The great county of Cork has its first Champion School of Sanctuary! Millstreet Community School became the third school in Cork to receive the award but it is the first such awarded school outside of the city.

On Friday November 24th, a large monitoring team representing Schools of Sanctuary Ireland visited Millstreet Community School. Each member of the team was profoundly moved by the exceptional initiatives undertaken by students and staff towards inclusion, safety, and by the particularly warm welcome that is extended to refugee and asylum seeking students from the locality.

The school’s Sanctuary committee, led by dedicated students, showcased the school’s commitment to diversity and unity. The monitoring team was given a comprehensive tour, highlighting various art installations and cultural displays that beautifully represent the student body. In the library, students from diverse cultures shared their stories, and traditions and presented music and dance from various countries and cultures.

The school has particularly benefitted from the invitation by UCC to participate in the university’s IMMERSE Project On the whole, Millstreet Community School’s Sanctuary portfolio gives a wonderful insight into how the school has engaged with the principles of Learn, Action and Share including multicultural celebrations that our own Homayoon Shirzad remembers being a wonderful night of cultural celebration back in March 2023!

View the portfolio HERE

We are grateful as always to the people who give of their time so graciously to join our school visit teams. On this occasion, the team was graced with Dr. Naomi Masheti and Sr. Josephine McCarthy (Cork Migrant Centre), Michaela Alfred Kamara (Cork Educate Together Secondary School), Claire Dorrity ( School of Applied Social Studies, UCC), Sanctuary Ambassador Khatira Samim, parents of the school Nino Lavrelashvili and Pamella Sibindi, and two guest teachers from CBS Primary School Tralee.