St. Mary's Academy ERS

Deputy Principal Paddy McGovern

Paddy McGovern is from Offaly and has been a teacher of English and French in the school since 1974. He is widely known throughout Ireland in the Arts community and has played a major role in the promotion of the Arts in Carlow, through his work with Éigse Ceatharlach.

Paddy has a long history of involvement in Debating and Public Speaking. He managed the All-Ireland winning Squash team organised many successful trips to France to develop student language skills.

He has a strong interest in Gaelic games and has fond memories of his native county's victories in Football and Hurling, since 1972.

 

Welcome to our web site. We have set out to provide you with as much information on our school as we possibly can. I hope you find it easy to navigate around the site and I would welcome all your comments, positive or negative. I would particularly like to hear from past pupils and perhaps we will develop the site to allow classmates to make contact with each other.

The Christian Brothers, our trustees, left Carlow in 1989 but are still actively involved in the school. They support numerous pastoral and support projects in the school and they ensure that the school, with the staff and Board of Management, continues to offer the type of education that Edmund Rice pioneered in 1802.

We have students from over thirteen different countries as well as students from our travelling community. The presence of these students in the school provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other and develop a mutual understanding of cultures and traditions.

There is a big emphasis on academic performance in our school. Formal testing is done 5 times per year - October mid-term, Christmas, February mid-term, Easter and Summer.However, there are many other aspects to human development and we make every effort to encourage our students to become involved in school activities. There is a wide range of extra-curricular activities, sporting and non-sporting, available in school. There are opportunities for students to develop leadership skills through involvement in the Meitheal Programme and the Student Council. The students involved in Meitheal are selected at interview while the Student Council members are elected by their fellow students.

Parents are encouraged to become actively involved in the school through the Parents Council. The council provides invaluable assistance and advice to the school and plays an important part in policy formulation. Further information on the the council can be found by clicking the button 'school' in the navigation panel on the left.

The school is a hive of activity and we are very grateful to the many teachers who are involved in promoting a very wide range of extra-curricular activities. Participation by students in school activities gives them a greater sense of belonging and has many long-term benefits.