Secondary school’s coffee truck is brewing up a storm in Kinsale

IT’S full steam ahead at Kinsale Community School where a grind school has launched ­ – just with a focus on beans and not books.

The KCS Grind School is a vintage coffee truck staffed by the school’s TY students, along with students from its ASD units and Rang Réalta. Principal Fergal McCarthy explained how KCS is the largest provider of ASD places in a mainstream setting. The school has six ASD units, each with six students, and eight children with moderate learning difficulties in Rang Réalta.

Joanne McCarthy, Oscar Power, Odhran Smith and Joey McCaughley behind the counter at the coffee truck.

‘We recognised that there can be challenges for our students in getting the full TY experience – they may have difficulty accessing work experience, or simply not be comfortable in a setting that isn’t familiar to them,’ he said.

With that in mind, Mr McCarthy ‘brewed’ up an idea, and the school purchased the 1963 Citroen coffee truck from a Youghal-based barista who was expanding his businesses and needed a larger truck.

Under the guidance of teachers, TY students are now getting barista training, which is a useful skill for future careers or seasonal jobs. But it also provides an opportunity to garner other skills such as numeracy and socialisation skills, with the added benefit of promoting an inclusive culture within the school.

‘During Covid we all became very familiar with coffee trucks and quality coffee. Our students were determined to serve a great product and we source our beans from the artisan Kinsale Coffee,’ said Mr McCarthy.

The area around the van has been fitted with picnic tables bought from Down Syndrome Ireland and is designed to be a place where staff or students can relax. The not-for-profit endeavour is proving to be a huge success and is open at break times, serving a range of hot drinks and sweat treats – providing a welcome break from the daily grind!