We are a happy, aspirational, and inclusive school, reflecting the rich diversity of families in our local area. We want to provide the children in our care with creative and challenging learning opportunities so that they develop a strong sense of belonging and commitment to our school and their learning.
Our school aims to provide happy and stimulating learning experiences in a safe, secure, and supportive environment for our children, taking into account the social, physical, emotional, creative, and spiritual well being of each child, at the same time cultivating good habits, respect for each other, for the school and the environment.
At St. Mary’s, we encourage children to develop their Christian faith and spirituality, while respecting those who have different beliefs. We value the partnership between home, school, and parish and work hard to build on and extend this through the ‘Do This in Memory’ and ‘You Shall Be My Witnesses’ programs.
As a small school and community, we are lucky that our staff gets to know all of the children so that children across the school are always dealing with an adult who knows them well. Our teachers and support staff work closely together to ensure our classrooms are organized and well-looked after so that children can access the resources and support they need to become successful learners.
We have a strong commitment to creativity and aim to make the children’s learning vivid, real, engaging, and exciting. We want each child to work and think independently and to develop their gifts and talents and be proud of their achievements.
I am proud to work in this vibrant and diverse school. Our website will tell you more about us and I hope you will come to visit us. We look forward to meeting you.
Our children range in age from 4 to 12 years. They are from a diverse range of social, ethnic, religious, faith, and cultural backgrounds. We have many languages spoken in our school. We have many children from different parts of the world and many who were born and have only lived in Dublin. We have children who are in the highest range of ability and we have children who will need extra support with their learning. We work hard to cater to all of these needs and differences by offering extra support, a wide and personalized curriculum, and flexible teaching and learning resources.
Behavior and relationships throughout the school are very good. We know that good teaching, boosting children’s self-esteem, giving children responsibility, respect and a positive and praising atmosphere will enable us to make sure that all children and adults can achieve well and enjoy being in our school. We celebrate the rich variety of languages spoken in our school and actively look for ways for our children to make a positive contribution to their school and community. Our multi-lingual children have the opportunity to train as young interpreters to welcome and support non-English speaking children and their families.
The original St. Mary’s Primary School was opened in 1855 by the Irish Christian Brothers. In 1874, the school was extended with new classrooms added. The school at St. Mary’s Place was renowned for the high standard and quality of its education. In the 1930s all subjects were taught through Irish and under the direction of Vincent O’Brien, the St. Mary’s School Choir became known as one of the best in the city and, for a while, only boys from St. Mary’s were accepted into the newly-formed Pro-Cathedral Palestrina Choir.
In 1980, the old St. Mary’s School was sold and a new school was built on the present site. Two other schools, St. Joseph’s Dorset Street and St. Michan’s Halston Street were amalgamated with St. Mary’s to become Scoil Plas Mhuire for boys.
In 1990, a girls’ school, Scoil Mhuire‘s Iosif, transferred from Kings Inn Street to share the building with the boys’ school. The girls’ school originated in Mountjoy Street as an orphanage run by the Irish Sisters of Charity, dating back to 1866. In the 1930s, it developed into the Josephian Primary School before amalgamating with Kings Inn National School in 1985.
