Incoming First Years

Welcome Parents of Incoming First Years for the academic year 2021/22, below you will find information and booklets to help you as you guide your child through the transition from Primary to Post-Primary School.

Uniform

The full school uniform can be purchased from Murray’s in Charleville. 

Key Information for your First Day

At St Mary’s we understand that the transition from primary to secondary school can be a stressful time for your child. In the link below you will find practical information to help guide your child through their first days at St Mary’s. We invite you to share this information with your child.

Advice and Information from Students

The following excerpts are from letters written to you by our current first years in St. Mary’s. They are offering you the benefit of their experience of first year and they hope it will help you.

Dear Incoming First Year,

“I am a first year (going into second year) student in St Marys. It is a good school and the change from primary to secondary school really isn’t as bad as you might think. There are a few differences, such as going from class to class, longer days, lockers, the canteen (which is great by the way, Martha is an angel) and of course all the different subjects, but all the teachers and staff are really nice and do their best to make you feel at ease.”

“When I came to St. Marys I loved camogie and joined the camogie team. It was really good and I made so many more friends, when training and playing matches. I even got to meet girls from other years. I also joined the basketball team. There are other clubs you can join if you are not interested in sport.”

“My advice for starting first year is to sit with different people at lunch every day. You will make loads of friends this way. Sit beside the girl who is alone, she might become your best friend. I started first year on my own and was scared about making friends but now I have the most amazing friends I could ask for. I joined the school orchestra as I play music. I got to play music for the open night and for the school Mass.”

“On the first day you get assigned a locker which you will use until the end of the year. This was one of the biggest changes which I had to adapt to. Initially I got very nervous when I was getting out my folders for the next few classes in case I brought the wrong one. This happened a few times at the start of the year! However, the teachers were very patient with us. We were shown how to colour code our timetable and how to arrange our lockers. We were also provided with a copy of the timetable which we stuck onto the inside of the locker door. I found these things very helpful.”

“Don’t worry about making friends I started on my own. The best advice for starting would be to talk to everyone. If you ever have questions the teachers are very helpful always ask!!!! It’s better to know than be guessing. “

MOST IMPORTANTLY ENJOY!!!