Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE)
As per the February Newsletter, Teachers will be commencing the Relationships and Sexuality education programme (RSE) this week. RSE is an integral part of the Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) programme. RSE provides children with opportunities to develop knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practical skills necessary to establish and sustain healthy personal relationships with self and others. In addition to learning about relationships, RSE invites children to explore concepts such as physical development and human sexuality. Topics are explored with children in a developmentally appropriate, spiral nature throughout their primary education. The sensitive elements of the Relationships and Sexuality education programme are covered under the Strand Units, ‘Growing and Changing’ and ‘Taking Care of my Body’ and ‘Safety and Protection’. We will be completing these Strand Units with all class levels during Term 2. This programme forms part of the SPHE curriculum which all primary schools are required to implement. Co-operation between parents and teachers is essential to the success of this programme. It is important that parents are aware of the content of RSE lessons and can discuss the content with their children. Your child may bring home worksheets which will inform you on the topics being covered in class and how you can reinforce the messages and/or content at home. You can familiarise yourself with the content of the Primary School RSE lessons at: https://www.pdst.ie/sites/default/files/RSE%20in%20Primary%20School%20Parent%20Tips.pdfhttps://www.curriculumonline.ie/primary/curriculum-areas/social-personal-and-health-education/sphe-rse-toolkit/ The Ard Rí CNS Relationships and Sexuality Education policy has recently been updated: https://www.ardricns.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/RSE-Policy-2023.pdf We encourage every child to complete this worthwhile scheme of work. If you have any concerns, please email us on [email protected]...Agree to Agree Pilot Programme
15.01.2025 Dear Parents, Thank you for attending the recent webinar with Dr Maureen Griffin—I hope it provided valuable insights into the Agree to Agree project and highlighted the importance of working together to meet children’s needs and ensure their online safety. Feedback has been very positive. We’ve already completed a staff survey and pupil focus groups, and now it’s your turn! Please take a few moments to complete our Agree to Agree Parent Survey and share your thoughts on this very important process. The survey is completely anonymous. Please complete one survey per family. If you have more than one child in the school please complete with your eldest child in mind. Agree to Agree Parent Survey Your feedback is essential in shaping our next steps. Thank you for your support! 14.01.2025 For those who couldn’t attend last night’s webinar, here’s a quick overview of our online session about the “Agree to Agree” project, a collaborative initiative aimed at addressing the challenges of children’s use of internet-enabled devices. Host: Dr. Maureen Griffin, Forensic Psychologist Why Are We Doing This? We know that parents often feel torn. You don’t want your child to feel left out, but keeping up with trends can be overwhelming—especially when children use “pester power.” The project emphasizes the importance of the school community working together to meet children’s needs, rather than their wants. The Challenges Dr. Maureen Griffin highlighted some key issues affecting children today: Overexposure to age-inappropriate content Mental health concerns such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and poor resilience Sleep deprivation due to excessive screen time From an Irish perspective, the “Left to their...Ard Rí Winter Show 2024
Dear Junior and Senior Infants, Happy Christmas to you all. I hope you are having a holiday. I am delighted to share the video of your Winter Show with you. It will be a memory you will cherish forever. Enjoy watching it with your family on Christmas Day. To your family and friends all over the world I wish you Nollaig Shona (Gaelic for Happy Christmas). Thanks once again to our friends Victor and Luana for recording and producing these beautiful videos. I look forward to hearing all your stories when you get back to school in January. Rang Niamh Junior Infants: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041818973/38790c0109 Junior Infants all together: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041815426/9b8b50e4ad Rang Ciara Junior Infants: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041816321/b7f40e6da7 Rang Gráinne Senior Infants: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041817574/e96d826417 Senior Infants all together: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041812777/9668b42a37 Rang Ruth Senior Infants: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041813672/233b354c14 The Grand Finale: https://vimeo.com/magnafilms/review/1041814677/ad677be2fd I look forward to hearing all your stories when you get back to school in January. Happy days,...Rang a 6- Newsfeed
