Saint Cronan's Boys' National School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| St. Cronan's BNS | |
 |
|
| Address | |
|---|---|
| Vevay Road Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland |
|
| Information | |
| Principal | Vaughan Dodd |
| Vice principal | Michael Lavin |
| Staff | c. 25 |
| Students | 470 approx. |
| Gender | Male |
| School type | Primary |
| Age range | 6–13 |
| Grades | First through sixth |
| Athletics | Gaelic football, hurling |
| School Colour(s) | Blue, yellow |
| Founded | 1820 |
| Homepage | www.stcronans.ie |
Saint Cronan's Boys' National School (Irish: Scoil Chrónáin Naofa) is a national school located on the Vevay Road in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the oldest primary school in Bray, having been founded in 1820 as Bray Male School. The school is named in honour of Saint Cronan, whose feast day falls on 28 April.
There are currently about 470 boys in the school, aged from 6 to 13 years (first through sixth classes).
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1820, a small number of cottages on Seapoint Road in Bray are believed to have been the site of the first Bray Male Parochial School. It opened on 20 July 1820 and the boys stayed in these premises until 1880. Due to increasing pupil numbers, Bray Male School moved from its original home on Seapoint Road to the Little Flower Hall beside the Holy Redeemer Church off the Main Street in Bray in October 1880. Bray Male School moved again in 1931; this time, the school found a new home in a new building on the Vevay Hill. The school also changed its name at this stage to St Cronan's. On 2 November 1999, after many years of fund-raising, St. Cronan's moved to a brand new building in Vevay Crescent. After the most recent move to the new school building in Vevay Crescent, Gaelscoil Uí Chéadaigh, a Gaelscoil, took up residence in the schoolhouse on the Vevay Hill.
[edit] Current activities
[edit] Curricular studies
As a national school, St. Cronan's follows the Primary School Curriculum (1999). The school has a Catholic ethos and prepares its students for the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. The school is also part of the Modern Languages Initiative,[1] and teaches Spanish in 5th and 6th classes.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
St. Cronan's also offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities;
|
The school also runs CroKidzClub, which combines many of the above activities. This club allows children to stay in school from the time the school day ends at 2:30 pm until 5:30 pm. This club is offered to parents as an alternative option to child-minders.
[edit] Sports
St. Cronan's is an active participant in Gaelic games. The school has both Gaelic football and hurling teams which compete against the other schools in the Wicklow area. Both teams have been very successful in recent years. The school's Gaelic football team have been county champions four out of the last five years, and are current holders of the Coughlin Cup.[2] The school's team colours are blue, yellow, and white to match the school's uniform. Prior to the year 2000, the school's colours were red and white; this matched the colour of the previous school uniform.
The school has close ties with Bray Emmetts GAA club, and many of the children in the school are also members of the club. St. Cronan's GAA jerseys are sponsored by a local organisation, the Bray Lions Club. The boys in the school participate in many of the charitable projects organised by this club.
| St. Cronan's GAA | |||||||||||||||||
| Scoil Chrónáin Naofa | |||||||||||||||||
| County: | Wicklow | ||||||||||||||||
| Nickname: | The Crows | ||||||||||||||||
| Club colours: | Blue, yellow | ||||||||||||||||
| Grounds: | Páirc Chrónáin, Bray | ||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
[edit] Gaelic football honours
- Coughlin Cup; 1998, 2000, 2006, 2008.
- Wicklow Schools League; 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004.
- Wicklow County Championship (Corn Uí Dhochartaigh, English: O'Doherty Cup); 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007.
- Mini-Sevens Trophy; 2004, 2005.
[edit] Hurling honours
- Mini-Sevens Trophy; 2006.
- Murphy Cup; 2004.
[edit] Choral
St. Cronan's has a very active boys choir. As well as performing at many local events, the choir have performed in the National Concert Hall with the National Children's Choir, and have also performed for the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, in Áras an Uachtaráin. In December 2004, the choir released an album entitled The Magic of Christmas, which included a guest appearance by legendary Irish singer, Ronnie Drew.[3]
[edit] Charity
St. Cronan's has very close ties to the Bray Lions Club. The boys in the senior end of the school take part in many of the club's projects, including the Lions Club International Peace Poster Competition and the Clean Sweep of Bray.
In the run up to Christmas, students in sixth class take part in the Concern Christmas Fast. Each December, the school also participates in Operation Christmas Child. This is a project organised by Samaritan's Purse, and involves children putting together a shoebox of simple gifts for distribution among children in desperate situations around the world.[4]
[edit] Other awards
- Discover Primary Science Award; 2006, 2007.
- Green Flag Award; 2003, 2005, 2007.
- European Folk Culture Organisation, Primary Schools Award; 2003.
[edit] Twinning
St. Cronan's is linked with Edgewood Elementary School in the state of Minnesota.[5] The school is also twinned with the parish of Ikanga, Kenya[6] and the parish of Bugisi, Tanzania.[7] This is through the parishes of Holy Redeemer and Queen of Peace respectively.
[edit] Famous alumni
- Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh; former Attorney General, Chief Justice, and President of Ireland (1974-1976).[8]
- Darren Randolph; professional soccer player, currently playing for Charlton Athletic.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ MLPSI Spanish Schools MLPSI.com. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
- ^ Coughlin Cup report Cumann na mBunscol. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
- ^ The Magic of Christmas The Magic of Christmas album. Retrieved on 18-02-08.
- ^ Operation Christmas Child Samaritan's Purse. Retrieved on 18-02-08.
- ^ US link StCronans.ie. Retrieved on 10-02-08.
- ^ Bray, Ikanga twinning Ikanga parish. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
- ^ Twin parish Queen of Peace parish. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
- ^ Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh CúplaFocal.ie. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
- ^ Come on you Reds! CroNews. Published on 01-05-99. Retrieved on 11-02-08.
