School Prospectus
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Welcome to Scoil Íde Thank you for taking the time to learn about Scoil Íde. I hope that this prospectus gives you a sense of how the school community works together for the benefit of the children who attend our school. It is my hope that anyone who visits, attends or works at our school gets a sense of how we do things within minutes of walking onto the school grounds. In a world where we can be anything, we ask all in the school community to be kind. The challenge we set ourselves every year is to further develop the children as citizens so that they know what it means to be kind, respectul and tolerant.
It is a source of great pride to us in Scoil Íde that we have children and famailies in our school community from different countries and cultures. This cultural diversity has enhanced Scoil Íde as both a school and an anchor in the local community. As Matshona Dhliwayo, The Canadian Philosopher once said, “A garden’s beauty never lies in one flower.” Scoil Íde is a busy place but the work done here is valuable- it serves a purpose and ultimately we are determined to help develop good children who will do good things and make the world a better and kinder place to live in. When we look at the news on any given evening we can see that many parts of the world are in turmoil. Many countries are affected by war and conflict. Other countries are led by people who want to divide people as opposed to uniting them to make life better for everyone. We need to be very careful in Ireland not to fall into the trap of blaming others when things are not as we would like them to be. It has never been more important to work together, be patient and understanding and knowing that when we do this, there is nothing that we cannot get through. I am very proud of the way we do things in Scoil Íde. Our staff are hard working, kind, have a great sense of humour and always looking to improve. Our parents and guardians are supportive and patient and our children are amongst the best in Ireland. It is thus an honour to work with the children, staff and parents as we continue the fine work of those who have gone before. They laid the foundations so that everyone in the Scoil Íde community can Fás agus Foghlaim. It is our job to continue to build on such solid foundations
Ray D’Arcy Principal The History of Scoil Íde The story of Scoil Íde is very much the story of the community which grew and developed in Corbally. It is also a story of changing parish boundaries. In modern times we’re in our third parish without moving an inch. Scoil Íde started life as a 2 classroom & 2 teacher Junior School, operated by the Mercy Sisters for the parish of St Mary’s. Sr Pierre was the first principal. The first 54 children to receive their education here started in September 1964. By 1965, the school had a third classroom and teacher. However the population of Corbally was growing rapidly and it became clear that Scoil Íde needed to grow accordingly. By 1971 there were 8 teachers on staff & a Lollipop man who also served as a general caretaker. By 1974 the school had grown to have 18 teachers , 730 children & Tom Barry, who became principal in 1971, was granted the post of administrative principal. It wasn’t until 1976 that the school had 19 permanent classrooms. Elaine Flannery and Des Hickey arrived to support the smooth running of one of the largest schools in Munster at the time. At its peak there were 930 students, 40 teachers and 29 classes. When Tom Barry retired in 1992, Peter Long became principal. Peter pioneered the STEM revolution in Scoil Íde as well as guiding, encouraging & promoting numerous initiatives across the curriculum. More building work was also undertaken during Peter’s principalship. This saw the replacement of prefabs with the Senior School building. When Peter retired in 2018, Grace Burke had the onerous task of leading the school through Covid 19 until her tenure as Principal ended when she moved to Mayo in 2020 to take up a role as principal there. Ray D’Arcy became the fifth principal in Scoil Íde’s history in January 2021 having taught in the school since 2002. Elaine Flannery retired as school secretary in June 2024 having worked in the school for over 45 years. Scoil Íde welcomed new school secretary, Leanne Hickey to the school in Septmeber of 2024. Catholic Ethos Our school aims to give the children a sound religious and moral education within the established Catholic ethos of the school and to help them establish a faith in God which will grow and develop. The ethos of Scoil Ide can be seen in the everyday dealings all those who work in the school have with each other. It is manifested in the respect and consideration shown by teachers to pupils and vice versa. We are proud of the children who are part of our school and hope they go on to become fulfilled adults. Scoil Íde is a caring and inclusive school which is rooted in local parish communities where it forms a central part of everyday life. Our school is committed to the development of the whole person and hands on Christian values from one generation to another. These values while not unique to the Christian faith are integral to it. They are also the characteristics associated with well rounded citizens. The gifts of truthfulness, friendship, trust, courage, perseverance, compassion, service,respect, forgiveness, generosity and justice are the values we want our children to leave with. Whilst these gifts are inclusive of human values, we try to anchor them into the Christian faith. Parents, teachers and parishes work together in providing a child-centred education which includes preparation for the sacraments. Children from various backgrounds are welcomed into our school. Respect for all religions and for people of no faith is an important part of the life of the school. Our ethos which represents our christian faith is built upon four pillars which inform our actions and reactions and have ensured that Scoil Íde is a welcoming and caring environment for everyone to work and learn in. These four pillars are (1) Prayer, (2) Worship, (3) Symbols and (4) The Works of Justice
The School Day Scoil Íde opens at 08:45 daily with classes starting at 09:00.The day for Junior and Senior Infant classes concludes at 13:45 and the rest of the school finish their day at 14:45. After School Club is operated by Brookview Childcare and is available by the hour from 13:45-18:00 daily. More on the After School Club later in the prospectus. Children enter the school via four Gates : A, C, & D on the Corbally Road and Gate E on the Mill Road.