January 2025 Dear parents and guardians of 6th Class pupils, Children starting Post Primary school in September ’25 will have their Assessment Tests on different Saturdays from the end of January through February. Your child’s school will contact you shortly 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. Cailín and Wilma will be doing some work with the children. This will mainly focus on visualisation. They will discuss what to expect from the day, test environment, staying calm, what to do if you can’t answer...School Bus
Update 12/09/2024 We have added some more stops to the Bus Service. The bus is now also stopping in Limekiln Wood close to the bollards in the center of the estate. The bus will be able to offer a one-way service to Athlumney Abbey and Athlumney Wood on the way home from school only. The new approx. timetable will be as follows: Morning: 8.25am Bus Stop Super Valu Metges Road Bus Stop Boyne View- Metges Road Boyne View- steps between Spire View and Chestnut Court (Old Johnstown Village) Bus Stop Cois Glaisín- Metges Road 8.45am Limekiln Wood at the bollards in the center of the estate 8.50am Baker Hall stopping on The Avenue at entrance to The Way The Park The Grove The Close 8.53am Academy Street 9.00am Arriving at Ard Rí CNS Afternoon: At home time the bus will leave Ard Rí CNS just before 2.40pm 2.40pm Ard Rí CNS 2.45pm Limekiln Wood at the bollards in the center of the estate 2.50pm Baker Hall stopping on The Avenue at entrance to The Way The Park The Grove The Close 2.55pm Academy Street stopping at Academy Square The bus will turn left over St Martha’s Bridge and up Bóthar Sion Athlumney Abbey Athlumney Wood 3.10pm Bus Stop Super Valu Metges Road Bus Stop Boyne View Metges Road Boyne View- steps between Spire View and Chestnut Court (Old Johnstown Village) Bus Stop Cois Glaisín Metges Road This service is a fully self-financed, private job. Going forward, the cost of the bus is €30 per child per week two-way, €20 per child per week one-way or €50 for two children...Return to school ’24
August 2024 Dia dhuit gach duine, I want to bring you all a few more updates before the last weekend of the holidays. School Lunches Ard Rí CNS is a nut free school. The Health and Safety of our pupils is top priority. The serving of food can pose a risk of allergic reactions. We now have a considerable number of children allergic to both tree nuts and ground nuts throughout the school. Our Health and Safety Team will be running an Allergy Awareness campaign throughout the school this September. No nuts or nut products in your child’s lunch box please. To learn about our Healthy Eating Policy click here The Lunch Bag provide every pupil with a free hot school lunch every day through the National Hot School Meals Programme. If you already have a Lunch Bag account you can proceed to order lunch for your children. If you are new to the school you can download the Lunch Bag app and we will give your child a code on your first day to get you started. Hot lunches will commence for pupils in Senior Infants to 6th Class from the first day. Junior Infants will get their first hot school lunch when they begin full school days on Monday 9th of September. Class Allocation I am pleased to announce we begin the school year with a full compliment of staff. I am delighted to welcome back Ciara Hughes, Emma Bathe, Lucy Walsh, Cathy Clarke and Niamh Kenny to the team. These teachers have all worked at the school previously. It is great to have them back. New...Class Allocation 24/25
