Welcome to Carrick-on-Shannon Community School
Welcome to the Carrick-on-Shannon Community School website. We invite you to browse the various pages to discover about the various programmes and events in our school.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Classes have now recommenced online for all our students.
As the majority of our classes are 'live' classes, it is important that all students have access to their Microsoft 365 accounts. If your child does not have access to their 365 Account, please use the Contact Us link at the top of this page to inform the school of this.
A roll call is taken at the start of each class. We will contact the parents/guardians of students who are not in regular attendance over the next week or so.R
Mock Exams - Update
COVID-19 provides schools with all sorts of challanges. In every decision we make we are mindful of the health and safety of our students and staff and in light of this we have taken the decision not to hold formal Mock Exams this year.
There are a number of reasons behind this decision but we are particularly concerned about placing students in an exam hall for between two to three hours. We also note that DEB, one of two suppliers of mock papers, has taken the decision not to issue any exam papers this year. This impacts on our ability to run Mock Exams as we have done in previous years as we use both set of suppliers to supply the examination papers.
The Board of Management has purchased a set of mock papers for each student and we will shortly post these to our 6th Year classes. Our teachers have decided that these papers will be used as a revision aid over the remainder of the school year. Students will not be asked to pay for the cost of these papers as this will be covered by the Board of Management. Students are asked not to start completing the papers as teachers will look to use Microsoft Teams etc. to to review the questions with their classes.
Mock Examination papers will be posted on Friday, 22nd January 2021 and should be with the students next week.
Online Learning - Things to Note
Did you know that students can access Microsoft Teams on their Playstation or XBox? Simply follow the instructions below:
How to access Microsoft Teams from a PlayStation or Xbox
PlayStation
- Go to the library and find options for games and applications.
- Go into applications where you will find the internet browser. It has WWW with dots around it.
- Type in Microsoft TEAMS and then login to your account using your username and password.
- You can access all the online content for home learning.
Xbox
- Plug a keyboard into the Xbox USB slot.
- Go to my games and apps.
- Find Microsoft Edge and select.
- Type in Microsoft TEAMS and then login to your account for home learning and watch lives sessions.
- To move around you use the Xbox control or plug in a mouse.
Other points to note
A Roll Call will be taken at the start of each class. If your child is unable to attend a class for any reason, please use the contact form above to let us know. Do not use your child's school email account to contact a teacher directly. All communication with the school and/ or teachers must be made through the Contact Us link above.
More lessons will take place 'live' online so it is important that your child can attend class throughout the day.
If your child has any difficulty accessing their Microsoft 365 account, please contact the school on Monday, 11th January 2021 an we will seek to resolve the issue for you. If there are other reasons preventing your child from accessing their classes online, please let us know so that we can provide any support we can.
We advise all parents/ guardians to know their child's email address and password so that they can support their child's learning at this time and so that they can check that assignments etc. are being handed up in time. Where a teacher notes that a student is not participating in online lessons, the school will contact the parent/ guardian to inform them of this.
The school's Code of Behaviour continues to apply so students will not be permitted to record any session that occurs online on any form of media device. All interactions online must be respectful and students can have their account blocked if they are involved in a serious breach of the school rules.
This continues to be a learning process for us all, although we are in a much better place to provide a blended learning model than we were in March. Once again, I ask you to be patient with us as we will continue to try new online methodologies etc.
Keeping Safe
As we all want to return to the school building as soon as possible, we hope that everyone is following the government advice to stay at home (except for essential journeys)as this is the most effective method to slow the spread of COVID-19. In light of this,we are requesting that all parents/ guardians take some time over the coming days to reinforce the importance of the following steps in fighting the spread of COVID-19:
- Keep a physical distance of 2m from others
- Wear a face covering when out and about
- Wash/ sanitize your hands regularly (for 20 seconds) throughout the day
- Always have a tissue to hand and use it when coughing or sneezing and dispose of it correctly after use
Above all, we hope every member of our school community stays safe at this time.
Enrolment 2021/ 2022
We are currently preparing for our online Open Evening which will take place at the end of January.
We are receiving many queries in relation to enrolment for the next school year, 2021/ 2020. Enrolment will take place online this year and in line with our new Admissions Policy will require parents/ guardians to complete two enrolment forms. The first form (Stage 1) notifies the school of a student's intention to enrol in the school while the second form (Stage 2) confirms that the student has received an offer of a place in the school. If the student intends to enrol in Carrick-on-Shannon Community School they complete the Stage 2 form within the timeframe allowed.
