Athleague National School
Our History
New Beginning – 1980
Athleague National School moved to its present location in ASeptember 1980. The new school, built on a spacious site generously donated by the church, replaced the original building on the hill.
The new facility brought major improvements, including four classrooms, an all-purpose room, indoor toilets, central heating and a large outdoor play area, creating a bright and welcoming environment for pupils and staff.
When the school opened, the staff included:
Marguerite Fitzmaurice – Junior & Senior Infants
Carmel Moran (Vice-Principal) – 1st & 2nd Class
Mary Hamrock – 3rd & 4th Class
Brendan Moriarty (Principal) – 5th & 6th Class
An additional teacher, Denise Doherty, joined the staff in 1982 as enrolment increased.
Early School Life and Amalgamation
Athleague N.S. quickly became a vibrant and close-knit school community. Strong relationships between staff, pupils and families created a warm and supportive atmosphere.
During this time, Scardaun and Hollygrove National Schools closed and amalgamated with Athleague N.S. Pupils from these areas joined the school, further strengthening its role within the wider parish.
School life included a balance of academic learning, practical skills and activities such as sport, music, art and knitting.
Leadership and Development
Following the retirement of Brendan Moriarty in 1988, Brian McGovern was appointed Principal. He led the school until his passing in 2011.
In January 2012, Marguerite Fitzmaurice was appointed Principal. She continued to build on the school’s strong traditions until her retirement in August 2015.
Following her retirement, Avril Hickey was appointed Principal and continues to lead the school today.
Support and Inclusion
Athleague N.S. has continually expanded supports for pupils. Learning support and resource teaching were introduced, along with Special Needs Assistants (SNAs), ensuring an inclusive and caring environment for all.
The school has also become increasingly diverse, welcoming pupils from a range of backgrounds and fostering a strong sense of belonging.
Embracing Innovation
The school has always embraced change in education. From early computer use to interactive whiteboards and digital learning, technology has enhanced teaching and learning.
In 2004, pupils took part in an innovative music programme delivered via live webcam link—an example of the school’s forward-thinking approach.
A Broad and Active School Life
A wide range of activities enriches life in Athleague N.S. Pupils take part in sport, music, drama, art and cultural events.
The school participates in Cumann na mBunscol competitions, swimming lessons and school tours. Creative activities and performances, including concerts and events, are an important part of school life.
The school was awarded its first Green Flag in 2011, recognising its commitment to environmental awareness.
Memorable Moments
One of the most notable occasions in the school’s history was the visit of President Mary Robinson in 1993, when she planted an oak tree on the school grounds.
Board of Management
The school has benefited from the dedication of its Board of Management over the years. Fr. John Leogue served as Chairperson until his passing in 2016, followed by Fr. Eugene McLoughlin. Anthony Flaherty is the current Chairperson, continuing to support the school and its community.
A Growing School Community
In recent years, Athleague N.S. has experienced steady growth. Increasing enrolment has led to additional teaching staff, expanded supports and improved facilities.
The school community continues to work together to provide a welcoming, inclusive and high-quality educational environment.
Recent Developments and Looking Ahead
Athleague National School is currently progressing a major building project. The extension includes a new SEN Base Unit, a SET room and an additional mainstream classroom, along with supporting facilities.
The school has also been sanctioned a special class for pupils with autism, due to open in September 2026. These developments reflect the school’s strong commitment to inclusion and to providing a high-quality learning environment for all pupils.
Our School Today
Athleague National School continues to go from strength to strength. With over 100 pupils enrolled and exciting developments underway, the school remains a caring, inclusive and progressive environment.
With a proud history and strong community spirit, Athleague N.S. looks forward with confidence to the future.
Information
School begins at 9am and finishes at 1:40pm for Junior and Senior Infants and 2:40pm for all other classes. Please ensure that your child is collected at the appropriate time. Mid-morning break is from 11:00am to 11:20am and lunch is from 12:40pm to 1:00pm.
Details of days off will be given as soon as they become available, usually within the first few weeks of the first term. Please keep this list for reference during the year. There may be a number of curriculum support days during the year
and these will be advised as soon as they are known.
Under the new Education Welfare Act 2000, you must let the school know when your child is absent from school and the reason why. We would ask that you do this in writing any day your child is absent, even through sickness. A phone call to the school is not sufficient. Under this law we are obliged to report absences of 20 days or more to the National Educational Welfare Board. Unexplained absences (ie without an explanatory note)
may involve Welfare Board. Also if your child has to leave school early they must have a note from parents and must be collected from reception by a parent/guardian.
