A Message from the principal

I am delighted and honoured to be appointed as Principal Teacher in St. Francis of Assisi Primary School, Belmayne. Originally from Raheny and now living in Drumcondra, I am married, with three children. I have over twenty years’ teaching experience and I look forward to working with you to build the school as a centre for quality education in your community.

St. Francis of Assisi is a Catholic, co-educational school, where everything we do will be inspired by Christian values. The school will be a pleasant and safe environment, where there is mutual respect among and between staff and pupils and where everyone’s talents and gifts will be recognised, nurtured and developed. There will be an atmosphere of happiness and friendliness – an atmosphere conducive to learning and to establishing a strong, positive work ethic. It will be a place of child-centred learning, to which everyone will want to come each day and children and staff will feel motivated to give of their best. Our commitment is to being the best we can be, in order to assist your children to be the best they can be.

A full, balanced curriculum, as set down by the Department of Education and Science, will be delivered to allow each child to develop his/her full potential. St. Francis of Assisi will be a centre of excellence for teaching and learning with high academic standards. It will be a school which children and staff will be happy to call their own, and of which they, parents and the wider community can, justifiably, be proud. But it is not only the academic with which we will be concerned. The whole child is important in our school. The physical, cultural, moral, social, linguistic and spiritual aspects of our pupils are also our concern. It is our intention to provide, in time, a varied programme of co-curricular activities, both within school hours and after school. Children’s work and efforts will be celebrated with displays and sharing of work with peers, parents and community. In St. Francis of Assisi Primary School, children will develop self-confidence, self-belief and self-discipline. When they leave our school after 6th class, each child will stand tall, proud of what he/she has become and what he/she has achieved. In addition, the children will have a solid foundation, spiritually, socially and morally, on which to build as they journey through life.

There will be a spirit of openness and dialogue in the school. It will be an inviting school, where teachers, parents and other partners in education will work together for the greater good of the children.

This is an exciting time in the community of Clongriffin/Balgriffin. It is wonderful to be involved in the development of a school from the start. William Butler Yeats, speaking about education, said: ‘Education is not the f illing of a pail but the lighting of a fire’. Let us, together, set that fire! Let us light that spark! Let us make it happen for your children!

Assumpta Kerins