Kinsale primary school to get its own architect-designed sensory room.

A KINSALE primary school is to get its own 40ft architect-designed sensory room, thanks to one of its talented pupils. 

Saoirse Hayes, (8), a third class pupil at Scoil Naomh Eltin National School, impressed the judges in the ‘Fyffes Go Bananas’ primary school competition. 

It asked pupils to submit ideas showing how a shipping container could be transformed to provide extra space within a school environment.

‘We were blown away when Saoirse’s teacher rang us with the news of her success,’ said Mary Hayes, Saoirse’s mother.

Saoirse’s design attracted the most attention from the judges with Gerry Cunningham, managing director of Fyffes Ireland describing her entry ‘as a three-dimensional concept that so perfectly revealed the awareness, imagination, creativity and sense of caring that exists in the minds of young children.’

Saoirse used both text and artwork to illustrate and describe her concept for a ‘multi-sensory’ space, showing how a container could be adapted to become a self-contained study area. 

Her design was a rainforest-themed multi-sensory room and she added things like plants, monkeys and a water feature in her 3D model, while also incorporating all the five senses into the model.

‘We’re actually going to call the room ‘Saoirse’ which is Irish for freedom and this room will give pupils the freedom to reach their potential,’ said Saoirse’s former teacher Dara-Anne Neary. 

‘It’s a great achievement for both Saoirse and the school and Fyffes will be in touch with us soon to begin the process,’ she said.

Fyffes will now seek advice from the principal of Scoil Naomh Eltin, to see how best Saoirse’s design can be achieved. 

They are also mindful of their commitment to engage the services of an architect who can interpret Saoirse’s idea and oversee the redesign of the container so that it might be accommodated and fit the space and educational needs of her school.