Waterford secondary school awarded Ireland's first 'School of Sanctuary' status

The Waterford secondary school was widely praised by judges for its work. File picture.

A secondary school in Co Waterford has become Ireland's first school to be awarded 'School of Sanctuary' status. 

Mount Sion CBS Secondary School was deemed to be "outstanding" by judges this morning from Places of Sanctuary Ireland (PoSI), an all-Ireland network of groups working to develop inclusiveness for people seeking asylum in the country. 

The network works with community groups, universities, schools, churches and other organisations to promote a culture of welcome in order for refugees or people from asylum-seeking backgrounds to be involved in all community activities. 

The students of Mount Sion CBS Secondary School and members of Places of Sanctuary Ireland (PoSI) spoke to WLR FM to explain the importance of their school's achievement. 

One student said he "loves to be in a school that is a school of sanctuary" while another student said the award is important as it shows the school is "safe for students who come from another country". The group of students met POSI volunteers after the inspection who praised the school's achievements.

English Language Coordinator at Mount Sion, Narrell Byrne, said the school is very proud of their new status and that it is the result of their work to celebrate their school's diversity. 

“Mount Sion CBS is very proud to be recognised as Ireland’s first School of Sanctuary. Our uniform brings a very diverse student body together on the same journey," said Ms Byrne. 

Progressing towards the 'School of Sanctuary' status allowed the school to fulfill its promise to respect the diversity of all their students.

"We are one, but we are many. We pledged to create a school culture where every student feels safe and accepted; a school where cultural diversity is valued and celebrated. Schools of Sanctuary helped us make this vision a reality,” said Ms Byrne. 

Congratulating the Waterford secondary school, PoSI team leader Andy Pollak, a former Irish Times education and religious affairs correspondent, said the initiatives carried out by the school were impressive and is a "shining example".

Mr Pollak said: “Mount Sion CBS is a model for other schools in its outstanding portfolio of work to welcome and support the young men and boys from 37 different nationalities who are students in its school. 

"We were enormously impressed by the wide range of initiatives: providing multilingual and multicultural flags, signs, booklets and graphics throughout the school; ‘own language’ tours for students and parents; celebrating religious festivals from the various countries, setting up a ‘sanctuary room for reflection, counselling and discussion; inviting asylum seekers in to give talks; students making videos of their sanctuary activities and sharing these activities with other schools."

Mr Pollak said Mount Sion had been working towards this progress for some time and that these projects equipped students with intercultural skills and the compassion needed for an unstable world.

“Last year the school made a highly regarded presentation on its sanctuary work to hundreds of students and their teachers at the Edmund Rice Schools Trust annual student conference in Croke Park. 

"Through this wide range of welcoming activities, Mount Sion is providing a shining example to other Irish schools by offering refuge to those many young people who need it and equipping its students with intercultural skills and the ability to have compassion in what is, for many, a turbulent world”, said Mr Pollak.