Holistic approach to learning at Kildysart Community College

KILDYSART Community College opened its doors for the new academic year last Tuesday week.
Twenty-two full and part-time staff look to the educational needs of the schools 240 pupils.

“The busiest time of the year is the first week back,” according to school principal, Marion Coughlan-Flynn.
“No matter how much preparation you do at the end of August, when the students come in the door, that’s really the busiest time,” she added.
Given that the school caters for a predominantly rural hinterland, secondary school can be a bit of an eye opener for some first years, especially if they have been educated in a sparsely populated national school.
“We’re very conscious that this is a small school in itself but for some of those first-year kids from the feeder primary schools, they have come from a sixth class where there was only one pupil,” Ms Coughlan-Flynn noted. “But in the majority of cases they would have come from a sixth class with six or seven pupils. The biggest change probably is that they no longer have just one teacher from 9.30am to 3pm. They have maybe six or seven teachers in a day but the vast majority of them appear to be settling in,” the school principal believes.
The school opened in Kildysart in September 2002, three years after the Salesian Sisters left Cahercon in 1999. Both schools then fully amalgamated and Marion Coughlan-Flynn was appointed principal when the nuns left and has filled the role in Kildysart since the new school opened.
Educated in Cahercon herself, Marion has sought to retain some of the Salesian’s ethos in Kildysart Community College.
“Classroom activity is very important but we try to look after the whole person. In every school, there is a pastoral care team but we have a very strong spirit here of pastoral care. There are four people on the team and we meet once a week. We look out for students who are a bit vulnerable,” she explained.
“In a smaller school, it’s easier because we get to know people quicker and you pick up on things. I’d say rural people will make that phone call and say ‘Granny died’ or the dad is sick or something and we try to take that into account. We also try and take into account that people might have learning difficulties,” the school principal added.
Running a small school has its advantages, Marion feels especially with teachers not having to teach heaving classrooms.
“I hear of other schools where you have maybe 30 or 31 in classes, even in honours Leaving Certificate classes. That doesn’t occur here. So far, we haven’t been too badly affected by the cutbacks but looking down the road, if teachers retire and aren’t replaced, that could affect the level of services we’ll be able to offer. When a senior teacher retires, they bring a whole lot of expertise with them,” she said.
A non-classroom challenge has developed for teachers worldwide with the influence of Facebook and social networking growing markedly in recent years. It’s a development that the Labasheeda native has mixed views on.
“As a staff, we have talked about it but it’s hard to get a real handle on it. It is important for young people to feel they belong and friendship is very important to them. Social networking is good for them but it is also a dangerous area. Sometimes, they think that they have 50 friends and an air of competition creeps in and, being honest, an air of bullying. It can be used positively, it can be used negatively,” she said.
“There’s no real release. Very often a youngster, when they’re trying to do their homework, the phone is clicking or maybe they’re saying they should reply to someone on Facebook or Twitter. I think they’re under an awful lot of stress. While it is good to be liasing with each other, it’s kind of nearly living in a fish bowl. Everything seems to be very important. To have the right school bag, to have the right hair style. It’s kind of a tyranny in one way,” the school principal suggests.
Having taught for several years at this stage, Marion insists that she still loves her work and sees it as a vocation, rather than a job. 
“You try to make a difference in their days and you try to encourage them along and you try to get them to see that education is really a wonderful vehicle for opening up new worlds to them. There is an energy to be got from young people. 99.9% of young people are well intentioned and I suppose that’s the challenge for us as adults; to channel those energies in the right direction.”
“As part of the pastoral care, we try to develop in them a positive self-confidence. Not an arrogant self-confidence. I think a lot of problems from Facebook and Twitter is that they have a fear, ‘I’m not good enough’. We try to develop that in them,” she concludes.