This article is from page 101 of the 2008-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 101 JPG
WHEN pupils and teachers at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush resume lessons in the autumn they will be in for a nice surprise.
The innovative and progressive work of the west Clare primary school has secured it €10,000 as the west Clare winners of the AIB Better Ireland Awards.
St Senan’s has a long and distin- guished history of providing spe- cially tailored education for children with learning and emotional disabili- Woe
As well as providing mainstream education for the children of the west Clare capital, the 24 teacher school also caters for the specific needs of children with autistic spectrum dis- order, severe and mild general learn- ing disabilities and diagnosed emo- tional disturbance.
Since the introduction of a ground- breaking programme that uses tactile and stimulatory equipment, the qual- ity of education as well as the quality of life of the children attending the school has improved significantly.
The project was chosen by the lo- cal community following a public text vote from May 6 to June 6, with 124,545 votes registered by the pub- lic in Munster. The school is now to receive €10,000 from the local AIB Bank branch.
It, along with the runner-ups will receive the proceeds from the text votes registered for their groups (af- ter operator charges and VAT). Run- ner-up projects will also receive an additional top-up donation from AIB in recognition of the huge efforts they put in to their local campaigns.
The project with the second highest number of votes will receive a top-up of €300, while the project with the
third highest votes will receive a top- up of €200.
The west Clare runner-ups included the Kilrush Family Resource Centre Dyslexia Project and the Clare Youth Service in Kilrush.
The Dyslexia Support Project was founded three years ago, a pilot project brought about as a result of collaboration between West Clare Dyslexia Support Group and Kilrush Family Resource Centre.
The project offers affordable tui- tion to dyslexic children and young people.
It provides all materials needed for each of the sessions and offers an in- dividual child-centred approach to learning. The project also provides support for parents in their quest for equal access to education for their child.
The Clare Youth Service provides Support and guidance to young peo-
ple in the west Clare capital.
Kilrush Youth Project has a number of sub projects including the Kiul- rush Garda Youth Diversion Project, the Kilrush Youth Project, Kilrush Youth Club, Kilrush Youth Café and the Good Neighbour Project.
The youth project is based around the John Paul Estate and caters for young people between the ages of 12 and 19.
Michael Carr, AIB Regional Direc- tor, Clare and Limerick said, “We would like to congratulate all the winning groups on their success in the public text vote and extend our thanks to all those who voted and helped out during this stage of the AIB Better Ireland Programme.
‘We had a fantastic response to our call for votes, and this was due in no small way to the enthusiasm and en- ergy that all the groups put into cam- paigning at a local level.”