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Publication of Annual Admissions Notice for 2022/23 school year
Skerries Educate Together NS has two admissions policies. One is for the mainstream classes (from Junior Infants to 6th) and our two early intervention ASD classes for children aged 3-6 years (Seolta), while the other policy was developed in May 2021 in readiness for our school-aged ASD class which opened in September 2021. These two policies are available to view and download below. Both policies have been written in compliance with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act (2018) and are aimed at ensuring a fair and transparent admissions process to all who apply for a school place for their child in Skerries Educate Together.
Skerries Educate Together will publish its annual admissions notice on Friday 22nd October 2021. This notice gives all of the relevant information about applying for a place in any of our classes for the 2022/23 school year, in accordance with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act (2018). This document will be available to view and download both on the homepage of the school website and under the “Admissions” heading at the top of the homepage.
Please contact the school if you have any queries about any aspect of this.
There is also a “Frequently asked questions re Admissions Policy” document that you might find helpful.
Skerries ETNS Admissions Notice 2022-23
Skerries ETNS School Age ASD Class Application Form 2022
Skerries ETNS Enrolment Form 2022-23
Admissions Policy for Skerries Educate Together NS
Admissions Policy Skerries ETNS – ASD Class Updated 21.05.2021
Mid Term Break
Dear Parents,
The school closes at the normal finish times for mid-term break from Monday 25th to Friday 29th of October 2021. School opens on Monday 1st of November with the normal staggered times for all classes.
There are only 4 half days this school year when school closes at 11:40am. Details of holidays are on the school calendar also.
15th November 2021 – Primary Language Curriculum training day for Staff (not on the school calendar)
22nd December 2021 – Christmas Holidays
8th April 2022 – Spring Break
June 29 2022 – Summer Holidays
ETNS ASD Class Application
Dear parents and guardians,
I hope that you are all well.
I want to update you on an important issue for the whole school community. As you will know, the school is awaiting the construction of a 4-classroom extension which will enable primary classrooms for children with autism to be established here. Unfortunately the pace of this development has been much delayed and in this context, the Department of Education has requested that the school open a class for children with autism in September 2021, within the existing school building. At a recent meeting of the Board of Management, a decision was made to accept this request and accordingly, one classroom for children with autism will open in Skerries ETNS in September 2021. This classroom will have a capacity for 6 children and applications are being accepted from next Monday 24th May until Monday 14th June. The relevant admissions notice, admissions policy and application form for this classroom are available here…
Half Days
Dear Parents/Guardians
A few parents asked us to clarify when the school closes for a half day during the academic year. There are 3 half days during a school year. These are a half day (finishing at 11.40am) before Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays. The next half day scheduled is Friday 25th of June 2021. As long as Covid restrictions are in place, the half day finish time is staggered and parents will be informed of their child’s finish time a few days before the half day. Thanks for your ongoing co-operation.
Updated 2021 School Calendar
Dear parents/guardians,
I hope that you are all keeping safe and well (and warm) there this week.
I want to inform you all of a change to the arrangements for our February and May midterm breaks. The February break was scheduled to take place for two days (Thursday 18th and Friday 19th February) next week. Having considered the best course of action over the remainder of the school year, the Board has decided to approve a change to this original plan so that our midterm break will now take place for the full week next week.
This is due to the exceptional circumstances of the past month’s school closure, and in order to ensure as many in-school days for the children between now and the end of the school year. We will make up for this change to the February midterm by taking a shorter midterm break in term 3, when we had originally scheduled to take a full week off (from Monday 3rd May). The midterm break in May will now be shortened to just the Bank Holiday plus Tuesday 4th May. Please see the attached and updated school calendar for this year, which includes the changes to the midterm breaks that I have outlined.
The rationale for this change is to maximise the amount of contact time in school for the rest of the school year, and to avoid taking another week out of school in May, given that we’ve missed so much contact time over the past year already. This change will mean that everyone (children, parents, teachers and SNAs) can take a full break next week to hopefully recharge their energies after a tough 5 weeks of online teaching and learning. Having spoken with a range of people in the school community in recent days, there is a sense that we could all do with a full week’s break next week, and that it would be a good time to take the extra days.
We are awaiting an announcement on the date of reopening of all primary school classes, and we will be in contact with you again as soon as we have any more information. We are looking forward to welcoming the children in Seolta back to school on 22nd February and we hope that it will not be too much longer before we have all of the children back in school again. Online teaching and learning for all of the other classes will resume after our midterm break on Monday 22nd February.
I do appreciate that it is very short notice to be making a change to the school calendar, and I do apologise if these changes affect any plans you had made for the midterm break in May, but we are trying to do what we can to maximise the time in school for the children for the rest of the year. Thank you to everyone at home for your support in helping us to work with the children over the past few weeks. This support is vital to ensuring the children have as positive an experience as possible at this time. I very much hope that you all manage to enjoy the break over the next week and we will be back in contact with you all, either in person or remotely, on 22nd February.
Best regards,
Conor
Autism Class extension project at Skerries Educate Together NS
In response to a number of queries on this subject, and as part of our wish to keep the school community informed of the latest developments, I wanted to give you an update on the situation regarding our Autism Class extension project.
As many of you will know, the Department of Education (DE) has approved funding for 4 primary school Autism Classes in our school. It is worth noting that the school is being supported through this project by Louth/Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB), which has extensive experience of managing these types of developments. Plans have been drawn up by the project architects for this extension, and these have been approved by the DE. I have attached these drawings to the message for your information.
The original timeline was due to result in an opening date for the new extension of September 2021. However, this was the estimate before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Ireland in March 2020, and unfortunately this is having an extremely negative effect on the work schedule. The estimate we have recently been given is that it will be September 2022, or later, before the unit will be completed. This is very disheartening for everyone, and none more so than the families of the children who need these school places the most. We will continue to engage with all parties to work towards the delivery of these classrooms in as safe and as timely a manner as possible. We will also keep the school community informed of any new developments when they arise.
Conor D’Arcy, Principal and Board of Management, Skerries Educate Together National School.
Plan Downloads
Annual review of our Child Safeguarding Statement
At the most recent Board of Management meeting, the school’s Child Safeguarding Statement was reviewed and ratified. This happens on an annual basis and it is important that we inform all members of the school community that it has taken place. You can view this document by clicking on the link below, and it has also been added to the Policy section of the website.
PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL ADMISSIONS NOTICE FOR SCHOOL PLACES FOR 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
Skerries Educate Together National School is today publishing its Annual Admissions Notice that outlines the process and timeline for applying for school places in our school for the 2021-22 school year. This Admissions Notice, together with the relevant application forms, is attached below.
Please note that applications will be accepted from Monday 2nd November until 12:00pm on Monday 23rd November 2020.
Should you require any further information, please contact the school office directly on 8494050 or at [email protected]
New Admissions Policy for Skerries Educate Together NS
On 8th September 2020, following a consultation process involving parents, staff, the Board of Management and the patron (Educate Together), the Educate Together Head Office approved a new Admissions Policy for Skerries Educate Together NS. This document is attached below. This new policy sets out the criteria for admission and the procedures for managing applications for admission to the school. An Annual Admissions Notice will be published on the school’s website in due course in relation to applications for school places in September 2021. There is also a “Frequently asked questions re Admissions Policy” document that you might find helpful.
Best regards,
Conor