Back to school advice from the Department of Education

The re-opening of schools will require everyone to adjust and get used to new arrangements and routines. This change of culture won’t happen overnight and will take a bit of time in the initial re-opening period to get fully established and embedded into the daily operation of our school. The Department of Education have released a leaflet with advice for parents (click here) and 3 videos for families outlining what to expect when returning to school. I hope you find these resources useful....

New Entrants- September 2020

24.08.2020   Dear Parents of incoming Junior Infants, There are only 2 more sleeps until your child’s first day at big school. I am sure your emotions are a strong mixture of excitement and nerves. If there is anything you cannot get sorted before Wednesday please do not worry. We will be keeping very calm and relaxed about the whole thing. It is only 2 hours each day so the time will fly by and our teachers will do everything they can to make your child’s first day as positive as possible. Children should bring a tiny snack and a drink of water for their first day. We are working hard to make the school as safe as we can. In previous years we had lots of induction activities to prepare the children for school life. This year our overarching goal is to open and to stay open. Unfortunately coming together to celebrate this big occasion is not possible this year.  We will stagger opening on Wednesday. As per the time you received along with this message; at 9.45 we will welcome half of Rang Tara, at 10.00 we will welcome Rang Karen and at 10.15 we will welcome the rest of Rang Tara. Please park in the car park and walk up to the school. There will be lots of school staff on hand to direct you. We will accept the children into the school from the blue doors. Children only past the blue doors. Teachers will wear mask and visor until they are in the teacher zone in their classrooms. Two teachers have been assigned as official...

Have a Wonderful Summer

Dear Ard Rí Community,  Anyone who suffered illness or lost loved ones over the course of the Covid pandemic, on behalf of the team at Ard Rí Community National School I would like to offer you our deepest sympathies. No doubt it was a challenging time for everyone. Social distancing, job loss, cocooning, illness all causes grief, worry and anxiety.   As a community we definitely learned how to dance in the rain!   Our frontline workers rose to the challenge in caring for the evolved needs of the country. On behalf of everyone thank you.   Parents you worked hard to ensure your children were kept safe. You protected them. You embraced remote learning. You used the time not only to teach the academics but to pass on your own skills and funds of knowledge to your children. Through baking, cooking, gardening, teaching electronics and coding, sewing, playing, exercising you were educating your children…probably without even realizing. Well done.  I would like to thank our teachers who, in a few short weeks, shifted teaching and learning from their classrooms to online and into pupil’s homes. You were dynamic and positive throughout the last 16 weeks and I am very grateful for your commitment to the school and your profession. We are dedicated to working hard to follow all the advice and have all the recommendations in place to ensure we can provide a safe learning environment for our boys and girls in September. We look forward to welcoming 36 new Junior Infants to Ard Rí CNS. We will do everything we can to make your first day in big school one to remember. Teacher recruitment is currently underway. We will let you know who your child’s class teacher for next year will be as soon as the details are finalised. Most of...

New Track for Navan

On a Tuesday night every metre of track and field at Claremont Stadium is packed with boys and girls training for Navan Athletics Club. You will find lots of the Ard Rí Community among the athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators and plenty of the Ard Rí mums, dads and teachers will be at the adult training afterwards. Claremont is also home to PT Fitness, Badminton, Basketball, Soccer, Wheelchair Sports, Special Olympics, Navan Men’s Shed. After 20 years of training for all ages and abilities and hosting schools, county and provincial competitions the track at Claremont is worn and torn. This summer a new state of the art track is being installed and the club need to raise €50,000 to get the job over the line. Ard Rí CNS medal winners 2019 schools competition at Claremont Stadium   How can we help? There are lots of runners and walkers among us. Why not take part in the Navan AC Virtual 5k and Family 2k Fun Run Take on the Tullys in a #60secondchallenge (video below). Complete your own family challenge then donate through Go Fund Me New Track 4 Navan  Sponsor local ultra runner Keith Russell as he completes a 220km 24hour run around the track at Claremont Stadium (video below). To sponsor Keith donate at Go Fund Me New Track 4 Navan To keep up to date and share the fundraising like New Track 4 Navan on Facebook  #60SecondChallenge Family Fitness Challenge, can you match the Tully Family, Tag a family you know with the #60SecondChallenge donate, if you can, to the #NTN fundraiser to be in with a...

Class Allocation

Dear Ard Rí Community, Staffing arrangements in Primary Schools for the 2020/21 school year are laid out in Department of Education Circular 0018/2020 . Our predicted September enrolment is 270 pupils. This allows us 10 mainstream class teachers. If, for any reason, your family will not be coming back to Ard Rí in September please let us know as knowing our predicted enrolment is very important. We will organise the 10 teachers as follows: There are two main areas of change: 2020 Senior Infants will be in two groups; Teacher 2 will teach Junior Infants and Senior Infants together in multi-grade and Teacher 3 will teach Senior Infants in single-grade. 2020 4th and 5th Classes will be split into two multi-grade classes; Teacher 8 will teach one set of 4th and 5th Class together and Teacher 9 will teach the other set of 4th and 5th Class together. Both in multi-grade. When dividing classes we balance; age, gender, siblings, Special Educational Needs and any other dynamics which may exist. Friendship is an important dynamic. If your child is going into Senior Infants, 4th Class or 5th Class we invite you to email us on [email protected] a list of 2 or 3 friends your child would like in their class next year. It will not be possible to keep all friends together but we will try. If you would like your child to be in the Junior Infant/ Senior Infant multi-grade with Teacher 2 as above you can also let us know by email. Please notify us before close of business on Thursday. We will let you know which teacher each class...

6th Class Graduation

Dear 6th Class, I hope you are all doing the best you can in these very unusual and difficult times. It must be a challenge at this stage to keep motivated. I encourage you to keep going for the last few weeks of term and just do your best. Use your time constructively and positively to pursue your interests and set little challenges for yourself. Read lots, get some exercise and help around the house. Be kind and keep smiling. I am delighted to hear you are doing a few pages from the book ‘Mind the Gap’. This is a great way to start preparing yourself for the big jump to Post Primary. I know even though you missed the final term you are ready for the challenges which lie ahead and you will do very well. It would be a good idea to reach out to past pupils of Ard Rí, or neighbours, or friends who attend your particular school and ask them any questions you might have. They would be delighted to support you. You are not alone. I have now spoken to the Principals of all the Secondary Schools in the town. They know that this September will be different and they will have to do some extra work to support you. They have promised to take good care of you. If you have any questions please ask Jack on Seesaw or email the office on [email protected]. We will do our best to help. Myself and Jack are planning for your graduation night. We will hold a ceremony on Zoom on Thursday 18th June at 7pm....