St. Aidan’s National School, Bawnboy staff 2026/2027
Our six graduating Sixth Class pupils
Welcome to St. Aidan’s National School, Bawnboy, Co. Cavan
As we begin the 2026/27 school year, we are delighted to welcome our pupils and families back to St. Aidan’s National School. With 78 pupils in our school, we are proud of the warm, welcoming and close-knit school community we have here in Bawnboy.
St. Aidan’s is a school where every person is a valued member of a happy, vibrant and inclusive learning community. Tá gach dalta, tuismitheoir agus ball foirne lárnach i bpobal foghlama bríomhar, fáilteach agus cairdiúil anseo i Scoil Náisiúnta Aodáin.
We strive to provide a safe, caring, positive and stimulating learning environment where every child is encouraged to reach their full potential. Our dedicated staff are committed to the holistic development of our pupils, supporting their academic, social, emotional, spiritual and physical development while fostering confidence, creativity, curiosity, resilience and kindness.
Déanaimid ár ndícheall timpeallacht shábháilte, shona agus spreagúil a chruthú ina mbíonn deis ag gach páiste foghlaim, fás agus forbairt. Cuirimid béim ar mheas, cineáltas, muinín agus folláine i ngach gné de shaol na scoile.
As a Catholic school, we are guided by our Christian values while warmly welcoming and respecting children of all faiths and none. We value diversity and inclusion and encourage our pupils to develop respect for themselves, for others, for our environment and for the wider community.
We are extremely fortunate to have the support of our parents, Board of Management and wider local community. We believe that strong partnerships between home, school and community play an important role in helping every child to flourish.
Táimid an-bhródúil as ár scoil agus as an spiorad pobail atá againn anseo i mBunbhó. Oibrímid le chéile chun na deiseanna is fearr a thabhairt dár ndaltaí agus chun grá don fhoghlaim, don Ghaeilge agus dár gcultúr a chothú iontu.
At St. Aidan’s, we aim to prepare our pupils for their place in a modern and changing world while ensuring that their primary school years are filled with learning, friendship, opportunity, fun and happy memories.
Tá súil againn go mbainfidh sibh taitneamh as ár suíomh gréasáin agus go bhfaighidh sibh léargas ar an scoil bhríomhar, dhearfach agus fháilteach atá againn anseo i mBunbhó.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
James Rudden
Principal
Child Safeguarding
The Board of Management’s annual review of the school’s Child Safeguarding Statement and Child Protection procedures took place at the Board of Management meeting on 7th September 2026.
Our Child Safeguarding Statement can be found here under Policies.
The Designated Liaison Person (DLP) is James Rudden and the Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP) is Juliana Doherty.
As we begin another exciting school year at St. Aidan’s N.S., we would like to once again celebrate the official opening of our wonderful new school playground at the end of the last school year.
Our school community raised an incredible €20,817 towards the project. A few months on, we remain extremely grateful to everyone who donated, fundraised or supported the project in any way. Our sincere thanks to our pupils, parents, Board of Management, Parents’ Association, staff, local businesses, sponsors, volunteers and the wider community. Your generosity has created a lasting legacy for the children of St. Aidan’s.
A special thank you also to Mary Fitzpatrick for officially opening the playground, Gareth Maguire for joining us as our special guest and Fr. Seán Maguire for blessing the new playground.
We were delighted to have the occasion featured in The Anglo-Celt, with a wonderful article written by our past pupil Róisín McManus. We are also extremely grateful to Isabel Duggan Rofe for capturing the day so beautifully through her photographs.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this fantastic new facility possible for our pupils.
Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Class completed this sailboat silhouette art project. The children were encouraged to explore colour to help them recreate some of their favourite sunset scenes!! ��
The children were also encouraged to pay attention to how sunset’s colours change, and to play with the paint as they blend the colours together!!
They learned how to use simple paint strokes to create a sense of perspective within their art and were encouraged to think about the concept of foreground/background and light/shadow – and how these effects are applied to make the sailboats stand out from the colourful backdrop!! Great work from our senior classes!!
A huge thank you to Ballyconnel Credit Union for sponsoring our brand new school jerseys. The children were very excited this week as they got to play their first Cumann na mBunscoil games in their new strip!!
Thank you to Susan and past pupil Roisín for visit for visiting our school this morning and thank you to Barry and Mary for inviting us into the Credit Union this afternoon where they give us a tour of the building and explained all about their work in the community!!
