At St. Mary's we place the children at the heart of everything we do

The History of Our School

1821 until now...

The first school was at the rear of the Church at Stratton Terrace, which was opened in 1821. The new Church at Kimberley Place was opened in 1869. The school was conducted in the Crypt and had an average attendance of 35.

A school to accommodate 100 children was erected in 1886 at a cost of £400. This was during the rectorate of Canon William Cassey. The Headmaster was Mr. John Sliney and succeeding Mistresses were the Misses L. Joll, Mohoney, and Sullivan.

Eventually a community of Nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, took charge of the school. The Superior was the Reverend Mother Catherine. They established a Convent at St. Joseph's at Kimberley Place, opposite the school.

The Community left the Parish about the time of the First World War. The school now experienced a very difficult period and was of great concern to Canon James Burns, who had succeeded Canon Cassey as Parish Priest in 1902. During this time the school was kept going by volunteers- Mrs. M. Tripp (later Mrs Taylor) and Misses E. Booth and Madeline O'Brien. Those parents of scholars who could afford it paid what was known as 'school money' towards the running of the school.

Canon Burns' arduous efforts were rewarded in 1918 when the school was recognised by the Board of Education and became subject to a Government Grant. This enabled the school to be re-organised to cope with the requirements of those days, which necessitated the appointment of a qualified Head. The first to be appointed was Miss Crotty. She was succeeded by Misses Conway, M.F. Keane and J. McDonald and Mr D.G. Hannon, who saw the school move to its present site in 1967. He was succeeded by Mr. T. O'Brien, Mrs P. Beresford, Mr H. D'Silva, and Mrs J. Scarborough-the present Head teacher.

In 1990 the two infant classrooms were enlarged and a new PE store built. More recently two junior classrooms have been virtually doubled in size and a new impressive reception area and a new secretary's office added.

Two new large classrooms were completed in September 1995. An extension to the library, making it four times its original size was completed in 1998. Further improvements to the Reception class have enabled us to become a one-form entry school, with one class per year group and 30 pupils per class.

In 2008 the outdoor area adjoining the library was internalised to create an ICT suite, which has been furnished with 30 networked computers.

All classrooms have been networked with new computers and an Interactive Whiteboard. Wireless laptops further enable classes to access ICT across all areas of the curriculum in their own classes.

The Foundation Outdoor Learning Area has also been improved with a canopy, ensuring pupils can access this area come rain or shine!

The most recent improvement has been the building of a new extension that includes an enlarged hall, PE store, new administrative offices and SEN rooms.

In 2012 the Outdoor Learning areas have been developed to include a stage area, adventure play area and a sacred space.

In April 2014 we joined with all other Catholic Schools in the diocese to form a multi-academy trust, CAST which stands for Catholic and Anglican Schools Together.