AT St Paul's Secondary School, Greenhills, Dublin, the pupils are not the only ones who benefit from the educational system. A home school liaison officer holds weekly workshops for parents. The aim of the scheme is to enable parents to help their children get the most out of the education system. Parents are offered a wide range of subjects, from sign language to personal development skills.
St Paul's is a voluntary secondary school which opened in 1965 with 29 pupils. It now has 935 students, 61 teachers, two vice principals and two guidance counsellors. It is one of the largest secondary schools for girls in Ireland. The school is under the trusteeship of the Sisters of St Paul, an English religious order which this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of its foundation.
The school held a jubilee festival which was officially opened by Ray D'Arcy with a fanfare by the Army Number One Band. Last Friday a Questions and Answers style debate was held with Jonathan Philbin Bowman, Mary Harney TD, Bishop Eamonn Walsh, and John Connolly, Irish Times journalist, answering questions from the students.
The school has a strong tradition of scientific success, winning the Aer Lingus Young Scientist group award four times and coming first in the European leg in 1992. This year has also been a vintage one, with the debating society talking its way to the top. St Paul's is currently competing in five of the major debating leagues in the State.
The school has a spectacular view of the Dublin mountains. Facilities include four basketball courts, two indoor sports areas, tennis courts, a hockey pitch and a running track. A policy of "sport for all" has been adopted to encourage pupils to try a wide range of sports.
"We offer a vast range of extra curricular activities and have clubs covering everything from Amnesty International and pop music, to art and environmental issues," says school principal, Triona Glacken.
"We also have one of Ireland's most celebrated female composers, Dr Rhona Clarke, heading our music department and we offer music up to Leaving Cert."
St Paul's operates an elective Transition Year. Students who take this option study three languages in addition to their core language. A large number of staff, 41 out of a total of 60, are directly involved in supervising the Transition Year students. An imaginative approach to education at St Paul's means Transition Year students can study anything from dream psychology to geopolitics.
Students work in groups, setting up and running their own "companies". Last year they organised a catering business, producing eclairs, and a greeting card company making Easter cards. A board of directors is appointed and share schemes are set up. Training is given in advertising and marketing skills. Towards the end of the year, they wind down the businesses by putting the companies into voluntary liquidation. Then they calculate the profit or losses incurred in the trading year.
There is an opportunity for prospective parents and students to get a flavour of what St Paul's has to offer, on Sunday, February 2nd, when the school is holding its open day from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The school is on the Internet and has a computer room in addition to a dark room and a technology room, where the girls learn skills such as welding and perspex moulding.
