About our History

Background

St Patrick’s National School has a rich history, going back more than a century. The school was originally located in La Touche Place, Greystones. The two-classroom building continued as our parish school until its relocation to a four-classroom building on the present site in 1975. The school was extended in 1990 when two more classrooms were added. By 1992 the school population had grown sufficiently to require temporary accommodation for a seventh classroom, with an eighth added in 1996.

2006/2007 Development

A major building and refurbishment programme was completed in 2007.  This included the construction of a new wing, completing the fourth side of a quadrangle.  The extension included two classrooms (now Junior and Senior Infants’ rooms); a resource/medical room, known as the ‘quiet room’; secretary’s and principal’s offices; a staff room; and a general purpose (GP) hall with adjoining kitchen and storage facility.  Significant renovation work was done to the existing building and facilities including heating, insulation, windows, carpeting, lighting, blinds, as well as toilet and cloakroom refurbishment. 

Resources and Facilities

Generous funding from the Department of Education and Science (DES) covered many, but not all, of the features that were included in the school’s overall development plan.  The school community recognised this to be an exceptional opportunity to develop its facilities to the highest standards possible, and undertook a special project to improve resources for our pupils in the areas of special education needs (SEN), Information and communication technology (ICT), and library, Physical education (PE), Music and Drama.  A major fundraising programme has been on-going since December 2006, and has been most successful thanks to the generosity of the parent community whose support for our school’s development has been phenomenal, and reflects the positive parental commitment that is a cornerstone of our vibrant school community.  The project has also been aided by generous contributions from members of the wider Greystones community.

This special project has provided the school with:

• four SEN classrooms with facilities to share resources
• a computer room, two desktop computers in each classroom, interactive whiteboards in all classrooms printers, and networking throughout the school
• a new library with fully computerised lending facilities
• PE, drama and music resources in the new GP hall (incl stage, sound and lighting)
• playground development

To the Future

We believe that we now have the best resources in place to support the effective implementation of the Primary School Curriculum, and to provide a fine facility that supports the school’s Mission Statement in its aim ‘to provide a safe, caring, happy and disciplined environment where children’s self-esteem, self-confidence, initiative and innovation can be nurtured within an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation’.