How soccer made a striking difference

Falling enrolment, poor discipline, early school-leaving. At Larkin Community College in Dublin's north inner city these have been shown the red card thanks to an innovative soccer scholarship scheme with Shelbourne FC

In the heart of Dublin city some schools have problems holding on to students. There are fewer students around and those who can afford it are favouring fee-paying schools. Falling numbers can hit students and teachers hard - school morale gets a knock and some borderline students inch closer to dropping out.

In Dublin's inner city, historically drop-out rates were high. This is rapidly changing. That's why the educational world is watching Larkin Community College in Cathal Brugha Street, the first school in the State to introduce a large-scale soccer scholarship programme to encourage students to remain on in the educational system.

At Larkin Community College more than 100 students (including eight girls) are enrolled on the Shelbourne/Larkin Project, which was dreamed up five years ago when deputy principal Sean Spillane approached Shelbourne Football Club for help in setting up a scholarship programme for students with a passion for football. In 2001 the first 20 soccer scholars enrolled in Larkin Community College and started visiting Tolka Park to train with the professionals.

"This is not an academy for Shelbourne Football Club," says Spillane, who is keen to stress that football training for the scholars takes its place alongside all the regular Junior Certificate subjects. "However, football is a big part of these students' lives and the chance to train with professional Shelbourne coaches twice a week gives them a taste of success which has a positive impact on all their schoolwork."

When Larkin Community College first opened its doors in 1999 it served the immediate community in and around Cathal Brugha Street. Since introducing the soccer scholarship, the numbers have risen steadily, and the school now has a waiting list of pupils from all over the city.

"This is a great development for the inner-city students at Larkin," says Spillane. "The local children are benefiting from a multicultural mix of students from all over the city. The levels of ambition and pride in the school are rising. The number of students staying on to Leaving Certificate is increasing every year. We are only six years old, but every year more of our students are aiming for third level."

With almost a quarter of the student body enrolled on the soccer scholarship, there's a widespread feeling of pride about the programme's success to date. Several soccer scholars are now playing for Ireland at underage level and the well-equipped, modern school building is full of trophies.

Martin Fitzpatrick is the Shelbourne representative on the supervisory board of Shelbourne/Larkin project and he says that every board member, including Arnold O'Byrne, is immensely proud of the project.

"Now that Larkin has its own all-weather pitch the training takes place on the school grounds, but Shelbourne is still involved in the provision of coaches," says Fitzpatrick. "Every year the board raises money for the continuation of the scholarship, which is designed to support the students and to help them with the cost of uniforms and so on. The idea is brilliant - many of the students who have taken the scholarship would not have stayed in school. Now they are completing the Junior Cert and staying on to Leaving Cert, in a number of cases. It's a great incentive for those kids who are really passionate about football."

Spillane regards the soccer scholarship as a good model for any school interested in motivating students to stay in school - and soccer is only the beginning. "There's no reason why a school near a golf course or a school on the coast couldn't introduce golfing or sailing scholarship programmes," Spillane contends. "We are now running an arts scholarship programme at Larkin with the help of the Abbey Theatre, the National Concert Hall and the National Gallery. When they have a passionate interest in something they're doing at school it raises their game in all subjects. We have few or no issues with discipline here - the students are committed and co-operative and have a great relationship with the staff."

Funding for the project comes from both private and public sources and a very important one is a weekly bus ticket from Dublin Bus.

Spillane believes that one of the secrets of Larkin's success is the college's openness to the wider community. "Many schools in the voluntary sector are 'closed' - they don't reach out for the help of the other community agents because it's just not part of their tradition," says Spillane. "In the VEC sector we are well positioned to work with local youth groups, local business, local authorities etc. By creating these networks we have managed to come up with all sorts of imaginative ways to improve the learning experience for students."

The Larkin network is expansive indeed. As well as working with Shelbourne FC on the soccer scholarship, and the Abbey Theatre on the arts scholarship, the school has developed an incredible library resource as part of the Junior Certificate Schools Programme Demonstration Library Project. Businessman Bill Cullen has donated a large number of books and continues to be a generous benefactor to the library. Every student at Larkin is required to have a library book in his or her bag at all times. Scheduled library classes are held to help students to negotiate the library and get reading. School librarian Eileen Holian is delighted at the popularity of the library.

"We have queues of students outside the library every morning before school," says Eileen. "The students are taking out an average of 500 books a month. We keep a close eye on their progress and ask them to fill out review questionnaires so we're sure they're actually reading the books - and they are. The library programme has been an incredible success."

Larkin is also home to a music development programme in association with the Lions Club, a maths league table with Citibank, an academic scholarship with the Irish Youth Foundation, in-service training for teachers with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, an international performing arts competition with the Garda, a meditation programme with Sister Stanislaus Kennedy and number of other community-sponsored programmes in a range of areas.

"There is a wealth of expertise and good will in the community that schools can tap into," says Spillane. "We're making the most of these networks to provide our students with more and more incentives to stay in school. We've tried and tested a lot of programmes over the last six years and some have failed. But many more have succeeded and we're going to keep building on those successes."

The Shelbourne/Larkin Soccer Scholarship - how does it work?

*There are currently 100 students enrolled on the Larkin Community College Soccer Scholarship, including eight girls.

*Potential candidates undergo an interview and a soccer trial.

*Successful candidates are enrolled for the three-year Junior Certificate soccer scholarship programme, which includes regular training with Shelbourne Football Club coaches during school hours and financial support for books, uniforms and travel.

*Attendance and punctuality levels are higher among scholarship students.

*The number of students at Larkin taking higher-level subjects at Junior Certificate has increased since the programme was introduced.

*The number of students from the inner city applying for the programme has risen from two in 2001 to more than 20 in 2005.

*In 2006 Larkin College will have one of the highest enrolments of first years of all VEC schools in Dublin.

*In September 2003 a second scholarship was launched in Larkin College - Learning Through Arts. Modelled on the soccer scholarship, the new programme incorporating art, dance, music and drama in the mainstream curriculum.

Contact Details:

Larkin Community College, Champions Avenue, Dublin 1

Website: www.larkincommunitycollege.ie

Tel: 01-8741913 or 01-874 1928

Fax: 01-874 9127

Email: larkinlibrary@eircom.net