Playground for all project wins national title for St Etchen's

Síofra Grant

St Etchen’s National School in Kinnegad brought home the gold last week after they were named the Junior National Winners of the National Disability Authority Someone Like Me Art Competition.

Jennine Kenna, the second class teacher who oversaw the event, was over the moon about the victory, and happily explained to the Westmeath Examiner last Thursday what first drew her to the project.

“I have a huge interest in special educational needs,” she said.

“I’ve worked in the autism classes here in St Etchen’s and having seen this competition on Facebook and on their website, I decided that for the second class I’m teaching this year, it would be an ideal project.”

The project was a diorama depicting a playground accessible to everyone. There were wheelchair accessible rides, and tools to allow communication with non-verbal students. It’s clear that the St Etchen’s pupils had thought a lot about what they would enjoy and what their classmates would as well.

“They decided to do a splash pad that was flat, so that the wheelchair users could enter, and there are communication boards, so non-verbal students would be able to communicate with them.

“The merry-go-round has seats so children could sit in it.

“They wanted a bigger slide and a smaller slide, so it was suitable for everybody, and the picnic table had to be tall enough to fit a wheelchair.” That last one was non-negotiable for the students, who clearly pay close attention to the needs of their peers.

It’s not hard to tell that Jennine takes pride in her students, and as she describes the work they put into the piece, the smile does not leave her face.

“They’re an amazing class, they’re full of empathy. We have students from the autism class who join us in our classroom so I felt like this was the perfect opportunity for us to put our creative side to the test.

“We have students who use devices to communicate, so we were able to ask them what they would like to see in the playground.”

The day before the prizegiving, Jennine, and two students who were randomly selected, and went to Dublin to accept their award.

Jennine praised the projects submitted by the other schools, saying that each was unique.

She also praised the Senior National Winners, from Muslim National School in Dublin, and said they were extremely kind towards the two St Etchen’s students in the junior division.

“Those girls were amazing, they came over to us to congratulate the children.”

The mood has remained high in St Etchen’s since the win, and as they class enter the school hall for a photo, it’s clear to see that they are over the moon.

“The smiles have not stopped,” said Jennine.

“They were nervous, first of all, to go up and collect the County Award and then I don’t think they had time to realise, like the name was called, we had to go and that was it.

“They couldn’t believe it. It was amazing.”

Principal of St Etchen’s, Deirdre Hannon was also in high spirits. She said: “We were so thrilled, I suppose we were really surprised because we didn’t realise that they were going to get an overall prize.

“Obviously we’re delighted for the kids and their teacher, and it has a wider effect for us in the school because we do have autism classes here and it just reinforces how all the children are all so inclusive.

“This project is the most inclusive project children could work on and the children here in second class really thought about the play area. They adapted all the different things in the playground that they felt would work and that’s where they came up with their project.

“It’s great for the children, great for the school and great for Ms Kenna as well because it really was a whole class effort, and they were so excited about it as well.

“I have to say we’re very proud and delighted.”