St Aidan's C.B.S.

Last updated

St Aidan's C.B.S.
Scoil Aodháin
Location
St Aidan's C.B.S.
Collins Ave., Dublin 9

Ireland
Coordinates 53°23′04″N6°15′07″W / 53.384376°N 6.251935°W / 53.384376; -6.251935
Information
MottoPax et Spes
(Latin for 'Peace and Hope’)
Religious affiliation(s)Catholic
Established1964
PrincipalLiam Reilly [1]
GenderMale
Number of students700+
Colour(s)Red and white   
TrusteesEdmund Rice Schools Trust
Website staidanscbs.ie

St Aidan's C.B.S. is an Irish Christian Brothers secondary school under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust located on Collins Avenue, Dublin. It is beside Dublin City University. Most St Aidan's students have progressed from the local primary schools such as Holy Child BNS; Our Lady of Victories, Ballymun; St Patrick's National School, Drumcondra; and St Fiachra's School, Beaumont.

Contents

History of the school

Early years

The school was opened in 1964 in two classrooms of Larkhill Boys National School under the invitation of Fr. Brady, parish priest of Whitehall. Br. Paul Hayes was the school's first principal. In 1965 the expansion of the school began.[ citation needed ]

Around this time Albert College was moving to the Lyons Estate in Celbridge, leaving a site available for another school, of which St Aidan's was quick to avail. The government were providing 90% capitation grants to schools to build and expand in addition to Donogh O'Malley providing free education for all, leading to increased numbers. Phase One of the new school was completed in January 1968 and phase 2 was completed by September of that same year.[ citation needed ]

First extension

During the 1970s the school building began to undergo serious deterioration causing massive amounts of money to be spent on maintenance. The Department of Education was informed of the situation. An application was made to the Department in 1982 for a new building. The main building continued to weaken. In 1986 the school was offered a Schedule of Accommodation stating the rooms and facilities allowed in the building. A preliminary planning briefing meeting between the school's planning team and that of the department took place and a site feasibility report was drawn up in 1987. But no more progress was made. Whether to rebuild the school or not was brought up in the Dáil. The Minister for state re – examined the question of rebuilding the school in 1988. In 1989 the school manager, parents and teachers met with the minister for education who promised a reply within 8 weeks. hit or miss

In May 1990 there was still no reply. A new building was finally ready for students in September 1995. Although the new school building was ready for students in September 1995, the official opening ceremony didn't take place until the 18th of the following October. The opening was attended by Minister for Education and Science Niamh Bhreathnach TD, Archbishop of Dublin Desmond Connell and past pupil Bertie Ahern, TD In honour of the occasion the Archbishop said mass in the hall. Presently there is more development underway in the form of two extra classrooms which will lead to the provision of a lunch room in the main building.

Second extension

Work began on Phase Two in September 2007. This expansion comprised a second building consisting of two classrooms, a small office, kitchenette and a WC although the layout is subject to change. The extension is currently facilitates the school library and a classroom which features an Interactive Whiteboard. The building, complemented by new paving, was opened by past pupil the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in September 2008.

On 26 November 1998, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited St Aidan's as part of the launch of the North-South schools link, which included schools in Limavady, Omagh and Cork. [2]

Facilities

Library

The school also has a library fully stocked with books of a variety of types and classifications. These range from classic and modern literature to books which aid students in studying their special topic for Leaving Certificate history.

Computer rooms

There are two computer rooms in the school. They are used for many things including Transition Year projects such as the English Speaking Exam which requires a speech and a PowerPoint presentation; career guidance projects like curricula vitae and CAO applications as well as history research for special topics

Sporting facilities

There is a gym, the Edmund Rice Hall, in addition to two full outdoor pitches and two basketball courts. The facilities within the school are complemented by the use of the pool in DCU. There is also the new hall that was opened in 2014. The school is also currently replacing one of their outdoor pitches with an astro pitch which is expected to be ready by the 2016–17 school year. The other pitch was also renovated and flattened out and it is currently unknown when it will be ready to use.

Academia

Junior Certificate

St Aidan's offers Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate courses and the Transition Year Programme. In addition to the mandatory English, Irish and Maths, for Junior Certificate, St Aidan's offers Business Studies, History, Geography, Science, C.S.P.E., S.P.H.E., French, and Religious Education. There is also the choice of practical subjects: Woodwork, Technology, Technical Graphics, Music and Art.

Transition Year Programme

The Transition Year Programme that St Aidan's offer contains a wide variety of subjects and activities. It contains all of the subjects that appear on the Junior Certificate Syllabus including all practical subjects. However the manner in which they are taught differs to the Junior Certificate with much emphasis placed on research and presentation. The activities undertaken by Transition Year students include learning to dance in preparation for a competition and numerous trips throughout the year including Connemara, Newgrange, the National Museum of Ireland and Barcelona. Students also take part in a student – run mini company which is then brought to a trade fair. Another option is the YSI (Young Social Innovators) or Formula 1 in which students construct a gas powered car and enter it in races.

