Faīlte go dtī Scoil Pādraig Naofa, Cregmore. by Joe Kennelly. Principal.
As Principal of Scoil Padraig Naofa, Cregmore, I am delighted to welcome you to view our school web site. We waited a long time to develop a web site and we are indeed very pleased with the final result.In building the site we were blessed to have the knowledge and expertise of teachers Stephanie Herwood and Mary Curran, ably supported by each member of our school community. Needless to say, we are very grateful to them for their hard work in bringing this project to fruition.
Today, Cregmore NS is one of the fastest growing schools in the Archdioceses of Tuam with 240 pupils on roll, 10 mainstream classes, 4 learning support teachers, 6 SNA's and a full time secretary, Alison. We also pride ourselves in having a meticulously clean school and for that we are grateful to our caretaker, Arthur.
Finally,for those of you who are not familiar with our school, here is a very brief history. Scoil Pádraig Naofa is situated eight miles east of Galway City, in the parish of Lackagh. This is an area renowned for its rich traditions in farming, hurling, music, religious devotion, neighbourly co-operation and support.
The school itself is uniquely situated on a crossroads, and is really the focal point of the community. The original school was opened in 1933 and the story of its foundation back then is fascinating. In 1927, a local gentleman, Mr. Richard McGrath made serious representation to the then Minister of Education to provide the community with a school. Following much controversy, objections and meetings, Scoil Pádraig Naofa, Cregmore was officially opened on July 3rd 1933. This story is well documented in a fine publication entitled “ Cregmore, the school and its People”, published by a group of school parents in 2004. Every house should have a copy.
The original school was demolished in 1978 and a new school was built. However due to increasing pupil numbers, an elaborate, modern extension and enhancement project took place in 2005. Over the past number of years since then, several developments have taken place, including the provision of a new car park and drop off area, the acquisition of a field to the rear of the school and the development of playing pitches and an Astro Turf area. The building of a long awaited and much needed School Hall, classrooms and Resource room facilities which were officially opened on June 21st 2013. Then in 2016 the school added a modern wing to the front of the school consisting of entrance halls, a school office, and three additional classrooms. We also funded and built a School Library, Aistear Room and Sensory room. During the Summer of 2020 we extended our Astro Turf facility to the rear of the school and in addition we built a new Running Track circling our playing pitch. Finally in January 2023 we opened An Tigin, (small house), a purpose built playroom to further support our Aistear Program and to initiate play, fun and games amongst the pupils of all classes
In addition, the school boasts a wealth of resources, including modern up to date interactive whiteboards in each classroom, maths equipment, IT equipment, PE equipment, Science equipment, an impressive bank of music instruments and the schools most recent acquisition, a suite of Surface RT Tablets which have added a whole new dimension to our interest and knowledge of IT.
We have been blessed in Cregmore to have tremendously loyal parents, who have supported each and every initiative throughout the years and who still contribute generously to our monthly Silver Circle Draw.
The commitment of the school staff, both present and past must also be commended.
We take great pride in the fact that our children are extraordinarily well behaved, well mannered, and a privilege to work with. We also have an extremely dedicated and committed teaching team, who genuinely have the very best interest of each little boy and girl at heart. In visiting our website can I please ask you to visit the "Gallery" section where you will get a very strong sense of what we are about here in our school. Can I also recommend that you access our monthly Newsletters which are to be found under "Latest News".
Finally, we are most fortunate to have a very dedicated and professional Board of Management, led by Mr. Odhran O Mahoney, a gentleman who has worked tirelessly in promoting and developing the school. His predecessors Mr. Pat Forde, Mr Peadar Dolan and Fr Fohn D Flannery PP also deserve a mention for their loyalty and hard work.
So enjoy our website and may every single child who enters our care be always treated with kindness, love and respect. We wish to live by our motto, Truth, Honesty, Friendship and Respect, and it is our desire that every boy and girl who comes to school here will have the fondest memories, loyal friends and receive the best and broadest education possible.
Joe Kennelly. Principal.