History of Skerries Educate Together National School
2008 – our school opened with 2 classes and 36 children and 4 teachers (Tomás Hickey - Principal, Jean Timmins – Deputy Principal, Sheila Ormiston - teacher). Sharon Coady, our school secretary, started work in September 2008 also.
September 2010 – introduction of Aladdin schools for the administration of school records
2012 - Our school’s first participation in Peace Proms
September 2013 – opening of phase 2 of our building including the following new facilities:
- Sports hall
- Staff room with greater capacity
- 6 new mainstream classrooms
- 4 new learning support rooms (SET rooms)
- School library
June 2013 – first graduation class in the history of Skerries Educate Together NS
January 2014 – opening of Seolta, our 2-classroom early intervention autism unit comprising:
- Purpose-built 2-classroom early intervention autism unit complete with general purpose indoor area and outdoor soft play area
- 6 children were initially enrolled, with a further 6 starting with us in September 2014
2014 - First GAA team representing the school
2015 - Opening of our outdoor classroom and amphitheatre
September 2015 – David O’Neill appointed as our first HSCL teacher on a 5-year term in September 2015
2018 – Board of Management makes an application for school-age autism class extension to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the Department of Education (DE)
2019 – DE approve application and work starts on delivering a 4-classroom extension
August 2019 – Jean Timmins’ retirement and appointment of Brian O’Luasa as Deputy Principal
March 2020 – arrival of Covid-19 in Ireland and first school closure. The following nearly 2-year period was characterised by rolling school closures (March-Sept 2020; January-Feb/March 2021) and other measures at different times including the operation of a pod system for children, social distancing for staff, parents/guardians not permitted in the school building and mask-wearing for all to name but a few.
February 2022 - lifting of the majority of Covid-19 restrictions and a return to relative ‘normailty’
2020 - Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) take over management of autism class project from Dublin Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB).
September 2020 - Ellie Barwise takes on the role of HSCL teacher
August 2020 – Tomas Hickey’s retirement and appointment of Conor D’Arcy as Principal
October 2023 - Introduction of Hot School Meals Programme on a trial basis
Chairpersons of Boards of Management of Skerries Educate Together National School:
- David Wright (2008-2011)
- Aisling O’Connell (2011-2015)
- Richard Young (2015-2023)
- David Carroll (2023-2027)