Tipperary secondary school has moved to adapt to an ever-changing world

 An exhibition charting the story of the CBS High School Clonmel is currently running at the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel.

This year the High School is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the school.

The below article is on display in the exhibition which will remain open until June 7.

The society we live in is mirrored by everyday school life.

Dealing with that ever-changing society and what those changes would mean for the lives of young students was set out in a School Plan for the High School in Clonmel which recognised that all students were unique and had different gifts and needs.

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All schools in the country were obliged to draw up such plans after a White Paper on Education was issued in 1995.

After undertaking a five-year training course High School teacher Annette Hickey was at the centre of a visionary initiative that saw the introduction of a counselling service for the 700 students at CBS High School Clonmel in 2003.

What started as a two-hour crisis intervention service every week, is now provided over a full school week by a multidisciplinary team.

“After Covid, the demand for the service just exploded as isolation was added to the list of mounting issues,” said Annette Hickey, who stopped teaching in 2015 to work full time as a councillor in the school. The service also now has three part-time staff with an array of expertise skillsets and there is an overall care team within the school of thirteen people.

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Annette Hickey, Psychotherapist: “The issues that are raised mirror the society we live in. Young men are trying to cope with issues that arise in everyday life such as mental health, relationships, sexuality, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, self esteem, and bullying.”