Go raibh míle maith agaibh @ballyconnellcu and thank you for your great work in the community!!
We had a wonderful day in our school on Friday 5th May where we were visited by Maeve Corlish and four graduates from the who are visiting Ireland for three weeks!!
Maeve is a former principal of Donabate Portrane ETNS and had plenty of important teaching and learning to share with the children on global education!!
Our school was their first destination and we were treated to some Cambodian dancing, singing, sharing of culture and what life is like in Cambodia. Attached is a video which marked the ten year anniversary of the partnership but it’s safe to say that the children really enjoyed the visit and learned loads on the day.
A huge thank you to Isabel for making herself available on the day to take such wonderful photographs and really capturing what was a brilliant day of culture for the children!! @cambodiaireland @pepy_cambodia #cambodia #ireland
Big congratulations to St.Aidan’s National School for winning in this year’s cycling category!! They were presented with the award and €500 spending money for their school virtually today at an Award Ceremony in Dublin Zoo. Well done everyone!!
Wellbeing Week came to a close on Friday with a wonderful whole school assembly which included a fabulous performance of ‘The Enormous Turnip’, a story which emphasises the importance of working together!!
Other activities for each day included Mindfulness Monday, Tuneful Tuesday and Wild Hair Wednesday, where the children had permission to style their hair in whatever way they please, if they so wish. Well done to all the children at St.Aidan’s for making it such a special week!!
A huge thank you to Mr Conefrey and all the staff at @currin_ns for hosting such a wonderful event in a special Tráth na gCesit and Céili event in their beautiful school today.
‘Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná béarla cliste’ and the children took every opportunity during the day to use ‘cùpla focail’!!
GRMA to Miss Smith and the Transition Year students from @st.moguescollege who helped to facilitate the quiz and, as always, were so helpful and brought great enthusiasm. Congratulations to our winning St. Aidan’s N.S team, they did our school very proud!!
This was a wonderful event and an excellent way to promote Gaeilge and help children from surrounding schools get to know each other. Maith sibh gach duine!!
Easter Art in 4th, 5th & 6th Class today was great fun!! The children also enjoyed preparing hot cross buns, a 12th century Easter tradition. Hot Cross Buns are symbolic of the significant day in the Christian faith when Jesus was crucified. Each bun is decorated with a cross made from flour paste, which the children prepared with some butter and jam. Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh!!
Drumming Workshop: Peter Crann facilitated a drumming workshop on Thursday. This is part of our Gaeilge partnership funding with St.Mogue’s College.
The drumming workshop was a massive hit with the children and it culminated in a whole school performance where the children had an opportunity to dance, sing and enjoy the music!! Upon leaving,
Peter explained he hoped that yesterdays fun might encourage the children in St. Aidan’s to not think twice about lifting an instrument in the future, and that he hoped they enjoyed the ‘cúpla focail’ too!!
St. Aidan’s N.S celebrated National Tree Week, Ireland’s largest annual tree celebration, which kicked off on Sunday 19th March in the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, marking the start of a week-long series of events dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness of the importance of trees to the environment!!
Organised by The Tree Council of Ireland and proudly supported by Coillte, National Tree Week has been running for over 35 years, with this year’s theme of ‘Biodiversity Begins With Trees,’ designed to inspire people to plant and care for trees and to highlight the many benefits they provide to our environment and local communities.
St Aidan’s N.S have applied for and received approximately 200-250 beech trees, which will be planted in our new school hedge along the back of the learning support room towards the fence. Each child at St. Aidan’s will get a chance to plant a tree.
The children were delighted with this news and were busy learning about how to plant, nurture and care for trees during the week!! Thank you to the @treecouncil for their help and assistance in this great undertaking!!
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” (Nelson Henderson)
St. Aidan’s National School received a grant in 2021 to implement initiatives aimed at addressing the digital divide and supporting learners at risk of educational disadvantage, as part of the Irish National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), a project under the Recovery and Resilience Facility funded by the European Union through NextGenerationEU.
This funding was used to address the needs of learners at risk of educational disadvantage arising from a lack of access to necessary digital infrastructure.
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Great work from our senior classes!! 
They were presented with the award and €500 spending money for their school virtually today at an Award Ceremony in Dublin Zoo. Well done everyone!! 
Upon leaving, 
