Our School in the Community
By their nature, primary schools are deeply rooted in the communities they serve. While they are normally founded by a community they go on, not only to serve that community but to influence and shape the growth and development of the community. Many schools are parish-based and, as such, are influential in the educational, religious, social and emotional development of the children in the community who will one day grow to be the adults and carry with them the values and traditions which they learned in primary school.
Our school is a National School, founded by the local parish and funded by the state. Our school is child-centered and inclusive, providing a high-quality primary education for every child in line with the National Primary School Curriculum laid down by the Department of Education & Skills.
Our school plays a fundamental role in the community, not just regarding its educational function, but by imbuing its spirit, which breathes new life and energy into our local area through direction and personal formation. Our school affords young people a wonderful opportunity to achieve the best possible standard of education while allowing them an opportunity to interact, engage and build a community. Our school has a central role in the social, sporting, musical and religious development of our area through its interaction with the many clubs, organisations and societies. The very presence of so many children with the energy of their activity plays of a vibrant role in energising all around while offers hope for the future.
In our school everyone shares a common vision, a sense of belonging and all people have similar life chance thus ensuring every pupil achieves as well as they can. By coming together for common goals or community grows from strength and this can be seen by the many activities that are organised on a shared basis by the school and the parents. Anti Bullying work, Green Schools activities, school cleanups, gardening, social nights, fundraising activities - to mention but a few.
Our Old School
St. Oliver Plunkett School has been serving the local community of Malahide for over 150 years. Like the beautiful village of Malahide, which has not lost its village character despite enormous growth, so too our school, despite it's size, has retained the rural characteristics of a small close-knit community. We like to think of it as "a large school with a small school feel"
In St. Oliver Plunkett School, we strive to create a unique learning environment where the sense of community is foremost. Our hope is to create a village community where all members help and support each other to achieve the desired learning outcomes. We espouse the adage that it takes a village to raise a child. Likewise in our school mission statement, we espouse the notion that it takes a village to educate a child.
Our school is a learning community like a village. We try to structure our school and the learning environment like a single classroom where all pupils help and support each other, where the younger members learn skills, language and so much more from the older members, and where the older members learn lifelong social skills while supporting the younger members.
In all aspects of school life, the traditional community model is evident and our school holds dear the notion of school in the community and community in the school. We work closely with our parent groups and local groups to use their talents and offer ours for the betterment of the children thus living our mission of helping all reach their full potential in a happy, caring environment. A sense of community is evident with even the youngest age group through our buddy system.
The bond between the greater Malahide Community and the school is strengthened through making our building available to a wide variety of groups at evenings and weekends. Over the years, too, from being simply a centre of learning, the school has evolved into a valuable community asset. We now allocate space to the Malahide school of Music, an Irish dancing school, the Fingal Reading Workshop. Several other groups also come on an ad hoc basis. More than 200 people are facilitated in a range of activities and the hopes of extending this even further will become a reality on completion of our lovely new school building.