WHEN ASKED to nominate his school's greatest achievement, Pat Coughlan, principal of Parnell Vocational School in Parnell Square, Dublin, does not hesitate the school's survival is its proudest accolade.
Survival may no longer be an issue - the school will amalgamate with another inner city school next year. However, Coughlan says, to survive in the heart of the city centre, with limited resources and little classroom space, is no mean feat.
Built in 1750 as a family home, the school cherishes its family atmosphere; each of the 180 students is known by name to the staff of 20. No 1 Parnell Square has been home to Parnell Vocational School since 1953, when it first became well known as an institute of tailoring - Louis Copeland himself is one of its most famous sons. Tailoring was taught at the school right up to last year - a tradition that brought students form all parts of county Dublin to Parnell VEC.
Today, students and teachers alike are embracing huge changes, as the school plans its amalgamation with Colaiste Chonghaile, otherwise known as North Strand Vocational School.
September 1998 has been targeted as the opening date for the new school, which will, Coughlan says, "address the educational needs of every student, from the highest achiever to the weaker student". Parnell's 180 strong student body will automatically transfer to the new school, which will have a student population of 500 to 600.
At the moment Parnell is operating a six year cycle, including Transition Year. For the last five years the school has been running the Senior Certificate, the forerunner to the Leaving Cert Applied. Both Leaving Cert Applied and Senior Cert are being run simultaneously this year before the Senior Cert is phased out.
Younger students can choose the mainstream Junior Cert programme or the Junior Cert Elementary Programme.
Coughlan, who has been principal for the last six years and vice principal for the previous seven, firmly believes that, in the next few years, more and more students will be opting for the Leaving Cert Applied programme, as students and parents alike realise its appropriateness for those who cannot deal with the academic pressures of mainstream Leaving Cert. By the year 2000, he estimates, up to 30 per cent of final year students will opt for the Leaving Cert Applied.
The Department of Education's approval for the transfer of students from Leaving Cert Applied and Senior Cert programmes to PLC courses will provide students with a new route into third level education, Coughlan says.
For the past 20 years the primary objective for the staff at Parnell has been to obtain employment for its students. "When you take into consideration the high level of unemployment in the innercity area, securing a post for a student helps break the cycle of poverty," Coughlan says.
In the last five years, a minimum of 90 per cent of past pupils are in long term employment, he adds.
The first third level scholarship was awarded to a student of the school earlier this year. Senior Cert student Cathy Maher from the North Circular Road received a scholarship to study childcare and Montessori at Portobello College in Dublin. Coughlan believes, he says, that more and more students will follow in her footsteps and opt for further education.
The school itself is five storeys high, with every inch of space put to use, including the basement. Lack of space means art rooms often have to be cleared in time for lunch, when they serve as canteens.
However, what they lack in resources, they make up for in sheer determination and good student teacher relations, Coughlan says.
Without PE facilities students go camping, hillwalking, sailing, canoeing and swimming during school time, at weekends and holiday periods, with every student undertaking "a good mix of the academic and the practical". Art and crafts, information technology and typing, home economics and woodwork are all done by every student.
The school has also been involved in the Dublin Schools Business Partnership for the past five years. Companies such as Aer Rianta, RTE, Jurys Hotel, Ulster Bank, Easons and Iarnrod Eireann are involved in the partnership, providing students with valuable work experience, career talks and guidance for CV preparation. The partnership has also helped many Parnell students to secure jobs after school.
Building student self esteem is high on the list of priorities. Joint co ordinator of the Substance Abuse Prevention Programme at the school, Dolores Doyle, says the students, who are all from the north inner city area, are very knowledgable about drugs.
"They all know how easy it is to slip into the whole drugs world. What they really want to know is `how do we say no?' We try to build up their self esteem so that they have the confidence to say `no'."
Another means of building student self esteem is through the performing arts. Drama classes for Transition Year students every Tuesday morning are one way in which students are encouraged to express themselves, with the help of professional actors from the Dublin Acting Network.
In these classes, it's a case of move over Shakespeare to make way for more contemporary and, in particular, Dublin based playwrights with whom the students can identify. The students are hoping to perform two plays later this year, Jimmy Murphy's Brothers of the Brush and Red Devils by Debbie Horsefield, which deals with the hopes and dreams of several Dublin women who want to see Manchester United in an FA Cup final. Students will also stage a play by one of their own, Sabrina Colley (18), about the effects of drugs on a Dublin family.
Vice principal Marian McCaffrey says the forthcoming amalgamation is generating great levels of enthusiasm among students and staff. "We're really looking forward to the move and the scope it will give us to improve. Whatever the future holds, we hope the school will be preserved by the VEC as a house of learning for many generations to come."
