North city school celebrates three years of co-educational learning
At the grand opening of Nano Nagle college, formerly North Presenatation secondary school were from left to right; Paul O'Reilly deputy principal; Sarah Curtin, former deputy principal, Yvonne Bane CEIST, Maeve Mahon CEO CEIST, Lord Mayor Damian Boylan, principal Kieran Verryt, and former principal Adrian Gibbs. Pictures: Eddie O'Hare.
A secondary school on the northside which accepted male students for the first time just three years ago has opened a range of new classrooms.
Nano Nagle College in Farranree, previously known as North Presentation Secondary School, went co-ed in September 2023, and introduced a new name and uniform.
Then-principal Adrian Gibbs said that parents of younger children in the area expressed a wish for a co-educational school, and they became aware of a shortage of places, in particular for boys with a diagnosis of autism on the northside of Cork city.
The school opened two special classes in 2023 and another the following year, and it has just recently opened its fourth, along with a range of other upgrades.
Current principal Kieran Verryt, who took over the role in February, said that their new autism class brings to 24 the number of pupils with special educational needs they can cater for in their own classes.
The school has also opened recreational areas and a daily living skills area with kitchens and a laundry set-up, so students can learn life skills.
The school now has an almost 50/50 split between boys and girls already, despite going co-ed so recently and now caters for 183 students in total.
The school is also able to offer a wider range of subjects, Mr Verryt said. “We have recently opened a new construction room, engineering workshop, DCG graphics room and a new computer room.
“We also offer applied technology so we have the full suite, and we wouldn’t have had all those subjects available before.”
He said that with a young staff, the school is an exciting place to be at the moment.
“We are going to stay a small school, but we do have other little projects on the go,” he said.
“We just had our open night and it was the biggest the school has ever seen.”
Nano Nagle College has been designated a DEIS Plus school, a new scheme which started this year and aims to reduce child poverty and improve outcomes for students in schools with the highest levels of need.
Schools in the DEIS Plus scheme get access to new services and resources, in addition to existing DEIS supports.
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