Clinstown National School in Jenkinstown is proud to officially open the new school extension, which includes a special classroom that caters for children with an ASD diagnosis.
Parents, teachers, and local political representatives were present to cut the ribbon and unveil the new plaque. The children provided the entertainment.
The school which caters for families from the locality along with children from across Kilkenny, has also received a new mainstream classroom, a multi-sensory room, a store room and a par-educational room. The school yard was also extended and a new car park has been constructed to enable off-road parking for parents for pick-up and drop-off. All of the works were funded by the Department of Education and Skills.
Since the extension of the school building student numbers have increased to 119 students this year from just 70 students in the past few years. Principal of Clinstown NS, John Dermody said he was delighted with the completion of the works, which has resulted in the ability to enrol more children than ever in what was once a small country school.
“This is our 7th year with an ASD class and it has been amazing to be in a position to give children with this diagnosis the support they need to access education in a mainstream school. We are also very proud of our teaching staff at Clinstown who are extremely motivated, innovative and dedicated to the children in our care. The teachers, SNAs and administrative staff give so much of their time to create an inclusive, safe and happy learning environment for all the children that come here,” said Mr Dermody.
He also paid tribute to the Parents Association who recently fundraised for a new state-of-the-art playground at the school, which has been a huge hit with the young pupils.
“This wonderful amenity was fully funded by the parents of the school. A special mention should also be given to the PA committee – Michelle Phelan and Colleen Curran – who organised a number of fundraising activities to help get this over the line. They were supported in no small way by Lisa Butler who was successful in securing corporate funding through her workplace – State Street and the remainder of the costs were funded through a very generous donation from the Lenehan family. This truly was a whole school community effort and as a result we have a fantastic facility for the children in our school.”
Catherine Connery chairperson of the Board of Management at Clinstown NS said, “the Board of Management is fortunate to work with such a progressive group of people, both parents and teaching staff alike, who all work together to create the best learning environment and offer optimum learning opportunities to children who come to our school. The school extension facilitates this wonderful work and we are very proud of the school environment we have created at Clinstown.”
The school community is grateful to everyone who had a hand in ensuring this project was brought to fruition including John McGuinness TD and John Paul Phelan TD.
