Staffing Arrangements for 2022/23

Staffing arrangements were announced to schools in Circular Letter 0025/2022 We must have a few pupils over 312 enrolled at the school at the end of next September. It’s going to be tight!! Our current predicted enrolment for next academic year is 312 pupils. At Ard Rí CNS we currently have 11 mainstream classrooms. To maintain a 12th teacher in 2022/23 we must have 309 pupils enrolled on 30th of September 2022. To gain a 13th teacher for 2023/24 we have to have 312 pupils enrolled on 30th September 2022. Having the 12th and 13th teacher is crucial for maintaining good pupil teacher ratio and avoiding the need to teach classes in multi-grade as our school grows. Unfortunately we do not have places available in every class. Word of mouth is the most effective way to promote our school. If you meet anyone who is looking for a school place in September please encourage them to choose Ard Rí CNS, to email [email protected] and I will be happy to support them. Thank...

New Entrants- September 2022

May 2022 Hi everyone, It was lovely to meet so many of you at our Open House on Wednesday. There was a great buzz about the place and I hope your little one’s first experience of Ard Rí CNS was a really positive one. If you didn’t manage to make it and you’d like to pop in to see us please call and we can arrange an appointment for you. ‘Mo Scéal’ is Irish for ‘My Story’. Each child has reached a very important milestone in their lives. Most children complete two years at pre-school and in that time the pre-school teacher gains a vast fund of knowledge on each child. Nobody knows a child better than their parents. We have created online forms for Early Years Practitioners and Parents, accessible through the QR codes on the downloadable letter or the links below. We ask you share the QR Code/ links with your child’s preschool teacher. Once completed, we can better plan for each child to begin to learn in a way that best suits them. Mo-Sceal-May-2022Download Parent Survey Early Years Practitioner Survey The next step on your child’s journey is the Ard Rí Summer Camp. The camp runs from 27th June to 1st July and offers sports, art, drama and creative activities in a structured environment run by our own experienced teachers. Children will lose themselves in the fun of it all as they go from one lively task to another. You can apply through the online Application Form below. Ard Rí Summer Camp Online Application Form Summer-Camp-2022Download Our school uniform is now available at Geoghegans Department Store,...

NPC- Parents’ information evening on Community National Schools

National Parents Council Primary is holding an online information session for parents on Community National Schools (CNS). Is your child attending a Community National School or are they going to attend a Community National School, then this is the information session for you. Seamus Conboy, Director of Schools at the Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) will be attending. If you would like to find out more, please join NPC online, on Wednesday the 18th of May 2022, from 7pm to 8pm, by registering your details...

Post Primary Assessment Test

Spring 2022 Dear parents of 6th Class pupils, Children starting Post Primary school in September will have their Assessment Tests on Saturday 2nd April. Your child’s school will have contacted you by now with specific details. It is very important that the pupils understand that there is no work they need to do in preparation for this test. These are not Entrance Exams. The students have already been accepted into First Year. Remind them that they cannot fail, the assessment just informs the school of their individual strengths and the type of learning that supports them best. Please check what time your child’s test is at and arrive 15 minutes early. Schools have different requirements on the day. Some require you bring stationery, some ask you bring wired headphones, some ask you bring a snack and a drink for a morning break. Prepare for this in advance, you do not want a panic in the morning when headphones don’t work etc. Children should be well slept and have a good breakfast before they go in. Choose an outfit which will make a positive first impression. Schools are using Cognitive Ability Tests for this assessment. As far as I know, they use a test by GL Assessment (or similar). Some schools use a digital version which will be carried out on a computer, others use a paper test. This short video gives a good insight into the C.A.T. I hope all pupils are excited about the prospect. For many it will be their first time in the building. They will meet the school management, their year head, teachers and they...

Covid-19 Updates

03.02.2022 Dear parents, The school has been running really well this term. However, this week we are beginning to notice an increase in the number of positive Covid cases in pupils in the school and household contacts. Some people think Covid is a harmless virus. For a small number of people it can be serious. We have a lot of very vulnerable children and adults in our school and community. A large number of cases at any one time would seriously impact our ability to run the school. We are focusing on interventions; ventilation, social-distancing in pods, hand-washing, face masks and isolating pupils who develop symptoms during the school day. The current strain of the virus is highly transmissible. The best chance we have is stopping the virus from entering the school gates. Please do not send your children to school if they: have symptoms of Covid-19  test positive on an antigen test are close household contacts A positive (detected) antigen test result is taken as a confirmed COVID-19 result. If you detect Covid please notify the school by email [email protected] as soon as possible. We will got through your case and advise as appropriate. We must keep going, Darragh 30.11.2021 Dear parents, This evening schools have received guidance from the Department of Education that pupils from Third Class and above are required to wear a face mask/covering in their classroom at school. From day one the children, families and staff at Ard Rí CNS have been fully compliant with all Covid-19 interventions. The children at our school have been incredibly good at practicing all the Covid-19 protection measures...

Ethos at Ard Rí CNS

Louth Meath Education and Training Board is the patron of our school. The ETB ethos affirms that ETB schools are state run, co-educational and multidenominational schools underpinned by the core values of: Excellence in Education; Care; Equality; Community and Respect. We are carrying out an internal evaluation of the ethos and characteristic spirit of our community. As always, the voice of parents is very important to us. We want to consult you and evaluate your family’s experience of school life at Ard Rí CNS. This allows us to assess how we are doing in terms of implementing the ETB Ethos and what needs to improve. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey: Ard Rí CNS- Parent Survey on Ethos Nov 21...