Delight as school keeps three teachers

There was delight yesterday at a small West Cork school which will keep its three classroom teachers next September after a change in Government policy.

For one of the three teachers at Kilcoe National School, the 2012 changes to staffing ratios had meant the likelihood of being moved to another school in the autumn, but that is no longer now on the cards.

“We had 56 pupils last year, which is right on the borderline for keeping three teachers. Because we fell to 53 last September we’d have lost one of them but now the job is safe and it’s a huge relief, we’re delighted,” said principal Michelle Griffin.