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16th February 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 05 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. EirCode: K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
The Writing Is On The Wall For Malahide School St Sylvester’s Infant School in Malahide are currently undergoing construction on an extension to the school. The build is due to be finished in March, and both teachers and students alike are very excited to see it’s completion.
By Aoife Read The school is currently running an initiative called ‘Buy A Brick’. The idea is that a family can purchase a brick that is being built into the new
build and have their child’s or family name placed on the brick. This brick will be a part of the ‘Donor Wall’ and will be on view for all posterity creating a personal history etched into the walls of the school for future generations to enjoy. The idea came as the Government had allocated €950,000 to build seven classrooms. There was however, a shortfall in the region of €50,000. The Parents Association looked to the generosity of parents and came up with the buy a brick idea. The County Leader spoke to school principal Sharon Ward about this interesting endeavour: “We received funding from the Department of Education to replace 7 prefabs that are currently on the school site with permanent classrooms. But we also needed to build two learning support rooms and unfortunately the grant didn’t cover this, so we have a deficit of €50,000. Our parents association, who are a very dynamic group of people, decided to do the Buy A Brick campaign to try and raise the money needed for the learning support rooms which will be used to teach both children with learning difficulties and children who need to be challenged academically.” Parents or members of the community are able to sponsor a brick which is €25, or €50 for a family, and there is also a corporate option which is €250. To date, they have managed to raise almost €20,000 through the Buy A Brick initiative. Ms Ward told us that; “What will happen then is we will have a donor wall, which is a perspex
The teachers of St Sylvesters School wearing their hard hats while visiting the new build which is currently in progress
wall in our reception area, and everybody who has sponsored a brick will have their name written up on it and it will be there for posterity. It’s really great because in years to come both past pupils and members of the community can drop into the school to visit, look for their name and show it to relatives or their own children which will be lovely for the families and a great momentum for the community.” The school still has a deficit of €30,000 which they still need to raise. Ms Ward said; “Hopefully your readers will get on board with the campaign, because we are stopping it at Easter time. For anyone who hasn’t sponsored a brick yet, the closing date will be 16th March. So we would love if parents could get on board before then. Or if a member of the community wants to sponsor one of the learning support rooms they are more than welcome to come in and sponsor with any amount of money they want.” The new build for the school is coming along nicely and will be open after the Easter holidays. According to Ms Ward it is ; “Looking fabulous, we will be ready to open at Easter time and it totally complements the old 1856 redbrick school. The prefabs will be demolished over the Easter break and we will landscape the site then and it will be a very warm and welcoming place for the children of Malahide.”
Ms Ward concluded by saying: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the community for all of their support to date.” Please see the school’s website at www.stsylvestersinfantschool.com if you would like to support the school by sponsoring a brick.
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