The aim of Ratoath Senior National School, Ratoath, Co. Meath, is to provide a Christian, caring, learning environment, which facilitates the nurturing of each pupil's full educational potential. The achievement of this aim informs all of the planning processes and activities which occur in our school. Teachers and parents are partners in the children's education, with co-operation and communication between home and school being vital ingredients in the educational process. We share the same aim i.e. the well being of the children in our care. This prospectus has been produced with the express purpose of sharing information with parents concerning school policies, rules and routines. Ratoath Senior National School operates in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Rules for National Schools as determined by the Department of Education and Science.

We, the Board of Management of Ratoath Senior National School hope that each child will have a very enjoyable time in this school and that the information provided in this booklet will prove to be of major benefit.

Ratoath Senior National School is a Roman Catholic School established with the Minister for Education and Science under the patronage of the Bishop of Meath. The school aims to promote the full 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. The Catholic School provides religious education for the pupils in accordance with the doctrines, practices and traditions of the Catholic Church and promotes the formation of pupils in the Catholic Faith.

Ratoath Senior National School promotes Gospel values in a Christian learning community, where children can grow in knowledge and understanding and in the acquisition of skills, attitudes and values.

We are fully committed to offering excellence in education by:

• Promoting the highest possible achievement for our pupils
• Encouraging children to grow within the Catholic faith
• Establishing the foundations for lifelong learning
• Welcoming input from partners to complement the skills and experience of our professional staff
• Ensuring that our school is central to the parish, reaching out to embrace the wider community
• Uniting all staff, parents, and B.O.M. in our aim to be a leading school in the Diocese of Meath

Our aim is that all children should leave Ratoath Senior National School with the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy, an enthusiasm for learning, a thirst for knowledge, an appreciation of their religion and the world they live in and, above all, many happy memories.

1. 1. To enable children to live full lives as children.
2. To equip them to avail themselves of further education.
3. To prepare them to live full and useful lives as adults in society.

• To help children to think clearly, creatively and critically and to act independently.
• To help in fostering the desire to learn, encourage children to a sense of self-esteem and cultivate in them the motivation to apply themselves to worthwhile and satisfying activities.
• To help children to develop their creative and imaginative capacities, through both expressive and appreciative activities.
• To help children to acquire knowledge, skills and practical abilities and the desire to use them.
• To help children to develop physically.
• To help children to understand the society and environment in which they live, the interdependence of people and nations, and to foster a spirit of co-operation and the capacity and willingness to contribute in a critical but positive manner towards the development of society.
• To help children to respect, appreciate and understand their own and other cultural identities.
• To help children to acquire and develop moral and religious values and a respect for the beliefs and values held by others.
• To help children to prepare for the social, domestic, recreational and working aspects of their adult lives.

In summary, Section 15, subsection (2) of the Education Act, 1998, states that: "A Board shall...publish in such a manner as the Board, with the agreement of the Patron considers appropriate, the policy of the school relating to the expulsion and suspension of students and admission to and participation by students with disabilities or other special education needs...and ensure...that... the right of parents to send their children to the school of the parents' choice are respected...".

The Board of Management hereby sets out its policy in accordance with the provisions of the Education Act, 1998.

Up to 2005, there was only one National School in this part of the Parish –Ratoath Mixed N.S. It was agreed by the Patron and the Department of Education and Science that this school would split into Ratoath Junior National School and Ratoath Senior National School from September 1st 2005 on completion of the new building for the Senior School.

The Department of Education and Science has directed that a maximum of 16 mainstream classes are to be allowed in Ratoath Senior National School. A maximum of 16 mainstream classes will also apply in Ratoath Junior National School which is on the same campus. Currently, the Junior School has an enrolment in excess of 16 mainstream classes. It is agreed be the Patron, Department of Education and Science and each Board of Management that when this excess or “bulge” in numbers has moved on through to 6th Class that each school will then “downsize” to the agreed maximum figure.

The Chairperson of the Board of Management, Mr. Patrick J. Moran, 7 Park View, Ratoath, Co. Meath, and Principal teacher, Mr. Maurice Kearney, Ratoath National School, (telephone No. 01-8254470), will be happy to clarify any further matters arising from this policy.

Ratoath Senior National School is a mixed school, teaching boys and girls from Third to Sixth Class. The school currently employs twenty eight teachers, including three Special Educational Needs Teachers, a Resource (Special Learning Needs) teacher and two Language Support teachers.

As in the case of all National Schools, Ratoath Senior National School depends on the grants and teacher resources provided by the Department of Education and Science and operates within the regulations laid down from time to time, by the Department. The Board of Management wishes to emphasise that school policy must have regard to the resources and funding available. The school is required by law to have regard for the efficient use of resources and will have regard to all these considerations in managing the admission of students and afterwards in operating the school.

Ratoath Senior National School follows the national curricular programmes prescribed by the Department of Education and Science, which may be amended from time to time, in accordance with Sections 9 and 30 of the Education Act, 1998.

The Board of Management is aware of its obligations under relevant equality legislation and declares that, within the content and parameters of the Department regulations and programmes, the Rights of the Patron as set out in the Education Act, 1998, and the funding and resources available, the school supports the following principles:

• Inclusiveness, particularly with reference to the enrolment of children with a disability or other special educational needs;
• Equality of access and participation;
• Parental choice in relation to the school, having regard to the characteristic spirit of the school (Section 15 (d) of the Education Act, 1998);
• Respect for the diversity of values, beliefs, traditions, languages and ways of life.

School hours are from 9.20 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The school will open to receive pupils at 9.20 a.m. No responsibility is accepted by the school for pupils arriving before that time. No arrangement exists for the supervision of children who arrive at the school, whether by bus or otherwise, before the official opening time of 9.20 a.m. A similar situation arises in respect of children who remain after classes end at 3 p.m. awaiting collection by car, bus or otherwise.
In the case of children travelling by bus, the school cannot accept responsibility for escorting them from the bus to the school, or from the school to the bus. Parents who feel that their children may need to be escorted home should make their own arrangements to have their children met at the school, and the person to escort them should be at the school not later than 3 p.m.