SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
“Our Lady's Secondary School is a Voluntary Catholic Secondary School operating under the trusteeship of CEIST and according to the traditions of the Sisters of Mercy. As such we are a holistic centre of development and learning where each person is special and treated as such. We, the staff and students, enjoy working together to realize our full potential in a healthy, safe, stimulating and friendly environment where the atmosphere is one of mutual respect, cooperation and challenge. Christian community is our heritage and goal, the Good News of the Gospel is our story.”
SCHOOL PROFILE
· Our Lady’s Secondary School is a Voluntary Catholic Secondary School under the trusteeship of CEIST - Catholic Education An Irish Schools Trust.
· The school is co-educational and currently has 690 pupils and 49 teachers.
· The school has a Board of Management comprised of Trustee, Parent and Teacher Nominees.
· The day to day running of the school is delegated to the Principal by the Board of Management.
· Parents play an active role in supporting the work of the school mainly through the Parents Association which is elected on a Bi-annual basis.
· Pupils are represented by the Student Council and also Prefects who are chosen by their peers in consultation with staff.
SCHOOL ETHOS
Our school comes from the Mercy Schools traditions, which are Catholic in character, inclusive in their intake and comprehensive in their curriculum. They reflect the legacy of Catherine McAuley and the values of the Gospel and they are especially mindful of the disadvantaged and those with Special Needs.
OPERATING CONTEXT
· Our Lady’s Secondary School came into being in 1971 with the amalgamation of Méan Scoil Mhuire, Clochar na Trocaire and St Mary’s Boys Secondary School.
· Enriched by both traditions the school continues to serve the educational needs of the local community.
· The school is guided by the underlying principles of the Education Act 1998.
· It operates within the context of the rules and regulations as laid out by the Department of Education and Skills, which may be amended from time to time, in accordance with Sections 9 and 30 of the Education Act 1998.
· The range of subjects and courses provided are dependant on the resources available to the school.
· The financial and teaching resources of the school are provided by a combination of D.E.S grants and teacher allocations, stationery fees and fundraising.
· The school supports the principles of inclusiveness, equality of access and parental choice in relation to enrolment.
· In supporting these principles it also recognises the rights of the patron, the religious and educational philosophy of its trustees and the funding and resources available.
· SCHOOL HISTORY
· In 1905 three Mercy sisters arrived in Castleblayney by train with the intention of setting up a school in the town. They had come in response to a request from the people of Castleblayney, who had no educational opportunities for girls at that time. The local people offered to provide accommodation which is presently the house inhabited by the Sisters who have recently vacated the convent. The original convent was built on a site which had previously housed a brewery. The school expects to expand into the convent building in 2014/2015 and will have full use of the beautiful convent chapel.
· The Sisters began the Primary School in 1912 and in 1918 Scoil Mhuire Secondary School was opened in the Art Room building, which consisted of 2 rooms with a partition.
· In 1962 the original two storey building was opened and the school began to offer facilities for girls who wished to board. The upstairs of the main building housed the dormitories. The school continued to offer boarding facilities up until 1974.
· In 1971 Our Lady’s Secondary School came into being through the amalgamation of Scoil Mhuire and the Boys Secondary School, St Mary’s. The President of St Mary’s, Fr Frank McKenna , and staff John Gallen, Frank McQuaid and Sean Glynn all transferred to Our Lady’s and Fr McKenna became the first Principal of the new school, a position he held until 1974. Mr Gerry Gillanders (after whom our Student of the Year Award is named) was Vice-Principal.
· In 1974 Sr. Margaret Lyons became Principal. In 1975 the lower pre-fabs were built. (In 2000 they were finally demolished to allow for a new car park). The original All Weather Pitch was also built at this time, which meant that some of the sisters who were interred there had to be exhumed and re-interred in the present Convent graveyard.
· In 1979 the Gym was opened and in 1980 the GPA and surrounding classrooms were built. Both of these events were highly significant at the time and much effort, thought and rehearsal went in to the opening of these facilities.
· In 1987 Mr John Gallen was appointed Principal.
· The 27th November 1992 saw the opening of the Concert Hall by the then Uachtarán na hEireann Mary Robinson. In 1994 the new tennis courts were opened and two years later new pre-fabs (beside the Concert Hall) were built.
· At this stage plans were well underway for the building of a new extension on account of the ever increasing numbers attending Our Lady’s. This extension was completed and opened for use in September 1999 and the official opening by the Minister for Education of the time, Dr Michael Woods took place in May 2000.
· The original school building – the Old Hall – now the Art Room, was given a new lease of life with a complete restoration which is indicative of its importance as an item of heritage, not only for the school, but for the whole town of Castleblayney.
· In 2002 Mr Gerard McGuill was appointed Principal.
· In 2003 an in-house chaplaincy service was introduced whilst in the summer of 2005 the roof of the GPA was completely replaced. October of the same year saw the All-weather pitch replaced with a floodlit Field Turf pitch, adding further to the excellent facilities at Our Lady’s. This new venture was viewed by President Mary McAleese when she visited the school in December 2005.
· In 2011 Our Lady’s celebrated its 40th anniversary, and this milestone has been acknowledged by amongst other things a specially commissioned timeline of the school and its achievements which is on display in the school.
· There have been many outstanding achievements in the history of Our Lady’s Secondary School, achievements too numerous to mention, in addition to successes and accomplishments of diverse natures which makes them difficult to categorise. However, there are three achievements that are particularly deserving of mention in this short synopsis of our history, the first being the success of pupil Mary Kelly in winning the National Young Scientist of the Year Award in 1976. Mary subsequently went on to win the European Title. Another outstanding achievement came in 1993 when our Senior Boys Basketball team captured the All Ireland title and as a result went on to represent their school and country in Athens, Greece. Then in 2005 the Senior Boys Gaelic Football team were crowned Ulster and All Ireland Champions after a tremendous year.
· Another feature of education in Our Lady’s is the exceptional number of musicals showcased by our students since 1985 from Oklahoma through Grease to the Wiz.
· Our Lady’s has a proud record of Academic Excellence. In addition to very many Entrance Scholarships our students, in recent years, have been awarded very prestigious national scholarships-4 Naughton Scholarships-2010-Mark McMahon, 2012-Frances Ryan and Fergal Donaghy and 2013-Hannah O’Brennan and 3 JP McManus All Ireland Scholarships-2008-Patrick Kerr, 2011-Aisling Kerr and 2012-Aodhan Callan.
· Our Lady’s Secondary School has experienced many high points since its inception in 1971. It has consistently been at the forefront of educational change. The successes are due to the talents and efforts of many generations of young people from the Castleblayney area. These successes would not have been possible without the commitment and dedication of the many exceptional teachers who have graced the corridors of our school.
· The history of Our Lady’s truly reflects the commitment to the holistic education of all students through high academic achievement, provision of a wide range of extra-curricular activities from Sport through Drama, Music and the Arts in addition to living the Gospel and a very strong Pastoral Care Programme.