Time to speak for children

My wife and I are pleased that the issues surrounding the Lurgan Campus of Craigavon Senior High School have finally been brought to the attention of the public and we are hoping that something will be done in order to alleviate the problems that have existed for 16 years.

As parents we would like to affirm our support for the school and for the support offered to our children by all of the teaching staff in very difficult and challenging conditions.

The school has no music facilities, no art and design accommodation no sports or play areas, no post 16 provision etc etc…..

One of my children is keen on soccer and he has played on teams from a very early age and was part of successful teams at the Junior High School. Since his arrival at CSHS, he was denied the opportunity to continue as all of the CSHS teams have their weekly practices and matches at the Portadown Campus. The challenge of catching a taxi to travel five miles to and from Portadown was frustrating in his early days at the school resulting in him giving up after a few trips. He never identified with the Portadown Campus. He is a Lurgan student through and through.

For the past couple of years the merits of the Dickson Plan have been promoted ad infinitum with barely a mention of the disgraceful facilities on offer on the Lurgan Campus of CSHS.

We as parents believe that it is time to speak on behalf of our children. We are proud of their achievements at Craigavon Senior High School and extremely disappointed at a system that seems to be promoted by so many but doesn’t value our children and others like them as they should be valued.