Céad Míle Fáilte from the Principal
St. John’s National School is a vibrant, inclusive and happy mixed Primary school with just over 400 pupils and a staff of twenty-two teachers, five Special Needs Assistants, a Caretaker and two part-time Secretaries situated in the heart of Kenmare.
Our school is under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Kerry, and we have a long and proud tradition of promoting high moral standards, mutual respect, care for others and a strong work ethic. We welcome pupils from all faiths and nationalities. Our school operates in a community which supports us very well, and we are always grateful for the level of faith and trust our parents place in us to educate their children.
Maintaining a positive, warm and secure atmosphere is central to everything we do at St. John’s National School. The children who pass through our doors each day and their families are the heartbeat of our school community. We believe that children learn best in the atmosphere of respect and positive reinforcement. Our vision and aspiration is that each child will develop a curiosity of learning. We want to encourage them to try new things, and to promote a positive self-image on their journey through life. We seek to enrich the lives of all of our pupils and strive to ensure that each student develops to reach his or her own unique potential. We celebrate success and learn from our mistakes, always doing our best in all that we do. We hope that on leaving our school, the children will have developed into well rounded, hard-working and confident individuals with many happy memories from their time in our school.
As a school we aim to provide a holistic and child centred learning experience at all times for our pupils. Our teaching staff are enthusiastic, innovative, creative and above all else, dedicated to their pupils. Important as academic progress is, our strongest wish is to foster an interest in lifelong learning amongst our pupils as we promote their personal, social and moral development. We also work tirelessly to promote collaboration, and foster teamwork which contribute immensely to children’s learning with regard to developing and maintaining healthy peer relationships.
To further promote the social development of our pupils we place a strong emphasis on facilitating many extra-curricular activities, designed to cater for a wide range of interests unique to each child. For more on this please see the after-school section of this website.
On a personal level it is a great privilege for me to serve as principal of St. John’s Kenmare. I am honoured to be part of the rich history of education in this town and I am delighted to be leading our school and school family towards a bright and exciting future.
You are very welcome to our website and we hope that you will find it both informative and user friendly.
Barry O’Leary,
School Principal