Moving forward with Mullingar Community College

Photo above shows, Mullingar Community College deputy principal, Emmett Kenny, and principal Séamus Mohan.

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The warm atmosphere and the easy interaction between students and staff at Mullingar Community College is striking.

But it’s not accidental, reveals the new school Principal Séamus Mohan, who was appointed in January 2019: “We really put an emphasis on getting to know our students as individuals, and we make a point of listening to them and to their families and working with them to give them what they want.

“And,” he continues, “what we want is for our students to be the best they can be.”

Founded originally as a technical school with an emphasis on practical subjects, the transition to a modern community college has seen Mullingar Community College expand both its offering of practical subjects and also the academic subject choices.

As a result, whether a student wants to head to college, pursue an apprenticeship or head directly into a job they will find their needs met.

Within the school, there is a very structured approach taken to career guidance, to help students make subject choices suitable for their hoped-for direction in life. It starts right from when they start as first years with the Career Guidance teacher, Ms Coyne, speaking to all 1st years and offering them advice and guidance from the outset.

“Out of the students who sat the Leaving Cert this June, all are either at university, college, institutes of education or in employment, and while they were a great group of students, their success is also a testament to the dedication and work of all their teachers,” says Séamus.

Comprehensive

The school boasts a comprehensive curriculum: “There’s a huge emphasis on vocational training and we’d have a lot of students coming in who want to pursue their interest in areas such as Engineering and Construction. But similarly we’d have huge numbers doing Science and indeed our Science subjects; Chemistry; Biology and Agricultural Science would be our most popular subjects at Leaving Cert level,” says Seamus.

“We are also expanding our ICT within the school and the aim is that from next year, every student in the school will have access to their own device - and that is at no cost to parents because our philosophy is that education should be effective, accessible and affordable.

“We are always exploring changes that will enhance teaching and learning,” he continues.

“This year we will explore whether the students want to study Spanish as well as the French and German currently on offer. Also under consideration is the introduction of Transition Year.”

Seamus says that thanks to the existence of the Student Council, there is ongoing consultation with the youngsters as well as with staff and parents.

Seamus praises the dedication and talent of his colleagues: “Every evening, there is always some teacher staying back in the school with pupils for classes or clubs and that shows their dedication,” he says, adding that while there is a friendly atmosphere among the 385 pupils and the staff of 49, the school is strict on discipline: “We do have expectations of students, and therefore, you do need rules,” he says describing the school culture as “warm-strict” in the sense that “you will not meet a more welcoming staff than what we have in the school but we also have very high expectations of our students. If we didn’t have expectations, you would be failing the students.”

Within Mullingar Community College the parents are viewed as a vital part of the decision-making process and there is actually a ‘Home-School Community Liaison Teacher’ on the staff who even visits each pupil’s home as part of the process of keeping the youngster’s parents and teachers in tune with the child’s needs.

LWETB

Mullingar Community College is a member of the Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board. Seamus says this is one of the great strengths of the school as the support from ETBs, particularly LWETB, coupled with the support of the DEIS Programme, ensures that the school has more resources to offer all students. This year; the school has expanded “team-teaching”, which sees classes delivered by a team of two teachers. An advantage of this is that students requiring resource assistance don’t have to leave the mainstream class to get the extra assistance they need.

Furthermore, every student who enters the school is offered access to a free breakfast and free lunch. Seamus emphasises that education “should be as affordable as possible” and states that the school will always aim to reduce costs where possible.

Open evening

An open evening is taking place on Tuesday October 8 from 7-9pm, aimed at the parents of 5th and 6th class pupils.

“It’s an opportunity to meet the teachers, see what’s happening in the school, go around the classrooms and facilities and ask questions about every aspect of school life,” says Séamus.