Remarks at The 25th Anniversary Celebrations of Deansrath Community College and The Opening of their new “Michael D Higgins Library”
20th April 2012
I am very happy to have been invited here today to join you all in celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of this very fine education establishment. I am also honoured that Deansrath Community College has also invited me to mark the official opening of your new “Michael D. Higgins Library.” I can think of no more welcome honour than to have a library in my name which will serve to enhance the learning opportunities of present and future students of the College.
My thanks to Maria Shannon, College Principal and Shane Mulvaney, Chairperson of the Student’s Council for their kind joint invitation to come here today and to you all for the warm welcome.
Deansrath Community College has earned for itself a wonderful reputation for its commitment to the delivery of quality education to all children in the community – and by this it is recognised that you mean ‘all children’ because your enrolment policy is inclusive, non-selective, ‘open door’ and your efforts are aimed at welcoming students of all levels and abilities and from all social and cultural backgrounds into a caring and supportive environment, conducive to learning for your more than three hundred second level students (328).
Tá clú agus cáil bainte amach ag Coláiste Pobail Rath an Déin
maidir leis an oideachas den scoth a chuireann sé ar fáil do na daltaí ar fad sa phobal – tuigtear gur ‘gach dalta’ atá i gceist anseo toisc go bhfuil polasaí cláraithe an Choláiste cuimsitheach agus neamhroghnaitheach. ‘Iontráil oscailte’ atá ann agus déantar sár-iarracht fáilte a chur roimh dhaltaí ag gach leibhéal agus gach cumas ó gach cúlra sóisialta agus cultúrtha go dtí áit atá cineálta, cabhrach agus a spreagann trí chéad dalta ag an dara leibhéal chun foghlama (trí chéad ‘s fiche a hocht).
I congratulate you for that ethos, that commitment to education and learning which extends equally to providing educational opportunities for adults in the community also – more than two hundred and twenty of them (225) at last count. The courses you offer are highly sought after and it is wonderfully encouraging to see that about two thirds of the adults who attend are newcomers, often the parents of students in the school. This is a such a powerful way of serving the needs of the community and long may your efforts in this regard continue.
Deansrath Community College serves the local community with conscientiousness and commitment - a community college in name but not only in name for its outreach to the community is very much in evidence throughout this community. That community has responded and not only have past pupils returned to the school to act as mentors to students, to help out with extra tuition and to supervise study, but some have returned here to work as student teachers and to join the staff as fulltime teachers.
It is testimony to your college’s long-term efforts for the community it serves here that progress has been made in improving retention rates, engagement of students with the schooling process and progression to further education. That success can be attributed to the holistic approach you take in integrating the social, personal and academic aspects of education by all who work in and for the College and through focusing on the care and support of all students.
In my inaugural speech, I spoke of the value of an inclusive society where people are not marginalised or treated unfairly – a society that encourages participation and enables its people to realise their full potential, a society built on justice and equality in all respects including equality of opportunity. I believe that here you have created an educational environment which is based on many of these very principles. Indeed the stated aims of your college include “to achieve an environment in which we can develop fully as valued individuals with a sense of pride and self-awareness; to create an understanding and respect of all cultures in our school; and to acknowledge the different individual learning styles and develop the full potential of all students with special educational needs.” Aims that reflect a very strong and laudable value system and culture that would stand equally well in many other organisational settings.
You have welcomed and facilitated newcomer students, from an impressive twenty eight different nations, providing support and giving expression to difference and uniqueness. An example of this are the magnificent murals in the classrooms painted, I’m told, by a Lithuanian student and other murals such as the one representing the College’s partnership with a school in the Philippines. Celebrating and supporting creative expression such as this gives young people confidence in creating their individual vision of what is possible for them in their community, their country and the world.
It is especially important and worthwhile for young people to be given a chance to develop a sense of civic responsibility. I was heartened again to see that one of the college’s aims is “to respect oneself and others and encourage a sense of social responsibility.” The establishment of the student council in the early 1990’s has fulfilled an important role in the school’s efforts to empower its students and to affirm their participation in the life of the school.
From the very beginning Deansrath Community College has promoted a wide range of extra-curricular activities, both sporting and cultural, providing so much enjoyment, both immediate and for life, for the thousands of students who have come through its doors. Many have achieved notable success, but one of the most noteworthy has been the college’s Gospel Choir which has performed at concerts at home and across Europe to wide acclaim.
There is a strong and longstanding tradition of staff giving time and expending huge effort in providing for the students’ holistic educational needs and to furthering the goals implicit in the ethos of the school. These activities have contributed enormously to the turnaround that the school has affected in school attendance and participation since its foundation.
Tá traidisiún láidir ag na baill foirne le fada an lá maidir le riachtanais oideachais iomlánaíoch na ndaltaí agus is mian leo na cuspóirí a bhaineann go mór le héiteas na scoile a chur chun tosaigh. Chuir na gníomhaíochtaí seo go mór leis an athrú atá tagtha ar fhreastal scoile agus páirtíocht ó bunaíodh an Coláiste.
Comhghairdeas libh as an éacht sin.
You have enjoyed several major successes in Sport in 2011 and I congratulate Joseph Ojewumi, the All Ireland Champion and U15 Indoor Irish Record Holder for the 100 and 200 metres sprint and the Girls Table Tennis Team for becoming All Ireland Champions in 2011.
I also commend you all for the links you have successfully established with students across the world; in Florida, Lourdes, Philippines, Denmark, Norway, Wales, and Lithuania and also for your focus on development education. Congratulations on your partnership with a school in Philippines (Badjao) which resulted in students and staff going there two years ago. This experience has undoubtedly been extremely rewarding and increased the cultural awareness for teachers and students in both countries.
This new library will be a wonderful addition to your school and I am honoured that you have named it after me. Both literacy and numeracy skills are vital in enabling us to participate fully in society. It is a regrettable and disturbing fact that in Ireland today, one in four of Irish adults have literacy difficulties. This figure is very high particularly when we compare with 3% in Sweden and 5% in Germany.1 Literacy and numeracy skills are we know fundamental to a person’s life chances. Yet information on national assessments, school inspections and international studies has shown that many of our students are not developing these skills as we would hope for them.
Albert Einstein once said that 'I never teach my pupils: I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn'. Here at Deansrath Community College you have been providing and improving those conditions, looking outward as you constantly respond to the needs and challenges of a modern and ever changing society. This is a College that continues to evolve and develop in a very positive and life enhancing way for those who come to learn here and I wish you every success as you continue your important work into the future. Visiting your college and learning more about what you do here and how you do it has been an uplifting experience for me for which I am both grateful and will long remember you.
Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.
1 National Adult Literacy Agency