The Crest
The School Crest encapsulates the many facets of the school community and its environmental heritage. The Cross and Bible signify the Christian denomination of the school and the Catholic ethos which is an integral part of the school curriculum. The arched bridge depicts the six arch bridge in Athleague over the River Suck and refers to the place in which the school is located. The presence of the crossed Hurley’s, Sliotar, flag and goalposts represent our Gaelic Games and the strong tradition of Hurling in the Athleague catchment area.
School Uniform
An important part of education is learning to present oneself properly. Pupils are encouraged to take pride in their personal appearance, which must be appropriate at all times. Full uniform should be worn at all times. This also applies while travelling to and from school and when representing the school. Pupils must wear the school tracksuit on their PE Day or if they are involved in sporting activities during the day. Children will be informed when going on school outings if they will wear school uniform or tracksuit.
Blue shirt
Navy tie
Navy trousers/skirt/pinafore
Navy jumper/cardigan
Black shoes
Navy tracksuit and blue polo shirt with appropriate footwear for PE days
All of the above can be purchased in Donnellan's, Main St. Roscommon
Please ensure all items of clothing, including coats, are labelled with child's name.
Home/School Communication
As the need arises, parents will receive notices with regard to school matters and events. Please check your child's bag regularly to see if there is a note from the school.
A parent who wishes to meet with a class teacher or the principal should contact the school to arrange a suitable time.
Parent/teacher meetings are generally held at the end of November.
Meetings are held in connection with Holy Communion and Confirmation.
School reports are issued annually to all children
Details of school holidays or closures are always communicated in writing.
Occasionally information may be send by text message to parents.
All our school policies are not available online but are available to view on request at the school.
Staff
Ms. Hickey- Principal & Class Teacher (1st & 2nd Class )
Ms. Kenny- Deputy Principal & Class Teacher (Junior & Senior Infants )
Mr. Higgins -Class Teacher (5th and 6th class)
Ms. Fannon- Class Teacher (3rd and 4th class)
Ms. Kilkenny - Special Educational Needs Teacher
Mr.Darcy - Special Eduational Needs Teacher
Ms. Browne - Special Education Needs Teacher
Laura Curley- SNA
Edel O'Reilly - SNA
Mary Coyle - SNA
Claire Malone - School Secretary
Claudiu Pitol - Cleaner
Dominic James- Caretaker
School Hot Meals Operative: Claire Malone
Board of Management
The Board of Management of Athleague N.S., under the direction of the Patron, is responsible for upholding the ethos, traditions and culture of the school. In 1975 a system of boards of management was established for national schools. The introduction of boards of management provided opportunities for a partnership of parents, teachers, Patrons’ representatives and community representatives in the task of school management. Subject to the Rules for National Schools and to the Constitution of Boards and Rules of Procedure and to circulars issued from time to time by the Minister for Education and Science, boards of management are responsible for the direct government of their schools, the conducting of correspondence, the appointment of teachers and their removal where necessary, in accordance with approved procedures.
The Following are the members of the current Board of Management 2023-2027
Chairperson- Mr.Anthony Flaherty
Patron's Nominee- Fr Joseph Ali
Principal- Avril Hickey
Staff Representative- Ms. Deirdre Kenny
Female Parents Representative- Martina Hourigan
Male Parents Representative- Francis Ferguson
Community Representative- Joan Moran
Community Representative- Gerry Waldron
Parents Association
Athleague N.S. has an active Parents Association which welcomes all parents to become involved in its activities throughout the school year. The Parents’ Association is the structure through which parents in the school can work together for the best possible education for their children. The Parents Association works with the Principal, Staff and Board of Management to build effective partnership between the home and school. New parents are particularly welcome and it is a great opportunity to meet the parents of other children in the school.
The Parents Association is affiliated with the National Parents Council Primary (NPC), which is the nation-wide organisation representing parents of children attending early and primary education. NPC is recognised by the Government and the Education Act 1998 as the body representing you as parents. Their aim is to improve and enrich the education of all children and support parents to get involved in their children’s learning at home, in the community and at school.
Some of the activities of the Parents Association include:
Health and Safety
Fun Activities
Sports/Training
First Holy Communion
Annual Fun Run
IT Development
Fundraising Events
The officers for 2023-2024 are:
Chairperson: Eilis Keogh
Treasurer: Audery O Kane
Secretary: Mary Ferguson
Comitte Members: Karina Ward
School Self-Evaluation
School self-evaluation (SSE) empowers schools to tell their own story. Each school's context and work are unique. It enables schols to affirm and celebrate what they are doing well, to decide on changesthey would like to make based on the evidence they have gathered, and to report this to their school communities. In this way SSE can bring schools and their communities closer together. It enables the school to share information about the standards of learning that students achieve in all aspects of their learning - academic, cultural, social and personal - in a maeningful way. The first 2 areas of focus were Literacy and Numeracy. Physical Education is our third area for attention.
