Access Cavan

All transition year schools in the country were invited to take part in this thought provoking and innovative new transition year learning module which was designed in order to raise awareness amongst students of the issues facing people with disabilities. The module consists of two elements, one an e-learning course to raise student’s awareness and understanding of the barriers, both attitudinal and physical, for people with disabilities.  The second element was to create a poster to reflect the theme ‘Enabling Access across Generations’.

This innovate learning programme was developed by  the Access Officer Network task group which included Emma Breiden (Cavan Co.Co), Pat Coffey (Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co. Co.), Tom Johnson (Dublin City), Vibeke Delahunt (Wicklow Co.Co.) and Ger O’Brien (Kerry Co.Co.) A vast amount of work was carried out by the task group in collaborating with Government Depts. State Agencies and the National Network of Schools to achieve this successful outcome. Locally Access Officers and Social Inclusion Officers contacted the schools in their counties and encouraged as many schools as possible to take part. Collaboration is one of the key strategies required as part of the National Disability Strategy and this programme achieves this.  This programme was endorsed by all Local Authority County Managers as a means to achieving a key objective of the National Disability Strategy.

An Awards Ceremony for Transition Year Students from all over the Country took place on Monday 3rd of December in City Hall, Dublin. The Lord Mayor of Dublin presented awards to the designers of County and National winning entries. Representatives from the National Network of Local Authorities Access Officers attended along with Transition Year Students, Coordinators and Teachers to support their respective county level entries.

Our county entry was produced by Loreto College, Cavan.  

The Award Ceremony marked the launch of National Accessibility Week in conjunction with International Day of People with Disabilities 2012.

In his speech the Mayor of Dublin indicated he was ‘delighted to be part of this innovate and progressive learning initiative which maximises resources and collaboration across Local Authorities, Government Departments, Support Services and State Agencies.  I’m especially delighted that the use of technology through e-learning, visual imagery and the arts has been to the fore as a fundamental part of this initiative. I congratulate all the partners and stakeholders involved.’

The overall National winning school was Gael Choláiste na Mara, Seabank Arklow Co. Wicklow. This poster will be used as part of all Local Authority information and awareness campaigns around Disability and Access in 2013.