Presentation College
School Details
About
Presentation College Headford is a voluntary Catholic secondary school that welcomes students of all backgrounds. Guided by the CEIST ethos and the charism of the Presentation Sisters, the college delivers a balanced curriculum that blends academic rigour with a strong emphasis on personal, spiritual and social development. Learners follow the Junior and Senior cycles, with a range of pathways including the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, Leaving Certificate Applied and the Junior Certificate Schools Programme, ensuring that both academically‑oriented and practical‑focused students can thrive. The campus incorporates extensive facilities built over decades of development. A modern sports centre provides a gymnasium, stage, ball alleys and changing amenities, while dedicated spaces support creative and technical subjects – music rooms, art studios, woodwork and metalwork workshops, engineering and technology labs, and well‑equipped science laboratories. A Resource Centre caters for additional educational needs, and the John Boner Building offers a large study hall, classrooms and a library at the heart of the school. A vibrant extra‑curricular programme, including debating, public speaking and a wide variety of clubs, complements classroom learning and promotes holistic growth.
History
Presentation College Headford opened on 26 August 1942 in a disused army hut behind the presbytery, founded by the Presentation Sisters who had been involved in local primary education since 1906. Initially a girls‑only secondary school, it enrolled seventeen first‑year and twenty second‑year pupils. By 1946 the school expanded into the parochial hall and convent dining room. In 1953 a purpose‑built building costing £12,000 added six classrooms, a home economics room and staff room. Co‑education began in 1955 with the admission of eighteen boys. Subsequent extensions in 1978, 1982 (sports centre), 1991 (new wing with music room, canteen, laboratories, language lab and technology rooms), the mid‑1990s specialist engineering area, a Resource Centre in 2004, the John Boner Building in 2010 and the Sr Bríd Brennan library in 2013 have continually enhanced the school’s capacity to offer a comprehensive curriculum and support services.