We are a co-educational, multi-grade, child-centred school situated just four miles outside Oughterard on the N59, opposite the famous Quiet Man Bridge. We think we boast one of the most picturesque settings with views of Connemara mountains, lakes and rivers whilst just a short drive from the village of Oughterard. Traditionally, we have served the local townlands surrounding the school but over the past 20 years, Scoil Muire has welcomed more and more children from Oughterard and further afield.
We have two large multi-grade classrooms and a low pupil-teacher ratio with excellent SET support. Our small numbers allow us engage in a wide range of activities as a whole school which affords many opportunities for the children to design and lead projects. This creates a very positive and safe school atmosphere where children feel valued, develop life skills and learn to cooperate with children of all ages and abilities. We have an active Parents’ Association which supports the school in many ways and organises and funds both in-school and after-school activities. Over the past 2 years these have included Coding, Dance, Music Generation and Fit ‘n’ Fun classes among many more. These close ties with the school have nurtured a welcoming, inclusive school community and forged strong home-school links.
Our local environment offers some wonderful locations for habitat and nature investigations and Outdoor Learning is a very valued part of life in Scoil Muire. We engage in many whole school activities like throughout the year celebrating things like World Book Day, Science Week and Maths Week. The children organise and run the School Sports Day which caters for all interests, abilities and levels. Over the last number of years, the children have led initiatives to achieve Green Flag and Farm Safe Awards and an annual STEM Award. We also produce an annual school magazine, Flashpoint, which is a collection of the children’s work, from Naíonáin Bheaga to Rang 6, throughout the year. Imagine, we are publishing Flashpoint every year since 1990! Our numbers allow all the children participate in swimming lessons for a minimum of 6 years. We host a Christmas concert every year staging two Christmas plays, one in each classroom and all children act and play a part. We welcome artists, music teachers, sports coaches and wildlife rangers and a number of other professionals to the school to ensure the children’s experiences across the curriculum are as engaging and fun as possible.