About Ogonnelloe NS
Ogonnelloe NS is a five-teacher co-educational primary school situated in East Clare approximately half way between the towns of Scarriff and Killaloe. The school is under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Killaloe.
The school mission statement, as well as reflecting its Catholic ethos, also promotes partnership between the school, parents and the wider community in an atmosphere of mutual respect. 116 pupils currently attend the school, 59 boys and 57 girls. Almost all pupils live locally. Pupil numbers have been increasing in recent years.
The students of Ogonnelloe NS take part in a wide variety of activities and competitions including hurling/camogie, basketball, swimming, tennis, athletics, handball, soccer and rugby, quizzes, music, drama, debating, art, yoga and French. We have been awarded the active flag and we have earned five green flags for waste reduction, energy conservation, water conservation, sustainable travel and biodiversity. We are very proud of our school garden. A recent addition to the garden is the development of a sensory area incorporating tile mosaics created by all the pupils of the school as part of our 1916-2016 commemoration project. The most recent additions to our garden are garden ornaments of nature’s minibeasts made from fused glass as an extension of our learning about biodiversity integrated with visual art.
The pupils of Ogonnelloe NS are encouraged to respect themselves, respect others and respect the environment and to be proud ambassadors of their county, Clare.
Our focus in School Self Evaluation for Literacy in 2013-17 was to develop our pupils’ capacity and confidence in “Oral language”. We have now moved our focus to developing our pupils awareness of and competence in the writing process and of writing genres. In regard to Numeracy, we had prioritised the strand of “Shape and Space” for closer attention. We chose PE as our priority for our third curricular area as, while we are very strong in some strands, we feel we need to ensure that we are providing a balanced programme that has regard for all our pupils. Our self-evaluation process has highlighted the need to engage more in “outdoor pursuits”.
The teachers of the school work collaboratively and take a professional pride in their work as they strive to enable each child achieve their potential in academic and social aspects of their lives. Our approach to our work is child-centred and at times, child-led. We set realistic goals that are inclusive of all pupils and are focussed on teaching to the children’s strengths. In general, the academic standard achieved by our pupils in the school is high. We encourage the children to take pride in their work and to try their best. Expectations are high. It is important to us at Ogonnelloe NS that our pupils enjoy learning and have a positive focus on their time at school. It is our belief that when the child has a positive self-image and high self-esteem, then s/he is more open to learning.
All teachers use a variety of teaching approaches to encourage and enhance the learning environment of the school. Class work, group work, pair work and individual work by pupils is conducted via active, discovery and imaginative engagement in learning methods that take account of the various learning styles. Support is differentiated in favour of those who require additional accommodations. We strive to engage the children in all areas of the curriculum, as well as co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in so far as time and personnel allows. In this we are blessed with an active Parent Association and a supportive Board of Management.
Formal assessments are conducted twice a year, and parents are consulted regularly in regard to aspects of their child’s progress. More informal assessment-for-learning approaches inform the teaching and learning process and progress in each classroom.
The school is well resourced with a wide variety of teaching and learning aids.
Rewards are prioritised over sanctions.
Our current priorities for school development include the phased implementation of the New Language Curriculum being introduced to schools currently.
We wish to explore further, collaborative teaching and learning approaches such as Parallel teaching, Team teaching and Station teaching in literacy and numeracy. We have discussed and tried some of these approaches and we are in the process of fine-tuning co-operative teaching teams for the benefit of our pupils in the context of our school. This is being done with regard to pupil profile, available staff and physical accommodation. This is a work in progress.
Another priority for us is to make time to engage in a review of the ICT provision in our school with a view to upgrading equipment and staff CPD in line with the provisions of DES Cir 01/2017.
All of our pupils speak English as their first language. Almost all of our pupils live locally.
Our pupils are fortunate in that the school staff is concerned about the well-being of all pupils and that staff members are prepared to equip themselves to be able to support them. Two of our staff have engaged in CPD in the Incredible Years programme while two other teachers undertook CPD in the Friends for Life programme. Some staff members have worked with our NEPS psychologist and members of the Clare Intervention Service on a programme called ALSUP (Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved problems). Most teachers have engaged in further study in SEN. Most of all, the teaching and support staff willingly collaborate together to identify where/who needs support and endeavour to work out solutions to the issues that arise. The staff implements programmes such as smart moves/ social groups etc to support pupils with specific needs. All teachers know every child by name and engage in informal conversations with children during break times and before/after school. Individual and group achievements are celebrated.
In addition, the school actively fosters positive home-school relationships. Formal parent teacher meetings take place every year at class and individual level. There are more frequent contacts between school and home in regard to individual concerns. Communications via regular newsletters keep parents in touch with activities at school. There are also regular contacts between the support staff and parents in devising and implementing IPLP and IEPs.
Our pupils are well supported by the positive chaplaincy of our Parish Priest, Fr David Carroll who is a frequent visitor to the school. Our pupils also benefit from the support of the PA whose fundraising efforts are used to fund transport, extra-curricular activities and talks to pupils and parents by experts in aspects of science and internet safety to name but two. The BOM supports pupil well-being by providing a clean, warm and safe well-equipped school environment where the children feel secure. The school avails of the services of NEPS, NCSE, SESS etc as needed when needed.