Kolbe Special School celebrates ten years
KOLBE Special School celebrated an important milestone in its short history last week.
On March 1, 2000 Kolbe went from a daycare centre to school status, ten years on the school has gone from strength to strength.
Kolbe Special School offers education to students from age 4-18 years with severe and profound general learning disabilities.
Before a special ceremony to mark the tenth anniversary, balloons with wild flowers inside were released to remember absent friends.
At the start of the mass, which was co-celebrated by Fr Paul Fitzpatrick and Polish Chaplain Fr Tadeusz Durrajczyk, the oldest and youngest members of the school lit the mass candles, assisted by principal Majella Ffrench O'Connor.
When Kolbe Special School was first established there was 16 pupils, three teachers, six special needs assistants and 2 nurses. The population of the school has continually grown over the last ten years and there are now five teachers, 11 SNA's and two nurses.
The school is also support by a multi-discplinary team physiotherapist, speech and language therapist, consultant paediatrician, P.E. teacher and occupational therapist. Social outing are an integral part of each pupil's educational programme in Kolbe.
The school combine familiarising students with the locality and engaging in routine social activities by taking small groups of pupils on outings to town, the library, the church, banks, post office, garda station and also to the bowling alley.
The school boasts a multi-sensory area and also has access to local swimming pools.
Chairperson of the Board of Management, Jim Enright, said the day Kolbe became a school was a very significant day.
"The day we were given school status was the culmination of many month's hard work," he said.
Mr Enright and Ms Ffrench o'Connor acknowledged the work of the school's first principal, Moira Proctor.
"She did alot of work to make the transition happen," Mr Enright said.
While the current principal said that Moira Proctors foresight ten years ago mapped the successful road ahead for Kolbe.
He also acknowledged the hardwork and dedication of the current principal, Ms Ffrench O'Connor. "She gives tirelessly and selflessly to the development of the school," he said.
Looking forward to the future, Mr Enright said he hoped the next ten years would bring a new school for Kolbe's students. The school principal explained that this has been an on-going project for the last ten years. "A site has been identified in Portlaoise, but we have been in consultations with the Department and the HSE for a long time regarding the provision of a purpose built school," Ms Ffrench O'Connor explained.
In their relatively short history, students of Kolbe have excelled in many areas including: winning Art competitions through the Portlaoise Lions club, An Post and Texaco, some pupils have competed in the Special Olympics and returned endowed with medals.
Through the daily use of IT equipment Kolbe was honoured as the first Special School to receive ICT digital award in 2008. The then Tnaiste now An Taoiseach Mr. Brian Cowen so willing came to meet the pupils on this proud occasion. The school also received its first green flag in 2009, and are now eagerly working towards obtaining the second flag in the environmental programme for energy awareness.
In 2003, the pupils were honoured with a visit to Aras an Uachtarian to meet President Mary McAlesse.
Ms Ffrench O'Connor spoke of the schools other achievements: "The funding from Telethon and the AIB better Ireland awards have played a major part in achieving this. We acknowledge all who so gratefully support us, financially and in many other ways."
She continued: "The school garden and playground is part of our ongoing project, the pupils were the proud recipients of the 4Homes garden award."
"Our Pupils have equalled their peers by achieving awards in Write –a-book Project and EMO Court Project, thanks to Laois educational centre."
"With great support from the local community and Speer-headed by Portlaoise Lions Club 60,000 Euro was raised and the Pupils got a new bus.- This has allowed the education of our pupils to extend outside the boundaries of our school and further enhance their educational experiences."
In 2009 the BOM further expanded the educational focus and with the support of the Department of Education and Science (DES), a class was set up for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Through the BOM , the DES and the Parent body the school has got three new room ( doubled in size) allowing for easier access to educational programmers.
Ms Ffrench O'Connor also extended a special thank you to Peter Harris, from the Bubble gum club. Many of pupils have benefited from social integration opportunities provided by the Bubble gum Club. Most recently, Martin Lalor and Jade Carter received VIP passes to meet the band, JLS, when they played in the O2 arena in Dublin.
Concluding, Ms Ffrench O'Connor paid tribute to the school's founders and supporters. "This amazing school and the unique academic environment are possible because of the vision and generosity of the school's founders and supporters. " teacher and occupational therapist.
Social outings are an integral part of each pupil's educational programme in Kolbe.
The school helps students familiarise with the locality and engage in routine social activities by taking small groups of pupils on outings to the town, the library, the church, banks, post office, the garda station and also to the bowling alley.
The school boasts a multi-sensory area and also has access to local swimming pools.
Chairperson of the Board of Management, Jim Enright, said the day Kolbe became a school was a very significant one.
"The day we were given school status was the culmination of many months' hard work," he said.
Mr Enright and Ms Ffrench O'Connor acknowledged the work of the school's first principal, Moira Proctor.
"She did a lot of work to make the transition happen," Mr Enright said,
while the current principal said that Moira's foresight ten years ago mapped the successful road ahead for Kolbe. Mr Enright also acknowledged the hard work and dedication of the current principal, Ms Ffrench O'Connor.
"She gives tirelessly and selflessly to the development of the school," he said.
Looking forward to the future, Mr Enright said he hoped the next ten years would bring a new school for Kolbe's students.
The school principal explained that this has been an on-going project for the last ten years.
"A site has been identified in Portlaoise, but we have been in consultations with the department and the HSE for a long time regarding the provision of a purpose built school," Ms Ffrench O'Connor explained.
In their relatively short history, students of Kolbe have excelled in many areas, including winning art competitions through the Portlaoise Lions club, An Post and Texaco, while some pupils have competed in the Special Olympics and returned endowed with medals
Through the daily use of IT equipment Kolbe was honoured as the first special school to receive the ICT digital award in 2008. The then Tnaiste, now An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen willingly came to meet the pupils on this proud occasion. The school also received its first green flag in 2009, and are now eagerly working towards obtaining the second flag in the environmental programme for energy awareness.
In 2003, the pupils were honoured with a visit to Aras an Uachtarian to meet President Mary McAlesse.
Ms Ffrench O'Connor spoke of the school's other achievements: "The funding from Telethon and the AIB better Ireland awards have played a major part in achieving this. We acknowledge all who so gratefully support us, financially and in many other ways.The school garden and playground is part of our ongoing project, the pupils were the proud recipients of the 4Homes garden award."
"Our pupils have equalled their peers by achieving awards in Write –a-book Project and EMO Court Project, thanks to Laois educational centre."
"With great support from the local community and spearheaded by Portlaoise Lions Club, 60,000euro was raised and the pupils got a new bus. This has allowed the education of our pupils to extend outside the boundaries of our school and further enhance their educational experiences."
In 2009 the BOM further expanded the educational focus and with the support of the Department of Education and Science (DES), a class was set up for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Through the BOM, the DES and the parent body the school has got three new rooms, allowing for easier access to educational programmers
Ms Ffrench O'Connor also extended a special thank you to Peter Harris, from the Bubblegum Club. Many of pupils have benefited from social integration opportunities provided by the Bubblegum Club. Most recently, Martin Lalor and Jade Carter received VIP passes to meet the band, JLS, when they played in the O2 arena in Dublin.
Concluding, Ms Ffrench O'Connor paid tribute to the school's founders and supporters.
"This amazing school and the unique academic environment are possible because of the vision and generosity of the school's founders and supporters. "
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Wednesday 19 June 2013
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