Holy Family NS
Welcome To Our School
Shanagarry School in its present site was officially opened in 1954 and was extended in 1988 and again in 2009.
The school is staffed by four mainstream teachers, one Special Education Teacher, a shared Special Education Teacher (shared with Scoil Réált na Mara Ballycotton), Special Needs Assistants and a secretary. External coaches/trainers provide activities to support the class teachers' provision of the curriculum.
The school is well laid out and maintained, and due to the efforts of the Parents’ Association and Board of Management, the school is well equipped with many teaching aids.
The Board of Management and staff are well aware of our privilege and responsibility to provide a good formal education for our pupils and to create the atmosphere and opportunities for them to develop and mature well, as young people. We ensure that each child is treated with respect and care at all times. As Christian educators, we are called to witness the Christian values and way of life. We look forward to the support of parents and the co-operation of pupils in this undertaking. The Board of Management and school staff acknowledge the great support given by the Parents’ Association and all the parents of the school, they help particularly with much-needed fundraising.
The school is formally known as Holy Family National School and under its patronage and protection, we place our daily work and play.
We follow the curriculum as laid out by the Department of Education. Our aim is to provide an all-round education for all our pupils and we endeavour to provide many and varied activities to help us achieve our aims.
We give the children the opportunity to take part in many sporting activities e.g. Hurling and Football are coached in school and the children participate in the Sciath na Scol and other related games. We also cater for Soccer, Gymnastics, Fitness, Basketball, Rounders, Swimming and Athletics. Athletics training takes place annually and culminates in children participating in the Cork County School Sports. We are fortunate that our school has the use of extensive and well-maintained playing areas, basketball court, and pitches. Swimming is also offered for one term at a local swimming pool and all children are encouraged to participate.
Drama is taught in the school as it is a subject on the Primary School Curriculum and we put on school performances from time to time. We have a number of experienced musicians on staff. Tin whistle and percussion are also taught during school hours, and the children get opportunities to perform during school displays and also for religious events. We invite poets, authors, artists, dramatists, and musicians to visit the school to instill and foster a love of literature and the arts. School trips of educational and cultural interest are taken by the school during the year.
As we are situated close to the beautiful Blue Flag beach of Garryvoe, we take educational trips there to study the marine life and flora of the beaches. We participate in the Discover Primary Science project which aims to develop creativity in our children and to show them how important science is in our everyday lives. We have been awarded the Discover Primary Science Award of Science, Technology and Maths Excellence on a number of occasions.
Teachers, staff, children, and parents are actively involved in developing the school garden. Each year the children plant flowers, fruit, and vegetables and they weed and tend these as part of the science curriculum. We also keep hens in our school garden for selected parts of the school year.
Our school is very involved in the Green Schools Programme. This programme provides an ideal way of fostering environmental awareness in the entire school in a way that links to many curricular subjects.
We use computers and/or iPads in each classroom and we are continually upgrading and improving our hardware and software. We have broadband installed and each classroom has supervised internet access. We have Interactive Whiteboards installed in the classrooms to facilitate full access to the Primary School Curriculum.
