Harold’s Cross National School
Harold’s Cross N.S. is a developing Catholic co-educational vertical school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. It currently has an enrolment of 383 pupils, a staff of 25 teachers, 5 SNAs, a part time caretaker and secretary. It caters primarily for children coming from the surrounding parishes of Harold’s Cross, Mt. Argus, Kimmage, Larkfield and Terenure. Though the ethos of the school is Catholic every effort is made to accommodate newcomer students and students of other faiths. This inclusivity is highlighted by the fact that 25% of our children come from different religious backgrounds and 26% come from different cultural backgrounds.
The school has been growing at a steady rate since 2003 and pupil and staff numbers have tripled over the past thirteen years. A building programme has resulted in the construction of a number of classrooms, special needs rooms and a Montessori over the past fifteen years. Our most recent building programme was completed in January 2019. we now have a beautiful new wing at first floor level which caters for our senior pupils and pupils with special needs. Our field which lies to the back of the school was converted to astro–turf in 2016 which now means that the children have additional space to play all year round. This are also holds our archaeology dig site along with our very own Viking house that was completed in in the 2020/21 school year.
A Montessori facility opened in 2009, was set up to provide support to parents at work and to support those seeking to return to full/part time employment/education. The facility now caters for 22 children aged between 2.5 and 4.0 years many of whom are siblings of existing pupils. The principal works closely with the manager of the facility to ensure that standards are maintained to a high level, regular meetings are held to discuss the needs of children and if necessary, prospective parents of children with possible SEN needs are met with and referrals made. The Montessori is seen as an integral part of the school and a key first step in our educational journey with our pupils.
Participation in educational initiatives:
The school has benefited greatly from the educational, professional and financial supports provided by the DES. The following educational initiatives/programmes have been implemented as a result of those supports in recent years-
- First Steps- Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing,
- Maths Recovery
- Reading Recovery,
- Ready, Set, Go Maths
- Building Bridges of Understanding
- Aistear – a programme of learning through play
- School Completion Programme
- Accelerated Reading Programme
- Digital Learning
- Incredible Years
- Weaving Well-being
Other Initiatives/Programmes in place:
- Literacy Power Hour
- Numeracy Power Hour
- Gaeilge Power Hour
- Reading Support Programme
- Building Bridges of Understanding
- Implementation of cursive handwriting (Brendan Culligan)
- Green Schools
- Junior Achievement
- Dublin City Council Road Safety Scheme
- Comhairle na nOg
- Science/ Engineers Week
- Artist in Residence
- Challenging our Exceptionally Able/Talented Pupils in maths, literacy, art, science and history
- Discovery Primary Science
- Dublin City Council Healthy Eating Programme
- Walk on Wednesdays/Active School’s Flag
- Friends for Life