GOREY Community School, the second biggest secondary school in the country, opened its doors in September 1993 and the progressive attitude of all at the school is served well by the modern building in the heart of the Wexford town. With 1,458 students and around 100 teachers, GCS is the biggest local employer and has a huge catchment area extending north beyond Castletown, west beyond Coolgreaney and south beyond Camolin.
The school is an amalgamation of Loreto Abbey Gorey, the Christian Brothers School in the town and Gorey Vocational School. For staff and students who remember the "old school days" the amalgamation has brought a new lease of life.
Principal Nicholas Sweetman runs what he calls a participative education management programme which involves parents and staff. "It was built for 1,000 pupils and already we're almost 50 per cent overcrowded." They are getting around this problem by using one of rooms in the old Loreto Convent.
A great advantage of the larger school is the ability to offer a broader curriculum, says Sweetman. With 21 Leaving Cert subjects and 19 on the Junior Cert, the school has the "broadest curriculum of any school I know," he says.
At Leaving Cert level, almost any combination of subjects is possible. About 70 per cent of students go on to some form of third-level education, says Sweetman.
GCS also runs five PLC courses including art, craft and design, hotel catering and tourism and sport and recreation. There is also a large number of short-term night classes for adults.
We had the opportunity to sample the work of one of the PLC courses first-hand when lunch was prepared and served by students from the hotel, catering and tourism PLC course. Every lunch-time a class room is converted into a restaurant and up to eight staff members are treated to an hour of culinary delight. Cream of vegetable soup was followed by a delicious pork stir-fry with rice. Chocolate profiteroles and coffee ended the extravaganza.
HE sounds of choir music floated down the corridors as Sister Eveleen Hallahan took a first-year class in a spacious music room. After accompanying a performance of Gipsy Dance on the piano, Hallahan, who has taught Enya, conducted the 50-strong class in a rendition of Some Enchanted Evening.
The story of Enya visiting the school is an oft-told tale. The Donegal singer arrived in a limousine one day with a bouquet of roses for her old teacher and a collection of her CDs for the students.
Art is a very strong area as can be seen from the work on display throughout the school. Every year some GCS students go on to the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and last year three students exhibited at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Parnell Square, Dublin.
In all areas of school life student participation is wide and varied. From musicals to a student-run video club, folk groups to sporting activities, art exhibitions to equestrian activities; there's never a dull moment. This year's school tours will take students to Rome, Paris, Bulgaria and, nearer home, the Burren in Co Clare.
Several Transition Year students are planning a trip to Finland later in the year. Under the EU-funded Socrates programme, students will visit the small Finnish town of Mouhijarvi, similar in size to Gorey, as part of a project on which they are working.
The project is all about learning about countries with minority languages, says Susan Foxton, one of the students who will be visiting Finland later in the year along with fellow Transition Year students Denny Klatt, Paul Mitchell, Jimmy Ryan and Caroline Oldery.
THE 32-member students' council is one of the best examples of the GCS progressive ethos. Students from each school year are elected to sit on the council. This means attending staff and parent meetings, holding their own meetings regularlyand putting suggestions to management.
A survey on bullying carried out by last years students' council found this to be a major problem in the school, particularly among junior students. The survey found that over 95 per cent of first- and second-year students believed bullying was a problem. A fact-sheet was presented on the causes, dangers and methods of preventing bullying and a theatre group - Sticks and Stones - presented a drama on the issue to first-years.
The council is also responsible for fund raising activities. Its latest initiative is a rock ceili for 500 senior students. All proceeds will go to charity.
Students' council secretary Lynda Cullen, chaiiperson Orla Sheil and PRO Kevin Kirwan took time out to talk to Education & Living. "We're trying to trying to push through a uniform change whereby girls would be allowed to wear trousers, especially in the winter months," says Cullen. All three admitted that both parents and staff were against the change.
"The council gives the students a voice," says Shiel, who is interested in pursuing student politics in college. Kirwan says he will not be going in the same direction. "Politics is too dubious a career to follow," he says.
