About School
The vision for St. Patrick’s Primary & Nursery School as a Catholic School is to live out the Gospel values together as a school family daily in school.
Each child will be primarily assisted in developing holistically as part of our school community during their time in St. Patrick’s.
We strive always to develop self-respect in our children, to teach them to respect each other and to respect peoples of all religions, races, cultures
and ways of life.
The Curriculum and Pastoral Care, in all aspects, will therefore reflect the fact that Christ is the foundation of all school life and community.
By virtue of its Christian ethos, St. Patrick’s Primary & Nursery School operates under the leadership of the Principal and staff and adults show no
distinction between peoples of different gender, race, religion, cultural background, or ability groupings.
Enriched learning opportunities are available to all children and self-respect and respect for all peoples is nurtured by everyone in the school
community. We warmly welcome children from other countries and traditions to our school family and embrace their ways of life in a holistic way.
School Profile: St. Patrick’s Primary & Nursery School, Mayobridge
St Patrick’s Primary & Nursery School is located within the village of Mayobridge, adjoining St. Patrick’s Church and St. Clare’s Convent. The school was established in 1926 with the arrival of the Sisters of St. Clare two years earlier from their already established Convent in Newry. Thus began a long, happy and fruitful partnership between the Sisters and the community of Mayobridge which thrives to this day. Although the Sisters relocated to Newry some years ago, the rich legacy they perpetuated over almost a century continues to form the bedrock of our ethos as a Catholic school in all its out-workings. St. Patrick’s is a rural school with an enrolment of 349 children who live either in the village or within the extensive catchment area.
- School facilities
The school building underwent a major refurbishment in 1985 to cater for the rapidly growing enrolment. and the school estate has subsequently benefitted from significant DE investment courtesy of Capital Works, Minor Works and grant aid from the Central Procurement Directorate. Key facilities acquired most recently are the state-of-the-art Nursery – conversion project (2013); KS2 Triple Modular Block (2014); off road parking facility (2017) and additional hard surface Play area. (2021) The school building comprises thirteen classrooms (including Nursery and its associated facilities), four Resource rooms/areas, a Library, a Sensory Room, a combined Dining/PE Hall together with onsite School Meals kitchen and office accommodation.
- Staffing
The school is staffed by the principal and thirteen class teachers who are ably supported by a team of support staff i.e., three FS assistants, twelve SEN assistants and a Nursery assistant. Additionally, there are two secretaries (one part-time), two patrol staff, eight lunchtime supervisors, a building supervisor, two part time cleaners and four kitchen staff.
EA provides a bus service to transport children living on the outskirts of the village.
- Teaching and Learning
In St. Patrick’s we cherish every child and family as an integral part of our school community and value the contribution everyone makes to school life. We strive to ensure that every child achieves success and is enabled to develop their unique skills commensurate with their level of ability.
We actively promote strong partnerships with parents and carers and work in partnership to ensure our children are happy at school. The School Website which is currently being remodelled, together with our school app provide platforms for sharing good practice in all curriculum areas, keeping parents up to date with learning in school as well as ensuring effective and timely communication.
In St Patrick’s we are constantly striving to improve our curriculum provision through the use of up to date, practical, digital and interactive teaching strategies and resources.
We are currently developing our Outdoor Play provision and plan to enhance the existing School Garden and grounds further to enable our children to extend their learning through play-based activities. Policies have been developed recently to promote good wellbeing for both children and staff.
Children requiring specific learning support are catered for through additional Literacy and Numeracy intervention programmes. 15.75% of our children are currently on the SEN Register while18.6% are entitled to Free School Meals at this time.
- Links with the community
St. Patrick’s has very close links with mayobridge parish. Our parish priest/school chaplain is committed to involving the children in a wide variety of opportunities to live out their catholic faith. A hardworking team of parish volunteers deliver pre-sacramental programmes at parish level in partnership with the school. We embrace within our school community a small number of families from other countries and religious/cultural beliefs.
Our traditional links with mayobridge gfc and mayobridge community centre further enhance the learning experiences for the children.
Parents greatly appreciate our before and after school provision which is managed by ancillary staff on a daily basis.
As an eco school, we maintain our green flag status within world around us through the work of our thriving eco committee. We greatly value our partnership with mayobridge parish in providing additional outdoor play areas and the school garden.
Fundraising is carefully managed at this time, organised events are well supported and funds generated are directed to meeting the children’s supplementary needs as well as supporting a range of worthy charities.
- Extra-curricular activities
We offer an extensive range of After School activities to supplement the curriculum in St. Patrick’s. Both sporting and non-sporting sessions are made available to all year groups over the school year. These presently include Gaelic Football, Hurling, Camogie, Multi-Sport, Gymnastics, Art/Craft, ICT, Dance, Cycling Proficiency and Irish Language.
There is a strong musical tradition in St. Patrick’s. The school avails of support from two EA tutors for string and woodwind instruments. Weekly Piano and Singing lessons are also popular with the children. Our school choir enjoy their sessions and perform regularly at church and community events.
- School Management
St. Patrick’s enjoys an excellent reputation in the community regarding its high standard of education as well as its commitment to Pastoral Care. This was quality assured most recently by ETI in December 2017. The School Development Plan and associated Action Plans guide the ongoing development of the school moving forward. Furthermore, the restructured School Council and the Parents Consultative Group actively represent key stakeholders within School Management. The school’s Board of Governors is passionate about the delivery of quality education and the various representatives bring a wealth of skill, energy and commitment to leading and managing the school. They are traditionally most supportive of the Principal’s role at strategic and operational levels. They are well informed about school life and work diligently and collaboratively with the principal and staff to ensure that the highest possible standard of educational provision is made available within the finances available to the school.