Children at Cork school taught in hallways as principal pleads for more space

A Cork primary school is struggling with a lack of space, leaving vulnerable pupils being taught in corridors and students in cramped classrooms.

Fermoy Educate Together National School opened in 2018 in the Community Youth Centre, then moved to their current location, the bottom floor of the old Gaelscoil building the following year.

Principal Toni Maguire explained: “Our school has become a place of love, nurture, and acceptance — 62% of our school community has an identified learning need and we strive to provide a school environment which supports all learners.

“However, we are currently facing a massive crisis, a crisis that the Department of Education has ignored despite many hours of work and proposals from our community.”

Packed

The school currently comprises four classrooms, a tiny staffroom, and office, she said, and pictures seen by The Echo show students packed into classrooms or being taught in hallways.

According to the Department of Education buildings manual, a classroom should be around 80m2, “but 5th and 6th class are currently in a room which measures 26m2,” she said, adding, “to put it bluntly, the premises are not big enough to fit the children we have.

“The department agreed to open our school, stating that we could have 104 children on roll; now that we have grown they have thrown out any proposals we have put forward to move.

“We are a Department of Education school, wedged into the bottom floor of a Department of Education building while there are two floors above which are currently occupied by the ETB — the department has refused to comment on the arrangement that is in place which prevents us from moving into the top floors.”

'My heart breaks'

Ms Maguire said: “My heart breaks for our children who deserve so much better than this,” adding that their additional needs learners are currently being educated in the front hallway of the school.

“Their confidence and self-worth is slowly diminishing as they are on display each day while getting additional support.

“In addition, our school has been sanctioned an autism class — there is a need for these places in the community and we are the only multi-denominational school within a 40km radius which would have autism class spaces. However, we cannot open this essential service,” she said.

Sinn Fein TD for Cork East Pat Buckley raised the matter with the Minister for Education, outlining all the issues with the current space, and was told on May 1: “Enquiries are being made about this matter and a further e-mail will be issued as soon as possible.”

He told The Echo: “I’ve heard nothing since,” adding, “I love that our local schools are growing, but we need to accommodate them just as fast, it should be easy to expand the school because the building is there.” 

A spokesperson for The Department of Education told The Echo: “As part of the process of identifying a suitable accommodation solution that would facilitate the establishment of the school, the department liaised with Cork Education and Training Board.

“The department and Educate Together agreed that, given the accommodation available at the property and the need for the ETB to accommodate some Further Education and Training services from the property, the school would be established as a four-classroom school and that the school will maintain this configuration in the accommodation unless an existing school building is freed up for use in the area.

“As part of this engagement, the department outlined to the school patron the importance of enrolments being managed within the available accommodation in a sustainable way and that this would be communicated to the school board of management so that parents could be fully informed.

“The department continues to engage with the school’s patron in respect of queries raised regarding the school’s accommodation.”

Meeting

A meeting was held in the school on Monday, when Ms Maguire said parents were “shocked, angry, and really upset that the Department of Education has left us in this state.”

Parents of students who have younger siblings were particularly worried about whether there would be a place for their second and third child or if they’d have to choose between pulling one child out of school or sending their kids to different schools.

An action group has been set up, and is going to work on lobbying the department, local politicians, and other influential people in the area, as well as proposing different locations for the school, Ms Maguire said, adding that she had also requested a meeting with the ETB in the hopes that they could work together on the issue.