Parents, paint and progress

A NEW parents’ room was officially opened in St Anne’s Primary School in Fettercairn on Thursday, and it coincided with a coffee morning that saw the school raise over €1,000 for a hospice.

The parents’ room is an essential component of the St Anne’s community, but it fell by the wayside during Covid-19, and when normal classes resumed, the room had to be turned into a classroom.

Because of this, the school approached the local parish and managed to secure another room on the school grounds, but in a separate building.

Over several weeks, owing to the dedication and work of school staff, parents, school caretaker Peter King, and Mary Kelly from the parish, the room was brought up to scratch and is now open.

“We had a lovely parents’ room, but about four years ago people stopped going in because of Covid, and two years ago it became an ASD classroom because we had no other space,” said principal Ray Lynn.

The school approached the parish about using a room on the school grounds belonging to them and received a positive response and got to work on re-establishing the school’s parents’ room.

Mayor Alan Edge with Marie Mulligan, Mary Cullen, Cllr Charlie O’Connor, Mary Kelly, Ray Lynn, Bobby Page, Lisa Vaughan and John Fell

The room was in a state of disrepair when the school received it, but through hard work and donations they created a vibrant, welcoming space for parents to unwind and attend courses.

The team of volunteers cleaned out the room, painted it all, put in new lights, got an electrician to fix the wiring, and put new appliances in the room.

The room has already been in use for a year, but the official launch only occurred last week as Mr Lynn wanted to solidify the space after it became a part of the school again.

“Last year, we just wanted to get the room up and running, but this year is about getting it moving,” he told The Echo.

Erroll Flynn (had his head shaved for charity) with Mary Kelly

The room is in use every day, with parents using it in the morning after dropping their kids off, in the afternoon while waiting for their children, and for classes on topics such as healthy eating.

Alongside the launch of the room, the school also held a coffee morning in aid of Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, which saw parent Erroll Flynn shave off his hair for the cause.

The school community raised over €1,000 for the hospice, adding to the feel-good factor on the day.