All parents are expected to report to reception via Gate B or Gate E when entering the school. Parents and guardians should ring the office when they are at the school if they are collecting children ahead of the end of the school day Include School Map How to apply for a place in Scoil Íde… The most up to date information relating to our admissions policy is available on our website www.scoilide.ie. If you any questions related to school admissions you can call Leanne, our school secretary at 061-345495 or email her at secretary@scoilide.ie
To enrol a child in Scoil Íde, a parent/ guardian should
Promoting Positive Behaviour Scoil Íde fosters a preventive approach to behaviour management focusing on positive reinforcement through a variety of methods outlined below:
Restorative Practice: this is an evidence-based approach to dealing with conflict which is all about relationships, respect, responsibility, repair, and reintegration. We ask children 5 questions—what happened? What were you thinking about at the time? What have you thought about since the incident? Who has been affected by the actions and in what way? What do you need to do to make things right? It works well because it’s a fair process, each child has a voice in dealing with the situation, it focuses on the behavior, not the person, it gives children a chance to reflect and it’s solution-focused.
Respect: This is valued above all else here in Scoil Ide. It means we accept somebody for who they are. Respect is modeled by our staff and pupils and demonstrated through interactions with everyone we meet. Building respectful relationships leads to trust, a sense of safety, and increased well-being.
Wellbeing Framework: We follow the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework of Practice (DES, 2019). Under this framework, we adopt a preventative whole-school approach to wellbeing that is evidence-based. If children’s well-being is supported, they are more likely to succeed in their mental, emotional, and social development, positively impacting their academic progress.
Morning check-in: The Wellbeing policy statement and framework for practice (2019) highlights the importance of the role of the teacher to young people’s well-being. “Access to ‘one good adult’ who can guide and support a young person at a vulnerable time is an identified protective factor” (DES, 2019, p.15). In the mornings our special education teachers make time in their timetable to check in on pupils in classes who may need support and that one-on-one time to deal with difficulties they face and progress with their school day.
Sensory Room: Our multisensory room offers our pupils an immersive experience to support their sensory needs enabling them to engage in learning.
School Support Plan: In the Special Education Need (SEN) model in Ireland there is a behavioural, emotional, and social difficulties Continuum of Support (DES, 2007), this is a flexible framework in which schools respond to the needs of the pupils along a continuum. Some needs are mild and may only require support at a classroom level, while some are moderate and may require external agency support from psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech and language or behavioural therapists. Trauma Informed Practice Staff in Scoil Ide also engage in Trauma Informed Practices which minimise stress and act as a buffer to stressful life events and protect against societal/ community factors. We promote good home school connections, foster a sense of belonging, support teacher wellbeing and provide opportunities for social emotional learning. We view behaviour as communicating a need. When a child is stressed we use the 3Rs. Regulate: help the child calm their stress response, Relate: empathise with the child’s feelings and remind them they’re in a safe and secure environment, Reason: once the child is calm and connected they’re ready to engage in learning, teachers support the child in this stage to articulate how they felt and help them to plan for how to better manage in the future. Basically, we understand that not every child or indeed has had the easiest start or the easiest life and we do our best to support them and understand their needs and how best to serve these needs. Special Classes Scoil Íde is committed to the provision of Special Classes for children with Autism and are currently working with the National Council of Special Education to develop a plan that will allow for the construction of special classes. These classes will cater for identified needs in our community. The footprint of such a development is very large and cannot realistically be constructed without a serious reconfiguration of the current school site. The School Curriculum The curriculum is presented in five broad curriculum areas:
As a Catholic School, children will engage in Religious instruction if they are members of the Catholic faith
The staff of Scoil Íde are committed to the provision of broad and meaningful educational experiences which take into account both the interests of the children and their ability.
This commitment is underpinned by the educational philosophy of Mitch Resnick who lectures in MIT in Boston and developed Scratch Coding amongst a lot of other things. Low Floors: Every child feels like they can take part so they can get on the floor and take part in an activity. It is really important that children don’t feel the activity is “out of their reach” Wide walls: so that kids can explore multiple pathways from floor to ceiling. High Ceilings: Once children have started a task and have chosen how they are going to work through it it is really important that children are not limited in how far they can go with a project.
We share Resnicks belief that the ultimate goal should be “ to help all kids develop their thinking, develop their voices, and develop their identities. None of that will happen unless we continually ask: Who are we including? Who are we excluding? And how can we provide everyone — everyone— with opportunities for exploring, experimenting, and expressing themselves.” School Facilities Scoil Íde is situated minutes from Limerick city centre in the beautiful suburb of Corbally. On the banks of the River Shannon, the grounds of the school contain almost thirty mature trees and make for a natural and calming environment for our staff and pupils everyday.
