New facilities on show at pupil-led open night

Pupils of Castletownroche National School were eager to show off their school's facilities on Thursday last, as the annual open night was held to welcome parents and potential new pupils.

Speaking with The Avondhu, principal, Eoin Bracken, explained that the pupils organise the evening and act as tour guides for those visiting.

“It’s something that we look forward to every single year and to be fair, it’s entirely student-led. They take great pride in our school and they love showing off all of the different facilities and all of the additions that we have made to the school over the years”.

OT PLAYGROUND & ASD CLASS

One element which children were particularly eager to show off was the addition of a new OT playground, which is now fully commissioned.

“We’ve got an in-ground trampoline, we’ve got a climbing frame that has six different components to it. We have a lovely see-saw, swings, balance beams, all sorts of different things. We’re delighted to have it and it will serve the children of Castletownroche very, very well in the years going forward,” Mr Bracken added.

In September, the school will be opening a new special class for children with ASD, allowing it to better cater for local children with special and additional needs.

“We’ve tried to look after children in mainstream education as best we can, but we really do feel that there is a need for an ASD-specific class in the area and we would be very hopeful that we would be able to fill that class for September coming,” Mr Bracken outlined.

TOP FACILITIES ATTRACTIVE

As parents and prospective pupils arrived at the school last Thursday, they were met at the door by enthusiastic pupils, who brought them around to the various classrooms, showing them the amenities available and introducing them to the children's prospective new teachers.

Recently, a survey carried out on local populations found that Castletownroche had an ageing population, however, hopes are high that numbers at the school will remain strong, as the school continues to upgrade its facilities.

“There’s always new houses being built in the area, there’s new people moving into the area and people moving back to Castletownroche who went to school here themselves and are keen for their own children to go here too. We always have siblings coming in behind as well,” Mr Bracken added.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) RIGHT: THUMBS UP! Billy, Siabh and Kayla from 4th class, ready to welcome families and give tours at the Castletownroche NS Open Night.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) RIGHT: Eager pupils, Martin and Billy, ready to show all that’s on offer at the Castletownroche NS Open Night.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) LEFT: Doireann and Ava, who are in third and fourth class, at C a s t l e t ownroche NS pictured at the school’s open night last week.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) Katrina Forde Batterberry with Alex and David Batterberry and Leighanne Cooney, checking out the facilities on offer at Castletownroche NS, as the school opened its doors to the public last week.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) Alex, Aidan, Grace and Megan, who are in 6th class at Castletownroche NS, showing off some of their Science experiments at the school’s open night.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) 2nd class pupils at Castletownroche NS, Noah and Annie, who were on hand to help out at the school’s recent open night.

(Photo: Katie Glavin) Mary O’Donnell with Miley and Joanne, at the Castletownroche NS Open Night.