Ministers Foley and Naughton and CEO of City of Dublin ETB announce permanent location for An Cosán Community Special School
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From: Department of Education
- Published on: 25 October 2024
- Last updated on: 14 November 2024
Minister for Education Norma Foley, Minister for Special Education & Inclusion Hildegarde Naughton and Dr Christy Duffy, Chief Executive of City of Dublin Education and Training Board (ETB), have announced that a permanent building for An Cosán Community Special School will be included in the state’s largest ever multi-school campus.
The school is currently operating from an interim location at Grangegorman but will be given a new home on the multi-school campus project at Whitehall on the northern outskirts of Dublin's inner city.
There will be three other schools – Clonturk Community College, Ellenfield Community College and Gaelscoil Áine - on the campus with An Cosán special school.
This shared campus approach promotes an inclusive learning environment for all students in the community and reflects a commitment by the Department of Education to the co-location of new special schools with mainstream schools where possible.
Welcoming the decision on the permanent location for An Cosán Community Special School, Minister Foley said:
“I am delighted that An Cosán’s permanent home will be on Whitehall Campus, which is the single largest school development ever funded by the Department of Education.
“I am particularly pleased that it will give all children, whatever their ability, the opportunity to learn with their siblings and peers in a multi-school campus, be it in a mainstream class, a special class or a special school.
“I would like to thank City of Dublin ETB, which is the patron of An Cosán Community Special School, for working collaboratively with my department on this highly significant and strategic development.”
Minister for Special Education, Hildegarde Naughton said:
"I am thrilled that An Cosán’s new permanent home on Whitehall Campus will create a space where every child’s learning journey is at the centre.
"The school is currently located at an interim site in Grangegorman, but will soon move to its new home on the Whitehall multi-school campus, situated on the northern edge of Dublin's inner city. This campus will also be home to three other schools—Clonturk Community College, Ellenfield Community College, and Gaelscoil Áine—alongside An Cosán special school.
"This new campus is designed to enhance children’s learning experiences, providing a supportive environment where every student can grow and thrive.”
Chief Executive of City of Dublin ETB, Dr. Christy Duffy, said:
“City of Dublin ETB, as the state provider of co-educational, multi denominational education, is delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting new landmark development. The Whitehall Campus will be at the cutting edge of inclusive 21st. century education underpinned by our core values of excellence in education, care, equality, community and respect. It represents a real opportunity for us help shape the future of Dublin city as we work with the Department of Education and the local community to meet the wide range of students’ needs in the area.”
This inclusive school campus will facilitate future expansion potential for An Cosán, beyond its current interim capacity, and guarantee that the new Whitehall Campus is fully equipped to cater for the diverse needs of all local children.
The campus is being advanced as part of the Department of Education’s newest delivery programme, ADAPT 4 or Programme Innovate. With the expanded brief for four schools, the Whitehall Campus project is the largest project on the overall delivery programme and will be the single largest school development ever funded by the Department of Education.
City of Dublin FET College Northeast Campus will continue to operate from the Whitehall site and the site will be master planned to facilitate potential future Further Education and Training development.
Programme Innovate is the fourth generation of the ADAPT – or Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning & Tendering – Programme, which comprises some 30 schools to be delivered in two phases. The programme vision is to create schools that support an inclusive and inspiring learning environment using sustainable design and construction approaches.
The Whitehall Campus project has been identified to commence in Lot 1 of the first phase of Programme Innovate. The procurement process to appoint a multi-disciplinary design team for this Lot has recently commenced.
The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning to tender and construction. AECOM was appointed as Project Manager in Q3 2023.
The project for An Cosán Community Special School is part of the Department of Education’s extensive pipeline of special school building projects around the country. There are currently 65 building projects at special schools at various stages of planning and delivery. These projects will deliver over 640 classrooms for students with special education needs.
Notes
The four new school buildings to be developed at the Whitehall Campus are as follows.
Clonturk Community College, post-primary school under the patronage of City of Dublin ETB in partnership with Educate Together
This school opened in 2016/17 and had an enrolment in 2023/24 of 909 pupils. This school is to get a new 1,000 pupil school building with provision also for six special education needs classes.
Ellenfield Community College, post-primary school under the patronage of City of Dublin ETB
This school was previously called Margaret Aylward College and had an enrolment in 2023/24 of 112 pupils. The school is to get a new 1,000 pupil school building with provision also for six special education needs classes.
Gaelscoil Áine, primary school under the patronage of An Foras Patrúnachta
This school opened in 2019/20 and had an enrolment of 116 pupils in 2023/24. The school is to get a new 8-classroom school with provision also for 2 special education needs classes.
An Cosán Community Special School, under the patronage of City of Dublin ETB
This school opened in 2024 with a current enrolment of 36 pupils. This school is to get a new 20-classroom special school.