Several generations come together to celebrate school extension

THREE generations — grandparents, parents and children — will attend the formal opening of a €250,000 extension to a tiny west Cork primary school today.

The 80-year-old Coppeen National School, which has 78 pupils, is marking the construction of two new classrooms, an assembly area, a general office and the refurbishment of the existing two classrooms into a staffroom and learning support room.

Among those attending the official opening by the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, will be past pupils, now parents and grandparents of students currently attending the school.

However, other local families stretch back even further over the generations: “There are also children here whose grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents went to school in Coppeen — some of them attending classes in the original building which was built in 1860 but later burned down,” said headmistress, Catherine Bradley.

“We have one family whose grandfather went to school here, whose grand-mother actually taught here, and whose great-grandfather went to school in the original building!

“There is a very strong community link stretching back over several generations,” she said.

In the early 1900s, she noted, Coppeen National School boasted 300 pupils on its roll-books.

The school, originally built in 1931 with a zinc roof which has long since been replaced, has been waiting several years for the new extension since the original application was made in 2007:

“We started the build last January and the extension was completed in August, so we were able to start the new school year in the new extension,” she said.

This is the latest piece of good news for the school, which places a strong emphasis on sports and football — its young male footballers won the West Cork Sciath na Scol five years in a row, and the girls achieved a double last year by also winning Sciath na Scol.

Meanwhile fifth and sixth class pupils performed with the High Kings in the RDS last year in a choir of 3,000, while in February pupils performed at Cork city hall with a cross-border orchestra.

“There is great community support for the school, and goodwill in abundance,” declared Ms Bradley, adding that a Board of Management initiative to purchase one and a half acres of land at the rear of the school had been met with an avalanche of support from the community: “There was tremendous goodwill towards the school, the staff and the pupils — in just three months the Board of Management raised more than €70,000 to buy the land for a playing pitch.

“The old people of the area in particular really valued the importance of education and gave immense support to the project.”