Our Amenities

School Amenities

St. Finbarr’s is situated on a large campus with separate junior and senior yards. We also have a playing field for our Soccer and GAA team practice sessions. We have a large hall which is used for indoor sports and also for hosting school events such as our annual Christmas concert, and also our end of year awards day.

In 2007 we started our own school garden, which is very popular with the boys and has been a great success. It has promoted healthy eating and is a great teaching resource for all classes and abilities. In 2023 the school garden was upgraded and is a wonderful amenity in the school.

We have a school library in our building and we have strong links to our local library in Cabra.

ICT

Each classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard or digital screen. There are also computers for the children in each class. We recently bought a set of Tablets and Chromebooks for the children to use to play educational games and improve their ITC skills. We are striving towards digital school status.

Sports Facilities

St. Finbarr’s have a very active sports programme, with activities taking place both within school and in after school clubs. We participated in the FAI schools league last year for the first time and got through to the semi-final stage.

We also participate in Cumann na mBunscoil and run after school sessions for our team with the help from the local GAA club and our parents.

During the year, Johnny our GAA coach, comes to train the boys in Gaelic football and Hurling.

Dublin City Council Community Sports have forged strong links with our school through Paul Quinn, and boxing is another skill being taught here. Some of our boys participated in boxing competitions in the national stadium.

Aistear room

Junior and senior infants take part in Aistear, a programme that encourages learning and development through play. Every few weeks a new theme is created i.e. Shop, Dentist, Bakery, and the Aistear room is transformed for the children. In this room we also have a library catering for all classes, and a seating area for the children to sit and read.

Breakfast Club

There is a full kitchen on the premises which is where we have Breakfast Club for the boys. Pamela, along with our SNAs run the breakfast club, which is open to all of our pupils from 8:05 am until school begins, and runs from October to June.

St. Finbarr’s playschool

St. Finbarr’s playschool, is a community based, non-profit playschool for children from 2 years 10months-4 years. The playschool participates in the ECCE scheme, which provides free places to children between 3 years 2 months-4 years from 9am-1pm. Contact the manager, Marianne Rooney, for more information on 01-8380323.

HSCL

We have a HSCL coordinator in our school, Eoin, who organises a number of activities and free courses such as, Gaeilge for beginners, computers, cookery (with a focus on healthy, cost-saving meals), literacy skills and flower arranging. There is a parent and toddler group also. Parents are involved in Maths for Fun and Story Sacks to improve literacy and numeracy. Some parents have trained as tutors for Incredible Years programme and Better Basics literacy and numeracy programme.

In coordination with the SCP programme a school transition programme was launched in 2010, and has proved to be very successful.

School Completion Programme

The School Completion Programme (SCP) is an initiative that aims to have a positive impact on retention for young people. This is achieved in a number of ways utilising a range of innovative, creative as well as tried and tested interventions. Many different supports have been developed, adopted and are reviewed regularly, under the four SCP headings: In-school support, After school support, out of school support and holiday support. The school completion coordinator is Amy, and her office is based in our school.