Mission Statement
St Mary’s College is a Catholic secondary school under the patronage of the Marist Fathers. The primary aim of the College, through its spiritual and humanistic endeavours, is to promote and develop a sense of community where those entrusted to its care can be brought to the fullness of their human potential in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel.
The College, through its academic, pastoral and spiritual undertakings strives to provide for the holistic development and welfare of each of the students in its care.
Ethos and Core Values
Ethos refers to how things are done in practice on a daily basis within each school, the day-to-day norms that determine the atmosphere and spirit of a school.
Section15 (2b) of the Education Act 1998 confers a duty on the Board of Management to manage the school on behalf of the patron and to uphold, and be accountable to the patron for upholding, the characteristic spirit and spiritual values and traditions of the school as described in the founding ethos set out by the patron.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 recognises the protection of religious ethos in schools which promote certain religious values. In such schools, the admission statement of the school may allow, in certain circumstances, for the admission of students of a particular religious denomination in preference to others.
The Articles of Management communicate the educational philosophy of the patron to the school. The following graphic represents the core values of a Marist education in Ireland:
Expanding on each of these core values in turn,
A Marist School is identifiably Catholic.
Marist schools are situated within the mission of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) and within the special vocation of the Catholic Church to continue the mission of Jesus Christ in every place and age. As such the Marist School will be clearly identified as Catholic and Marist. Its teachers and attitudes will seek to express the faith of the Church in the contemporary situation. The timetable and curriculum will take into account the need to learn how to pray and worship, appreciate feasts and fasts, give quiet but regular service to the needy. The décor of the school will include elements discreetly recalling the spiritual life, the local and world-wide mission of the Church and the Society of Mary.
A Marist School reflects Mary’s life of service, commitment and acceptance.
As their name suggests, Marists seek to orientate themselves and their activities with particular reference to the person of Mary, to the intuitions of the Marist founders, particularly Venerable Father John-Claude Colin, and to the living tradition of the Society of Mary. The characteristic “Marist spirit” derives from the Gospel, meditation on the presence of Mary with Jesus in Nazareth, on her presence with the apostles as they waited in prayer for the coming of the Spirit, on her hidden presence in the early Church, and on her unique significance for the Church today. Therefore, the Marist School community will seek to reflect the service, commitment and acceptance which are evident in Mary’s life.
A Marist School values its tradition while promoting a contemporary faith.
The tradition to which the Marist school belongs is rooted in the mission of the Church, the spirituality of the Society of Mary and the local environment in which the school is situated. The Marist school will value that tradition: always seeking to express the faith of the Church in the contemporary situation, adapting to the conditions of modern times as the early Marist Fathers did in post-revolutionary France in the nineteenth century and aware of the Marist spiritual heritage to which they are party the Marist school will take due care to actively pass on that tradition to the future generations of pupils, staff and parents.
A Marist School promotes the best spiritual, intellectual and physical self.
A Marist school will seek to help each student become his/her best self in the context of the Catholic community of faith, and of our world today. In doing this a Marist school will nourish, support and show due concern for the development of all the dimensions of a student’s life, inclusive of the spiritual, the intellectual and the physical along with the emotional, moral and social dimensions.
A Marist School promotes excellence with a personal, familial style.
A Marist school must endeavour to combine a successful pursuit of excellence with the discretion, the simplicity we associate with Mary. The atmosphere and discipline of the school community should be as easy and cheerful as due order permits. The manner in which staff encounter pupils and encourage pupils to engage with them, will approach more the personal, familial style rather than the institutional, again, in so far as the different circumstances allow.
A Marist School nurtures community while respecting roles & responsibilities.
A Marist school is a consciously nurturing community. It is a community of pupils, staff and families who have a shared endeavour where Mary’s way of believing and being present to others is made concrete; where there is agreement on the common task; where there is respect for the different roles within the community; and where there is an acceptance of the equality of dignity for all. By its actions, values and beliefs the school is specifically organised to draw families, teachers and pupils into community and to respect and affirm; the dignity of all, the specific roles and responsibilities of each, and the agreed task of the education of the young.