St Aidan’s Community School: Facts & DEIS Status

Finding a good school in Tallaght means waiting through a lot of rumours — is it private, is it DEIS, who runs the place? St Aidan’s Community School sits right in the middle of that conversation, and the answers matter more than you might expect. This profile pulls straight from official records and the school’s own documents to give you a clear, fact-checked picture — no guesswork, just what’s confirmed and what still needs pinning down.

School Type: Community School ·
Students: 560 ·
Location: Brookfield, Tallaght, Dublin 24 ·
Funding: Free ·
Ethos: Inter-denominational ·
Roll Number: 91338D

Seven confirmed facts, one pattern: the school’s identity is clear on paper, but the most searched-for details are the ones missing from public view.

Who is the principal of St Aidan’s Community School?

Current Principal

• The principal’s name is not publicly listed on the official school website or on the Department of Education’s school profile (gov.ie) as of the latest update. No candidate page, staff list, or leadership biography is published on sacs.ie.
• Social media channels and local news coverage have not named a sitting principal in recent records reviewed.

Contact Information

• Phone: (01) 452 4677 (Schooldays.ie school listing)
• Website: www.sacs.ie
• Address: Brookfield, Tallaght, Dublin 24 (gov.ie Department of Education)

Role in the School

• As a community school, the principal is appointed by the Board of Management and acts as the school’s chief officer under the Department of Education governance framework for community schools (Citizens Information).

The implication: the principal is an important role but remains invisible in publicly available data — a gap that makes everything else harder to verify.

Is St. Aidan’s a private school?

School Type

• St Aidan’s Community School is classified as a community school, not a private school, by the Department of Education (gov.ie).
• It is co-educational and post-primary, with 286 male and 274 female students enrolled (gov.ie Department of Education).

Funding Model

• The school is fully state-funded and charges no tuition fees, distinguishing it from fee-paying private schools in Ireland (Citizens Information guide on post-primary school types).
• Funding is administered through the Department of Education under the community school model, which includes a Board of Management comprising trustees, parents, and staff representatives.

Ethos

• St Aidan’s describes itself as inter-denominational, meaning it is open to students of all faiths and none (gov.ie Department of Education).
• This contrasts with denominational schools (mostly Catholic or Protestant) and with private fee-paying institutions that may have selective admissions.

What this means: if you heard “private school” and worried about fees, you can stop. St Aidan’s is a free, state-funded community school open to everyone in the Brookfield area.

Is St. Aidan’s a DEIS school?

DEIS Programme Overview

• DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) is the Irish government’s main policy for tackling educational disadvantage, managed by the Department of Education (gov.ie).
• Schools in the programme receive additional funding, smaller class sizes, and extra staff supports.

School Support

• The official Department of Education school page for St Aidan’s Community School (gov.ie) labels it as a DEIS school, confirming it is part of the programme.
• A May 2025 BOM Agreed Report on the school’s own website references a “DEIS Plus committee,” indicating active engagement with the expanded DEIS Plus scheme (St Aidan’s Community School website).
• RTÉ reported on 2026-03-25 that 121 schools would receive additional supports under the new DEIS Plus scheme, which includes 96 primary and 25 post-primary schools (RTÉ news report).

Eligibility

• While the school is confirmed as a DEIS school, whether it qualifies for the additional DEIS Plus tier remains unconfirmed by official published lists. The presence of a DEIS Plus committee on the BOM suggests the school is positioning itself for or already participating in the enhanced programme.

The catch: the official page says DEIS, but the school’s own documents talk about DEIS Plus — meaning the support level could be higher than a standard DEIS designation. Without the published list of DEIS Plus schools, that distinction stays unclear.

What is St Aidan known for?

School Reputation

• St Aidan’s Community School is known in Tallaght as a co-educational community school serving 560 pupils with a focus on inclusive learning (gov.ie Department of Education).
• A welcome message on the school website states: “Our business is learning. Our aim is that everybody in the school will experience success.” (St Aidan’s Community School website)

Academic Programs

• The school offers the Junior Cycle, Transition Year, and Leaving Certificate programmes, with Transition Year confirmed by the Department of Education (gov.ie).
• The BOM Agreed Report from May 2025 references planned Erasmus+ staff mobility, indicating a commitment to international professional development (St Aidan’s Community School website).

Extracurricular Activities

• While specific extracurricular offerings are not listed on official pages, the school’s Facebook page notes that students from nine schools in Tallaght recently participated in a campaign on school attendance, suggesting active community engagement (St Aidan’s Community School Facebook).

History of the Saint

• The school is named after St Aidan (also known as Aidan of Lindisfarne), a 7th-century Irish monk and missionary who founded the monastery on Lindisfarne and is credited with spreading Christianity in Northumbria (Wikipedia: Aidan of Lindisfarne).
• He is known for his humility, care for the poor, and dedication to learning — values the school community may draw on tacitly.

The pattern: St Aidan’s namesake is a figure of learning and service, and the school’s own ethos reflects that. But what it’s “known for” in practice — specific academic specialisms or standout programmes — isn’t well documented outside the school.

Where is St Aidan’s Community School located?

Address

• The school’s official address is Brookfield, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Republic of Ireland (gov.ie Department of Education).
• Approximate GPS coordinates (not exact): 53.283°N, 6.366°W based on the Brookfield area of Tallaght.

Map and Directions

• Brookfield is a residential neighbourhood in Tallaght West, accessible via the N81 road and Dublin Bus routes 27, 65, and 77A.
• Parking is limited; the school is within walking distance of the Fettercairn and Brookfield housing estates.

Campus Facilities

• The school’s website (sacs.ie) does not publish detailed campus maps or facility lists. The BOM report references a school building with classrooms, a hall, and outdoor areas.
• The roll number 91338D is listed on Schooldays.ie for official Department correspondence.

The trade-off: the address is easy to find, but if you’re looking for campus photos or a detailed layout, the school doesn’t make that information public online.

“Our business is learning. Our aim is that everybody in the school will experience success.”

— St Aidan’s Community School website (welcome message)

Students from nine schools in Tallaght recently took part in a campaign on school attendance, reflecting a community-wide commitment to keeping students engaged.

— St Aidan’s Community School Facebook page

What’s clear from the data: St Aidan’s Community School is a free, co-educational, DEIS-designated community school in Tallaght serving 560 students with Transition Year and an inter-denominational ethos. What remains uncertain — the principal’s name, the exact DEIS Plus status, uniform policy — should be clarified when the school updates its public materials. For families in Dublin 24, the choice is not about fees or denomination, but about fit: a community school with strong local ties, DEIS support, and an explicit commitment to every student’s success. The implication for parents: call the school at (01) 452 4677 or check sacs.ie for updates, because the gaps won’t fill themselves.

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