Saint Oliver Plunkett National School opened in Blackcastle Navan in 1975. It was officially opened by John Bruton, T.D, who was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Education at the time. The building was blessed by the most Rev. John McCormack, Bishop of Meath. The land that was made available was purchased by the parish and Fr. M.V. Daly was most instrumental in the building and the development of the school.
Our Patron Saint
The school is named after St. Oliver Plunkett. St. Oliver Plunkett was born at Loughcrew near Oldcastle on the 1st of November1625. A priest cousin, Patrick Plunkett,tutored him until his sixteenth year. In 1647 he travelled to Rome to study for the priesthood. He was ordained priest on1st January 1654. In the summer of 1669 he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and returned to Ireland where he was warmly welcomed by a people who had already proved their readiness to suffer for the Mass and the Sacraments and the authentic word of God. The conclusion of his life is well known: betrayed by those who should have been assissting him; arrested near Dublin; tried for high-treason at Dundalk and London; condemned on trumped-up evidence; hanged, drawn and quartered on Tyburn Hill, London, on 11th July 1681.
Ireland at the time of St Oliver was the Church of Silence in a sense that few countries since have been. He tried to give the people hope in a day when most were near despair. He longed to teach them the truths of the Faith, but there were no schools. He travelled daily, in peril of his life, a price on his head, a hunted outlaw in his own land. When at last he stood before his accusers, the Lord Chief Justice summed up his crime in these words, "Look, Mr. Plunkett, the bottom of your treason is your setting up of your false religion, than which there is nothing more abominable to God".
In 1918 Pope Benedict proclaimed him a matyr. On 23rd May 1920 he was beatified, and on 12th October 1975 he was canonised by Pope Paul VI.
School Management
Schools operate under the Rules for National Schools which are made by the Minister for Education. The Board of Management is the governing authority in the school. The Board of Management is made up of the following:
(1) Two members appointed by and representative of the patron (Bishop).
(2) Two members, parents of children enrolled in the school (one being a mother) elected by the general body of parents.
(3) The principal and an elected member of staff. Boards of Management are appointed for a term of four years.
(4) Two community members
The school is under the Catholic Patronage of VR. Dr Michael Smith. The Board of Management meets every four to six weeks and meetings are chaired by Joan Walshe who is the Patron's representative on the Board. The other Patron's representative is Fr Louis Illah. The Principal Fergal Kelly and Mary Reilly are the two teacher represenative on the Board, while Damien Gath and Sinead Corbett are the nominees from the parent body. Collette O'Reilly and Brigid Smith are the community representatives. Fergal Kelly is the secretary of the Board.
Maintenance and Development
The Board of Management has been very pro-active with regard to the maintenance and development of the school. The school hall has been refurbished to a very high standard while our application for an extension to replace out of date prefabs submitted in April 2012 was successful. This project is now underway under the direction of Gaffney & Cullivan Architects. Crossdoney Construction are the builders. This is a very exciting development for the school and the upgrade to our present facilities are a hugely welcome development.
School Structure and Activities
St Oliver's has eighteen mainstream classrooms and has almost 500 children enrolled in the school. We have 27 teachers and 5 SNA's on staff. We have a behaviuoral support room for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, a play therapist visits the school every Thursday to work with the children. The school has a very strong tradition in music and we have a visiting teacher for recorder as well as a choir that has gained many awards and plaudits for their perfomances. Our Green Schools Committee are very pro-active and the school is very proud in the two green flags that we have gained so far. There is a huge sporting tradition in St. Oliver's and we provide classes in gaelic football, soccer, basketball and rugby. The staffing schedule for the year 2014/15 is as follows-
Principal: Fergal Kelly
Deputy Principal/ 3rd Class: Mairead Traynor
Junior Infants: Kathleen Quinn; ,Teresa Murphy
Senior Infants: Emer Carley; Maeve Forry, Marie Flood (Mr Whelehan)
Ist Class: Elaine Mc Carthy, Geraldine Lynch.
2nd Class: Marisa Mc Cormack; Ciara Mc Mahon
3rd Class: Mairead Traynor, Barbara Connolly
4th Class: Declan Kearns, Padraig Farrell; Piaras O'Duláine
5th Class: Emma Priest; John Delany
6th Class: Jennifer Fox; Nigel Ryan
Learning support:
Orla Mc Keon
Lisa Mc Ateer
Catherine Keane -Assistant Principal
Anthony Mc Donagh
Mary Reilly
Margaret Maginn
EAL Support: Aisling Tunney
Special Class: Pat Roche
HSCL: Ruth Dunne
School Completion: Majella Clarke
SNA's:
Sharon Fogarty
Emma Mulvany
Claire O'Donnell
Secretary : Bridget Mc Donagh
Asst. Secretary :
Parents Association Chairperson-Andrea Barry
We have a very active Parents Association. The committee meet regularly to support and organise school events and fundraisers. The main functions are to:
Represent the views of parents
To inform parents of developments in education and in the school
To foster co-operation between parents, teachers and the B.O.M
Admission/Dismissal
School starts at 9.00 am and finishes at 1.45 pm for Junior and Senior infants and at 2.45 pm for all other classes. Children are expected to line up at 8.55 am . Children should not be in the school yard before 8.45 am.
Home School Liasion
Our Home School Liasion teacher provides a vital link between home and school. Our HSCL teacher Margaret Mckeown organises many courses for parents and she is very involved in the development of our literacy and numeracy strategies.
After-school Groups
Many classes are held in the school building in the evenings, a homework group is hosted by School Completion who work in conjunction with our teachers while there is also after-school classes in karate, speech and drama and Irish dancing.