready for use by the first week of November.
To accommodate this year’s enrolment of 150 students the school has had to make use of makeshift classrooms that were being used as office and corridor spaces. The GP Hall is also being used as a classroom as is the sensory room.
Plans to convert the staff room into a classroom were not thought to be feasible to implement.
The Principal says while the works are ongoing the school is effectively a building site. There are major restrictions on the student’s outdoor and play areas. Ms Keyes Ryan reiterates the importance of the permanent classrooms being delivered as soon as possible.
