What kept you at St Finbarr's for the last two decades?
We have educated all of our six children at St Finbarr's Ashgrove. What initially attracted us to the school was its warmth and small-school feel. However, what has kept us here over the years is its capacity to be and give so much more. It punches well above its weight!
We have witnessed many changes over the past two decades and have seen how the school not only focuses on the individual needs of each and every student, but how it has also developed them as individuals within a wider Catholic and community setting.
It is a terrific community based Catholic school.
Tom Cranitch and Louise Forrester
Why did you keep your sons at St Finbarr's for their whole Primary Schooling?
For the past 11 years my three children have all attended St Finbarr's Primary school from Prep to Year 6. I chose this school because of its size, community feel and location. Being a teacher myself in a small Catholic school, I loved how all the teachers knew all the students by their name. I wanted that same experience for my own children and the lovely community feeling it brings with it.
I decided to keep my two sons at St Finbarr's to finish their primary schooling as I wanted them to have leadership opportunities and having a Prep Buddy is a great example of this.
My children are happy and confident and have strived to their full potential because of the support from their dedicated teachers. They have always spoken about St Finbarr's highly and have been shown mutual respect and love. Keeping the children in this nurturing and supportive environment has set them up for success as they begin High School.
St Finbarr's, I feel is “Ashgrove's best kept secret!" To me it never mattered how big the school grounds were, what mattered was how much my children loved going to school each day. As a parent, I feel that it is one of life's big decisions, deciding which school to send your children to, and I can honestly say we got it right! It will be sad to leave St Finbarr's at the end of this year, but happy knowing that there are other families in the community that are about to have the most wonderful schooling experience as well.
Emma Canniffe
Why did you choose St Finbarr's when you are not Catholic yourself?
We heard from Gus’ Kindy that St Finbarr’s was excellent. I was worried about Gus and how he would cope in a bigger school so the fact that St Finbarr’s was a smaller school was a good sign. On our first visit we were instantly welcomed by students and staff. The only way I could describe it was it felt like coming home.
St Finnies' in more than a connected community, it is family. Everyone knows us and we like to think that we know most people too. The connectedness doesn’t stop once you leave the school gate, I am often grabbed and hugged in the supermarket by Gus’ Prep teacher or School Officers’, we wave to and are waved at by families driving by or walking around Ashgrove. I have no doubt that when I see my son skip up or dilly dally his way up to school that every staff member that he interacts with that day does so with love, kindness and a little joke. What more could a parent possibly want?
Katie Matthews