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Admissions Notice 2024/25 - Available from Downloads section

‘The school will open to receive pupils at 9.00 a.m. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before that time. Classes will commence each day at 9.10 a.m. for all classes. No pupils should arrive later than 9.10 a.m. Classes will end each day at 1.50pm for Junior Infants and Senior Infants, 2.50pm for 1st class, 2nd class and 4th class or 3 p.m. for the remaining classes. Parents who wish to have their children escorted home should make their own arrangements to have them met at the school gate and the person to escort them should be at the school not later than 3.00 p.m. as the school cannot accept responsibility for looking after the children after that time’

We are a DCU Changemaker School

As a Changemaker School we work as a professional learning community with other Changemaker Schools around the country. The schools support each other and the learning of their students. As a learning community, the network seeks to operate in an inspiring and practical manner.

Schools in the DCU CSN develop the four pillars of empathy, creativity, leadership, and teamwork. Such development also involves the enhancement of 21st century learning skills.

Our schools are innovative and exciting places to learn. Through a variety of creative and often pioneering approaches, they foster school cultures of and for social justice and inclusion, develop the agency of students and champion children's citizenship.

You think your child is unique.

So do we.

Read our most recent evaluation report from the Inspectorate by clicking here (it's at the bottom of the page).

At Portlaw National School we know that each pupil is an individual and

deserves to be treated as such. We celebrate that individuality by providing a

rich and varied learning experience, for every single child.

Building happiness and confidence is our main focus because we believe that happy,

confident children make the best learners. The teachers and staff in Portlaw NS

approach each day with a passion for education, empathy and caring for your child.

We provide resources that help every child progress, using tailored programmes that

address individual needs.

If you want your child to join a school that has a friendly and warm atmosphere, up to

date technology for each pupil, a broad sports and Arts programme and a focus on your

child as an individual – drop in to see what we can offer.

Welcome

Welcome to the homepage of Portlaw National School which is situated in the picturesque village of Portlaw thirteen miles North West of Waterford city in the Republic of Ireland. The school currently has 235 pupils from Junior Infants up to Sixth Class. Our dedicated staff consists of our principal Mr. Brian Barron, class teachers, learning support/resource teachers, special needs assistants and hardworking ancillary staff.

Some of our Programmes

In Portlaw National School we prioritise individual approaches to learning. To this end we operate several initiatives which mean that each child can learn and progress to achieve their potential.

Literacy Lift-off

Literacy Lift-off is an intervention that gives children lots of opportunities to read books at their own level of competency and gradually raises the complexity of what they can do in both reading and writing. The programme was first implemented in 2018 and now runs across all junior classes.It is a daily literacy hour where resource teachers in collaboration with class teachers work with the children from Monday to Thursday morning inclusive for five to six weeks in five 10 minute rotating sessions on a range of literacy activities.

Building Bridges of Understanding

Sometimes even fluent and confident readers don’t actually understand what they are reading. Building Bridges of Understanding is an approach used by teachers in classes throughout the school. It calls for the direct teaching of the following skills which can be reinforced at home:

1. Prediction, 2. Making Connections, 3. Questioning, 4. Visualising, 5. Declunking, 6. Clarifying, 7. Inferring, 8. Determining Importance, 9. Synthesis

Accelerated Reading

Accelerated Reading is a whole class programme for managing and monitoring reading. It aims to foster the habit of independent reading among our pupils. Each pupil is assessed to find out their exact reading level. They then read books which are specific to their reading ability. After a pupil reads a book they do an online quiz, based on that book. Each class has an AR library and we have a central AR library in the school. The improvement in reading ability and interest from AR is incredible.

Dcode

Following evaluation of our teaching of literacy, specifically phonics we identified pupils in need of further explicit and systematic teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness. We have introduced a structured literacy programme called Dcode for those children. Daily lessons are short, focused and enjoyed by the children. Dcode consolidates the child’s learning and they transfer it to classroom, giving them a great sense of success.

Weekly Library Trips

Since September 2018 1st to 6^th class have been attending the library once every three weeks. In a recent survey of the children they overwhelmingly said they enjoyed going to the library, they think they enjoy books more because of their trips to the library and that they wish to continue going.We cannot stress enough what an invaluable resource the library is. All the children are now members and so can go in at any time.

Pupil Wellbeing

We have started the journey of becoming a trauma informed school. Wellbeing is a priority for us and we address this in a holistic way. We introduced Stop Think Do from junior infants to second class. This programme enables children to deal with social situations and issues they may come up against on a daily basis, in a positive and empowered way. From 3^rd to 6^th class Weaving Wellbeing is done in each class which focuses on areas such as resilience, gratitude and wellbeing.The Zones of Regulation programme is used with Nurture groups (in our Nurture room) to develop emotional literacy and regulation and seeks to equip children with the skills to remain in education as life-long learners.