THE deputy principal of North Monastery Primary School said the addition of female students to the school since they went co-educational in September 2021 has given the school a new lease of life.

Colin Daly was speaking to The Echo after the Cork city primary school recently held a successful open day for prospective students.

“The open day gave us a fantastic opportunity to welcome the prospective parents and guardians to the school and to let them see the fantastic facilities that we have,” he said.

“It was a huge success. There was a massive crowd. The hall was packed out.

“We had between five and nine preschools all from the local area that was represented at the open day.”

Mr Daly said the aim of open days is to ease any worries as children transition to ‘big school’.

“It was good for the parents and guardians to see the existing classrooms and to meet them to try and ease the anxiety of going from pre-school to what they know as big school,” he said.

“We had different activities and different welcome packs for them.

“They had different activities to do on the day. We showed them our astroturf pitch and they loved that. It was great fun.”

Mr Daly, who is himself a past pupil, said the primary school is central to the local community.

“From my point of view, it is a pillar of the community and always was,” he said.

“We are just looking forward to welcoming the next generation who will then continue on to be the pillars of the community. We are truly blessed with the staff that we have. A school is only based on the staff that they have. Schools rely ferociously on volunteers and we never fall short.

The academic year starting in September 2023 will be the school’s third year taking in female students.

“We currently have girls in junior infants and senior infants. This will filter up. Next year will be our first ever first class and it will be our first time having girls in first class as well. It has been a breath of fresh air. It has given up new objectives and targets which we can now strive for.

“We have great facilities in the school. We just put a significant figure into the revamping of the hall. It looks like a brand-new facility. We also have two full-sized GAA pitches, an astroturf pitch, and a small basketball court,” he added.

Miriam Cotter, assistant principal, said parents were also told how pupils are given a voice in the school.

“We also had two student council members who spoke very eloquently,” said Ms Cotter. “They spoke about how every pupil in the school has a voice. From second class upwards elections are held and the students vote. Teachers have no say in the voting. Sixth-class pupils consult junior infants for their ideas, fifth class consults senior infants and the fourth class consults the children in Páistí Rís. Their ideas are all brought back to council.”

She said the primary school is growing at pace.

“It is a rapidly expanding school. We had 40 students perform musically on the stage for the parents and guardians. It is very important that the parents and the pupils see what our current pupils can attain while they are in school. Our future pupils are the most important thing. To see them interacting in our facilities and for them to see what big school is like is probably more important than anything else.”