THE steeple of the Jesuit church points sharply upwards in a glowering Galway sky. Behind the church and hidden from the street is the more modern building which houses Colaiste Iognaid, the Jesuit. second-level school.

The present building dates from the late 1960s but the school celebrated its 350th anniversary last year. It has always had a strong academic tradition, explains principal Frank Canavan, and since the 1930s has had a strong commitment to the Irish language.

There is a three-form entry system into first-year and one of the forms is an all-Irish stream. Colaiste Iognaid first opened its doors to girls in 1974 and the ratio of boys to girls is now three to two. However, each year the number of girls edges closer to the number of boys.

A non-fee-paying school, entry is selective but not in the normal meaning of the word. Rather than selecting on an academic basis the school policy is to reflect the national overall achievement range. Canavan says the school takes pupils on the basis of having a brother or sister already in the school or coming from the associated bunscoil. It accommodates Protestant pupils as part of an ecumenical outreach. The school also tries to have a number of pupils from the rural area as well as serving Galway city.

All students do the traditional Leaving Certificate. "The investment in co-curricular activities - sports, the orchestra, thee computer club, debating - is not the icing on the cake," explains Canavan, "but rather the essence of the school. Sometimes pupils get their self-esteem from their prowess in these areas."

Facilities in the school building are now somewhat outdated, he says. As we talk, pupils are crowding in and out of the chaplain's room where we sit. It seems to act as a repository for guitars and school-bags as well as a meeting point for pupils.

The school has drawn up a ten-year plan which embraces the whole of school life from facilities to administration to the method of choosing teachers and the in-service training provided for them. Canavan says that they are now in the beginning of serious fund-raising.

APPOINTED in 1991, Frank Canavan is the first lay principal at Colaiste Iognaid where he was previously vice-principal.

There are four Jesuits on the staff and the school gets a great deal of support from the Jesuit community as well as financial support from the provence.

Most pupils, some 90 per cent, go on to third level. "Given that we do not select on an academic basis," says Canavan, "it is a very interesting phenomenon to see people develop ambitions . . . by being with others who have ambitions and in a place where ambition is not scoffed at."

Transition Year, which is compulsory for all pupils, has an enormous effect in this regard, he says. It broadens experience and gives pupils time to think about careers and to choose subjects for fifth and sixth year.

The school has offered Transit ion Year for the past eight years and the current co-ordinator, Liam Parkinson, introduces a note of caution. "The expectations of the Department of Education and outsiders are that Transition Year is much more exciting than it actually is," he says. "For us, it is classroom-based with lots of activities. My big criticism, from a Departmental point of view, is that there is no State certification. It's not an easy year. It can be a fantastic year and often is - but it needs a lot more funding and resources. State certification would also give students something to aim at."

Parkinson says that students who have the mental maturity to be stretched in several directions will love the year, but students who love law and order and structure and parameters find it difficult. The President's Award provides the best motivation of the year, he finds. Last year, 85 students got the bronze award.

Transition Year students study English, Irish, maths, French and German on a modular basis. They are involved in a social outreach programme where they work with the disabled and the elderly. Last year students made a film, A Refusal To Mourn, which was loosely based on Hamlet . . . in Galway. "It was a great kitchen sink effort from the whole staff," comments Parkinson.

Students also enter six debating competitions in three languages. They spend a weekend in an adventure centre and take up new subjects such as drama, law, technical graphics and Spanish.