New school start for 50 Ukrainians at two Bundoran schools

This morning, St Macartan’s primary school in Bundoran will have seen its school population increase by over 10% in just four days, as young Ukrainian pupils joined their ranks.

All are child refugees from Ukraine who have been forced to flee their country, following the Russian invasion  , just over a month ago.

And with 20 additional Ukrainian pupils  also attending today at the local secondary school, Magh Ene College, 50 children  have been absorbed into the local education system, in a matter of days.    

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St Macartan’s school warmly welcomed its first cohort of 21 Ukrainian pupils on Monday, and now that number has risen to 30.

They are being integrated into individual classes throughout the school. 

A further 20 older pupils  will also start at Magh Ene College today.

This week, they have been sorting out uniforms for the new pupils  as well as carrying out assessments on their levels of English proficiency.  

Picture: Four young Ukrainian pupils pictured yesterday at St Macartan's National School, Bundoran, proudly displaying their new uniforms and smiles

The children form part of a group of just under 150 people, who are being hosted in three accommodation centres in the town, indicating that one third of all the refugees in the town are children under the age of eighteen. 

Closely working together

St. Macartan’s NS is working closely with Magh Ene College, and the ASD class in Holy Family NS, Ballyshannon, to ensure that all children of school-going age are being catered for, St. Macartan’s NS Principal, Ronan Tighe, said.

He acknowledged that it had been a busy week preparing for their new pupils, but that staff, pupils, parents and the wider Bundoran community were united in their efforts and enthusiasm. They were also fortunate to have some very able and hardworking Ukrainian translators among the new arrivals. 

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He added that children in the school could barely contain their excitement at the prospect of having new Ukrainian classmates!

“Any minor issues we’ve encountered, or may encounter, pale into insignificance when compared to the challenges faced by our new families. The dedicated staff here will work hard to try to bring some normality back to the lives of these children. 

“Our initial priorities will be on pupil wellbeing and English as an additional language (EAL). We have requested extra teaching resources from the Department of Education for the latter. Overall we firmly believe it will be a very positive experience for all involved.” he said.

Intensive tutor classes

Meanwhile, Principal of Magh Ene College, Pat Tighe indicated that the new students would be divided up between non exam classes and would account for about a 6% increase in school numbers.

He told the Democrat: “Initially however, we will have the new students all together in one group, with the aim of helping them assimilate into the school, by concentrating on their English language skills, which range across the spectrum. This will be through intensive tutor classes.” 

“We will also be educating our own students, so that they are prepared for the Ukrainian students to join us. This is leading to a great empathy and understanding of what their new fellow students have gone through over this past month. 

“How to help these young people has also been discussed with them and the new students got a tour of the school yesterday, as part of their preparations in becoming students on Thursday. Last week the pupils painted an outside bench in the Ukrainian colours and a welcoming mural in their native language was also painted internally. 

He added: “I would like to sincerely thank and compliment all those who have been so supportive in the preparations of the arrival of the Ukrainian students. That ranges from parents who have provided uniforms, the wider community, our own teaching staff who have been very busy, in tandem with their regular work and the current students themselves.

“All have been working behind the scenes to put notices in Ukrainian around the school and getting resources together to assist the students in every way possible.

“Donegal ETB is also providing language lessons for the students and their families outside of school.”