School greets overseas visitors

STAFF and students at Cape Clear Primary School received special visitors last week who travelled all the way from the similarly-named Cape Clear Island in Ireland to explore the region.

Initially visiting family in Sydney as part of their six-week Australian trip, Mary and Noel Randles’ travels took them through the region where they stopped by the school on their way through town.

Cape Clear principal Lynly Doherty said the Randles’ visit was an informative one for everyone.

“They came and brought little gifts for the kids like keyrings and they had some photos and a PowerPoint,” she said. “They spoke to the kids about what their Cape Clear looks like.

“The school there only has about six students while we’ve got 16 so they helped the kids make the comparison, and we spoke about our lighthouses.

“It was really nice and the kids had lots of really nice questions as well. As far as our buildings and facilities go, they said it was a large space compared to in Ireland.”

The pair also went to the Cape Clear cemetery and their overseas visit also included Ballarat, Buninyong, Brisbane, and the Great Ocean Road.

Mr Randles said it was nice for him and his wife to compare the differences between their home and its Australian counterpart.

“There’s major differences,” he said. “Cape Clear Island is off the coast of Ireland’s west coast. It’s three miles long and one mile wide with 120 people.

“As well as the school, we viewed the hotel, which is closed, and the fire station, and also we visited the old cemetery, where there’s a lot of Irish surnames of people buried there which we were really interested in.”

Ms Doherty said she hoped the Randles’ visit gave students a greater insight into how things are overseas.

“It gave them a bit of context. Even just having them here and hearing their accents and talking about the size of the school and their language.

“It was interesting for them to see for kids to go to school there they have to go to the mainland and board, compared to us where they take the bus in and out.”