Learning Enhancement
Christ King Secondary School Additional Educational Needs Department
Additional education in the school is guided by the founding intention of Nano Nagle who believed in education for those socially or economically challenged.
In view of this founding intention, the Special Education Needs Department's mission is to enhance the teaching environment for the students involved. Working in partnership with parents and our guidance department, our AEN Core Team facilitates the meaningful inclusion of students with AEN. Special Needs Assistants are an integral part of our AEN team, who look after students who have significant medical and or care needs eg. significant impairment of physical, emotional or sensory function.
Joining Christ King Girls Secondary School as a pupil with additional educational needs:
Meeting with the AEN Core Team on the open night.
Follow-up meeting with the parents or guardians prior to the commencement of the academic school year. This meeting is designed to ensure a successful and happy transition into secondary school.
Student Support Plan is prepared for each student based on their needs. The Student Support Plan is designed following consideration of professional report recommendations, primary school reports, parents, and the individual pupil.
Learning in Christ King Girls Secondary School as a pupil with additional educational challenges:
Class groups are mixed ability for Junior Cycle in most cases.
The Student Support Plan is designed to support our AEN students when they part take in our mixed-ability mainstream classes, using a variety of support systems:
Differentiated teaching.
Team teaching
Small group tuition
Assistive technology, where professionally recommended in light of an external assessment and sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education.
Core Team in Special Educational Needs Department:
Junior Year Groups: Ms. Sarah Curtin Co-ordinator.
Senior Year Groups: Mr. Michael Carroll Co-ordinator.
Special Needs Assistants: Ms. Tríona O' Callaghan, Ms. Ciara Halpin and Ms. Orla Kelly.
Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Exams (RACE)
The scheme of Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE) facilitates access to the certificate examinations by candidates who would have difficulty in accessing the examination or communicating what they know to an examiner because of a physical, visual, hearing and/or learning difficulty. The scheme assists candidates who have special educational needs to demonstrate what they know and can do in certificate examinations, without compromising the integrity of the assessment.
The focus of the scheme is on removing barriers to access while retaining the need to assess the same underlying skills and competencies as are assessed for all other candidates, and to apply the same standards of achievement as apply to all other candidates.
The scheme provides accommodations for students with a variety of complex special educational needs including learning difficulties as well as permanent or temporary physical, visual, hearing, medical, sensory, emotional, behavioural or other conditions.
In 2017 the SEC made significant changes to the RACE scheme changing the emphasis on the application process from Leaving Certificate to Junior Certificate. This means that if accommodations are granted at Junior Cert level there is a greater certainty that they will be in place for Leaving Cert following a reactivation process and once the SEC is satisfied that the need that existed at Junior Cert is still present at Leaving Cert.
We complete the school-based assessments required by the SEC during the early stage of third year for any identified students that may be entitled to apply for accommodations during the state exams.
R.A.C.E. applications are prepared by our Guidance Department, please contact the relevant guidance counsellor for your daughter from the list below:
Ms. Therese McKeown.
Ms. Suzanne Kelleher.