Our School

Ethos Statement
St Mary’s J.N.S. is a co-educational primary school under the patronage of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin in the parish of Blessington, Crosschaple and Kilbride and is under the trusteeship of the Board of Management. The school was founded in 1882 as a single stream linear school and developed into a Junior National School in September 2007. We work in partnership with our sister school “St Mary’s S.N.S”

History

St. Mary's School was founded in 1882 as a result of indominatable community spirit as shown in the report below from the Leinster Leader.

Leinster Leader 8th July 1882
Blessington Catholic Schools
On Friday a demonstration came off in Blessington. It having become known that the new school wanted materials for the building, one hundred and sixty farmers of the parish of Blackditches turned out their horses almost at a moments notice and each brought a load of  stones from the magnificent granite quarries at Ballyknockan. The imposing cortege far extended beyond the whole length of the town and was accompanied from Ballyknockan by Rev. E. Rowan P.P. and Rev. Mr. Hickey C.C. who were enthusiastically cheered. The School Committee received the reverend gentlemen at the school.
Rev. Thomas Heffernan C.C. Mr. Patrick Driver P.L.G. Mr. Peter Melee and several other gentlemen were present and joined in the demonstration of applause and  acclamation which greeted this noble band of farmers, showing in this practical way their appreciation of Catholic teaching.

A new school was built in 1936 on the site of the original Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks consisting of four classrooms, two cloakrooms and indoor toilet facilities for both boys and girls. There were two seperate entrances-one for the boys and one for the girls even though the classes were mixed. Heating was provided by open fires and later stoves which were fuelled by coal, timber and turf brought in by the pupils. The old school became a community hall and was subsequently converted for use as a church. It was consecrated and opened on Ascension Thursday 30th May 1946, by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid of Dublin.

When Blessington Parish opened the doors to a new church in 1982 the Old School/Church reverted back to school use. A new building with ten mainstream classes, a GP room and kitchenette was opened on 1984 for Scoil Náisiúnta Mhuire and became an extension of the 1936 school. The original school is a protected building and was refurbished in 1997 to accommodate 3 rooms which are now used for a computer lab, our school library and one of our first classes.

As Blessington grew in population so too did our school and the site was unable to accommodate the large number of pupils attending. In September 2007 Scoil Náisiúnta Mhuire split into St. Mary's Senior and Junior Schools. St. Mary's Senior School is located across the road from the Junior School in a brand new state of the art building. Pupils who attend the Junior School automatically qualify for a place in the SeniorSchool when they go on to third class.

St. Mary's Junior school is very proud of the history associated with the building and the school's place within the community. The school is maintained to the highest standards and continues to enjoy valued support from our parent body and our parish. If you would like to come and visit our school please make an apppointment to do so or look out for our open days which are advertised in local puplications and on this website.

School’s Characteristic Spirit
We believe that each person is a unique creation of God and we therefore respect and care for his or her individual needs.
We believe that the underlying principle and the source of strength in our school is fidelity to the Christian values of

• Love
• Friendship
• Equality
• And respect for self, others and the wider world.

We aim to nurture the faith of our pupils by providing quality teaching and learning within the framework of the Alive-O programme.

Working with the quota of teachers sanctioned by the Department of Education and Skills we have deployed our teachers to maximise the benefit of small numbers in our youngest classes. Our mainstream classes are all single stream with mixed ability. At present we have three Junior Infant classes, three Senior Infant classes, two First Classes and three Second Classes.

We also have full time Learning Support and Language Support teachers as well as shared and part time Resource Teachers.

Curriculum

As a staff we are constantly reviewing our teaching methodologies, our resources and our policies.

