St Anne’s expansion will help students ‘reach full potential’

There was a buzz of excitement at St Anne’s National School in Tyrrellspass when staff and pupils gathered to celebrate the opening of a new extension.

There was more good news for the school earlier that week before the midterm break, with the announcement of further funding for modular units in the near future.

The opening event, attended by local TDs, Minister Peter Burke and Robert Troy, was “the culmination of countless hours of hard work, dedication and collaboration”, according to school principal, Fiona McKeown.

“What we see before us today is not just a building, but a space that will nurture the minds and hearts of all the students who walk through the doors,” she said. “As a staff and a school community, we believe it is our duty to provide environments like this, spaces that inspire and support and allow all children to reach their full potential.

“When we reflect on our old primary school days, many of us will remember those times as filled with joy and growth. These are years of incredible transformation and our goal is to ensure that the students here at St Anne’s experience as many happy moments as possible. Moments that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

“We all look back at our primary school days and we all have those special memories that we carry with us forever and we want the same for our students here.”

The senior students, she added, were the ones who had been waiting the longest for the new space, and so they were invited to join the celebrations and perform a song.

The senior council addressed the onlookers and offered thanks for the new extension.

“Of course, beautiful spaces like this don’t just appear by magic,” Ms McKeown added.

“It takes vision, effort and above all, shared commitment to make them a reality. When I first arrived at St Anne’s, this project had already started, it was under way.

“Now, I’d love to say that in my teacher training, we were expertly taught how to manage building projects, how to file grant forms and chase up emails and countless phone calls every day. But the truth is, I hadn’t the faintest idea.

“But luckily, I had a great team around me to support me. This project wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of many people.”

Donations

She also acknowledged the “very welcome donations” received on the “long fundraising road”, as well as thanking former principal, Michael McConigley, who ran the Dublin Marathon to raise funds along the way.

Minister Peter Burke said that he had worked closely with the former principal and with Ms McKeown, as well as the rest of the team, to ensure the project made progress.

“It’s great to be here today and it’s a brilliant project,” he said, adding that further works will be done in the near future.

“There’s another project in the offing as well, which we will be working on to improve the school, and improve the education facilities for Tyrrellspass, which is very important.

“I would like to thank all the staff and all the students,” he said, concluding that this project was all about “ensuring the students get a good education here”.

It was “a really good day” for the teachers, and more importantly for the pupils, according to Deputy Robert Troy, who said that it had been an aspiration for the school to have a general purpose room, “so that children can engage in other activities than just learning”.

The extension would also serve as somewhere for the children to go in inclement weather and “really is a welcome addition to the school”, he said.

“It’s finished to a high standard and I know that the parents or the teachers and the kids are going to have many good years here with the use of this building,” Deputy Troy added.

He also acknowledged the “very positive news” that “the sanction for the new modular units has come through”.

“So there’s two new special education classrooms and classes being taken on here in the school,” he said.

“There was a concern that they hadn’t heard from the department in relation to the provision of the modular units and we got clarity there from the minister’s office that it has been approved.

“So it’s a good news story with the opening of this today and the confirmation that they’re going to further expand with two special education classes.

“I think that’s really important that we have special education located in mainstream schools and we’re not segregating pupils, young children who have additional needs,” Deputy Troy said.

“We try to bring people together and that’s what they’re doing here in St Anne’s and that’s very welcome.”