New home for Irish nursery opens

New home for Irish nursery opens

28 May 2014

CASTLEWELLAN’S Irish language nursery school moved into its brand new home yesterday to the delight of pupils and staff.

Naíscoil Uachtar Tíre has left its mobile home on the Circular Road for a new home at the Bunscoil primary school site at Bunkers Hill.

Nursery leader Mary McMurrough said the children’s sad goodbyes to the old building were quickly replaced with smiles of delight when they saw what was on offer.

“We are all delighted,” she said. “We took the kids down yesterday for a taster session so they would get used to what was happening.

“It was great to see the excitement on their faces going in to the story room and the sensory room... all purple and calm colours.”

The much bigger nursery facility is open plan, with clear partitions allowing activities to be separated, while keeping a sense of togetherness in the nursery.

The quiet and sensory area is particularly useful for children with hearing problems and autism, Mary explained.

“Noise levels can be an issue in these cases so to have a section of the nursery where they get to use this type of nursery equipment is important,” she said.

A kitchen and office off the main room is a bonus for staff and children’s toilets are finally on site.

“We will have our own toilets, which is amazing,” said Mary. “We won’t have to go over to the community centre with the children which will make a massive difference.”

The Department of Education funded building caters for around 40 pupils, having started off with just four pupils in 1997.