'We're delighted' green light to Laois special school for extra building

The planning green light has been given to a Laois special school to add another building to its new school under construction.

The Board of Management of Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise had applied to Laois County Council last March for permission to add a large storage facility for all the children's essential mobility equipment. 

Its principal Orlagh Mahon had explained to the Leinster Express / Laois Live at that time that the storage need was known but a separate application had to be made to the Department of Education for it. 

She is delighted with the speedy planning approval.

"It will make school life much easier for our pupils and their equipment storage," Ms Mahon said.

The new school is still expected to be complete by Christmas 2025.

"Everything is on track, we were in looking at it before Easter and it's looking really good. We had the architect in here this morning picking floor coverings with us, so it's real now. It's really getting exciting," the principal said.

The school is under construction beside their existing outdated building and prefabs on the Block Road, after a 25 year wait and a passionate campaign by staff and parents. The 1.4 hectare site is on HSE land.

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The spacious new Kolbe school will still have eight classrooms, but with the special rooms and facilities needed, including a hydrotherapy pool room, a library, a soft play room, a big GP room, occupational therapy room, multi sensory room, daily living skills room, home economics room, a parents meeting room, three medical rooms, and storage space for the multiple equipment needed by the children.

Read more about Kolbe Special School here. 

The specially designed new school in Portlaoise cares for 43 children aged 5 to 18 with severe to profound disabilities.  The children and staff currently rely on cramped, damp prefab classrooms attached to a very small building with no space for a PE Hall or sensory rooms. The site encountered had many delays before building work could start.