What We Can Offer

We at St Mary’s offer an education to boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18 years with designated abilities termed moderate and severe and profound general learning disabilities and those with autism.

Pupils in our school are educated by a dedicated team of highly trained and qualified teachers and supported by a team of dedicated and highly trained and skilled special needs assistants who work under the direction of the class teacher.

St Mary’s is a caring, warm and inviting school where individual pupil strengths and talents are recognised at an early stage and further developed. The well-being and priority needs of all of our pupils are the starting point for teaching and learning in our school.

Pupils follow the revised primary curriculum, the primary curriculum framework, the guidelines for pupils with designated abilities termed moderate and severe and profound general learning disabilities, Aistear, and for older pupils the Junior Cycle Level 1 Learning Programme.

Pupils in addition benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities including the Blast, Arts in Education Initiative, Amber Flag, Creative Schools, horse-riding, swimming, cookery,gardening, music therapy, music lessons, art lessons and athletics training. We have, in addition, two fully-equipped sensory rooms which pupils really benefit from.

Pupils at St Mary’s are supported by local CDNT teams who provide the expertise of speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, physiotherapists and dieticians.

All of our pupils follow an individualised programme of learning, detailed within their student support plans (IEP’S).

Targets are reviewed termly and updated as necessary.

Student support plans are designed by class teachers and formulated with input and support of the muti-disciplinary teams, parents, the pupil themselves where appropriate and the in-school management team.

St Mary’s school community have forged strong links with a range of local organisations that continue to provide invaluable support to our pupils. We are fortunate to have excellent support from Westmeath Community Sports Partnership and our local CDNT teams. We are fortunate to have developed links with many local mainstream primary schools and special schools who continue to support us in many of our school-based initiatives.