Parents 'delighted' as Cork special school delayed by works to open temporary classrooms

School, which had been unable to open three classes due to delayed building works, will now operate from community centre until building is complete

Tracy Lynch Mekki and her son Karim, who will start the new school year at St Killian's in Mayfield.

A special school in Cork which had been unable to open three classes next month due to delayed building works has now found alternative classrooms for those students.

St Killian’s special school in Mayfield has found a community centre in Mayfield to rent, which is to be paid for by the Department of Education.

The first classroom will come on stream by September 6.

All classes will have a room by the end of September, correspondence from the school seen by the Irish Examiner said.

The school building itself is to be completed by the end of October.

"We have been fortunate to locate a classroom close to the school, kindly provided by Mayfield CDP, which will provide a morning and afternoon session for the two youngest classes. These classes will commence on Wednesday 6 September," a statement from the school said.

"The phased building plan will now enable the remaining class to commence on Monday, 18 September. We will continue to try to source further accommodation in the short term and updates will be provided as they occur.

"I would like to thank local providers in particular for making this space available to our children and really appreciate the strong community support St Killian’s receives in Mayfield from Mayfield CDP and Newbury House, who have also supported us in the past when building projects have been delayed."

Pupils at St Killian's special school in Mayfield in 2021 with the school dog: The school has now found a community centre in Mayfield to rent, which is to be paid for by the Department of Education. Picture: Dan Linehan

Tracy Lynch Mekki, whose son Karim was due to start in St Killian's in September, was "delighted" to hear the news.

Karim, 7, who has autism, had to stay in his playschool until he was six-and-a-half because there were no other school places for him last year.

Karim is bright and taught himself to write the English, Arabic, and Russian alphabets. He has notebooks full of Japanese logos he has drawn and he had taught himself to read some words by the age of two-and-a-half, his mum said.

But he could not find a school place last year. The school he was finally accepted into, St Killian’s — his parent’s first choice — told parents last week that it would be unable to open a class for him until at least late October.

“It was heartbreaking. It takes weeks to get a child with autism ready for a new school, showing them pictures of it, telling them how fun it will be," Mrs Mekki, who lives with her family in Bishopstown, said.

St Killian’s was our first choice. We were so elated and relieved when he got a place there. We had visited the school, walked around it. No one told us his classroom wasn’t built yet. It was a complete shock.

"It's a relief to hear that they now have another space. You don't mind a two-week delay but when we heard that his classroom would not open until the end of October we were very upset. 

"I'm glad the principal kept pushing for alternative accommodation. The only people you feel are on your side are the school, they work with your child every day. They know that home tuition is no substitute for school. Kids need to integrate, they need to develop social skills and make friends.

"Hopefully, we will hear official correspondence from the school soon about this."

Just last week, Mrs Mekki and other parents of some children due to attend St Killian’s were told building delays meant that they could not begin school as planned as the classrooms were not built yet.

Parents were told they could apply for home tuition instead and that they hoped the building would be complete by the end of October.