IT IS usual to see children arrive by schoolbus, but not pupils and school staff together!
But, that is now a daily occurrence at Killyhommon Primary School where the overflow from the Sillies River, made worse by heavy rainfall, has made car travel impossible on three access roads. The school itself, however, which has 60 pupils on the roll, is under no threat.
This week, the school principal, Eileen McKenzie, etched an outline of the frustrations being experienced by pupils, parents, staff and others who need to get to the school.
"We have had floodwater here from the 4th of November. For a few days between the 4th and now, you could drive through the floods when the water receded to the side of the road. But, since the 4th we have been frustrated by flood water.
"The floods are on every single road to the school, and badly flooded. We're not talking about a puddle on the road, but a lot of water. It goes down maybe for a night and then you have persistent rain and it's back up.
"At the minute (Monday) there's no way you can take a car through with the water coming up over the number plates and over the lights.
"Only for the buses, we would have to close the school because no parent can get in unless on tractors, and you can't take 60 children across on tractors."
Ms McKenzie reported that the flood waters on Monday were worse than on 6th November when the decision was taken to close the school.
"Since then, we have been keeping the school open, and we're determined to keep the school open. We are not interested in closing down the school, but we are at our wit's end knowing what to do.
"The water is not receding because it hasn't got a chance to recede as it's continually raining. Unless somebody can pump the water out of the roads, that's our only chance."
The principal then explained how the work of pupils and staff was being disrupted.
"From the teachers' side, we can't do our prime time. Normally, they are in here 45 minutes earlier in the morning and they don't leave till 5 o'clock. Now, they are governed by bus times."
Then, there was the knock-on impact on the pupils.
"We had to cancel parent teacher meetings last week. We have rescheduled these for this week, but we don't know if that's going to happen or not.
"I had a school psychologist coming down to do assessments, but all this has had to be held off, which means you're put back further in the queue.
"The GAA (coaches) come out here twice a week, but you can't have people coming through the floods. The school meals are brought in from Elmbrook, and they have been brought in every day. The driver decided to take them in, but it is difficult.
"There are 11 people who work here, classroom assistants, ancillary staff who also have to get in and out, all these people are inconvenienced. It is a major disruption, but we're working around the disruption and the flooding, but we can't do anything over and above that till we get this thing sorted out."
A number of elected representatives have been to see the principal, among them local Independent Councillor, Bernice Swift whom Ms McKenzie described as, 'the most proactive'.
Meanwhile, a Western Education and Library Board (WELB) spokesman reported on Monday that no schools in the Fermanagh area had been closed due to flooding.
"Officers from the board have been working over the weekend with the emergency services and statutory agencies and, whilst there is minimal disruption to some transport services, the Board are putting contingency measures in place to deal with this."
A spokesperson said some pupils from Moat PS in Lisnaskea were unable to get to school on Monday of this week due to impassable roads.
However, the board had now secured alternative provision for their education in Teemore Church Hall where temporary schooling arrangements, including all ancillary services had been put in place with effect from yesterday (Tuesday).
"The board's primary concern is the safety of all pupils and staff, and every effort will be made to ensure continuity of service provision", the spokesman added.
