In the past year, Stratford College introduced a Boys to Men (BTM) programme working specifically with male students on issues relating to masculinity and the transition from boy to man. It is designed and delivered by Michael Kelly along with assistance from the teaching staff. Read more.
It has been offered to students at Junior and Senior cycle, is voluntary in attendance and runs for 7/8 weeks. The Junior Cycle programme is entitled – ‘The Pathways Programme’ and the Senior Cycle progamme is entitled ‘A Man for All Seasons’.
It explores the needs of young men, journey from boyhood to manhood, characteristics of positive masculinity, male roles in society, the need for male companionship / ‘anam cara’s’, looking at what makes a ‘good man’, mentorship etc.Sitting together we use silence, contemplation, journaling, homework and dialogue to explore issues relevant to young men and so far feedback has been very positive. There are plans to expand the programme in the coming months with sessions designed and dedicated to young women students also.
Michael Kelly
Student Support Worker
Some Resources
Andrew Lines from The Rite Journey (Australia) was very gracious in allowing us to use excerpts from his Rite Journey manuals, to 'test the waters' in the school and see if their content was relevant and appropriate. www.theritejourney.com
Richard Rohr video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
lluman home page - https://illuman.org/
Young Men's Rites of Passage (Ireland) home page - https://youngmensritesireland....
MALES Ireland home page - https://www.malesireland.ie/
The 1st years completed a zombie lab today where they used their scientific methods and thinking to identify patient zero from the zombie suspects. Using measuring skills, pH, observation skills and much more they successfully identified the source of the outbreak!
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The TY Horticulture class were out in the Autumn sunshine planting Spring bulbs using the chaos planting method. This is when a multitude of different spring bulbs (Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips, Crocuses, Narcissi) are mixed together and randomly planted so that we have a mixture of flowers and patterns emerging in the spring. It mimics nature and so is more enticing to pollinators and native insects that need the food in Spring.
Stratford is celebrating Maths Week 2026 (12th - 18th October) with daily activities around the school, at breaktimes and in Maths classes! The tutor-time daily quiz is proving to be extremely competitive as each form group tries to solve it and then run to find Ms Matthews in order to win the box of chocolates!
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