THE North Monastery Secondary School will be changing its name in recognition of its transitioning to become a co-educational secondary school in September 2023.

The Cork city secondary school, which was established in 1811, will be accepting girls into the school community for the first time ever from next September and will officially be known as the North Monastery Co-educational Secondary School.

Acting principal Jim Boyle said they are excited to embark on a new phase in their decorated history.

“Following an extensive consultation process with parents, students, staff, and the wider community in the northside of Cork city, our board of management are excited to embark on a new phase in our long history of providing education as we go co-educational in September 2023.”

Mr Boyle said the name of the school will be changing to acknowledge the changes that are taking place.

“In recognition of this exciting new phase in our 211-year tradition, as well as to acknowledge the changes that are taking place, our school will now be known as North Monastery Co-educational Secondary School.

“A recent inspectorate report from the Department of Education communicated that parents were ‘unanimous in the belief that students are well cared for and treated with respect’.

“In keeping with the spirit of Edmund Rice, our school community will continue to recognise the uniqueness of everyone in a diverse, inclusive setting and nurture the holistic development of each student in our care,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the lead up to Christmas, the Cork city secondary school held their annual Christmas Market which was attended by pupils from four local primary schools.

Mr Boyle said the annual Christmas Market has become a large part of their Christmas celebrations.

“All those that gave of their time generously, including the teachers, special needs assistants, and students, were involved in stalls to create the fun that has become such a large part of the Christmas celebrations in the North Monastery over the last ten years.

“Proceeds from raffles and other sales will go to such great causes as Cork Penny Dinners and Ronald McDonald House,” he said.

Mr Boyle said there was great excitement among the students from the four local primary schools who attended the annual Christmas Market.

“Our Christmas market is but one of the many aspects of life in North Mon. We had students from four primary schools attending, this included students from North Monastery Primary School, Scoil Padre Pio, Blarney Street Primary, and North Presentation Primary School.

“Many goods were kindly supplied by staff and parents. The excitement among the students that attended from the local schools and our own students was evident as they made their way around from selfie stations to tasty treat stands,” he added.

The visit of the local primary school students had a special significance this year, said the acting principal, as the North Monastery Secondary School prepares to become a co-educational school.

“The girls and boys of the local primary schools sampled the atmosphere that they can look forward to from September 2023 as we start our journey as a co-educational secondary school,” he said.