Newpark Comprehensive School

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Newpark Comprehensive School
Scoil Chuimsitheach na Páirce Nua
Crest of Newpark Comprehensive School
Motto
Established 1891 (Avoca School)
1894 (Kingstown School)
1972 (as Newpark School)
Location Newtown Park Avenue,
Blackrock,
County Dublin,
Ireland
Students ~750
Principal
Vice Principal		 Derek Lowry
Mark Cookman
Homepage http://www.newparkschool.ie

Newpark Comprehensive School (Irish: Scoil Chuimsitheach na Páirce Nua) is a non-fee paying, co-educational comprehensive secondary school under Church of Ireland management, located on Newtown Park Avenue in Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland.

Newpark was established in 1972 primarily to provide free post-primary, co-education for the Church of Ireland community of South County Dublin. The primary objective to provide places for members of that community persists. Though, while recognizing the Church of Ireland background and ethos, and acknowledging the Archbishop of Dublin as Patron of the school, Newpark also embraces a policy of openness and affirmation of different traditions and cultures. As a comprehensive school, Newpark welcomes boys and girls of all religious, social or ethnic backgrounds. The need for an appropriate gender balance in order to fulfil the purpose of a co-educational school is recognized. Newpark celebrates the diversity in academic, creative and practical intelligence in its students.

Contents

[edit] The School

Plan of Newpark Campus
Plan of Newpark Campus

The Newpark campus covers 32,375m² (8 acres). The school is centred in a purpose-built block, which was opened in 1974, but also uses two large houses, "Melfield" and "Belfort" (Affectionately referred to as the Red-Brick by students), a purpose built extension to Belfort (The F Building), a gate lodge and other ancillary rooms.

[edit] School Facilities

  • 25 General Classrooms
  • 1 Theater
  • Library and 2 IT Rooms
  • Canteen
  • 2 Home Economics kitchens + Sewing Room
  • 5 Science laboratories
  • 1 Large art room, usually partitioned into 2 separate rooms.
  • Technical Drawing Room
  • Woodwork/Construction Studies Workshop
  • Metalwork & Engineering Workshop
  • Photographic dark room
  • Music room (Students learning instruments also have access to the Music Centre).
  • Prefect Room

[edit] Sport at Newpark

Hockey and Rugby are the two main sports of Newpark. The Senior Rugby Team and the Senior Girls Hockey Team embarked on a successful three week tour of South Africa in the summer of 2006. They played matches and also raised money for charity. Basketball is also increasingly played.

[edit] Hockey

The Glory Days: Newpark Seniors, Leinster League Winners 1995-96
The Glory Days: Newpark Seniors, Leinster League Winners 1995-96

In the past Newpark enjoyed a reputation as a great hockey school, in connection with Avoca Hockey Club, being the winner of several national and international titles. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, hockey at Newpark went into decline in the late 1990s and the current status is far from that of the glory days. Gladly, after the opening of Avoca Hockey Club's new state of the art, water based hockey pitch on the Newpark campus in 2005, hockey in the school has undergone a revival.

Hockey is played by boys and girls in Newpark in every age group

  • Senior
  • Junior
  • U16s
  • Minor
  • U13s

[edit] History

Lunchtime in Newpark
Lunchtime in Newpark

The tradition of teaching at Newpark can be traced back more than a century. Avoca School came into existence in 1891, in a small terraced house at Avoca Place in Blackrock. Three years later in 1894 Kingstown School was founded on York Road. They were both privately-owned schools, providing a unique form of education for children from the ages of four to eighteen, and were imbued with the personalities of the founding figures:

  • The Devlins, father and son, at Kingstown
  • The McDonagh family (A.J. founded the school, his sons were the cornerstone of the school's great hockey tradition; his daughter, Ida, taught French until the early 1960's)
  • The Parkers, Cyril and Cerise, who pioneered so much in Irish education (the use of IQ tests, sex education, musical appreciation, the formation of one of the country's first Parent-Teacher Associations)
  • John Draper, Michael Classon and John Harris (subsequently headmaster of Wesley College), who brought the two schools together in 1968 and managed the transition from private secondary to state comprehensive school, Newpark, which opened its doors in September 1972

[edit] Other Sections of Newpark

[edit] Newpark Music Centre

Founded in 1979 to provide much needed music school facilities in south Dublin, Newpark Music Centre now caters for over 1000 students and is one of the largest private music schools in Dublin. While the emphasis is on learning music for enjoyment, students and choirs from the Music Centre have been extremely successful in competitions throughout the country. All exam syllabi are covered up to and including diploma level and several specialised courses not available in other music schools are offered.

As a founder member of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ), Newpark Music Centre established its Jazz and Contemporary Music Department in 1986 and is now recognised as the primary centre for jazz and jazz related music education in the country. The staff is drawn from the finest performers and teachers from Ireland and abroad, ensuring that students are constantly kept up to date with the latest musical techniques, concepts and trends.

[edit] Newpark Sports Centre

Newpark Sports Centre was built in 1972 with the sole purpose of providing a modern Physical Education facility for the pupils attending Newpark.

Since then, the centre has developed into a multi-purpose facility providing an extensive range of activities for the local community. The aim of which is to provide sport for all with activities for everyone from the crawling toddler to the active retired.

[edit] Sports Facilities

  • Water based artificial Grass Hockey Pitch
  • Basketball Courts
  • 25m Swimming Pool
  • Health Suite
  • Fitness Centre
  • Multi-use Sports Hall

[edit] The Newpark Adult and Continuing Education Centre

This Newpark Adult Education Centre offers evening and night classes in a wide range of subjects for leisure and personal development. The Adult Education Centre:

  • Caters for over 1500 students
  • Runs two ten-week terms, Autumn and Spring
  • Offers over 150 courses
  • Provides a centre for A-Level, Open University and other studies leading to recognized qualifications
  • Organizes computer courses

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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