St. Conleth’s Infant School Time Capsule Ceremony
May 15th 2021was a very special day in St. Conleth’s Infant school, Newbridge. After years of applications, appeals and lobbying, we finally had the wonderful opportunity of placing a special Time capsule into the foundations of our new school building.
St.Conleth’s Infant School has a long history in the town of Newbridge, having opened it’s doors in 1953 under the management of the Holy Family order. The first lay principal, Mrs Ann Dempsey, took over as principal in 2000.
Over the years as the population of Newbridge increased, more classrooms were added, both permanent and temporary. However, it soon became apparent that a permanent classrooms were needed.
The school was sanctioned for building works in 2016 that included a major upgrade of the existing building while maintaining its distinctive character, along with nine new classrooms, two special needs classrooms, sensory rooms, sensory garden and a new hall. Included in the design will be a designated drop off area for parents, ball courts and the existing play area.
After a number of delays, work commenced on the site in December 2020. Included in the works is the construction of a number of temporary classrooms to the front of the school into which the children will decant while work in the main building as well as the construction of the new classrooms take place.
With great joy on May 14 representatives of staff and pupils had the opportunity to place mementos that are meaningful to our school and it’s culture into the foundations of the new school building, knowing that the wonderful culture and dynamic nature of the school will be carried forward into the new school building as St. Conleth’s Infant School begins the next phase of life in the town of Newbridge.
Scott and Vivienne placed a prayer and rosary beads as symbols of our Catholic School’s ethos, Jack and David placed a plant and a Green School’s award as a symbol of the schools’ strong links with nature and conservation, Ava placed a picture as a symbol of the children’s artistic endeavours, Adam placed a ball as a symbol of our love of sport, Eoin and Sophie placed a brick and lego as a symbol of new buildings and engineering, Senan placed a toy horse as a symbol of Kildare’s close association with horses and Aoife placed a book as a symbol of our love of learning..
It is a credit to our staff, pupils and parents that such progress has been made to date given that the construction is taking place in the midst of a pandemic. We look forward to the next exciting chapter in the life of our school over the near future where our children will continue to be educated in a state of the art facility, all the while maintaining the wonderful culture of our Infant School.
Margaret Harnett
Principal.
