Welcome to Carrick-on-Shannon Community School

Welcome to the Carrick-on-Shannon Community School website. We invite you to browse the different pages to discover the various programmes and events in our school.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

BT Young Scientist Success!

We are delighted to celebrate the success of our two projects in the BT Young Scientist Competition this year.

Hannah Stenson was awarded 1st Place in the Biological and Ecological Senior Individual Category with her project Unearthing the Hidden Potential of Irish Dung Beetles: Aphodius Fimetarius, Aphodius Prodromus and Aphodius Fossor. 

Three of our 3rd Year students, Maria Fallon, Zoe Zasytyte and Amy McManus, were awarded Highly Commended in the Social and Behavioural Science category for their project, How far are we from Equality for LGBTQI+ people?

Our congratulations also go to Ms. Creegan and Ms. Kelly for guiding the students along their BT Young Scientist journey.

1st Year Enrolment for 2022/2023 - Stage 2

All students who expressed an interest in enrolling in 1st Year in Carrick-on-Shannon Community School for the academic year 2022/2023 by the 13th January 2022 can now proceed to complete the Enrolment Form (Stage 2).

As required by legislation, there are two stages to our enrolment process. To find out more about each of these stages and to access the Enrolment Form (Stage 2), please click here.

The closing date for the completion of the Enrolment Form (Stage 2) is Friday, 4th February.

To go directly to the Enrolment Form (Stage 2), please click on the link button below:

Parents/ Guardians of incoming 1st Years are encouraged to download our school app from Google Play or the App Store and join the group Incoming 1st Years 2022/2023. We will use the app to inform parents/ guardians of each step of the process and to keep you up-to-date with school news. See below for details on how to access the app.

January 2022

As we return to school, we are requesting again that parents/ guardians do not send children to school who are showing symptoms of COVID-19. If you are unsure of the symptoms, please click on the link below:

Students are reminded that they should bring the following to school:

• Face mask (bring more than one to refresh throughout the day)
• Small packet of tissues
• Small container of hand sanitiser

All students and visitors to the school must use the hand sanitiser provided when entering and exiting the building.

If a post primary student has tested positive for COVID-19:

• They will be contact traced by the National Contact Tracing Team.
• The National Contact Tracing Team will contact them and ask them to identify their close contacts.
• The student who tested positive will have to isolate for 10 days from the day their symptoms started or for 10 days from the day they had the positive PCR test. The student can return to school after this isolation period, provided they do not have a fever/temperature during the last 5 days of their isolation period.

Students who have symptoms of COVID-19 should stay at home, isolate and arrange to have a COVID-19 test.

There are 2 types of COVID-19 test available from the HSE: antigen tests (home test kits) and PCR tests (done at a test centre and sent to a lab).

Students (or anyone between 4 to 39 years of age) who has symptoms of COVID-19 are offered antigen tests firstly and they do not book a PCR test unless they get a positive antigen test result.

You will find more information via the link above.

We will do everything possible to ensure that Carrick-on-Shannon Community School stays open for all our students. However, teachers will be asked to isolate and follow public health guidelines where they show symptoms of COVID-19. You will be aware that there is a shortage of teachers available to provide substitute cover nationally and in the event that we are unable to provide cover for all classes on any given day, we may have to ask some classes to remain at home. So far we have managed to keep the doors open for everyone and hopefully we can continue to do so over the coming weeks.

6th Year Supervised Study

There are no more places for Supervised Study on Mondays and Tuesdays. There are a limited number of places for Thursday and Friday. We will no longer accept applications from 1pm on Friday, 14th January 2022.

The above form is also available through our school app.

Students must use their school email account to access this form. External email addresses will not be able to access the Supervised Study Application Form.

Registration for Supervised Study will close at 11am on Friday, 7th January 2022. Payment must be made in advance on www.way2pay.org or by debit/credit card at the Reception Office (opens on 6th January 2022). 

Carrick-on-Shannon C.S. App Available for Download

We are delighted to anounce that our new school app, hosted by Schoolzine, is now available for download.

The app is part of our strategy to improve communiactions between the school and the wider community. From 1st September 2021, Carrick-on-Shannon Community School will no longer use text meesages to inform parents/ guardians and students of upcoming events etc. Instead, all information will be available on our website and notifications will be sent via the app.

Instructions to download our app can be found via this link: https://www.carrickcs.ie/szapp

Cashless School

As we continue our transition to becoming a cashless school, we have reopened our school canteen for 1st Years at lunchtime using Debitrak's contactless system.

