Curriculum:
A curriculum sets out what children should learn and how they can learn it in school. The curriculum that is used in our primary is 25 years old and is now changing.
The new primary curriculum will include the following five areas and subjects:
· Language English, Irish and Modern Foreign Languages from third class.
· STEM Education Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
· Wellbeing Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Physical Education (PE).
· Arts Education Drama, Art and Music.
· Social and Environmental Education History and Geography
In addition to these areas, as a Catholic school we teach Religious Education through the Grow in Love Programme. A new Primary Language Curriculum for English and Irish is already being taught in primary schools since September 2019. A new mathematics curriculum was introduced to schools in September 2023. The changes to the other areas and subjects of the curriculum will be introduced gradually in the next few years. Please find a brochure with further information about the New Curriculum here.
Play
The New Curriculum Framework emphasises the importance of play and playfulness in learning for every child from junior infants right through to sixth class. We use a variety of play types across all classes to make all lessons fun and engaging for children. These play types include: free play, inquiry play, collaboratively designed play, teacher led play, playful learning and learning through games.
Extra Curricular Activities:
Each year we organise a variety of extra-curricular activities for the children. Some examples include various sports coaching (hurling, football, soccer, gymnastics), tug-o-war, hip-hop dancing, music workshops, Pilates/yoga etc. We also regularly invite guest speakers into talk to the students about a wide variety of topics. Some examples include our local garda, nurse and post person as well as speakers from the Irish Guide Dogs and National Park and Wildlife Service. In addition to this, as part of our PE curriculum all classes do one term of swimming lessons in Coral Leisure Ballinasloe each year. We regularly go on educational trips to enhance our learning. Some of our recent trips include the Aquarium in Salthill, a beach safari on Grattan Beach, the army barracks in Athlone and Athlone Castle. Our small student numbers allow our students to engage in a huge variety of extra curricular activities and field trips.
Initiatives
Each year we also engage in a variety of initiatives in areas that are of interest to our students and which provide them with further opportunities to enrich their learning. Take a look at the various sections of the website dedicated to these initiatives; Active Schools, Amber Flag, Curious Minds.