Creating a positive climate for pupils
Creating a happy environment in which all children feel equal - that’s what Principal Helen Kelly says St. Joseph’s aims for.
A small school with 35 pupils, St. Joseph’s in Templeboy boasts a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, in which all pupils are encouraged to take on responsibility.
“We’re like a big family really. All of the children know each other, a lot of the parents would be past pupils and we have a lot of cousins going here too,” explained Ms. Kelly.
She continued: “We focus on maintaining a positive climate and atmosphere. Equality is very important here. We want every child to feel equal, regardless of age, gender, family background and more. We have two teachers, and we have two visiting learning support teachers and one resource teacher.”
The school celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012, and has only ever had three principals.
For a school of its size, St. Joseph’s offers pupils some of the best facilities for sport and art.
“For a school our size we are really well resourced. We have great resources for art, music, P. E and more. We have two all weather pitches, one was developed in 2008, and the other was added in 2010. These are used generally by the school. St. Farnan’s ladies were using the astro for nursery, and Dromore Villa have used it at times too.
“These have been of enormous benefit to the school. It means that the kids can be outside playing most days. They’re not afraid to go out and play in the rain, all they need is a rain jacket. We’ve noticed a lot fewer injuries too with the astro,” added Ms. Kelly.
A new play area was added to the school in December, and has been hugely beneficial to pupuls.
“That has added to the facilities and it’s very sociable. There are activities for all ages, and they are developing loads of schools right there when they play on it.”
For some schools, it’s a constant battle to ensure the numbers are retained each year, but Ms. Kelly says they have noticed an increase in the number of pupils enrolling each year.
“The numbers are growing here all the time. We have eight in junior infants and six in senior. I like to think the school has a good reputation. We have a small catchment area but the school is renowned here.
“There’s a friendly environment here and I like to think the teachers and pupils have a mutual respect for one another. I often think the pupils are disappointed if they think I’m angry. We want to teach them maturity and responsibility, because out in the real world they will need that.”
Such is the level of responsibility handed to children, they are given the chance to write the school’s blog regularly. The blog can be found at https:// stjosephstempleboy. wordpress. com/.
“I suppose we have high expectations but the children do live up to them,” concluded Ms. Kelly.