About us
PRINCIPAL
Ms Helen Tobin – Liason Person
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS
Mr David Clarke – Dep Liason Person
Ms. Orla Molamphy
Ms. Elaine Moran
Portmarnock Community School is a co-educational school that caters for student secondary education. The school, built by the Department of Education and Science, was opened in 1979. It provides a fully comprehensive education which is designed to ensure equality of educational opportunity for all its students.
Portmarnock Community School is committed to an educational policy that fosters the development of the whole person. It provides a structure that facilitates religious, social, physical and intellectual growth in an integrated manner.
Educational Philosophy
Portmarnock Community School is a co-educational school established under the Deed of Trust for Community Schools. Under the terms of the Deed of Trust – Articles of Management par 2 – the school serves the community of Portmarnock and the surrounding area. The Joint Patrons of the school are the Archbishop of Dublin, the Loreto Sisters and County Dublin Vocational Education Committee.
The purpose of this document is to give an overview of each of the trustees’ own charter/mission which will, in turn, inform future discussion on ethos and culture, and will serve to describe the Characteristic Spirit of Portmarnock Community School.
Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board
Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB is an education provider and the largest of the 16 ETB’s (Education and Training Boards) through-out Ireland www.ddletb.ie
It has a corporate structure which is made up of a democratically appointed board and a management (executive) team. The administrative area covered by DDLETB reaches from Balbriggan in North County Dublin, to Dún Laoghaire in South County Dublin and Lucan in West County Dublin.
The vision of DDLETB is to actively lead the provision of high quality education and training. The mission is to provide a wide range of education and training programmes, services and supports to children, young people and adults across the County Dublin and Dún Laoghaire region.
DDLETB put the learner at the heart of everything they do and believe that lifelong learning is key to personal development and wellbeing, social inclusion and economic prosperity.
ETB schools and centres are state, co-educational, multi- denominational, inclusive, learner- centred and community-focused and are underpinned by our five ETB core values of, Excellence in Education, Care, Equality, Community and Respect.
What Is An Education And Training Board?
On 1st July 2013, the 33 Vocational Education Committees (VECs) were dissolved and replaced by 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs). The Education and Training Boards are established under and governed according to the Education and Training Boards Act 2013. Each Education and Training Board is a statutory body with its own corporate status.
Education and Training Boards are statutory education authorities with responsibility for education and training, youth work and a range of other statutory functions. Education and Training Boards manage and operate Community National Schools, Community College Schools, Further Education (FE) Colleges, and a range of adult and further education centres delivering education and training programmes.
The 16 ETB’s are under the umbrella of ETB Ireland www.etbi.ie
Loreto Sisters
The sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, popularly known as Loreto have as their founder Mary Ward. In a male dominated society and church, she believed that women in time to come would do much. She established foundations in six European countries but what she desired at the time was considered ‘outrageous’ and her houses were suppressed.
While Mary Ward died with few followers, she did inspire these to remain loyal to the church. Her spirituality is centered on Jesus and in the Gospel values. She attempted to initiate an apostolic way of life and active ministry based on the spirituality and constitutions of St. Ignatius.
How does this relate to the educational philosophy of the Loreto Order?
In recent years the IBVM drew up the Kolkata guidelines which challenge us all, as educators, to deliver an excellent educational experience worthy of its recipients.
Key challenges
To enable the fullest possible personal growth, Loreto /IBVM education gives priority to the integration of the spiritual, intellectual, moral, physical and emotional development of the individual student. Relationships within Loreto/IBVM education are characterised by respect, justice, honesty, courage and compassion.
Informed by the Loreto/IBVM priority ‘to stand with those on the margin of society’ a Loreto/IBVM school must actively respond to the needs of those excluded from full participation in society on the basis of economic and/or social deprivation. When such a response, based on gospel values, is integral to the school experience it is prophetic and makes the message of the order credible in society.
Loreto Educational Communities aim to make their centres where
- love, freedom, justice, sincerity, and joy find expression (Mary Ward believed that these were essential qualities as a ground and foundation for those called to the way of life she envisaged)
- young people feel accepted and allowed to experience the exercise of appropriate responsibility
- the potential of everyone, spiritual, intellectual, physical is recognised and respected.
- positive critical reflection is developed
- special concern for the disadvantaged and underprivileged is experienced and encouraged
- the challenge of suffering is faced
- staff, parents, students, past pupils co-operate for the common good.
In conclusion, the main aim of the school, under Loreto Trusteeship, in this case Portmarnock Community School, is to be a centre of Christian education, which cares for the faith and personal development of each student. The school strives for excellence in providing a holistic education, i.e. religious, academic, cultural, physical, psychological and social.
As a Board, it is grateful that its joint trustees complement each other very well sharing the values of
respect, justice, freedom, sincerity, joy, and love
with not only an overall commitment to excellence but in 2007 committed to engaging a multi-cultural and/or multi-faith school community as envisioned by Mary Ward or as the County of Dublin VEC states in its charter ‘students irrespective of economic circumstances, gender, religious or philosophical outlook, race or social situation are welcome to join us in the pursuit of knowledge.