This year we are running Wellbeing Wednesdays with each classroom taking part in activities such as Mindfulness colouring, breathing meditation, cosmic yoga and at the end of each month "What I am grateful for this month".
DCU Changemaker Award
Athleague National School is one of 53 Irish Primary Changemaker Schools in the DCU Changemaker school’s network. The DCU Changemaker Schools Network is focused on sharing best practice in the areas of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Schools in the network frame their work within changemaking leadership practices, focused on the development of empathy, creativity, leadership and teamwork with their students. All students in Athleague NS are encouraged to identify as Changemakers and are encouraged to be active, creative citizens who want to make their homes, schools and communities better places. Social innovation in the schools is supported as well as entrepreneurship, critical thinking, student agency, voice and participation. The network aims to support the gap between practice and theory at various levels of the education system. Every year the school has a Changemaker Day to celebrate the network and have an active student council that creates the link between student voice and teachers. All of the activities carried out in the school link to the four pillars of creativity, teamwork, leadership and empathy and develop the children’s skills in these areas.
Irelands National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)
In late 2021, our school was selected to be part of a Department of Education project in Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), supported by the European Union through NextGenerationEU funding under its Recovery and Resilience Facility. Our school has now been provided with high-speed broadband connectivity under the Department of Education’s Schools Broadband Programme. The upgrade to this connectivity was a project delivered through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which itself is supported by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funded through NextGenerationEU,
“This school now has high speed broadband connectivity through the Department of Education School Broadband Programme, delivered as part of the Irish National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility funded by the European Union through NextGenerationEU.”
Healthy Eating
Athleague N.S. has adopted a 'Healthy Eating' Policy. We are very mindful of the concerns expressed by medical experts regarding the high numbers of overweight and/or obese children. This in many cases is directly related to poor diet. We have devised the following rules - no crisps, no fizzy drinks, no high fat, high sugar bars, servings of fruit and vegetables highly recommended, use a proper lunch box, no plastic bags, cartons, or tin foil if possible and re-use plastic bottles. All classes participate in the "Food Dudes" Initiative.
School Hot Meals:
We are delighed to be providing school hot lunches after joining the school hot meals programme in June 2024, the programme is administered by The department of Social Protection, our provider is The Lunch Bag, meals arrive freshly prepared to our school every morning they are then placed in our special school's meal oven by our in-school operative who has recieved special training from the provider, the hot school meals are delivered to each classroom everyday approximately 10 minutes before lunchtime begins, parents/guardians select meals from The Lunch Bag's app Allergens are noted in the ingredients lists on the app, and there are vegetarian, gluten-free options. the scheme is so far proving to be very positive within the school with all children enjoying their food and are willing to try out new foods which is great.
Stay Safe
The ‘Stay Safe’ Programme is a personal safety skills programme for Primary Schools. This program is taught in all classes throughout the school.
Aims:
The aims of the Stay Safe programme is to reduce vulnerability to child abuse and bullying. The programme develops children’s ability to recognise, resist and report risk situations or abusive encounters.
The Stay Safe programme teaches children prevention, while preserving their sense of the world around them as a basically safe and secure place. This approach allows children to exercise control, to be assertive, and enables them to seek help for any problem they may encounter.
The programme teaches simple strategies for dealing with various potentially dangerous situations and children are given the opportunity to practise these strategies in the classroom. Thus, the concepts are translated into skills which become part of the child’s repertoire of self-protective behaviour.
Parallel to the development of safety strategies must be the nurturing of self-esteem, confidence building and help in identification and expression of feelings which are integral elements in the broader SPHE curriculum.
School Absences
Each child, to whom the school attendance act applies, is obliged by law to attend school every day on which the school is in operation unless there is a reasonable excuse for not attending. The school authorities are obliged to notify the School Attendance Officer when a child is absent over 20 school days in a school year. The school authorities are further obliged to notify the School Attendance Officier when a child is absent regularly and no reasonable excuse has been provided for the absence(s). If your child is unavoidably absent please inform the school on their return. You must indicate why the child was absent as per the categories laid down by the NEWB.
What the school must do if your child misses a lot of school- The school must tell the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) if your child has missed 20 days or more in the school year, or if it is concerned that your child is missing too much school.
We hope that, through our website, we will give a glimpse of our busy and varied life here at Athleague National School.
Student Council.
Athleague National School Believes that students have a vital role to play in creating a positive and welcoming school enviroment conducive to learning and happiness. We believe that our Student Council plays a requisite role in achieving this.
The Role of the Student Council is to:
-provide an opportunity for pupils to voice their opinions and offer suggestions in relation to many aspects ofschool life.
-offer an opportunity for all pupils to voice their opinions on proposed changes and thereby play a very significant role in improving the school.
-act as a channel of communication within the school organisation, between pupils and between home and school.
