Changing times as Cork Life Centre prepares for a school year like no other

Director Dan O'Leary adjusting one of the Covid 19 Information posters at the entrance to the Cork Life Centre. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Over the summer when lockdown restrictions first started to ease, the Cork Life Centre got a hold of three 3-D printers and began creating visors and face-coverings. 

Together staff and students were able to create enough visors for their school in Sundays Well, Cork city, and enough to donate local creches. 

"We have one staff member who is making masks with clear panels so that the mouth can be seen for kids with anxiety or for kids who are on the autistic spectrum," explained Don O'Leary, the director of the voluntary organisation. 

Cork Life Centre, a school for young people outside of mainstream settings, has just under 60 students attending. 

Amber Sheridan O'Callaghan and Eimear O'Connor putting covers on text books prior to the Cork Life Centre opening its doors next week. Picture: Howard Crowdy

"I'm so proud of the staff and students and how they pulled together with this," Mr O'Leary told the Irish Examiner. "We are the cleaners this year as well as the teachers. It means instead of getting out at 5pm on a Friday evening, it'll be closer to 9pm. Just shows the goodness of our staff." 

The associated costs with the reopening of the centre have not been covered by the Department of Education. Up to this Friday, the school had been blocked from accessing the €375m back-to-school fund announced by the Department of Education in July. 

After making initial inquiries about how to access the funding, the centre was told it couldn't. "I was told we weren't a school," Don O'Leary said. Cork Life Centre would have always been in a position to open safely, regardless of the funding, but he was angry on behalf of students and staff. 

"My staff were working in a school when we were submitting calculated grades to the Department of Education but when it comes down to funding to help us run the place safely - there was nothing." 

In a lengthy Twitter thread on Thursday evening, the centre outlined its frustrations with the department. It received massive support, in particular from distinguished figures working in education. It is understood that the department is now processing a funding application for the centre. 

An unfortunate thread:At the start of pandemic & lockdown cry was #AllInThisTogether @CorkLifeCentre have sadly realised over last no of weeks this is not the case. Explaining will take time. @CorkLifeCentre caters for 55 YP who cannot access education in the mainstream 1/10 pic.twitter.com/KjVZlqfddf

— Cork Life Centre (@CorkLifeCentre) August 20, 2020

Like all schools, there are some major changes to how Cork Life Centre will operate this year. “The heartbeat of our centre really was our kitchen. We did a hot meal every day for staff and students but we can’t do that this year, there’s no way we can, we can’t keep the distance.

“That’s huge for us, so we’re trying to counteract that with doing tea and coffee, cocoa for everyone. The young people all have their flasks, we will make sandwiches. I’m hoping we might get some back-to-school weather and we will put in some tables and chairs so the kids can sit out, socially distancing, with staff.” 

 Denis O'Leary putting numbers on cups for individual use in preparation for the opening of the Cork Life Centre. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Cork Life Centre tends to operate small classes, with students receiving tuition from staff in different ways, depending on what works for them. Even still, they have had to reduce classroom sizes, Mr O’Leary said. 

“From six staff and students, cut to maybe three or four per room. It takes away from the community feel of that. All things like that, I’m not sure we will know the full extent of that until the kids are back.

“Wearing visors, having cough guards in a room, all of that is alien to our centre. But we have to do it, we have to keep families safe, we have to keep communities safe and I think the kids will get that.” The ethos and community of the centre won’t change, he added.

“If a young person still wants to come to see me, they can come to see me. None of that will change. But it is going to be strange.

“You can’t say this is the same. It’s nowhere near how we would have envisaged the year to start, or how we thought the year would go. It'll be difficult for young people too, to make that transition and not be anxious or nervous about it. For staff as well, it's just going to be really, really strange.

"The cough guards are needed because of the way we work. Some of the kids jokingly said to me: 'Don, if you could get us the old style-telephones, we could pretend we were in prison'," he laughed. "I get that. It's good we can have a laugh about it together, try to make it as easy as possible." 

He is worried about children returning to classrooms and getting used to the changes they are going to face, he added. 

"I think all kids are anxious in some way. Then when they see stuff like visors and masks even more so. All kids need continuity, and that's changed here. They are not going back to the same. Kids will struggle to get through this. They'll get through it, but they are going to struggle. All of us have to be mindful.

Rob Lee adding final touches to one of the partitions in the Woodwork room of the Cork Life Centre. Picture: Howard Crowdy

He can understand the anxiety teachers feel at the moment about schools reopening and returning to a full classroom of students. 

"If you can have 50 people in a church, weddings are the same and then you have some schools opening with 600 to 800 pupils and staff on top? Is there any wonder they are worried? Maybe we could have done something else instead of sending everyone back, a day on, a day off? I don't think teachers were asked enough about it.

"Here, we asked our staff, went through compliance, and wrote our own books on it. We've given them to staff, who've passed them on to parents and the young people. But it changes every day."

In a statement, the Department of Education confirmed Cork Life Centre will now be supported to re-open, "Officials from the Department have today been in contact with the centre in that regard."