Updated August 2024 Staffing arrangements for academic year 24/25 were announced to schools in Circular Letter 0011/2024. Our current predicted enrolment for next academic year is 365 pupils. We have provisionally been allocated our 15th classroom teacher. Expanding the school and achieving the threshold for the next teacher is crucial for maintaining good pupil teacher ratio. We need to achieve greater than 359 pupils to avoid children learning in multi-grade classes next year. Despite making all the required applications to the Department of Education, a project to deliver additional classrooms, plus some upgrades to existing rooms, has fallen significantly behind target. We have come to an interim arrangement with our good neighbours at Navan Tennis Club to rent the top floor of their beautiful clubhouse. Third Class- Rang Maria and Edel will be taught in this space until the new classes are delivered. Although a little bit unconventional, I am confident it will make an excellent learning environment. Please refer to the table below to see the name of your child’s class teacher. (Múinteoir is the Irish word for Teacher) Year 23/24Year 24/25Incoming PupilsMúinteoir Niamh Junior Infants Incoming PupilsMúinteoir Ciara Junior Infants Múinteoir Niamh Junior Infants Múinteoir Gráinne Senior Infants Múinteoir Rachel Junior Infants Múinteoir Ruth Senior Infants Múinteoir Angela Senior Infants Múinteoir Ailis 1st Class Múinteoir Laura Senior Infants Múinteoir Aoife 1st Class Múinteoir Wilma 1st ClassMúinteoir Laura 2nd Class Múinteoir Gráinne 1st ClassMúinteoir Meghan 2nd Class Múinteoir Ailis 2nd Class Múinteoir Emma 3rd Class Múinteoir Ruth 2nd Class Múinteoir Maria+Edel 3rd Class (jobshare)Múinteoir Maria+Edel 3rd ClassMúinteoir Sarah 4th Class Múinteoir Jack 3rd Class Múinteoir Angela 4th Class Múinteoir Sarah 4th...New Entrants- September 2024
June 2024 Hello to everyone joining us in September, Each child has reached a very important milestone in their lives. Our team understand the importance of a successful transition from pre-school to the primary classroom. Healthy home school links are the cornerstone of our school’s success. Parents and teachers must work closely together for children to reach their full potential. We want to know your child’s story/scéal… We have created a short parent questionnaire to give you the chance to share any information you think will be important to set your child up for success in Ard Rí. If you have not completed this already please click on the link below. The information you share will allow us to best support your child from day one. Mo Scéal (My Story)- Parent Survey Please continue reading for all information on starting school at Ard Rí CNS… Hi everyone, We are looking forward to welcoming all new pupils to Ard Rí CNS for their first day of big school on Wednesday 28th of August 2024 at 10 am. We are delighted to announce we will have a Summer Camp available for incoming pupils from Monday 24th to Friday 28th June. Save the date. For more info and booking: click here Here is a very useful document with lots of information on how to prepare for starting school at Ard Rí CNS: How can I prepare my child for school 2024 Our school calendar for 2024/25 is now available on our website: click here Our school uniform supplier is Geoghegans, Trimgate Street, Navan. Do not wait until August to order the uniform. For full information...Ard Rí Summer Camp
Ard Rí CNS Summer Camp caters for children from incoming Junior Infants to 3rd Class (2024/2025) from 24th to 28th June, 9:30am to 1pm daily. Ard Rí Summer Camp Application Form Places on the camp are limited and we will operate on a first come, first served basis. Filling out this form does not guarantee a place in the camp due to limited availability. I will be in contact with you via email or text message to let you know if you have secured a place. Thank you,Múinteoir...
Admissions
Ard Rí CNS are delighted to publish our Admissions Notice and Admissions Policy for children starting school in September 2025.
- Admissions Notice- Ard Rí CNS 2025-26
- Admissions Policy- Ard Rí CNS
- Application Form Ard Rí CNS 2025-26 (PDF) Application Form 2025-26 (Word Doc)
- Code of Behaviour
We will accept Applications for Admission (Application Form Ard Rí CNS 2025-26) from Tuesday the 1st of October 2024. The closing date for receipt of applications is Tuesday the 22nd of October 2024. Please post completed Application Forms and all supporting documents to Admissions, Ard Rí CNS, Balreask Old, Navan or email to [email protected]. Applications received after closing will be processed as late applications.
If you don’t have a printer please don’t worry…. you can pick up an application from us at the office or just call 0871341007 / email [email protected] and we will get an Application Form out to you.
All applicants to Junior Infants will be notified of an offer by Friday the 25th of October 2024.
If you have any questions call 087-1341007 or email [email protected] today
