TUESDAY last, September 28, will forever remain a red letter day in the annals of Waterpark College history — the day the mould was broken and 16 first year girls took their seats in the classroom alongside the boys in the Park Road secondary school.
The momentous occasion was the first of three pieces of history being created — Waterpark becoming the first and only voluntary secondary school offering co-education and one of the very first schools anywhere to offer Chinese as a subject in co-operation with UCC.
The girls who walked through the doors of Waterpark for the first time last week were drawn from Waterpark NS, St. John of God, Christ Church NS, Ballygunner and Faithlegg.
Principal, Tom Beecher said that following the completion of a major extension to the school in 2000 the new building provided the accommodation needed to cater for both boys and girls.
The curriculum has also been expanded to include Home Economics, a Chinese module and Coder Dojo for first years.
Tom Beecher said that Waterpark is the first school in the region providing the Chinese module in conjunction with Confucious Institute with a view to establishing it for the future in secondary schools. The subject which, he said, was strongly supported by the Parents Council would be delivered by tutors assigned by UCC.
When trialled by the school there will be extensive feed back to the Department of Education who will decide if it should be given support into the future.
The thinking behind going co-educational was, said the principal, to provide for the future of Waterpark College and to bring the best of its traditions forward to a 21st century platform.
The formal date of change of status was August 27, 2012 and as Mr Beecher paid tribute to the first cohort of students under the new designation he said they were confident they could meet their educational and developmental needs.
He paid tribute to the teaching staff, the Parent’s Council and the Board of Management for their enlightened decision to support the change of structure to Waterpark College.
