This article is from page 37 of the 2008-07-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
PUPILS past and present, parents, teachers and friends of Mullagh Na- tional School were in celebratory mood last week as their new school was officially opened.
This was no small feat for the west Clare village, who supported the board of management and school principal to pull of the impossible — renovate the old school and add on a new State of the art extension with as little as €600,000 from the Gov- ernment.
Through the Department of Edu- cation’s devolved schools scheme, which allocates a budget to the board of management to carry out the plan- ning and construction phase of the project, the school received real val- ue for money for its project.
Supported by fund raising locally, the school now has two new class- rooms, a general purpose room, tol- lets, shower rooms, a computer room and a principal’s office.
The school, which was built as far back as the Great Famine, also under- went the total modernisation of the old building resulting in a fabulous new large infant classroom complete with wet area and play area, resource rooms and school library.
A car park was also developed.
School authorities that opt to par- ticipate in these schemes accept devolved responsibility, authority and funding for the delivery of the projects, with the guidance of doc- umentation developed by staff in the planning and building unit and through ongoing contact with a des- ignated staff member.
Chairperson of the board of man-
agement Tim Donnellan said, “The devolving of funding to local level allows schools to have ownership of their projects.”
It also leaves the board of manage- ment and school principal with a huge workload.
The refurbished Mullagh National School, which was first officially opened on May 22 1846, with a po- tential enrolment of 270 boys and 240
girls, was opened on Monday last by INTO president Declan Kelleher and blessed by the Bishop of Killaloe Dr AAU DSTO ENE OF
“As we progress into the third mil- lennium we, in Mullagh National School feel that a vibrant future lies ahead, a future which will be charac- terised by parental, pupil and teacher interaction in setting the curriculum and structures of our collective edu- cational future. In this context we see our new extension as vital for facilitating ongoing enthusiastic en- hancement of education,” said school principal Sean McMahon.
“Mullagh National School has a long history of being open to cur- ricular and cultural projects and in- novation. Over the past few years the school has established partnerships with a school in Denmark, a school in the north of Ireland and has had French language teachers from both France and Sweden. Such initiatives have helped broaden our students’ awareness of and appreciation for in- ternational education,” he said.