ST. ANDREW'S COLLEGE, DUBLIN

'St. Andrew's College' (Irish: ''Coláiste Naomh Aindriú'') is a co-educational inter-denominational, international day school, founded in 1894 by members of the Presbyterian community now located in Booterstown, Dublin, Ireland.
St. Andrew's offers a very wide range of academic subjects, sports, cultural and other extra-curricular activities, and organises major student events such as the annual Arts Festival, the Model European Parliament and the Model United Nations (SAIMUN) all of which attract participants from Ireland and abroad.
The school colours are blue and white. The school often uses Gold as an away colour, for occasions when the school is playing a game against a school with a very similar blue and white strip.

Contents

History

Foundation

Troubled times

Wellington Place

Structure

Evolution

Accreditations

Students

International Baccalaureate

Activities

Sport

Aid work

Model United Nations

External links

Notes

History

Foundation

Originally founded as a boys' secondary school at the end of the nineteenth century by members of the Presbyterian community, St. Andrew's College celebrated its centenary in 1994. It was on 8 January 1894 that the College opened its doors at 21 St. Stephen's Green in the centre of Victorian Dublin. This was to be the first of its three locations.
Under its young and energetic headmaster, W W Haslett, an Ulsterman, it grew rapidly from its original intake of 64 students. By the end of 1894 there were 203 boys in the school.

Troubled times

From the outset, the school was non-sectarian in character. Only in the opening year were Presbyterians in the majority. During the last years of the Union, numbers grew, reaching a peak of 380 by 1922. However, along with many Protestant institutions, it went through a period of crisis during the early years of the Irish Free State, following the turmoil of revolution, civil war and reconstruction.

Wellington Place

However, at the beginning of 1937 a move to new premises in Wellington Place, Clyde Road, along with a determined effort by past pupils and parents to stave off closure or amalgamation saw a revival in the fortunes of the College.

Structure

Evolution

Over the years the College has evolved in many ways, and is now a flourishing international, interdenominational, co-educational school of approximately '1,200 pupils' and just 'over 100 teachers'. It offers a very wide range of academic subjects, sports, cultural and other extra-curricular activities, organizes major student events such as the annual Arts Festival, the Model European Parliament and the Model United Nations (SAIMUN) all of which attract participants from Ireland and abroad.

Accreditations

Since 1984 St. Andrew's has been fully accredited by the European Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the only school in Ireland to hold this distinction.

Students

St. Andrew's is one of Ireland's most prestigious schools. Its status as an internationally accredited school makes it a very popular for the children of foreign diplomats. Students enjoy lower than average class sizes and, in state examinations, St. Andrew's students consistently perform well above the national average.

International Baccalaureate

St. Andrew's is the only school in Ireland to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, which certifies students to attend colleges and universities around the world. Only a small number (usually around 35 students) of the school's students are in the IB programme.

Activities

Sport

Participation in sporting activities is encouraged by the college, while being recognised as only one of a number of extra-curricular activities.
Main winter sports are Rugby Union for the boys, and hockey, basketball and badminton for both boys and girls, one of these sports is compulsory for all first and second year students (although no action is taken if this is violated), after which time sport is optional.
The Senior Rugby team tries hard to do well in the highly competitive Leinster Schools Senior Cup (which the school last won in 1922); however the most recent 2006/2007 season saw the appointment of James Winstanley and Steven Gill as Senior Rugby coaches and the most successful season since 1999/2000 followed with the team being runners up in the Leinster Schools Senior League. Recent successful past rugby players include Felix Jones and Gary Wilkinson who was part of the 2007 under 20's 6 Nations Irish grand slam winning team and a past pupil of the 2004-2005 team as full-back.
Field hockey has been a source of tremendous success for the school in the last decade with the senior girls team winning the Leinster Cup in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Aid work

The school had an extensive programme to help those less well off. Each year a group of transition year students raise money for Uganda and then visit the country.The majority of funds go to Kisiizi. In the summer of 2006 fifth year students visited Zambia to build a house for a homeless family. Every Christmas, each class makes a hamper which is then donated to the St.Vincent de Paul, who in turn distribute to the needy in time for Christmas. The school's philantropic nature has been praised by many including Mary Hanafin among others.

Model United Nations

Model United Nations (MUN) is a very popular after school activity for students in the senior school. Each year groups of students are chosen to form delegations and to meet three times per week outside of school hours to practice debating resolutions. These students then travel to two international conferences: the Royal Russell MUN in Croydon, UK, and The Hague International MUN in The Hague, Netherlands.
St. Andrew's has a particular legacy at the Royal Russell MUN where they have recently had more resolutions passed than any other school. St. Andrew's also hosts its own conference, the St. Andrew's International Model United Nations (SAIMUN). The conference is one of the school's most high-profile annual events.
It reached a high point in 2002 when John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, made an address to the assembly. The conference is hosted in Jury's Hotel in Ballsbridge, where a large number of the school's students participate along with students from other schools from around the world. The 2007 conference will be the last to be held at the Jury's Hotel in Ballsbridge due to the hotel being sold. The college is now looking for a new location for SAIMUN.
The Secretary General for the 2007 conference was Ms. Maeve-Ann Austen.

External links

★ St. Andrew's College - official website

★ Rate my teacher - Rate My teacher website.

Notes