#CommunicatingEurope

As part of the Communicating Europe Initiative, students Tara Buckley and Setanta O’Callaghan spoke about their school, and the diversity within it.

SPSL is a modern co-educational secondary school situated on the Cork-Kerry border in the heart of Sliabh Luachra which is known for its rich culture and history through various songs and jigs. Our school is currently staffed by 39 teachers and attended by 377 students of varying ethnicities, nationalities, and sexualities.

Our school is particularly diverse and inclusive as we are home to a multitude of manifold cultures, languages, and backgrounds represented in our classrooms and halls. Every student is diverse in our own way, giving our school an unprecedented and invaluable skillset among our students. Having such a vast range of pupils from every walk of life gives our classrooms unique and otherwise unseen perspectives on pressing social issues and reforms. We thoroughly understand that our student variation strengthens our school’s sense of empathy and understanding; This prevents hatred from ever taking root. Within the coming weeks, our TY class aims to paint two separate walls outside our school; one being a bright amber to bring attention to mental health, the other, a myriad of the colours of the rainbow to bring awareness to the struggles of the LGBT youth. Our curriculum has always had an aspect of understanding and being in control of our mental health. Our school has had many ongoing campaigns against homophobia, and we have not had any instances of sexual discrimination in recent years.

In terms of ethnic diversity, there are a total of 8 European nationalities in the Ty class alone, with each bringing a distinct and esteemed culture. International identity is a key part of our school’s values and learning. Diversity is a valued aspect of our school which is regularly celebrated with school initiatives such as European Day of Languages and International language day. We regularly set up posters in a wide variety of up to 10 European languages, including but not limited to Irish, German, French and Spanish.

The Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra TY class with their co-ordinator Miriam O’Regan