Inagh school celebrates extension opening

ST Flannan’s National School in Inagh is setting itself apart in terms of educational facilities for children in the county with autism spectrum disorder.
On Friday, staff and pupils celebrated the opening of a multi-room extension doubling the size of the school building and augmenting the space and facilities available to all its pupils.
According to school principal Anne Quinn, the changes at the school and the additions to its specialist unit, Suaimhneas are hugely important for the educational development of all the children who attend it.
“The extension means that teachers have the space and facilities to carry out the various therapies and programmes required and because it is part of the school, mainstreaming is very accessible. Some of the children are integrated into the mainstream classes for certain subjects based on their ability. The unit is an integral part of the school. It is not something isolated or separate,” she explains.
The first primary school in Inagh was located in the present-day parish hall and was built in 1803. This school was replaced in 1930 and operated as a three-teacher school until 1974. That July, Anne joined Gortbofearna National School as a teacher and in October, it amalgamated with the school in Inagh, forming a five-teacher school.
“Inagh Development bought a farm. The school, two schemes of rural housing and the GAA grounds are now located on it. That is one thing this parish is remarkable for, its vision. The children moved to this location in 1985 into a purpose-built school, which was about half of the size of what it is now. It had five classrooms and a general purpose hall,” the Corofin resident recalls.
Today, the school has 120 pupils, including 10 children from around the county attending Suaimhneas. It also has 10 teachers including Anne as administrative principal, five mainstream class teachers, two specialised teachers in Suaimhneas, a learning support teacher and a resource teacher. There are also eight special needs assistants, six of whom work with children in Suaimhneas.
“We fundraise and pay for a music therapist and a play therapist to come in on a part-time basis. We also have the services of a HSE occupational therapist and HSE speech therapist once a month and each week, Clare Crusaders provide a speech therapist and an occupational therapist that come in and liaise with the HSE staff. That is our answer to cutbacks, I suppose and we are so grateful to Clare Crusaders for the help, as all their funding is voluntary. The additional support is wonderful. The staff and facilities have given people such a lift and they are what you would want every child in the country to be able to enjoy” Anne says.
The seeds of Suaimhneas were sown eight years ago.
“We had an empty classroom in 2002 and we had a child enrolled in the school with autism. To support his needs, we opened a special class with three pupils in that room,” Anne outlines.
The following year, a purpose-built extension was added to cater for Suaimhneas. The latest development means this is now a two-classroom unit.
The school was sanctioned €1.2 million to build an extension onto the school about three years ago. Work began on the project in January 2009 and was finished and in use by November last. The building was officially opened by Bishop Willie Walsh on Friday.
“Under the funding, the school was sanctioned to build two mainstream classrooms to cater for the needs of the area for the next 10 years. This has meant we have a spare classroom at the moment, which we use as an art room,” Anne explains.
“The addition to Suaimhneas means the unit now has two classrooms, each with one-to-one withdrawal rooms, and a suite of toilets, including a shower room, a disability toilet and a sluice room. There is also a larger multi-sensory room, an occupational therapy room, a parents’ meeting room and a para-education office, where psychologists can meet with and talk to children.
“The general-purpose area is attached to the existing general purpose room, thus extending it further. There is an Autism Spectrum Disorder office, a secretary’s office and a principal’s office. We were also allocated money to revamp the old school. New doors and windows were put in, floor covering was replaced and the old school was re-slated,” Anne describes.
Watching the development in the school has been very rewarding for Anne.
“The progress is in line with the progress of the parish. There is a state-of-the-art crèche here providing an after-school service. There is an excellent educational offering in the area. This is a very progressive parish and at the school we are delighted to maintain that progression. The official opening gave us the opportunity to open the building up to people and let them see what happens in here for themselves,” she continues.
Parents, grandparents, past pupils and members of the community were among those who attended Friday’s opening, which included an exhibition of old photographs, roll books and the children’s art.
“We also launched our new website, inaghschool.org, which went online the previous day. We are really thrilled with that and managed to get it all done in-house,” concludes Anne.