Welcome

Ballaghkeene National School is a rural, mixed, DEIS primary school in the parish of Oulart-the-Ballagh.
The current enrolment is 142 pupils spread across 5 mainstream classrooms and one ASC class, ‘Seomra Síolóige’. The staff consists of Principal Darren Nolan, Deputy Principal Amanda Hanrahan, six class teachers, two full time and one shared Special Education teachers, 6 Special Needs Assistants,  secretary Ann Kirwan, cleaner Duleeka Wickramaratne, caretaker Brendan Doyle and lunch lady Éilish Foley Fortune..
Ballaghkeene National School is delighted to announce that we have opened primary-level class that caters for the needs of children with Autism Spectrum Condition in September 2024. This class will have a maximum enrolment of six pupils, one class teacher, and two special needs assistants.
We are very fortunate to also have a large playing field, basketball court and a climbing wall behind the school. We make great use of this area for play, sports and break times. This year, we are thrilled to announce the addition of a new wonderful resource, an outdoor classroom named ‘Seomra Fiadh’ in remembrance of the late Fiadh O’ Connor. This room will be used for a variety of activities such as story time, circle time, peered reading, music, drama, committee meetings etc. 
 

Childcare Options

• Breakfast club - Firefly Childcare will be establishing a breakfast club in the Boxing Club premises from September 2024. Please click here for more information or contact Tara at 087 9963113 for more information.

• Homework club (voluntary): Children from 3rd - 6th class are supervised and assisted with homework on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45pm - 3:30pm

• After schools Club - Ballaghkeene NS facilitates the running of an After School Club on Monday evenings until 3:45. The focus of the club is rotated every six weeks. Pupils may participate in activities such as lego, coding, dance, arts and crafts. Cots to Crayons and Firefly Childcare will be providing an after school service from this September onwards. Contact Elaine in Cots to Crayons on 085 2737203 for more information. Please click here to access Firefly Childcare website for more information or contact Tara at 087 9963113.

• Before school - Tara Finn.

• After school - Elaine Leacy & Tara Finn

Enrolment form here

To download a copy of our 2024/25 School Calendar please click here

Message from the Principal

Dia dhaoibh,

On behalf of everyone in Ballaghkeene N.S I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new website.

Ballaghkeen N.S. first opened its doors back in September 1973, and since then, has seen many changes, both in personnel and school structure. Ballaghkeene N.S. is a progressive school, seeking to offer the best educational experiences possible for its pupils. Ballaghkeen N.S. is an inclusive school, and we strive to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for all our pupils, regardless of race, religious background or nationality. As our school motto says ‘Cáirdiúil le Chéile’

We have a range of activities and initiatives ongoing within our school such as Green Schools’, Active Schools’, Wellbeing and Hurling 365, to name but a few. We strive to cater for the needs of all of our pupils, whether inside or outside of the classroom.

At Ballaghkeene N.S., we are very proud of our heritage and we make every effort to promote this throughout our school on a daily basis, whether it be our native language, our dance or our national games. As a school, we foster and encourage the use of Gaeilge both inside and outside of the classroom. What better ambassadors for our language than our pupils. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ‘Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh siad’

In Ballaghkeene N.S., we are very fortunate in terms of the school building and facilities that we possess. Not to mention our full size Cumann na mBunscoil playing pitch at the rear of the school! What we now have in our school is testament to the vision, purpose and hard work of the numerous personnel that have sat on our Boards of Management over the years, along with the dedicated members of staff we have had throughout the years.

Parents have always played a pivotal role in the development of our school and we are delighted to say that we have an excellent Parents' Association that works diligently on behalf of our school.

Our vision is simple; To provide the best educational and learning experiences possible for the pupils of our school. It is our firm commitment to remain true to this vision, so that our pupils of today can become our leaders of tomorrow.

Finally, I was like to thank you for taking the time to visit our school website and I hope you take some time to find out about the many wonderful initiatives currently ongoing within our school!

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