Relationships and learning go hand in hand. When there is respect, trust and a strong sense of safety, students are in the best position to learn. That doesn’t happen by chance; it comes from careful planning, responsive teaching, and a real commitment to each student.
What learning looks like here
In our classrooms, students are active participants in their learning. Lessons are designed to engage, challenge, and connect to students’ lives, their futures, and the wider world.
We draw on the work of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the guidance available on Curriculum Online to ensure that both what we teach and how we teach reflects current best practice in Irish education.
Students receive regular, meaningful feedback. While we prepare students carefully for state examinations, our focus goes beyond that. We want students to understand their own learning, to know where they are, how they are doing, and what their next step is.
Our approach to assessment is aligned with the expectations of the State Examinations Commission, ensuring that students are well prepared, well supported, and clear about what is expected of them.
Removing barriers to participation
We believe that every student has the right to be fully present in their education, not just in the room, but engaged, supported, and able to participate.
Where barriers arise, whether through learning differences, language, background, wellbeing, or life circumstances, we work to identify and remove them. This is not about lowering expectations. It is about making sure that nothing stands in the way of a student meeting them.
Our work is informed by Universal Design for Learning and supported through our engagement with the National Council for Special Education. Our planning processes begin with the various needs of our learners in mind from the outset, rather than adapting afterwards. The result is a classroom environment where difference is expected, respected, and supported as part of everyday practice.
Inclusion and additional needs
We are committed to an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. Our engagement with the National Council for Special Education supports us in meeting students’ additional educational needs in a way that is respectful, evidence-informed, and effective.
Support is part of how we teach every day. It is not something added on, it is built into the fabric of the classroom.
Our commitment to professional practice
Our teachers engage in ongoing professional learning and reflection, supported by Oide and the National Council for Special Education. Our school self evaluation (SSE) and school improvement plans (SIPS) challenge us to constantly improve our practice and to innovate as needed.
We plan together. We share what works. We reflect honestly on our practice, and we are willing to change when something can be done better. Teaching here is treated as a craft, something to be continually developed, not simply repeated year after year.
New and early-career teachers are supported through mentoring and structured induction. Experienced teachers are equally supported in continuing to develop and refine their practice.
The standard we set for ourselves
We want every student in St Michael’s to have a strong sense that they matter here, that their presence is valued; that they are known and challenged, and held to high expectations; that their potential is recognised and believed in; that there is always someone to listen and help; and that they are taught to a high standard.