Carrick-on-Shannon C.S. is the first school in the country to offer a cashless solution for students which combines the ease of online payment system, way2pay, and the contactless payment capabilities of Debitrak. Parents/ guardians can top-up their child's account at any time and the student can use their fob in the canteen when open.

We will shortly distribute Debitrak fobs to our 2nd Years and these can be used to order lunches online or to buy snacks at breaktime. 

All students in the school will receive a fob over the coming months. The move to contactless payments means that we will not be accepting cash in the canteen any longer.

BT Young Scientists Survey

In conjunction with our Stand-Up Awareness Week and as part of a BT Young Scientist 2022 project some of our third-year students are currently participating in, we could appreciate if you would complete one of the following surveys. There is one survey link for students and another for parnets/ guardians. These surveys are strictly anonymous; we cannot see who completed the surveys and answered the questions asked. 

Student Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J6HWM2Q

Parents/ Guardians Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VPDL25N

Staying Safe

A reminder that students are still asked to:

• Wear a mask on school grounds (except when eating)
• Maintain social distancing
• Wash hands regularly throughout the day
• Sanitise their desk at the end of each class
• Cough/ sneeze into a mask, tissue or elbow
• Stay at home if showing any symptoms of COVID-19.

Following new guidance from the government this week, students who have no symptoms and who are close contacts of a household member who ahs received a positid COVID-19 test result must restrict their movements for a period of five days and use three antigen tests during that period. If all three antigen tests return a negative result the student may return to school after the five day period. If any of the tests returns a positive result, please contact your GP for further advice.

Extra Curricular Activities

The 14th October 2021 was another milestone in Carrick-on-Shannon CS as training resumed for the Senior Girls' Football Team. The team will began their competitive games the follolwing week and we wish them the very best of luck in their upcoming games! The boys have also resumed training and their competitions will tak eplace later in the year.

We have a new STEM Club (see below for details) which is now up and running.

A Debating Society will be founded shortly after the midterm break. It will meet one evening a week and will look to develop students' communication skills with the aim to compete successfully in the various school debating competitions. Watch this space for further details!

Health and Safety

Students are reminded that no schoolbag should be left on any corridor at 1.15pm. This is to ensure that all exits and walkways are clear of obstruction at all times.

At 1.15pm students should place their schoolbags in the room in which they are timetabled for class at 2pm. Schoolbags which are removed from the corridors will be placed in storage and may not be returned immediately.

Reasonable Accommodations for JC/LC 2022

2022 Reasonable Accommodations Key Dates

For more information, please contact Mr. Nyland.

Staying Safe

There is a natural excitement when students return to school. This has not dissipated during the COVID-19 pandemic so it is important that students take the time to be mindful of the following:

• Wear a mask when on school grounds or when in a group of other students.
• Remain socially distant as per the COVID guidelines and continue to wash or sanitise your hands regularly.
• Cough into your elbow or a tissue (dispose of this carefully when finished) to help prevent the spread of COVID.
• If queing for food in Carrick-on-Shannon at lunch time, remember to remain socially distant at all times. Follow the instruction of the business owners and respect all others who might pass by while you queue.

We were very proud of the manner in which our students adapted to the COVID rules last year. Let's hope this year will be no different.

Happy Birthday To Us!!

On the, 7th January 1995, the students and staff of Carrick-on-Shannon Community School began teaching and learning in our new school building.

Over the past twenty-five years, Carrick-on-Shannon Community School has become an integral part of the community and has gone from strength to strength.

While celebrating our birthday, we remember those who have shared parts of this journey with us but are no longer here to share this day with us.

Thank you for all your support over our first 25 years.

'Use Your Brain Not Your Fists' Film Launch

We were privileged to attend the launch of the Use Your Brain Not Your Fists film in The Bush Hotel on the 27th April 2018.

The short film, by Leitrim Comhairle na nÓg, highlights the devastating consequences that can occur when a person uses their fists instead of their brains in a conflict situation. The film is dedicated to Shane Grogan and to the memory of Andrew Dolan. Both Andrew and Shane were victims of seperate unprovoked assaults while enjoying time out with their friends. Andrew died as a result of the assault while Shane was left with brain injuries. Both Shane's and Andrew's parents attended the launch and shared their personal stories with us.

Please click on the link to watch the video and remind everyone to Use Your Brain Not Your Fists.

Carrick-on-Shannon C.S. - Learning at the heart of our community.