St Patrick's College - New subjects and new facilities for 2025

The principal of St Patrick’s College, Gardiner’s Hill, Brian Cronin, is expecting a lot of interest again at this year’s School Open Night - Monday 29th September at  6.30 pm. 

As the school is now co-educational enrolling boys and girls, has opened special classes and has improved facilities and new subjects, interest from parents is very strong.

What was notable in 2024 was the number of past pupils who wished to enrol their sons or daughters in St Patrick’s. People really appreciate having a relatively small, co-educational secondary school in the Gardiner’s Hill area.

The past few years have seen big changes in St Patrick’s College.

A new uniform, moving from all girls to co-educational, the opening of special classes for Autistic students (An Cuan) and new subjects added to the curriculum, such as Applied Technology, Technical Graphics, Visual Art and Digital Technology, in addition to Home Economics. 

Mr Cronin believes in the importance of variety in the curriculum: “It wouldn’t be right to have a curriculum that’s too slanted towards pure academic learning. It wouldn’t make sense for young people in the 21st century.” 

All 1st years get a chance to try out the optional subjects in September & October, before making their choices in November.

Major building works were completed earlier this year, adding a new Technology/Graphics room and a new toilet block, complementing the additional accommodation provided for An Cuan in recent years. 

The school uses Google Workspace as its main ICT platform for staff & students. Each student has their own Chromebook provided by the school & all classrooms have charging stations for these Chromebooks.

“The Chromebooks fit in with the platform we use in the school. They’re very user-friendly from the point of view of the students. We set them up with secure school email and passwords that we have control over. It allows them easy access to educational apps and programmes so they can work on projects that are all stored in the school’s Google Workspace. 

"Classroom-based assessment projects are part of the new Junior Cycle. What we’re doing is moving to a situation where they are done digitally. It just means that no one loses their work.” 

There are thirty teachers & ten ANAs making up a very experienced, capable and committed team. The school has an experienced SEN Co-ordinator, Home School Links co-ordinator, Autism Class co-ordinator and Year Heads, all with very good relationships with families.

The school has expanded its facility for students on the autism spectrum and prides itself on being an autism-friendly school.

“We have four special classes located in new classrooms in an area we call An Cuan. The staff have been very open to working with autistic students and their families & the students in An Cuan have been a great addition to the school.” 

As well as the special classrooms in An Cuan, the school also has a recently added sensory room funded by the Department of Education. This quiet space ensures that students with autism experience calmness in a world that can sometimes seem overwhelming. Further works, including covered outdoor seating areas, are planned for An Cuan.

St Patrick’s is a Catholic secondary school with the patron being the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Fintan Gavin. The Diocese has expressed a desire to see an inclusive Catholic secondary school that caters for the full range of students moving to secondary school and that embraces people of all faiths and none. 

Mr Cronin says: “The Catholic ethos is present in the everyday life of the school and includes school masses and our strong core values as a school: Dignity, Respect, Kindness, Trust & Co-operation. Dignity is essential in the way we treat the students and in the way they relate to one another & to the staff.” 

The school has a great reputation for excellence and high standards, and this is always reflected in its Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert Applied results. 

Recent years have seen very high numbers of students attaining 400 points or more in the Leaving Cert and equally high numbers attaining the highest grade possible in the LCA exams. 

“A student’s potential could be over 500 points in the Leaving Certificate, or it could be somebody passing all their subjects or doing well in the Leaving Cert Applied, an alternative to the Leaving Cert. It’s about maximising the student's potential and allowing them to move on to the next step.” 

St Patrick’s graduates have moved on to third-level courses in UCC & MTU: Law, Nursing, Science, Pharmacy, Business Information Systems, Sports Science, Marketing, International Business, not to mention PLC courses available in the further education colleges in areas such as Health Care. In fact, some students have gone on to complete apprenticeships in the pharmaceutical industry.

Extra-curricular activities are well catered for in St Patrick’s College thanks to the interest shown by staff & students. The school offers soccer, basketball, camogie, indoor rowing, orienteering and athletics. There are also several lunch clubs for students in the library, as well as the Games Room open to 1st and 2nd years.

Every student at St Patrick’s College can avail of a daily free breakfast and a hot lunch. There is also a subsidised tuck shop for snacks later in the day. The school opens at 8:10 am and the canteen is busy around 8:30 am serving cereal, tea, juice, scones, toast and croissants.

The school board of management is committed to keeping the school at a relatively small size, maintaining its personal and friendly atmosphere. 

“Students are known by name,” Mr Cronin says. “I think teenagers need that to thrive. They get plenty of individual attention from their teachers and ANAs (Additional Needs Assistants) in our school. As a small, co-educational and inclusive Catholic school, we’re all about maximising student potential.” 

To find out more about enrolment, please visit HERE.