Enrolment Policy
School Mission Statement:
Cahir Boys NS, a Roman Catholic boys School under the patronage of the Bishop of Waterford & Lismore, aims at promoting the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the person of the pupil: intellectual, physical, cultural, moral and spiritual, including a living relationship with God and with other people. The school models and promotes a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Cahir Boys NS provides Religious Education for the pupils in accordance with the doctrines, practices and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and promotes the formation of the pupils in the Catholic Faith.
School Aims and Objectives
· To enable the pupil to live a full life as a child.
· To prepare the children for life by teaching true Christian Values and helping them to practise and cherish those values in daily life.
· To prepare the pupils to take their place with confidence in Second-Level schools.
· To assist the pupils in becoming full and useful members of society.
· To support the teachers in developing programmes of learning suitable to the abilities and ages of the pupils.
· To develop teacher – parent relations to benefit the learning environment of each individual pupil.
1. Parents seeking to enrol their children in Cahir Boys National School are requested to return a completed Enrolment Application Form (available in the office).
2. The names of children for whom Enrolment Application forms have been returned, will be placed on a class waiting list.
3. Equality of access is the key value that determines the enrolment of children to our school. No child is refused admission for reasons of ethnicity, special educational needs, disability, language/accent, traveller status, asylum-seeker/refugee status, religious/political beliefs and values, family or social circumstances.
4. While recognising the right of parents to enrol their child in the school of their choice, the Board of Management of Cahir Boys National School is also responsible to respect the rights of the existing school community and in particular, the children already enrolled. This requires balanced judgements, which are guided by the principles of natural justice and acting in the best interest of all children. Assisting the school in such circumstances, the Board of Management reserves the right to determine the maximum number of children in each separate classroom bearing in mind:
a. size of / available space in classrooms
b. educational needs of children of a particular age
c. multi-grade classes
d. presence of children with special educational/behavioural needs
e. DES maximum class average directives (currently a maximum average of 30 children)
5. In the event of the number of children seeking enrolment in any given class/standard exceeding the number of places available preceding or during the school year (due to the Board of Management being unable to provide suitable accommodation, or recruit the required teaching staff) the following criteria will be used to prioritise children for enrolment:
a. Brothers (including step-siblings, residing at the same address) of children already enrolled – priority to oldest
b. Children living within the parish (in the case of parish schools) – priority to oldest
c. Children of current school staff – priority to oldest
d. Children whose home address is closest to the school (as measured by a straight line on OS map) if the child is normally resident outside the parish/agreed catchment area
e. In the event of being unable to enrol a child/children from categories a, b, or c, in a given class at the beginning of a year, or mid-year, such children will receive priority (in order of a, b, c,) for the subsequent school year over other children on the waiting list.
6. Other pupils are enrolled during the school year (if newly resident in the area)
7. Pupils wishing to transfer from other schools are enrolled subject to the Rules governing National Schools, as well as our own school’s enrolment policy and local agreements with other schools.
8. Children with special needs will be resourced in accordance with the level of resources provided by the Department of Education and Science to the Board of Management.
9. Notwithstanding the availability of such resources, parents of children who are unsatisfied with the level of educational provision in our school are advised to consider a special school, which is designed and resourced to specifically cater for the needs of children with special educational needs.
10. Children enrolled in our school are required to co-operate with and support the School/Board of Management’s Code of Behaviour as well as all other policies on curriculum, organisation and management. The Board of Management Parents/Guardians responsible for ensuring that their child/children co-operate with said policies in an age-appropriate way. In accordance with the Department of Education’s rules for National Schools these policies may be added to and revised from time-to-time.
