Admissions Policy Our Lady’s Secondary
School
This Admissions Policy should be considered
in conjunction with the school Code of
Discipline and the Education Act 1998.
School Ethos
As a Ceist school Our
Lady’s is Catholic in character, inclusive in
it’s intake and comprehensive in it’s
curriculum. Our Lady’s reflects the legacy of
Catherine Mc Auley, founder of the Mercy Order
and the values of the Gospel. Our Lady’s is
especially mindful of the disadvantaged and
those with special needs.
Mission Statement
Our Lady’s is a
holistic centre of development and learning
where each person is special and treasured as
such. We, the staff and students, enjoy working
together to realise our full potential in a
healthy, safe, stimulating and friendly
environment where the atmosphere is one of
mutual respect, co-operation and challenge.
Christian community is our heritage and goal.
The Good News of the Gospel is our story.
Operating Context
Our Lady’s Secondary
School came into being in 1971 with the
amalgamation of St.Mary’s Boys’ Secondary School
and Mean Scoil Mhuire ,Clochar na Trocaire.
Enriched by both traditions the school continues
to serve the educational needs of the local
community. The school is guided by the
underlying principles of the Education Act
1998.It operates within the context of the rules
and regulations as laid out by the D.E.S, which
may be amended from time to time ,in accordance
with sections 9 and 30 of the Education Act
1998.The range of subjects and courses are
dependant on the resources available to the
school .The financial and teaching resources of
the school are provided by a combination of
D.E.S. grants and teacher allocations, voluntary
contributions and fundraising.
The school supports the
principles of inclusiveness, equality of access
and parental choice in relation to enrolment. In
supporting these principles it also recognises
the rights of the Patron, the trustee body Ceist,
the Religious and Educational Philosophy of the
Sisters of Mercy and the funding and resources
available.
School Details
Our Lady’s Secondary
School is a Voluntary Catholic School under the
trusteeship of Ceist. The school is
co-educational and currently has approx 600
students and almost 50 teachers. The School has
a Board of Management comprised of
representatives of the Trustees, teachers and
parents. The day to day running of the school is
delegated to the Principal by the B.O.M.
Parents play an active
role in supporting the work of the school
through the Parents Association which is elected
on a bi-annual basis. Students are represented
by their prefects who are chosen by their peers
in consultation with staff. They elect a student
council on an annual basis which also has a
representative function.
Curriculum
Pupils are prepared for the following D.E.S.
Programmes:
Junior Certificate
Junior Certificate Schools Programme
Leaving Certificate
Leaving Certificate Vocational Preparation
Leaving Certificate Applied
(All the above courses are offered subject to
sufficient numbers)
Irish is compulsory for all students except
those who meet D.E.S. criteiria re.
eligilibility for exemption.
The Junior Certificate subjects are:
Irish, English ,
Maths,French,German,Science,C.S.P.E.,Religion,History,Geography,Physical
Education, S.P.H.E., Home Economics ,Music
,Business Studies ,Art ,Technical Graphics
,Materials Technology and Information
Technology.
All students following the traditional L.C.
do Transition Year (4th Year)
The Leaving Certificate subjects are:
Irish, English, Maths, Religion, Physical
Education, Career Guidance, Physics, Chemistry,
Biology, Agricultural Science, Design and
Communication Graphics, Construction Studies,
Home
Economics(S&S),Accounting,Art,Economics,German'
Economics(S/S),Accounting,Art,Economics,German,French,History,Geography,Business
Details of the Junior
Certificate Schools Programme, the Leaving
Certificate Vocational Programme and the Leaving
Certificate Applied are available in the school
brochure.
Our Lady’s has a
qualified Guidance Counsellor and a Chaplain and
operates a Pastoral system. There are also three
fully equipped Computer Rooms.
School Day
There are nine classes
per day . Students who have been given
permission to leave the school premises during
the day must sign out.
Enrolment and Assessment Procedures
The B.O. M may set a
maximum limit on the number of places available
in any given year. The board will set such
limits based on the availability of resources,
facilities, staffing levels and health and
safety considerations. Prior to enrolment
contact is made with prospective students to
First Year through contact with their schools.
They are invited into the school for an Open
Day. An Open Night is also held for parents and
prospective students. Parents are notified of
the date from which applications for enrolment
are accepted. They are also informed of the
cut-off date on which enrolments are confirmed.
If on that date applications exceed places
students will be allocated places as per agreed
criteria. If places are not filled by the
cut-off date additional places will be on a
first come first served basis. The B.O.M.
reserves the right to allocate up to five places
at it’s discretion.
The enrolment criteria(in
order of precedence) are:
I.
Immediate relatives of school community
i.e. children and siblings of current staff and
siblings of current students
or the first child in
the family.
II.
Siblings of past pupils
III.
Children of past pupils who attend the
feeder schools below.
IV.
Remaining students from the following
feeder schools Convent Girls N.S.; Castleblayney
Boy’s N.S.; Broomfield N.S.; Scoil Mhuire N.S.
Clontibret; Aughnafarcon N.S.;
OramN.S;AnnalittenN.S;DoohamletN.S;CentralSchool
Castleblayney;Central School
Clontibret;St.Oliver Plunkett’s
N.s.Loughmourne;Scoil Eanna N.S.
