SCHOOL STRUCTURE

Education on a Human Scale
The Benedictine tradition emphasises balance - between the individual and the group, and between individual freedom and mature responsibility. The size of the school is limited to around 220 pupils, with an average class size of eighteen or less. The atmosphere is strongly community-based, with close personal contact between staff and students, and among the students themselves. The size of the school promotes peer-learning, which academic studies show is one of the most effective ways for students to learn.

In an academic institution like Glenstal Abbey School, academic rigour is essential. The school asks of each student the best that he can give. Academically, that challenge is created by a comprehensive range of subjects, professional teaching and first class facilities for learning.

Teachers
The teachers at Glenstal Abbey School are a committed group of qualified professionals. There is a close collaborative culture among the teaching staff, which encourages teachers to inspire their students and to help them to discover new ways of seeing and understanding the world. The school also promotes ongoing formation for all teachers. We operate a tutorial system and a subject department system that is designed to safeguard and constantly improve on our long-established record of achievement.  

Class Tutors
Each academic year group is divided into two classes. Each class has an academic tutor. The role of the tutor is to monitor a student’s progress and to liaise and share information with the various teachers who teach the student. The tutor also has a mentoring role.

Boarding
Boarding provides a unique element of the school’s culture. It fosters a vibrant spirit of community in the school and also helps the boys to grow in self-confidence and independence. We work hard to provide an effective framework of support through encouraging a culture of caring for others and personal responsibility, while providing opportunities for pupils to ask for help if they need it. The 24-hour nature of school life means that members of staff are always on hand to offer support and advice, whether in academic or other areas, and a culture of mentoring and guidance exists and is fostered among students.

For their first five years in the school, boys live in dormitories, while in their sixth year they have a room of their own. This balance in the type of accommodation fosters friendship among the students and enables our staff to provide age-appropriate pastoral support to students. Students have class on Saturday mornings and have ample opportunity to engage in various extra-curricular activities on Saturday afternoons and on Sunday. Because all the students board, an important part of their day outside the classroom is taken up with study. Formal study periods provide students with an essential opportunity to appropriate and deepen their knowledge of material studied in classroom. Study periods enable students to work on their own and to become active learners in their own right.

Glenstal Abbey School is a seven-day boarding school. This enables students to celebrate the highpoint of the Christian week – the Sunday Eucharist – with the monastic community. Prayer is the very heartbeat of the monastery and the liturgy was identified as the source and summit of the Christian life at the Second Vatican Council. A considerable effort is made to ensure that the boys are fully involved in the celebration of the Sunday liturgy, by having them participate in the choir, as readers, servers and ushers. The Sunday liturgy provides a welcome occasion for students, parents and staff to join together in prayer and to chat informally over coffee afterwards. The school, like the monastery has a strong ecumenical tradition, and some of our students come from other denominational backgrounds. The school chaplain and the monastic community take an active part in the formation of students according to their respective religious traditions.

Housemasters
The school is divided into three distinct houses - the Junior House for 1 st and 2 nd Years, the Inter House for 3 rd and 4 th Years and the Senior House for 5 th and 6 th Years. Each house is run by a Housemaster and an Assistant Housemaster. The housemasters not only supervise and maintain discipline outside of class time, but they also are particularly concerned with the pastoral care of students. This includes assuring the well being of students and also accompanying them as they negotiate the sometimes confusing process of growing through adolescence.

Chaplaincy
In addition to the extensive pastoral support provided by medical, academic and housemastering staff, the school also has a dedicated chaplain. The Chaplain’s role remains outside the other formal structures of the school in order to secure his independence and to bolster the students’ confidence in his autonomy. The Chaplain provides a discreet service of spiritual accompaniment and makes himself available to students and staff alike. The Chaplain also organises retreats and various other activities of a religious nature.