-encourage pupils to organise events in Athleague National School and to represent the school in a positive way during these events.
The Election Process,
Each year, students from 1st to 6th class are invited to nominate themselves for a place on the StudentCouncil. Prior to the election nominess are invited to canvass and engage indebates with other candidates in their class. An election is then held in each classroom and two representatives from each class are awarded a seat on the Student Council for the duration of that academic year. The elected pupils are required to be active participants in the Student Council, to attend meetings regulary, participate in activities and be a role model for other students. All Student Council members wear specially designed badgesto ensurethey are readily identifiable as Student Council representatives.
Student Council Meetings
Members meet ouce every fortnight, at lunchtime. Council meetings are facilitated by Ms.Kenny. Prior to these meetings, the Student Council representatives collect ideas and suggestions from all classes, for the agenda. Also Ms.Kenny may put forward topics to be discussed or upcoming events which need to be deliberated about atthe meetings. As well as bringing matters to the Council for discussion, the members are required to report the outcome of meetings to the other classes.
Topics that come under discussion at Student Council meetings
- school rules
- behaviour and discipline
- green issues
- health and safety
- school uniform
- fundraising
- extra-carricular activities
The Council has an important role to play in the organisation of:
- school celebrations-International Day, Seachtain na Gaeilge, Friendship Week.
- school fundraising- cake sales
- Special occasions- Green flag raising cermonies, ScholasticBook Fair, Visitors to the school
- special presentations
- implementing new initiatives- Marvellous Manners Award
Through our Student Council Athleague National School hopes to give our pupils a more active role in the organisation of our school and ensure they are listened to and respected for their ideas and concerns. Discussions in classes and at Student Council meetings help to develop social and learning skills in many areas including speaking and listening, problem solving, brainstorming and decision-making process. We are very proud of our Student Council representatives this year and they have planned a significant role in organising and helping with many school activities and events that will be held this year in Athleague National School.
Student Council Members 2025-2026:
Eli Auchmuty - 1st Class
Maria O'Rourke - 2nd Class
Jay Naughton - 3rd Class
Macie Mullally - 4th Class
Ryan Kilroe - 5th Class
Holly Turkington - 6th Class
Say yes to languages Programme:
Say Yes to Languages’ is a language sampler programme funded by the Department of Education. Children in 3rd-6th class c receive 8 weeks of lessons in German in 2024 The children have been enjoying their lessons with our Tutor and learning about German culture at the same time. As well as learning the Spanish language and learning about the German culture, the module also aims to generate awareness among pupils of the range of languages used by their peers and to celebrate other cultures in their school and community.
School Ethos
- The ‘ethos’ of our school encompasses collective attitudes, beliefs, core values, traditions, aspirations and goals. These are reflected in the actual practices which are carried out in the school on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. While it is impossible to outline all aspects of the school ‘ethos’, the following characteristics are experienced and promoted as essential elements in the establishment of a supportive and positive ‘ethos’.
- In Athleague N.S. where the ethos is that of a Christian Catholic school, religious instruction, in accordance with the doctrine and tradition of the Catholic Church is part of the education given to children who belong to that Church.
- The pupils are prepared for the reception of the sacraments of First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation, in accordance with arrangements in the parish and diocese.
- Prayer is a feature of the school day.
- The school aims at promoting the full and harmonious development of all aspects of the pupil, including his/her relationship with God, with other people and with the environment.
- The principal and teaching staff aim at maintaining high professional standards and creating a safe and happy environment.
- A spirit of mutual respect is promoted within the school community. Pupils are drawn by example and teaching to appreciate and respect people of different religious affiliations and of different nationalities.
- Close contact is maintained between school and home. Parents/guardians and teachers support one another and collaborate with one another
in leading the children to the fullness of their potential at the different stages. - Ancillary staff in the school are highly esteemed and respected. It is recognised that their work makes a valued contribution to the process of education.
Vision/Mission
Vision
- Each person through positive learning experiences will be stimulated to achieve his/her full potential, face life confidently, find fulfilment and be respectful in an ever-charging world.
- In Athleague N.S we aim to provide every child with an opportunity
y to develop and grow in a learning and caring environment. - We aim to treat every child with equal dignity, care and respect.
- We aim to work in partnership with parents and the outside community to develop a sense of worth in each child.
- We aim to maintain a Catholic ethos in our school but also
teaching each child to tolerate and respect other faiths and religions. - We will prepare each child for further education and endeavour to develop his/her talents.
- We endeavour to create a sense of belonging and involvement between the school and the community.
Motto
- Give respect, Get respect
Aims
- To enable our pupils to have full lives as children.
- To equip them to avail themselves of further education.
- To prepare them to live full and useful lives as adults in society
- We want the children in Athleague N.S. to enjoy a positive learning experience, in a safe, friendly and Christian environment.