Leaving Certificate

For the Leaving Certificate, students must continue to study English, Irish, Maths with many studying French. Students may also choose to study Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Business, Accounting, Economics, History, Geography, Construction Studies, Technology, Art, Music, Applied Maths, as well as the LCVP Programme. In 2009 93% of Leaving Certificate students went on to study at third level. This was the best performance of any non fee-paying boys secondary school in North Dublin.

Extra curricular activities

Sport

There are two PE classes per week for junior cycle students along with extra curricular sports. The school has known particular success with athletics and water polo. In water polo St Aidan's won the All Ireland Cup in 2007 and retained it in 2008. Hurling has also known successes including the senior team, coached by James Carmody narrowly missing out on winning the All Ireland ‘B’ competition. In 2009 the U-16 basketball team, coached by Ms. Peoples, won the All-Ireland Title for the first time led by top scorers Paul Caffrey and Mark Blanchfield.

In 2007, St Aidan's re-entered a soccer team at Under 19 level for the first time in many years. In 2008, they reached the final of the competition, only to be beaten by St. David's CBS Artane on a score of 2–3. The game was played in Home Farm FC. The team was run by league of Ireland footballer/teacher Michael Kelly and Actor/Teacher Darragh Humphreys.

Debating and public speaking

Public speaking mainly takes place in each of the junior years, there is a competition within each; every class selects its best speaker by way of a semi final. The final then has a representative from each class. Students, in general, choose their own topic on which to speak.

St Aidan's has known significant success in debating competitions in recent years. Students David Doyle, Karl Elliott, Ben Griffin, and Anthony Madden have all reached the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Schools' Debating Competition; a feat unmatched by nearby schools. Success has also been marked in the AIB Phil Speaks Competition, where in recent years Andrew Linn won the junior competition and David Doyle came second in the senior competition in a grand final where half of the debaters were St. Aidan's students. In 2008 the competition saw its greatest numbers with over 1,000 students taking part and St Aidan's was well represented by Linn, and Elliott taking second and fourth place, respectively. In 2007 Transition Year students Elliot, Andrew Salter and Craig O'Hare reached the Leinster finals of the European Parliament Schools Debating Competition and received a special commendation from adjudicator Eileen Dunne. The students are aided in their endeavours by former staff member and coach Tim O'Connor.

Robocup

In 2006 and 2007 St Aidan's Students Andrew Jordan, Kevin Reilly, Eoin McCormac and Aaron Kennedy won the Irish Robocup competition. In 2006 this allowed them to proceed to the international competition in Germany and in 2007 Atlanta in the United States. The RoboCup was held in Bremen in Germany in 2006 and Atlanta in 2007. [3]

Immersion programme

In 2009 a group of ten students from the fifth year and transition year spent almost two weeks in Tanzania as part of the Third World Immersion programme. Raising over €30,000, Mark Blanchfield, Niall Farrell, Niall O'Donnell, Kevin Hogan, Paul McCarthy, Oisin Mulhall, Kevin Reilly, Kevin Ashton, Ronan Noonan and Robert Keenan, accompanied by Ms. Ruane and Ms. Walsh, spent their time in various activities including experiencing the Tanzanian schooling system in the Edmund Rice Sinon School. They visited and took part in activities in an orphanage, youth detention centre and eco-village.

The students came back all the richer for the experience and deemed it a success. A trip was organised for a new group of students in 2011; the pupils involved raised 16,000 euros. This Programme has since been stopped due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This Programme has since become bi-annual, with the last Immersion Programme to Tanzania taking place at the end of October 2019 to November 7, 2019, with a layover in Amsterdam. [4]

Euroscola

In March 2017, 4th and 5th year students from the school partook in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme. This came following a national art contest won by Rodrigo Soberon Pena under the theme of European cities outside Ireland during 1916. [5] [6]

Notable alumni

Former teachers

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruairi Quinn</span> Irish former politician (born 1946)

Ruairi Quinn is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1993 to 1994, Minister for the Public Service from 1986 to 1987, Minister for Labour from 1983 to 1986, Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Housing from 1982 to 1983. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-East constituency from 1977 to 1981 and 1982 to 2016. He was a Senator from 1976 to 1977, after being nominated by the Taoiseach and again from 1981 to 1982 for the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maynooth University</span> University in Ireland, part of the National University of Ireland

The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It was Ireland's youngest university until Technological University Dublin was established in 2019, having been founded by the Universities Act, 1997, from the secular faculties of the now separate St Patrick's College, Maynooth, which was founded in 1795. Maynooth is also the only university town in Ireland, all other universities being based within cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Patrick's College, Dublin</span> Former college of education, merged into Dublin City University in 2016

