“The school is very proud of our PPU and very appreciative of their ongoing support. We would encourage recent school leavers to join the PPU as a way of keeping in touch with the school and contributing to the excellent work the school does”
The Christan Brothers initially established a school in East Hannover Street in 1812, The school then transferred in 1864 to a site in Westland Row, adjacent to St Andrews Church, where it remains to this day, centrally located on major bus and train routes. Initially set up as an all-boys school the school now has a mix of boys and girls students. The School is a member of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, a community of schools which are managed in accordance with the principles of the Edmund Rice Schools Charter.
The School provides a wide range of subjects for students studying the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate courses, including both the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) and Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme.
School Principal, Kate Byrne, addressed the Annual Dinner and advised that the school is doing well and has about two hundred students, from a wide range of nationalities. She said that many of the students come to the school in very difficult circumstances but they find a caring atmosphere where they can study and realise their potential.
On the academic front, the trend of the past few years continued with 70% of the Leaving Cert class of 2024 going on to third level. Students are attending TU Dublin and DCU for science, Trinity for dentistry and TU Dublin for aviation technology and biotechnology. A number of students have also opted for PVC courses with a view to pursuing degrees in the future.
The school’s success has been recognized in a number of ways including a prestigious community award as evidenced by the banner, pictured below, which flies proudly outside the building. The award is in recognition of the contribution of the school to the local community.
The students and teachers, as well as representatives of the PPU, gathered in St Marks on Wednesday May 22nd for the annual prize presentation ceremony. The PPU was absent from this ceremony during the Covid years but was pleased to reconnect with it this year and to present the Students of the Year awards. John Cullen and Brian Duncan represented the PPU for what was a very enjoyable occasion.
There were three awards for each class – Best Pupil, Most Improved Pupil and, most notably, the Pupil who best demonstrated the values of Blessed Edmund Rice. All the award winners and the teachers were acknowledged by the audience with enthusiastic applause.
As is noted on the school website, the school provides a wide range of extra-curricular and sports activities, and pupils who participated in these activities were presented with individual certificates to acknowledge their achievements.
After a period during which, because of low pupil numbers, there was little sporting activity, participation in inter schools’ sports is back, even if it is in sports, which were known in the “old days” as “foreign games”. The girls junior tag rugby team won a junior inter schools team award. Coaching is provided by Rugby Ireland and the current coach is Maz Reilly who has played on the Irish international team. The boys also had success, winning an inter schools shield and reaching another final. John Cullen was disappointed that there was not a hurley to be seen! Other sports activities include chess and pool. Hopefully, we will have another Ken Doherty in the future.
The ceremony concluded with the awarding of the Leaving Certificate Student of the Year awards. These awards are sponsored by the Past Pupils Union and presented by Brian Duncan and John Cullen The award for the Leaving Certificate Student of the Year went to Keira Joy Cabamungan and the award for the Leaving Certificate Applied went to Saoirse Sheridan.
Photos from the Award Ceremony can be found on our Blog
