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The Abbey Vocational School (also known as the AVS or the 'Tech'; ''Scoil na Mainistreach'' in Irish) is a non-denominational vocational secondary school situated in Donegal Town, County Donegal. It has approximately 800 students, and is the largest school run by the Donegal Education and Training Board. The school is located on the outskirts of the town and is named after the 15th-century Franciscan friary (commonly referred to as an Abbey), the ruins of which lie a few hundred metres from the school. Courses offered include the Junior and Leaving Certificates, Transition Year, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP), as well as a range of Post-Leaving Certificate courses (PLCs), and it is also one of the top feeder schools for Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT). Like most schools now operated by the VEC, the AVS has moved away from a strongly vocational syllabus towards a more general curriculum including modern languages and sciences. The building itself is single story with almost sixty class rooms, including general purpose, computer, science, music, engineering and drama rooms. The school also has extensive sport facilities including grass pitches, tennis/basketball courts, gymnasium and athletic track. ==History== The first proper school to offer secondary education in Donegal Town was called Eske College, which existed until the 1920s when it was renamed as Fisher's High School and continued until the 1930s. It was replaced more than a decade later by Four Masters High School (Irish: ''Ardscoil na gCeithre Máistir''), which was a fee paying school founded by F.R. Cleary and located next to the town's railway station. However, it was not until 1953 that free secondary education was made available with the establishment of the Technical School (Irish: ''An Cheard Scoil''; known locally as the 'Tech') which was located on the Killybegs road, close to the town centre. In 1972, the VEC took control of the town's High School, and merged it with the Technical School to create Donegal Vocational School (Irish: ''Gairmscoil Dhún na nGall''). However, as numbers continued to expand the school became increasingly stretched and was based in eight different centres with almost 600 pupils. It was at this point a decision as taken to relocate the school to a new site on the southern edge of the town, on the Ballyshannon Road, overlooking Donegal Bay and Donegal Abbey. The new building was opened in 1982, with the school renamed as the Abbey Vocational School to reflect its new location. The buildings used prior to the opening of the new school still remain in use, serving as the Donegal Town Library and Donegal Adult Education Centre.〔Sweeney M. ''The Sands of Time, A History of Donegal Town and its Environs'' (Tirhugh Press 2006) p. 295-6 ISBN 0-9553155-0-6〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abbey Vocational School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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