• Stationery List 2026 2027

Welcome to St. Aidan’s National School, Bawnboy, Co. Cavan

As we begin the 2025/26 school year, we are delighted to welcome Ms. Quirke to our staff. We are also thrilled to have ten wonderful Junior Infants starting their journey with us, bringing our enrolment to 78 pupils.

St. Aidan’s is a school where every person is a valued member of a happy, vibrant learning community. Tá gach dalta, tuismitheoir agus múinteoir lárnach i bpobal foghlama bríomhar agus cairdiúil anseo i Scoil Náisiúnta Aodáin.

In St. Aidan’s, we aim to provide a well-structured, caring and positive learning environment with plenty of fun and adventure along the way. Our highly dedicated and creative staff work hard to foster the holistic development of our pupils, supporting them to grow in confidence, curiosity and kindness.

We are hugely supported by our parent body, who constantly work in partnership with us, and our website highlights the many events and activities taking place across the school year.

I would like to wish each of our students the very best for the year ahead. There will inevitably be challenges, but with the right support we hope every child will flourish and enjoy a happy, successful school year.

Tá súil agam go mbainfidh sibh taitneamh as ár suíomh gréasáin agus go bhfeicfidh sibh bríomhar, dearfach agus spraíúil scoil 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.


Celebrating Our New Playground

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.



Timber Trailer Raffle

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our St. Aidan’s N.S Timber Trailer and Fuel voucher fundraiser this morning and especially to @kennedyssparballyconnell and SuperValu in Ballyconnell for being such wonderful hosts!! 🙏

Our draw takes place next Friday 31st , so if you haven’t gotten a ticket please get in touch with the school and you could be our lucky winner!! 🙂

Green Schools Action Day

As you may be aware, our school is working towards the Green Flag for Travel and last Thursday was our chosen day to highlight the importance of reducing emissions and travelling in a greener way. 
 
 Our timetable of events for our ‘Day of Action for Travel’ included a visit from local motorist James McGovern who took spoke to us about transport from the past, and brought some of his vintage cars into school of which the children absolutely loved. This was followed by a visit from the Fire Brigade in Ballyconnel. 
 
A huge thank you to Damian Brady, David Rogers, Padraig Neary and Kenneth McManus who spoke about their important work in the community.
 
 Finally we were visited by another local motorist in Paul Fahy who brought his electric car into school and spoke to us about where the future of travel may lie in using electricity rather than fuel to power our cars. A huge thank you to everyone for making our Travel Action Day a huge success!! 🚴‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️ 🛴 
 
 

 Despite the treacherous conditions, the children enjoyed all of our visitors and went home very happy and very aware of Active Travel and the importance of being a global citizen and making a difference. ♻️

Skip into Spring- Climb the Heights

As part of our continued Active School campaign, we launched our ‘Skip into Spring- Climb the heights’ challenge today!! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️
 
 Skipping is a fantastic activity for young people; it develops heart and lung fitness, coordination, balance and concentration- the list goes on! During March we are going to incorporate skipping into our daily exercise. 
 
The ‘ Climb the heights’ initiative encourages students to be active and to work together to scale some of the highest peaks in Europe.
 
One skip= 1 metre. ➰ I wonder how many mountains can we climb in March? 🤔⛰ Let’s get skipping!! #activeschools

‘My Body’ with radiographer Shauna

Junior and Senior Infants have been learning about the topic ‘My Body’ in Science!! 👦 👧 
 
 They were visited recently by Clara and Alanna’s mum Shauna who works as a radiographer in the local hospital!! 🏥 
 
 As well as teaching the children facts about bones and bone health, Shauna also talked to them about her job and explained what might happen if they ever needed an x-ray!! 🩻 
 
 Thank you Shauna!! 🙏 

Meitheal

Meitheal’ an old Irish term that describes how neighbours would come together to assist in the saving of crops or in other tasks!! 🤝 
 
 The community spirit of the ‘Meitheal’ was in full flow today at St. Aidan’s N.S were both young and old came together to continue their spring tidy-up of our beautiful grounds!! ☀️ 
 
 A huge ‘Go raibh maith agat’ goes to all parents, pupils, past pupils, staff and the wider community for coming together this morning and giving their own time and energy. 
 
 

 Thank you to Majella and the Parents Association for providing tea and refreshments!! It’s safe to say that everyone was delighted with a break , and a catch-up , before returning to the work!! 🙏 ☕️ 

 
 Please get in touch with St.Aidan’s N.S by email if you would like to help out volunteering in any way, our doors are always open!! GRMA!! Ní neart go cur le chéile‍!! 👏🏼

Christmas Play 2022

hank you so much to everyone in our school community for attending our St. Aidan’s National School Christmas Play on Tuesday evening. It as a very special evening, and one that will live long in the memory!! 🎭 🎅 ⛄️ ❄️ 
 
 The children at St. Aidan’s never cease to amaze us with their spirit and energy and they should be very proud of themselves!! 👏🏼 Thank you to the parents, who are always so supportive of everything that happens at St. Aidan’s N.S. We can’t thank you enough for helping out with everything over the course of the two days, and especially in preparing our beautiful hall!! Thank you to Parents Association, for the trojan work that you do for our school and for raising funds through your brilliantly organised Christmas Raffle!! 🎁
 
 A huge thank you to the following local businesses , and apologies in advance if we’ve managed to leave anyone out but you were all so generous!! 🙏
 
1. Kennedys Spar Supermarket 
2. The Angler’s Rest 
3. The Slieve Russell Hotel 
4. Brackley Landscaping 
 5. The Keepers Arms 
 7. SuperValu 
 8. Howden Tools and Garage Supplies 
9. Kennedys Home and Garden 
10. The Ballymac Inn 
11. An Siopa (Patrick and Sabrina Maguire) 
12. Tommy Cassidy 
 13. Forever Living Aloe Products 
14. All Care Pharmacy 
15. Ronnies Fruit and Veg 
16. Café Nua, Belturbet 
17. McManus Pharmacy 
18. Mountain View Garden Centre 
 19. Aroma Coffee House 
20. Hidden Treasures 
 21. Linda’s Cakes and Bakes 
22. Tir Na Nóg Beauty Studio 
 
Thank you to all the staff at St. Aidan’s N.S for all your dedication and commitment towards preparing our Christmas Show. Thank you to the John Paul students for running our winter Fete!! ❄️ Thank you to the Templeport Resource Centre Committee, to Ann Smith, John Rudden and everyone who contributed towards making the hall so beautiful for our night!! 🙏 Boladh Bos an mhór don chuisle duine !! 👏🏼