School Ethos and Mission Statement

Ethos:

St John the Baptist Junior Boys’ School (Belgrove) is a National School under the patronage of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. It supports and upholds the Catholic Ethos.

Mission Statement:

We, the staff believe that the School should be a happy place where children can grow morally, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and physically.

We believe that the School should be a place where children can learn; where the atmosphere is conducive to learning; where teachers are committed, caring, encouraging and fair; where discipline is good and self-discipline is fostered; where unsocial behaviour is unacceptable and where boys are shown that aggressive behaviour is not part of growing up to be a man.

We believe that children remember what type of person their teacher was. We hope that children will recall that we were kind, that we cared and that we were interested in them. We believe that children will learn by observing us. We believe they will develop good self-esteem by experiencing how we treat them and we hope that they will realise that while they were pupils here, they were cherished. We believe that the School should be a place upon which children grown to adulthood will look back with good, warm, positive memories. We believe they will retain these memories long after they have forgotten school lessons so painstakingly taught.

With the above in mind, we set out these aims:

Aims:

To foster an understanding and critical appreciation of the moral, spiritual, religious, social and cultural values which have helped shape Irish society.
To nurture a sense of personal identity, self-esteem and awareness of one’s particular abilities, aptitudes and limitations, combined with a respect for the rights and beliefs of others.
To facilitate excellence and quality in the development of the educational potential of all pupils.
To develop knowledge, skills and aptitudes, a spirit of enquiry and the capacity to analyse issues critically and constructively.
To develop expressive, creative and artistic abilities to the individual’s full capacity.
To foster a spirit of self-reliance, innovation, initiative and imagination.
To promote physical and emotional health and well being.
To create tolerant caring members of society
To ensure that children acquire a keen appreciation of their local, national, and European heritage and identity.
To foster a global awareness and a sense of responsibility for the long-term care of the environment.