St Patrick's College, often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drumcondra, in the northern suburbs of Dublin, in 1875, with a Roman Catholic ethos, it offered a number of undergraduate courses, primarily in primary education and arts, and in time postgraduate courses too, mostly in education and languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mater Dei Institute of Education</span>

Mater Dei Institute of Education was a linked college of Dublin City University from 1999 until its closure in 2016, located in Drumcondra, Dublin City, Ireland, near Croke Park, on the site of what was formerly Clonliffe College, the Roman Catholic Seminary for the Archdiocese of Dublin. The college was founded by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid in 1966 as an institute for the training and formation for teachers of religion in secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland. Clonliffe was also affiliated to the Angelicum in Rome that offered a three-year course leading to a diploma and a four-year course leading to a Masters; Fr. Joseph Carroll was its first president. Other Presidents of the College included Msgr. Michael Nolan, Dr. Dermot Lane and Sr. Eileen Randles IBVN(1986-1995). The foundation of the college was a response to the challenges posed by the Second Vatican Council. It had a Roman Catholic ethos and had approximately 800 students.

Events from the year 1994 in Ireland.

Cyprian Brady is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 2007 to 2011. Brady is a former civil servant who for 20 years, ran the constituency office of the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzaga College</span> Secondary school in Dublin, Ireland

Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus, one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ireland. The curriculum is traditional, with a broad general programme of subjects including Latin and Greek at Junior Cycle and eight subjects being studied in Senior Cycle for the Leaving Certificate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's College, Dublin</span> Primary and secondary school for boys, Ireland

St Michael's College is a voluntary Catholic boys' school, with an associated primary school, located on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4, Ireland. Founded in 1944 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit as a second feeder school along with Willow Park, it was initially a primary school to Blackrock College. The first eight pupils were transferred from Willow Park. The next September, 58 boys were enrolled. In 1952 the first secondary school pupils were admitted. Following expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, the school developed both a primary and secondary school. It has been extensively expanded, including the opening of a cafeteria, a sports pavilion, as well as new classrooms and a new gym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griffith College Dublin</span> Private third-level college in Ireland

Griffith College Dublin (GCD) is one of the longest-established private third level colleges in Dublin, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleknock College</span> Private secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland

Castleknock College is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, eight km (5.0 mi) west of Dublin city centre, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardscoil Rís, Dublin</span> Second level boys school, Marino, Dublin, Ireland

Ardscoil Rís is a voluntary boys' secondary school on Griffith Avenue, Dublin, Ireland. The school caters for approximately 570 students every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertie Ahern</span> Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008

Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served as Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997. He was also Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1986 to 1987, Tánaiste from November to December 1994, and Minister for Finance from 1991 to 1994.

St MacDara's Community College is a secondary school situated on Wellington Lane in Templeogue, South Dublin. It is run by a board of management appointed by the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board and the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, and including community representatives, and is a non-fee paying school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's College, Wexford</span> Secondary school in Summerhill, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland

St Peter's College, Wexford is an Irish secondary school and former seminary located in Summerhill, overlooking Wexford town. It is a single-sex school for male pupils. Currently, the school has 785 students enrolled.

The O’Connell School is a secondary and primary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. The school, named in honour of the leader of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Christian Brothers school in Dublin, having been first established in 1829. It is now under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Fitzpatrick</span> Irish politician (born 1969)

Mary Fitzpatrick is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.

Oatlands College is a voluntary Christian Brothers secondary school for boys aged 12–18, located in Mount Merrion, County Dublin in Ireland. It prepares students for Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate examinations. The school was ranked as the first best voluntary secondary school in the Republic of Ireland by The Irish Times newspaper in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's College, Listowel</span> Boys school in County Kerry, Ireland

St Michael's College, is an all-boys secondary school serving the town of Listowel, and the greater north Kerry catchment area. The school is situated on the banks of the River Feale, and on the Cahirdown Road, Listowel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coláiste Éamann Rís</span> School in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland

Coláiste Éamann Rís(Edmund Rice College) was a Christian Brothers secondary school for boys located in Callan, County Kilkenny, in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph's, Fairview</span> Boys secondary school in Fairview, Dublin, Ireland

St Joseph's Fairview, sometimes St Joseph's C.B.S., and previously St Joseph's Secondary Christian Brothers' School, is a co-educational secondary school in Fairview, Dublin, Ireland, having been boys-only until 2023. The school was in the patronage of the Irish Christian Brothers; the patron is now the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.

References

  1. ↑ St. Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dept. of Education Directory, Gov.ie, May 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ St. Aidan's CBS Website
  3. ↑ Robocup - Official Website Archived 1 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Administrator. "Immersion Memories". staidanscbs.ie. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Latest News". staidanscbs.ie. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Administrator. "The European Parliament Strasbourg in Spring". www.staidanscbs.ie. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.