THE EXTERIOR of the rather dreary building, flanked by the prefab complex, is mute, telling no tales. Inside however, it is obvious that major changes are afoot.

In the prefabs, caretaker Des Cray is busy painting dark green stripes to contrast with the lighter green walls. Each room has been partitioned to form two rooms, and the reception area is now decorated in fresh cream with contrasting pink stripes.

In the main building, the "extra" space at the top of the stairs has been annexed to form new rooms, and the library and remedial teaching room will be classrooms.

Our Lady Immaculate Junior School in Darndale, Dublin, is preparing itself for an invasion - 12 new teachers are going to join the current staff of 17. And they will each teach a class of only 15 pupils - thus the frantic rush to find space to put the new classes.

Principal Marjorie Murphy says there is a sense of expectation among the staff, as the Breaking the Cycle initiative begins to swing into place. The school has 390 boys and girls, from ages four to eight; the average class size is 27.8 at present. With the increase in staff, the school will have the largest number of teachers in its history; in 1978, when enrolment peaked, the school had just 28 teachers for 930 pupils.

"I'm still finding it difficult to believe," says an obviously delighted Murphy. "The problems of disadvantage will still be there but now we will have an opportunity to deal with them." (See panel, right, for details of what the scheme offers.)

In the words of one teacher: "I feel I will be teaching all the time. Hopefully, when I go home in the evening I will know I have spoken to each individual child in my class."

For Murphy, the downside is having to move the remedial teacher from his large room into a much smaller one, where he won't be able to display his charts and books to such advantage. She also regrets losing the parents' room, where the school housed a vibrant adult education and drop in programme. Parents will now be accommodated in the parents' room in the nearby senior school, but she says it was one of the toughest decisions she had to make.

The school's only television and video must leave the library and be housed in the staffroom. However, Murphy hopes to use some of the additional money to buy another TV and video.

One of the drawers in her office is stuffed with handwritten suggestions from the staff on how to spend the extra cash. Ideas include bringing in a teacher for speech and drama, or music, or PE; having extracurricular activities such as outings to art galleries and museums; and purchasing equipment such as percussion instruments. In an area where parents have very limited disposable income, this money will make a real difference.

Murphy enthuses too about the promised in career development, which will help the school to draw up a five year plan. "We will also be expected to set ourselves targets and a realisable time scale.

"This is one of the greatest injections of resources in primary education in a long time, involving a huge outlay of money. I am conscious of a certain nervousness about it. While 190 schools applied to the (urban) scheme, only 25 were designated." She is conscious, she says, of the fact that there are many schools that serve equally disadvantaged populations which are not getting the extra resources.

"Being in a pilot, you hope that the changes that the scheme will bring here will be sufficient to ensure its expansion," she says.

HOW DO YOU evaluate the success of such a programme? One marker might be more children staying in school longer but Murphy says that there must be a long term evaluation it cannot be done in five years.

The main evaluation will be an internal one, she says, as schools will measure themselves against their plans. "Success will be different in each of the 25 schools. It is important that outside norms are not being imposed," she adds.

In stark contrast to Darndale, where houses form a continuous sprawling streetscape, Letterfrack National School, in Galway, is set against a brooding backdrop of wet grey rock, brown rushes and brimming bog pools.

There is a notable lack of houses in the dripping landscape surrounding the village. In October, sheep are more frequent road users than passing cars.

However, the school itself is cheerful, with yellow exterior walls and bright red poster paint picking out the windows and doors. Inside, photos and paintings crowd the walls. One classroom has brought the nearby sea inside, with colourful papier mache fishes and a large net hanging from the ceiling.

The buildings date from 1990. Before that, the school occupied what the INTO described as one of the worst school prefabs in Ireland; principal teacher Leo Hallissey says he shared it with both pupils and rats.

With the advent of the new school and its latest addition - a classroom that must surely rank as one of the brightest and most welcoming in Ireland, with its own mini glass house built into a side wall - disadvantage is less obvious, Hallissey admits.

However, 89 per cent of the pupils come from families with low income or on the dole. "We suffer from isolation in a scattered community which is very sparsely populated," he says. "Where will these pupils find jobs if they stay at home? The only work is short term, poorly paid work in the tourist industry."

So the appointment of a co ordinator to each school cluster is welcome on two levels, Hallissey, says. The Department of Education is one of the biggest employers in the west of Ireland, and another job is to be welcomed for its own sake - as well as for the value it will add to schools and the community.

The four teachers in Letterfrack National School cater for 85 pupils, but falling enrolments mean that a teacher will be lost next year. Although the Breaking the Cycle initiative will not affect this, Hallissey is pleased to be included in the programme and says the money will be used for a variety of projects, such as putting the school computer on line, beginning a new music project and improving the library stock.

There are outstanding debts from the recent building; continual fundraising in a small community means the same people and businesses are always being targeted, he says. "There are six pubs and a number of small businesses in the parish and that's it."

The increased capitation and the extra grants mark an improvement, Hallissey says, but relative to the actual needs the amounts are very small. "It is very helpful but it isn't a complete answer. I'd like to see us retaining the fourth teacher." He would also like to see every school in Connemara getting this money, he says, not just the few that were chosen.

"We're watching the death of an era. Connemara is a rapidly changing entity. People like me question its future at all unless there is a massive input."

Hallissey speaks of a "lock up society" where it will not be viable to live. An overall strategy is needed, not piecemeal solutions, he says.