Thomond Community College opens

A NEW second level school to serve a catchment area of north Limerick city and into Clare, opened yesterday (Thursday).

Thomond Community College is located in the state-of-the-art, former St Nessan’s Community College facility off the Old Cratloe Road.  The college is an amalgamation of Salesian Secondary School and St Nessan’s Community College that will be run under the auspices of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB). Its initial intake of 96 first years walked through the doors on Thursday starting out their five year second level education.

In addition to the new first year intake, fifth year and second year students from Salesian Secondary School have today (Friday) transferred to the Thomond Community College, with all set to retain the teachers for the various subjects they had in the 2015/2016 school year at the Salesians.

The First Year intake at the college is up 50% from three years ago when the amalgamation was announced. Overall numbers on the campus, which is located adjacent to Limerick Institute of Technology, is now 500, up from 320 in 2013.

The amalgamated Community College, thanks to the transfer of teachers from Salesians this year, now has a teaching body of 57, an increase of 17 from the numbers that taught at the Old Cratloe Road school last year.  The first day of the new school was marked by the planting of a cherry blossom tree by staff.