06.10.2023
‘The ABC of School Life’ – Carysfort NS Celebrates 200 Years of Education
The community of Carysfort National School in Arklow was celebrating this morning (Friday October 6 2023) as they marked 200 years of education. The pupils were reminded on this historic day that they were making history and that Carysfort pupils of the future would look back at what they did.
School prinicipal Heather Minion welcomed the pupils and their parents, teachers and staff, as well as some past pupils and teachers who packed the school hall. The pupils set the tone for the day with their uplifting rendition of ‘Thank You Lord’ and later 6th Class took centre stage with their ukuleles to perform ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.
Throughout the school there were items of interest detailing the school’s history. Parents who were past pupils had been interviewed and educational artifacts had been uncovered. Former teacher Heather Flockhart recited a poem she had written for the occasion and former pupil and parent, John Sutton, read from Ecclesiastes [3: 1–8].
Carysfort’s patron, Archbishop Michael Jackson, joined the festivities. He talked about the ABC of school life. A, he said, stood for acceptance and said that everyone had to be accepted at school because otherwise it would not be a happy place. B stood for belonging and he explained that every child belonged at their school. C stood for community and everybody at the school was part of that community, he said. He thanked the school community for inviting them to share in this moment of living history.
Ms Minion thanked all those who had gone before her for their dedication to Carysfort National School. Outlining the history of the school she said it was established in 1823 by the Earl of Carysfort. It became a national school in 1908 and the new school opened on the current site in 1974. An extension to the school was opened 10 years ago. The principal paid tribute to the staff and parents’ association who helped prepare for the occasion and the pupils for their work. “A school is nothing without community and we are blessed with the community we have,” she stated.
The whole school community gathered in bright sunshine afterwards to plant a tree to mark the bicentenary.
