School History
The original schoolhouse in Ballinagar was located in the grounds of the local church.
The present school was built in 1949. It was a two teacher school. The Principal’s residence, owned by the parish, was located directly opposite the school. It is a two storey building and has since moved into private ownership.
In 1992 the school was refurbished to include a new classroom and two ancillary rooms. Since then the enrolment has increased significantly in line with the housing developments in the village. Staffing has increased and is presently at ten teachers. The necessary temporary accommodation has been provided accordingly.
A new school was constructed on a site adjacent to this school and was officially opened on the 7th June 2013.
Official Opening of Scoil Sheosaimh Naofa,Ballinagar
Our new school was officially opened on Friday 7th June 2013.We were blessed with very fine weather and a very large crowd attended the proceedings that started at 1pm. The ceremonial opening of the school was performed by John and Yvonne Malone, the generous benefactors of the site for the new building.
Our 2nd Green Flag was then raised by our school’s Green School Committee and this was followed by the official opening of our school garden and mini-forest by Petrina Slattery, chairperson of our school parents’ association.
The remainder of the ceremony took place indoors. Our “percent art” project was then unveiled by the artist, Olive Gorman. The project consists of 8 paintings that reflect the theme “What I Want to be when I Grow Up”. The brief also specified that the work had to capture the essence of the school and the local environment.
The concluding part of the ceremony took place in the GP room. A blessing ceremony was performed by the chairperson of the Board of Management, Monsignor Thomas Coonan. Our school choir sung during the ceremony, accompanied by Ms. Noreen Rabbette on the electric organ.
Concluding the official part of proceedings, the school principal, Denis O’Connor and the school chairperson, Monsignor Coonan spoke to the assembled guests. Our guests included parents, members of the local community, our parish priest, Rev. Fr. John Stapleton, local public representatives, former teachers, principal teachers of the local schools and past pupils of our school.
Refreshments were then served by our parents’ association and background music was provided by Joe Rabbette and friends from Clara. Of course it was a very special day for everybody in Ballinagar, especially our pupils, past and present. Our 6th class pupils took great pride in conducting guided tours of the new school, our school choir, as previously mentioned, sang during the blessing ceremony, our youngest and oldest pupils assisted during the cutting of the ribbon at the start of our celebratory proceedings and all enjoyed the refreshments and entertainment thereafter. A special celebration to mark a very special day in Ballinagar.
New School Building
Scoil Sheosaimh Naofa Progressive Increase in Enrolment.
Built in 1949 (a two teacher school)
Year 1990 – 78 on roll – 3 teachers
Year 1999 – 105 on roll – 4 teachers (prefab erected)
Year 2002 – 131 on roll – 5 teachers (prefab erected)
Year 2005 – 164 on roll – 7 teachers (prefab erected)
Year 2009 – 186 on roll – 10 teachers (prefab erected)
Year 2024- 192 on roll- 12 teachers
Approval for New School Timeline.
Plans had been drawn for the erection of new school in Ballinagar during the late 1980s, but due to the financial circumstances in the country at the time, these plans were shelved.
A refurbishment and extension to the old school proceeded instead, and this was completed in 1992.
However, over the following years school enrolment began to increase significantly and the need for a new school became very obvious. Thus, the process was set in motion, ending in March 2012, when the pupils moved into the new school. The main milestones in the project were as follows:-
2001- New school applied for (May 2001)
2001 – DES architect visited school
2003 – A further application was made for a new school
2005 – The Minister for Education at the time, Mary Hanafin, visited the school and
met with pupils, teachers, parents and the Board of Management
2006 – On 29th November the Board of Management received a letter from Minister
for Education (Mary Hanafin), with permission to proceed to
tender/construction within 12-15 months. Ballinagar was 1 of 54 major new
primary school building projects to be announced.
2009 – On November 12th a briefing session was held in the Department of Education
and Science in Tullamore. Schools were invited to attend that had received
permission to begin construction. The meeting’s aim was to brief the
school’s design team on how to progress the building project.
Monsignor Coonan and the School Principal attended.
2010 – On the 24th November contract documents were signed. The parties involved
were the appointed contractors for the project, Glenman Corporation and the
Board of Management of the school.
24th November 2010 The official ‘turning of the sod’ took place after the
signing of the contracts.
2011 – Work began on the building project.
2012 – Pupils transferred to new school on 13th March.
Scoil Sheosaimh Naofa – The New School 2011
Work began on the ‘new school’ project in January 2011. This work was completed later than expected due to factors such as inclement weather and issues relating to problems that arose during construction. Eventually, on March 13th 2012 the move was made to the new school. This naturally led to great excitement both in the school and in the locality. It seemed like a different world. We now had plenty of space, both inside and outside. We also had a GP (general purposes) Room for physical education and assemblies. Interactive white boards were installed in all classrooms as well as a rainwater harvesting system. All this fitted in very nicely with our ‘Green School’ status.
During the summer of 2012 three polycarbonate shelters were erected in the school grounds, thermo-plastic playground markings were applied in the school yard, the playing field to the south of the school building was prepared and seeded and the playing area to the north of the school extended by concreting a green area.
We now have a school that provides the necessary infrastructure for implementing the present primary school curriculum – plenty of space, IT equipment, learning support and resource rooms, bright, warm and spacious classrooms, ancillary rooms, internet access and a full sized GP Room. It is a Generic Repeat Design (GRD) purpose built school. This template is now being used throughout the country in eight, sixteen and thirty two classroom models. This modern design is very energy efficient and makes best use of the natural environment.
The Board of Management takes this opportunity to thank all those who have helped to get us to this position over the years, especially previous Boards of Management, teachers and parents. The Board of Management also thanks public representatives who have made representations for the school.
September 2024
In September 2024, the modern modular build, which consists of two new classrooms was completed. Our 2 Solas classes moved into their new classrooms during the summer of 2024 (Summer Programme). Mr. Spain, the principal and the school community worked extremely hard to complete this project. Fundraising was carried out throughout the year to construct a playground for all pupils to enjoy. Pupils and staff members were delighted to move into their new classrooms in September 2024 and it's fair to say the children love the new playground.
A Huge Thank you to Anne McGuinness, who painted this fabulous mural for our new Solas hallway! It certainly brightens up the area and captures the culture of our wonderful school.