• We have radically changed our English phonics and reading schemes in Junior Infants and have introduced Power Hour or Station Teaching in Senior Infants. Station Teaching involves intensive teaching and learning in groups of 7:1 with children reading and learning in groups at their own ability levels. The introduction of such changes has seen our Standardised Assessment levels rise dramatically with a large increase in the numbers of children in the above average bands.We look forward to continuing to monitor such developments. First and Second classes are all reading in groups and huge investment has been made in the purchase of appropriate and stimulating reading materials for all class levels.
• Cé nach scoil lán Gaelach sinn tá mes mór ag ar ndaltaí ar an teanga labhra agus baineann siad taitneamh as í a usáid i rith an lae. Tá caighden maith mar sin i nGaeilge na bpáistí is sinsire. ( While we are not an all Irish speaking school our pupils have a great appreciation for Irish as a apoken language and enjoy using it s a day to day language in school. Therefore our older pupils have a high standard in Irish).
• We believe in the benefits of concrete materials to help children learn the key basics required for all maths..Number, Shape, Measures, Data and Problem Solving and there is a spiral approach to the development of concepts within the school programme for maths. We also have the added bonus of being able to provide children in 1st and 2nd with additional Maths support as needed. Our first Maths Week was in October 2011 and it was a great success as it gave rise to new stratagies which were employed to stimulate the children's interest and to provide learning opportunities in a fun and practical way. We are always on the look out for new resources as the ones we have get well used!!
• Being a Green School which is steeped in history and located in a truly beautiful part of Ireland, our pupils are very aware of their enviornment and have a strong sense of Civic duty.  S.E.S.E. (Social, Enviornmental & Scientific Education) is central to a lot of our extra curricular activities as well as forming the basis for integration with the core subjects of Litteracy and Numeracy.
• Believing in the value of a holistic education our school promotes the arts through Music, Drama and Visual Arts and children are provided with regular opportunities to explore and develop their creative selves. Exhibiting their work and providing them with occassions to perform strengthens their self confidence, their sense of belonging and their self esteem. We also believe in the value of providing children with the opportunities to respond to the Arts and therefore we avail of visiting theatre groups, take the children to live performances, invite guest musicians in to school and encourage them to look and respond to the work of local artists as well as the more famous!
• In a time when the WHO is alerting us to the dangers of childhood obesity and our children are spending more and more time in cars or on couches we in St. Mary's belive that physical activity is essential for a healthy body, a clear mind and a feeling of well being. As part of our PE programme we avail of expertise outside our school in a variety of areas. Through the support of Blessington GAA Club and Blessington AFC our pupils receive coaching in Gaelic Football, Hurling and Soccer. Our first and second classes participate in competative athletics and attend swimming lessons in Tallaght Leisure Centre. We even run marathons! In 2011 / 2012 all classes are attending Gymnastics on a six week rota with expert coaching in the fully fitted Panthers gymnasium in Naas. Weather permitting, breaks are out doors and free play is encouraged.

Whole School Evaluation (W.S.E.) I could write pages on what the Cigirí had to say about our school. The full report is on the D.0E.S. website (www.education.ie). We received an excellent evaluation and here is a brief synopsis of the inspection team's findings..

• Congratulations to all in our school community on a wonderful W.S.E.
• Our cigirí were overwhelmed by the positivity, inclusivity and productivity evident within the school. The openess and happiness of all who work and learn in St. Mary's Junior School and the commitment of the staff to the welfare of our pupils is marvellous.
• The Board of Management is to be congratulated on the high standards of the school overall. The maintenance of the school grounds and the buildings is wonderful especially in light of the age of our building and the diversity of structures. The B.O.M.'S involvement in the formulation of excellent school policies and proceedures and their support of the work of the school is commendable.
• The support of the parent body and the commitment of parents to the school, not just for fundraising, but for all the activities which take place and which are dependent on the input of parents, is impressive- as is the work of a highly committed Parents Association.
• The children are complimented for their excellent behaviour, how well they all look in their uniforms and their joy and enthusiasm for learning.
• Classes have a great variety of teaching methodologies and the children are surrounded by a print rich and stimulating enviornment which has a lot of evidence of the childen's own work displaying high standards of content and penmanship.
• The standard of Gaeilge is very high and the school has a very strong ethos of promoting Gaeilge as a spoken language which is paying off in the subsequent high standards of reading and writing in second class. The variety of activities in Gaeilge throughout the year leads to a very successful and highly enjoyable Seachtain na Gaeilge for the children.
• The whole school approach to the development of History within the school, the methodologies used in and out of the classroom and the effective use of artifacts is to be commended. The school has succeeded in giving children an interest in and an understanding of their past
• Literacy and Numeracy standards are continuing to rise with increases in the number of children scoring in the high average and above average percentiles.
• Children experiencing difficulties are very well catered for in the provision of well organised, experienced and child focused learning support, resource teaching and language support.
• The whole school approach to the teaching and learning of Mathamatics is highly effective and the children are actively engaged in a variety of learning methods with good use of concrete resources.
• The school is very well run with a well organised, effective and productive approach to school planning. Great strides have been made in the area of I.T.
• Recommendations: To stretch the more able children even further in their reading with increased differentation and to increse the opportunities for problem solving in maths.

All in all we were told that we have a great school with very happy children and a very professional and dedicated team working for them and it shows in their progress. Keep up the good work!