General Information

A Word from the Principal

While staff and students are justifiably proud of our excellent facilities, it is people who are at the heart of Ballincollig Community School. As the school we aim to provide the best possible education for all our students, enabling them to make the most of their particular talents and aptitudes. We believe that we are doing this in an environment that is both safe and friendly, as well as stimulating and challenging. As a school we recognise the importance and value of partnership; of working with students,parents and the community as a whole.
Kathleen Lowney.

When I began my teaching career, I worked in a school that had eighteen prefabs. Many of them were leaking from the roof and many were in very poor repair.
However we got on with the work as best we could, and of course we had our dreams to keep us going. We dreamed of having more space, of having better technology, of having better communications systems and of having the resources to cater for all our pupils' needs. The old BCS building was revolutionary and under the guidance of Dan Murray, many of our dreams as educationalists were fulfilled.
Now, however, we move into a new and exciting phase. I will leave it to others to list all the advances and advantages that we now enjoy - suffice it to say that we believe that we now have a magnificent educational establishment.
On behalf of the teaching staff, the parents and the pupils, today I salute our former principal Sean Slowey. Sean had the energy, vision, and determination to pursue the idea of Public Private Partnership in education. We are all indebted to you, Sean and generations of young people in Ballincollig will go on to enjoy these first-class educational facilities.
We have always had high standards in Ballincollig - having worked the new facilities for over six months, I am convinced we are moving to even greater heights.

The new building was provided as part of the Pilot Public Private partnership project between the Dept. of Education and Science and Jarvis plc. 5 schools (of which Ballincollig Community School is one) were chosen for the project and the private sector were invited to take a stake in the whole-life cycle of the new school building. This involved aligning responsibility for design and construction of the building with that of providing capital finance and of operating and maintaining it over 25 years.
According to Principal, Sean Slowey, the Dept. of Education & Science becomes a purchaser of services for 25 years rather than the buyer of a capital asset ( the school building). “Instead of paying initially for the construction of the school building - as is usual - the Dept. pays a monthly figure to the private partner (Jarvis) in return for the use of the school building - maintained and serviced to agreed standards. This means that the Principal does not have to worry about the maintenance or cleaning of the building.”
The services to be provided are:

Building management and maintenance services.
Cleaning, caretaking and security - cleaning and caretaking staff are transferred to Jarvis.
Catering services - snacks to be provided for sale to pupils.
The provision and maintenance of telecommunication and IT services.
Services to third parties - involving the hiring of the gymnasium, the astroturf pitch, classrooms, playing pitches and outdoor tennis and basketball pitches.

After 25 years the building is handed over to the to the Dept. in prime condition . “For this reason and to ensure that maintenance costs are kept to a minimum, there was a strong incentive for Jarvis ( and builder John Sisk & Son ) to construct a building of the quality seen at Ballincollig Community School.”, adds Mr. Slowey.
According to the architects (Coady Partnerships) the site was planned to give easy access and visual prominence to the school and full advantage is taken of the existing landscape character. Existing tree groups are retained where possible and the entrance is accessed across a broad plaza. The central courtyard provides a visual focus for the school and a quiet space for pupil association. The two-storied concourse is the spine of the school. It is broad and opens into three areas for pupil congregation. It also opens to the floor above through rooflit voids and galleries.
The gymnasium is located at one end of the school with access from within the school and from outside. All classrooms are generously lit and naturally ventilated: deeper spaces have clerestory opening windows. Materials are robust. The unpainted block walls in the circulation areas are enlivened with strong natural light and panels of colour. The new building has:

Ballincollig Community School's move to its new school and School Library took place in December 2002. The Library is an attractive area with spiral staircase and an open green space outside its wall of windows. Two hundred boxes of books and tapes were moved in all. Over 4,000 books from the old building and a new batch including recommended reading for the Junior and Leaving Certificate pupils have been added.
The new Library has six computers for student use. We envisage these being used for research purposes and projects. Restricted access to the Internet is allowed and is proving very popular with the students. The Library is open to students at lunch times four days per week and at times when requested by teachers for Library sessions.
The Board of Management has always been very supportive of the Library and a great boost was given to all School Libraries when Mr. Michael Martin, while Minister for Education provided grants specifically to replace and update supplies of Library books.
Library staff, Ms. Mary Kelleher and Ms. Carmel Eadie have spent several loyal years working in Ballincollig Community School and firmly believe that reading is a hobby for life and that our Library with its books and computers is a great resource for our students.