Our vision, ethos, aims and mission statement was reviewed during a School Development Day in August 2017 in line with DENI School Development Plan Guidelines 2010. Prior to this, consultation with children, parents, staff and governors form the basis of which all our work is built. It is also worthy to note the appointment of a new principal in September 2017. Mrs McCafferty takes over from Mrs O’Neill who has lead the school for the past 14 years.

The quality of relationships at all levels within our school is a great strength, as is evidenced by our most recent ETI inspection (February 2011) which highlighted that, ‘the quality of the arrangements for pastoral care is outstanding as evidenced through the friendly and welcoming ethos within the school and the very good working relationships at all levels. The teachers take great cognisance of the health and emotional well-being of the children.’

Vision

Our Vision at St. Finlough’s Primary School is for the outstanding provision for each and every child in order for them to reach their full potential. This is delivered through a child-centred Catholic ethos. Our provision focuses on the learning of all our pupils, staff, parents and wider community and, as a Catholic school, we promote faith, high academic achievement and learning for life.

 School Ethos, Values and Aims.

As a Catholic School, we endeavour to promote a living faith and to create a secure environment which enriches and complements the love and care experienced at home. Staff work individually and collectively to support each other and to create conditions which foster learning, self-discipline and respect for others. We welcome children from all denominations and those from none as well as pupils from all cultures and traditions. We treat all members of our school community fairly and equally. Our school is characterised by a spirit of compassion and understanding and we aim to promote the dignity and well-being of all. The whole school community has been involved in the development of our school logo ‘Teagasc agus Curam’ which translates as ‘Educate and Care.’

Mission Statement and Aims (Ethos)

Our mission is to provide an exciting and stimulating experience for all our children. Their journey through our school will be happy and filled with genuine, deep learning. We are and will always be committed to improvement and its incumbent upon all of us to be life-long learners, to keep abreast of new ideas, innovations in education, continually challenging expectation and to develop personally as a result.

This mission will be pursued in a culture of mutual openness and trust, high emtotional intelligence and a deep spiritual commitment to our principles, values and to all of the children and community which we serve. In doing so, we accept the need to challenge and be challenged, to initiate change and to move ourselves culturally towards visionary excellence. We ask that all who use our school enjoy the experience, assist in our mission, learn and improve as a consequence.

In St Finlough’s P.S., we are aware of the role that the school has in promoting the life of each child in our care and this involves more than academic considerations. As a Catholic school, we seek to reflect the values, attitudes, beliefs and practices of our Catholic faith and local community. We welcome children from all denominations and are inclusive of all. This involves everyone connected with life in our school, (pupils, teachers, supervisors, learning support assistants, our parents, our governors, our church community and clergy as well as other groups and organisations within our locality).

School Aims

St. Finlough’s P.S., Sistrakeel, promotes high achievement and learning for life by working with children to:

• To provide a caring, sharing environment based on Christian values.
• To become an extension of the Catholic home
• To develop the academic, physical, social, moral and emotional abilities of each child so that each child can reach his/her potential
• To provide each child with a broad, balance curriculum in keeping with the aims of the common curriculum and encourage each child to achieve his/her potential in all curriculum areas
• To promote equality of educational opportunity for all
• To be inclusive of all pupils
• To promote each child’s awareness of his/her identity and heritage and have respect for other traditions
• To develop a sense of fairness, tolerance, respect and responsibility towards others
• To develop enquiring minds and a sense of curiosity
• To celebrate their self-worth and realise their abilities, achievements, strengths, and personal preferences in order to have a high level of self-esteem
• To instil in pupil’s life-long learning by motivating pupils to take responsibility for their own learning
• To promote an awareness of the need for rules and regulations within the school environment and to encourage respect for them
• To take ownership of their environment both locally and globally
• To always strive for better

We ensure that each child will achieve success through experiencing:

• A broad, balanced and challenging curriculum
• A stimulating learning environment
• A varied programme of extra-curricular activities and school visits
• An ethos that is supportive, encouraging and friendly
• An effective partnership between school, home and the wider community
• A variety of teaching approaches and strategies to meet the needs and learning styles of pupils
• Access to a range of varied and up-to-date resources

We demonstrate our commitment to working as a learning community by:

• Ongoing self-evaluation to ensure our vision is achieved
• Working collaborately with all our stakeholders

Our stated ethos is clearly evidenced in the daily operation of the school with a clear sense of purpose and identity present among both pupils and staff. This is supported by the maintenance and development of a high quality learning environment. Although the school has been opened since April 1975, over 40 years ago, the learning environment has been consistently updated, enhanced and enriched so that the pupils truly do have a learning environment that is fit for purpose. In June 2017 an application has been made for the following: ‘Application for Modular Accommodation, External Storage, Security Fence, Gates, CCTV and Remote Access System.’