Our outdoor facilities include:
Our indoor facilities include:
In Scoil Íde we aim to provide the very best facilities for our pupils, so they can have the necessary opportunities to learn and develop their talents. After School Club Brookview Childcare operate an After school Club on site from 13:45- 18:00 daily during term time starting on November 18th, 2024. The Board of Management will make a decison regarding non term time provision on December the 3rd 2024. It is important to note that Brookview Childcare is a separate entity to Scoil Íde and all queries in relation to After School Club should be forwarded to the following contact details. Justyna @ 087 2707375 or at brookviewscoilide@gmail.com Sporting and Extra Curricular Activities Scoil Íde has a long and proud sporting tradition. We promote inclusion across all areas of the PE curriculum and encourage participation and enjoyment.Our PE curriculum provides a balanced range of activities for children through the six strands:Athletics, Dance,Gymnastics,Games, Outdoor and adventure activities, Aquatics. We believe the curriculum contributes to children’s overall development by helping them to lead full, active and healthy lives.
We also include Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) in all our PE lessons. These are the building blocks of being active; they underpin every movement that we’ll make throughout our lives. Learning fundamental movement skills enables agility, balance and coordination and we believe they should be developed from an early age to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to excel in sports and fitness.
Our Sixth Classes are given the challenge to participate in a Duathlon towards the end of their time with us. This builds on the work done throughout their journey through Scoil Íde from running 1km in First Class and 1.5km in 2nd Class to 3km by Third Class , Fit for Life challenge in 4th Class , cycling to UL in Fifth Class. We are lucky to be able to avail of the great facilities of The Shannon Fields which is right on our doorstep.
We are delighted to also provide a wide range of sport and extra-curricular activities to our children thanks to a dedicated team of teachers, SNAs and outside coaches. These extra curricular / after -school activities include Basketball, Rugby, Athletics, Hockey, Chess, Ukulele lessons, LEGO Club, Orchestra and Coding Club amongst others. A number of local groups use our hall and rooms for activities. Treaty TaekwonDo: Scoil Rinca Ui Bhrion Creative Concepts Drama Class Creative Keyboards All Star Basketball School Uniform There are two types of uniform in Scoil Íde- the brown, iconic uniform and the tracksuit uniform. Children in Junior and Senior Infants only wear a tracksuit uniform to school while children from 1st to 6th classes wear the brown and tracksuit uniform on different days, depending on the type of activities they are doing. The uniform creates a sense of identity and of belonging with us in Scoil íde A plain navy top is acceptable as an alternative to the branded Scoil Íde tracksuit tops. Leggings and bicycle shorts are not part of the school track suit uniform and should not be worn into school.
Aladdin Pupil Database Almost 3000 primary schools in Ireland use the Aladdin Schools software service for administrative purposes. Aladdin allows parents/guardians to have secure access to details of their child’s attendance, test results, report cards, and other selected information. You can securely log in to Aladdin from your internet browser. All information stored in Aladdin is secure and is stored and processed in strict compliance with Irish and European data protection law Your unique username and password gives you secure access to information relevant to your role ( either as a parent/ guardian) or a teacher. The Principal, Deputy Principal and Secretary will have access to all student records and more advanced school wide functions. Class teachers will only see students in their own class and resource teachers will only see the students they teach. The school has complete control over each staff member’s level of access with a variety of options to choose from such as non-academic access, special access to tests, special access to money, view all access… to name a few. Schools’ Hot Meals Scheme Scoil Íde has been chosen as a “ Hot Meals Scheme School”. TheLunchbag is the chosen provider for our school. www.thelunchbag.ie Under this scheme children will receive a hot lunch each day at 12:45. Portions will be age appropriate and in line with our environmental responsibility, we will be using reusable or compostable packaging. Parents can sign up to the service through the LunchBags app and can choose the menu for their children per week. Parents do not have to avail of this service. Contact principal@scoilide.ie if you wish to deactivate your child’s account. This scheme commenced in May of 2024 and has been well received by the school community Student Council The senior students in Scoil Íde are given the opportunity to join the Student Council in 5th and 6th class. Members of the Student Council are elected by their peers from each class group. The aim of the Student Council is to give our pupils a greater voice in the school community and to ensure that pupils feel part of the decision making processes in Scoil Íde. The council meets regularly to debate issues that concern the student body. The council is also responsible for coordinating many important initiatives that run during the school year. The Students Council organise our annual Christmas coppers campaign, along with our Colour’s day collection and the Halloween Hoolie for our junior classes and the Flagship event in 6th Class, The Charoty SpeechedsCompetition. The students continue to make very practical and eco-friendly suggestions to improve our school and ensure that we have a very pleasant learning environment, as a result. Home to School and School to Home Communication Good communication between home and school is essential to the development of a positive school environment. The home is also central to the development of the child. Both Scoil Íde and the family strive to be mutually supportive of each other so that the child works and succeeds to the best of his or her ability.
Parents are encouraged to
Parents and guardians can keep up to date with the daily life of the school through a variety of means.
Secondary School Links and the Common Application System Children who attend Scoil Íde have automatic right of entry to both local Secondary Schools Ard Scoil Mhuire ( ST Mary’s) and St Munchin’s. That said, all children must apply for a secondary school place in Limerick City through the Common Application System ( CAS) The following points are worth noting…
Contact Ray at principal@scoilide.ie if you have any queries or concerns and he will talk you through the process. |
