Pictures: School open night hailed as a success

PRIMARY school students from 23 Cork schools attended a recent open night at Douglas Community School.

The principal of Douglas Community School, Pat Barry, said the night went very well.

“It was a huge success,” he said. “It was a fantastic night. We got incredible feedback from future students and from parents. They were all very impressed and in admiration, really, of the relationship between the students and the teachers. We had 120 students that stayed back after school to help and show people around. They did demonstrations in classrooms and just interacted with the future parents and students.

“We had students from 23 different national schools. There were some from traditional schools who are in our locality and some from newer schools that we traditionally wouldn’t have students from. This is a strong endorsement of the school and all the staff members, and is very positive.

“We got great feedback from everyone who attended. They were all extremely complimentary of the students and what high-quality ambassadors they were for the school.

“The school sells itself. It has a great tradition and reputation. We offer a huge range of subjects. A lot of the parents are thinking about the immediate when they are thinking about the Junior Cycle. If they think a little bit further down the road, we offer 17 subjects for the Leaving Certificate, which is phenomenal, and helps to meet the needs of every student that we have. It is great to provide so much choice for our students at that stage.”

Mr Barry said that after the parents had a tour of the facilities and met with all the teachers, refreshments were provided before the speeches were held.

“The parents and students were allowed to tour around and see all the facilities,” he said. “They were able to chat with the students and the teachers. We gave them tea and biscuits in the library and then we had a few speeches. It was opened by our geography teacher, Ms Healy, who has been teaching here for 14 years. Mr Hickey, the deputy principal, spoke about the pastoral care and the extracurricular activities.”

A former student at Douglas Community School also spoke about his time studying in the school, said Mr Barry.

“A past pupil, Billy Murphy, also spoke on the night,” he said.

“He got 8H1s in his Leaving Cert and he is now studying engineering at UCC. He gave a very personal description of his time in the school. It was very touching and very positive. He was very appreciative and thankful to all the teachers. It is very rewarding for us, as a school, to see past pupils go on and do so well.

“We also had several past pupils who came back as fathers of students. The wheel has gone around full circle, which is great to see. It was a very positive night. The school has a great tradition and a very bright future.”