Ballybay;Annyalla N.S;Scoil Mhuire N.S. Latton.
V.
In the event of applications exceeding
places available allocations will be made on the
basis of time & date of receipt of Application
Form
In line with our Mission
Statement Our Lady’s is inclusive in our intake.
Enrolment will be accepted on the assumption
that the school’s Admissions Policy and Code of
Conduct are accepted in full. Decisions made in
relation to admissions are made by the Board of
Management in accordance with school policy.
Under the rules outlined by the Department of
Education and Science secondary school students
must be aged at least twelve years on the 1st
of January in the calendar year following their
entry into First Year.
Students who have enrolled
are required to sit assessment tests. Classes
in First Year are taught on a mixed ability
basis. Students are given the opportunity to
sample some of their optional subjects in
September before finalising their choices
Subject Choices: Once students have been given
the opportunity to sample their optional
subjects a subject choice
form will be given to them. Prior to completion
of the form an information meeting is held for
parents. In the event of over subscription to a
subject places will be awarded on a first come
basis.
Transfer Criteria
Student’s may transfer to Our Lady’s subject to:
a.
Acceptance of Admissions Policy and Code
Of Behaviour
b.
Availability of space and
Programme/Subject choices
c.
There are sound educational reasons for
the transfer
d.
The B.O.M. regards the move as being in
the best educational interests of the student
and would not be harmful to an existing student
or students.
e.
Contact and written report from previous
school.
Students transferring into 5th Year
must have completed 4th Year unless
there are exceptional circumstances.
Under the terms of 1998 Education Act And D.E.S.
circular M48/01,Our Lady’s reserves the right to
refuse admission in exceptional circumstances.
Code of Behaviour
In accordance with the
Education Welfare Act, Section 20, before
registering a child as a student at the school
,the parents/guardians will be provided with a
copy of the Code of Behaviour and may if
requested ,as a condition of so registering a
child, confirm in writing that the Code of
Behaviour so provided is acceptable to them and
that they make all reasonable efforts to ensure
compliance with such Code by the child. It is
expected that parents/guardians will endeavour
to ensure that the ethos, aims and objectives of
the school will be promoted and upheld.
Procedure for Suspension.
The Code of Behaviour
includes a range of sanctions which may be
imposed for breaches of the Code. While every
effort will be made to avoid exclusion from
school in certain circumstances it may be
necessary to impose a suspension. These
circumstances would include:
a.
A series of breaches for which other
sanctions were imposed and proved ineffective.
b.
Failure to comply with reasonable
requests on an ongoing basis.
c.
A serious breach of the Code of
Behaviour.
d.
Preventing effective teaching and
learning from taking place
Where a suspension is considered appropriate the
following procedures will be followed:
a.
A written report on the incident(s) will
be obtained.
b.
The student will be interviewed
c.
Other students may be interviewed where
appropriate.
d.
Parents/Guardians will be contacted and
invited to discuss the matter prior to a
decision being made. Where attempts to contact
parents/guardians are unsuccessful or where
parents/guardians decline to attend a meeting a
student may be requested to remain at home until
the meeting takes place. This request will be
notified to the student in writing and to the
parents/guardians by registered letter.
e.
After consultation any decision to
suspend shall be notified in writing to the
parents/guardians.
Expulsion
The Board of Management may consider the
permanent exclusion of a student:
(a) If the behaviour of the student is
preventing teaching and learning taking place on
an ongoing basis.
(b) If it is a serious one off offence
Where an expulsion is
being considered the B.O.M. will inform the
parents by registered letter. The letter will
outline the reason, the rights of parents to
meet or make a written submission to the B.O.M.
and the date and time of such a meeting. A
decision by the B.O.M. to expel will be
communicated in writing by registered letter to
the parents. Parents will be informed of their
right of appeal.
Special Needs
The Board of Management
of Our Lady’s Secondary School will ensure that
steps are taken at an early stage to identify
children with special needs who may be applying
for admission and to become familiar with their
needs.
The B.O.M. will request a
copy of the applicant’s medical, psychological
or individual report if available .In the case
of such reports being unavailable, the Board
will ensure that an assessment is carried out to
assist the school in establishing the
educational and training needs of the applicant.
If further resources are required to meet these
needs the Board will request the Department of
Education and Science to provide the necessary
resources .In seeking to identify the
applicant’s needs, it may be necessary for the
Principal to meet with the applicant’s
parents/guardians and/or other professionals
working with the child. The Board may have to
refuse admission if the Department of Education
and Science does not provide adequate and
appropriate resources and staffing for the
educational needs of the student.
General Provisions
1.Neither the issue of the application form nor
its completion guarantees an applicant a place
in this school.
2.In certain circumstances the school may refuse
admission if it cannot provide an appropriate
education or if the student’s behaviour may
constitute a threat to the Health, Safety or
Education of other students.
3.Consideration will only be given to pupils
wishing to repeat a year in exceptional
circumstances for reasons acceptable to the
D.E.S. as set out in Circulars
M57/87,M33/89,M47/92 andM2/95.
Agreed by Board:
Date of Review:
