Pupils Niall Curran, Kirsty McDermott, Gary Kelly, principal, Keeva Lynch and Cameron McBrien from St Kevin’s College, Lisnaskea.
ST KEVIN College, Lisnaskea is set to double in size following confirmation that the school is in line for a £4 million brand new extension.
The Lisnaskea school now caters for over 600 students since the amalgamation of St Comhghall’s and St Eugene’s in Roslea in September 2017.
As revealed in last week’s Herald, the school is set to benefit from the multi-million pound investment which will see a new block similar in size to the current school building added to the site.
The new extension block will consist of 16 classrooms, a lecture theatre, a green suite and two ICT rooms with toilets and necessary facilities.
The new build will be linked to the existing building by a glass wing.
School principal Gary Kelly says the new extension is required to keep up with demand at the thriving St Kevin’s College.
“We have a plan in place – but this has to be looked at by the relevant departments but the current planned extension will double the size of the school as we do not have enough space at present. We have 600 pupils currently enrolled in the school, and we have 120 first years coming in September.
“The current school building is designed to cater for 430 students so we are talking 200 more pupils than the building can accommodate for so we are really tight for space. This is a sign of growth in the area and for the school. We are going up by 60 pupils next year, and 40 the year after that. It is brilliant for the school as it is an investment in long term sustainability,” said Gary Kelly.
The school has also increased the workforce by 25% as 10 extra teachers have been recruited this year to meet with the demand. The funding comes as a further boost to St Kevin’s as it was recently announced that the school would establish an autism specific provision and a learning support centre.
“We have a learning support unit coming to the school too which is not part of this process so the total investment in the school will be about £4.5 million. Both projects will be done at the same time, and it is absolutely brilliant that Fermanagh is getting a learning support centre at post primary level.
“It will great to be able to cater for all students, and offer inclusion to everyone,” added Mr Kelly.
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