We will post further details of this process later in January.
School Calendar
Term 2
School in session Monday, 11th January 2021 to Friday, 12th February 2021 inclusive
Mid Term Monday, 15th February 2021 to Friday 19th February 2021
School in session Monday, 22nd February 2021 to Friday, 26th March 2021 Inclusive
School closed Wednesday, 17th March2021 (St. Patrick's Day)
Easter Holdays Monday, 29th March 2021 to Friday, 9th April 2021 inclusive
Term 3
School in Session Monday, 12th April 2020 to Friday, 4th June 2021 inclusive
School Closed Monday, 3rd May 2021 & Tuesday, 4th May 2021 (Bank holiday and school closure)
**The school will close for one further day for staff Junior Cycle training. We wil notify you of this date as soon as we receive it.
Remember:
Bring at least 3 masks so that you can change your mask at break time (11am) and at lunch time (1.15pm). While we have lots and lots of sanitiser, we recommend that students bring a small bottle of their own just in case they need it unexpectedly. Finally, we think it would be a good idea to bring a small packet of tissues.
All students are required to wear a mask and wipe their desk with sanitiser at the end of each class. By doing this, we will ensure that we have the best possible chance of keeping COVID-19 out of the school.
If you have any of the symptoms of COVID-19, do not come to school. Call your GP and they will advise you on what to do next. The symptoms of COVID-19 are:
- High temperature (38 degrees celsius or above)
- Cough - any kind of cough
- Shortness of breath
- Loss or change to your sense of taste or smell
For more information, click here.
If in doubt, call your GP.
We enjoy meeting parents/ guardians but we regret that only essential meetings can now take place in the school. Most of our contact with parents/ guardians will be conducted by telephone. Please do not call to the front office unless you have an appointment which has been cleared by the Principal as we do not wish to cause offence by refusing entry.
In the event that a student is confirmed as having COVID-19, the HSE (or their representative) will liaise with the school to aquire all necessary information. The HSE is responsible for contacting students it believes to be 'close contacts' of the confirmed case. These students will be given advice as to what to do next. All other students will attend school as normal.
Changes to Our School
Those of you who are familar with the school will notice some new additions as we have been busy making some changes to make things safer for our school community.
Some of these changes include:
- Social distance floor stickers
- Teacher screens
- 5 Additional classrooms in the complex
- Hand sanitiser and tissue stations in each classroom
- Isolation room
We would like to thank all our school and extended community for all their help, support and expertise over the last few weeks in making these changes possible.
An Introduction to our School
Student Awards 2020 -
Please imagine a drum roll!
Congratulations to all those who have received the following awards:
6th Year - Student of the Year Áine Lyons
6th Year - Sports Awards Oisín Bohan
Caoimhe McGarry
Aisling Leahy
6th Year - Farrell McElgunn (Irish) Award Roisín Reynolds
6th Year - Music Award Roisín Noone
1st Year - Student of the Year Daire Shannon
2nd Year - Student of the Year Niamh O'Connor
3rd Year - Student of the Year Roisín Kelleher
5th Year - Student of the Year Faith Peter-Olabiyi
Transition Year - Student of the Year Milo Blake
Hannah Stenson
Student Wellbeing
This is an unusual time for all students and teachers as we work together to continue to access the school curriculum and to stay safe and well.
Our Guidance Counsellors, with suport from the Student Support Team, have prepared a very uselful document to provide some helpful tips and advice on what to do if students feel that they would like some extra support while the school is closed.
COVID-19: How to prevent spread (HSE Advice)
The Department of Health has asked schools to publish a letter for parents/ guardians. The letter references the closing of a school in Dublin and offers advice to parents/ guardians around the Coroavirus. TO access this letter, please click here.
The Department of Health has also asked all schools to inform parents/ guardians and students about the simple steps that can be taken to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The HSE has a website for the general public to access information on COVID-19. You can access this website here.
The risk of contracting coronavirus is quite low. The HSE requests that we all do the following:
- Wash your hands properly and regularly.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze. (Use your sleeve if you do not have a tissue.)
- Place used tissues in a bin and wash your hands properly.
- CLean and disinfect frequenly touched objects and surfaces.
- Follow the travel advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
We are asked not to touch our eyes, nose or mouth if our hands are not clean.
A decision relating to our School Tours and other events will be taken closer to the date of the event in consultation with relevent agnecies (travel agents, sports organisations etc.) bearing in mind advice given to the school from the various government departments.
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.
