Life Centres
Catering for Early School Leavers
The Christian Brothers have four Life Centres in Ireland at present. These are located at Pearse Square and Cherry Orchard in Dublin; Sunday's Well, Cork and the Open Doors Learning Centre in Belfast.
The first Life Centre began as a pilot project in 1995 at Pearse Square in Dublin. It was a success, meeting the needs of the early school leavers. The Open Doors Learning Centre in Belfast, started in 1998 at the former St. Mary's CBS in the heart of the city. A third centre opened in Cork in 2000 and was located at the vacated Christian Brothers' Monastery in Blarney Street. It is known as the Sunday's Well Life Centre. In early 2006 a second Dublin Life Centre was opened in Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot.
The environment and atmosphere within Life Centres is closer to that of a family home than a school, and this innovative approach to education seems to be working for teenagers who otherwise would have given up on the education system.
Each Life Centre caters for boys and girls, aged between 12 and 16 years, who have not made the transition from primary to secondary school, have dropped out or been expelled from school or have been unable to cope with the school system. A Life Centre normally caters for ten young people at a time and has a full-time core staff, assisted by part-time teachers and volunteers.
Social Problems
For most of the children who pass through the Life Centre, education is only one of a range of challenges they are faced with. Unstable accommodation, a one-parent family, drug and alcohol abuse, financial difficulties and violence in the community are all ordinary facts of life for these children. For many, these challenges are compounded by problems such as poor literacy skills, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. Children are primarily referred to the Centre by educational welfare officers, social workers and juvenile liaison officers.
While adolescents are attending the Centre, members of staff do their best to involve families as much as possible through parent/teacher meetings and adult literacy evenings.
Partnership Approach
The programme followed in the Centre includes English, Mathematics, Home Economics, Art, Craft, Woodwork, History, C.S.P.E, Computer Studies, Self-Awareness, Spirituality, Physical Education and Education Outings.
When young people have completed their stay at the Life Centre, they are helped to find employment, to return to mainstream education or to move on to a project such as Youthreach.
The partnership approach to education between students and staff is reflected in the daily routine at the centre. Breakfast and lunch are prepared by the staff and a rota of two students at a time. Classes end in the early afternoon and the rest of the day is usually devoted to activities like swimming, football, a cultural outing or arts and crafts.
Presentation of Certificates
Normally at the end of each academic year a Presentation Night takes place. Certificates are presented to the pupils in recognition of their achievements and personal qualities, while samples of their work are exhibited. Parents and family members attend. This photograph shows samples of the pupils' work.
