Two Limerick schools nominated for 'prestigious' competition

TWO LIMERICK schools have been named as County Winners in a prestigious competition.

Knockainey National School and Ballybrown School have been named winners in the national art competition, Someone Like Me. 

Knockainey National School and Ballybrown School are celebrating being named Junior and Senior County Winners respectively which will see them join 46 other schools to compete for the much sought-after national title at the national awards ceremony to be held at Dublin City Hall on Wednesday, January 17. 

Now in its eighth year, the Someone Like Me art competition, which is organised by the National Disability Authority, attracted more than 2,200 entries from national schools across the length and breadth of the country. 

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The competition was created as part of the National Disability Authority’s work to nurture more positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities and, to date, it has seen more than 17,500 children take part in lesson plans and pupil activities designed to challenge our young people to appreciate and respect similarities and differences in people.

The three person judging panel comprising Ann Higgins, principal of Hospital School Children’s Health Ireland; Dr Carly Cheevers, senior research officer at the National Disability Authority; and Laura McGrath, an autism class teacher was particularly impressed with the entries from Knockainey National School and Ballybrown School, selecting them as County Winners based on their insightful and inspirational responses to the theme of ‘Someone Like Me’. 

Congratulating Knockainey National School and Ballybrown School on being named County Winners, Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Anne Rabbitte T.D. said: "Every year more and more of our young people take part in the Someone Like Me Art Competition, working their way through cross-curricular lesson plans and learning resources which have been specially designed to challenge and inspire.  The number and standard of entries shows a real commitment on the part of teachers and pupils to helping to develop a shared understanding of how we should treat others in a caring, sensitive and inclusive way, promoting a sense of belonging and connectedness,” she said.