Caring, Learning, Excelling Together

Welcome to Rathmore Primary School & Nursery

We give a special welcome to our new children across the year groups and of course all of our new P1 and Nursery children.

Rathmore PS and Nursery are on the journey towards transforming to become an Integrated School, as 82.3% of our parents voted ‘Yes’ to this direction in 2023. In January 2025, the Education Minister turned down our proposal but his decision has been challenged legally and is currently part of a Judicial Review. As a school, we will continue our transformation journey during 2025-2026, in line with our parents’ vote.

We understand the responsibility we share with you as parents and guardians, to guide and support our children as they grow and develop their skills of independence, self-management, personal responsibility, respect, confidence and self-esteem.

At Rathmore, we believe that a caring culture, where every pupil feels safe, secure and valued is the foundation for effective learning, both within class and throughout our whole school community. Following the success of our 2024-2025 UNICEF Silver Award for a Rights’ Respecting School, Intergenerational Programme, Shared Education Programme, Pupil Voice Councils, whole school House System and first Community Day, we aim to build and extend these aspects within Rathmore during 2025-2026, with your support.

We are pleased to support families by offering a Wrap-Around Care option from 8am to 5:45pm daily, with holiday provision in collaboration with YMCA (West Church).

We remain grateful to our PTA Fundraising Committee whose financial help last year provided outdoor space resources to enhance our children’s learning. During 2025-2026 we will target ICT, Literacy and Numeracy Resources with PTA help.

On behalf of the staff and governors of Rathmore Primary School, thank you for your ongoing support. Keep up-to-date with current information with our Newsletters, See-Saw, Videos & Social Media.

Yours sincerely,

Julie M Hardy

Principal

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Latest News: Rights Respecting School Silver Award

We are thrilled to announce Rathmore Primary School has been awarded the Silver Rights Respecting School Award by UNICEF UK. We are one of only 16 schools in Northern Ireland who hold this award currently.

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting School Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its ethos and curriculum and at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.

We are very proud to have obtained the Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award which recognises the hard work our pupils and staff have put in to learning about the rights our pupils enjoy. Learning about their legal rights has allowed our pupils to foster principles of compassion, empathy and sensitivity.

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At Rathmore, we believe in giving our pupils a first class education, focused on a child-centred approach to learning. Across all three key stages, Rathmore pupils learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes that they will need to live

Foundation Stage

As the name suggests, the Foundation Stage (P1 & P2) puts in place the building blocks for a lifetime of learning. Through practical activity, pupils have the freedom to explore, create and experience learning in a variety of contexts. The basis for learning at this stage is play. Pupils are encouraged to engage in a wide range of play-based activities that will form the basis for effective communication and early literacy and numeracy concepts. The teaching staff and classroom assistants work as a team to provide a structured yet flexible programme in line with the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

Key Stage 1

During P3 and P4, pupils consolidate the early literacy and numeracy concepts. Through guided and shared lessons, they develop independence in reading and writing, and extend their understanding of mathematical concepts. It is this knowledge that pupils begin to apply to problem solving with support from the teaching staff. It is at this stage that formal assessment begins further shaping the provision each child receives. The cross-curricular skills of Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT are assessed at the end of this Key Stage.

Key Stage 2

The final three years of the primary school phase culminate in the preparation for transition to the secondary phase. P5, P6 and P7 combine the acquisition of knowledge with the development of skills to form independent, confident learners who can use multiple approaches to problem-solving. In a challenging and supportive environment, teachers integrate practical activity with direct instruction to cultivate the learning and attitudes to learning that empowers pupils to be responsible decision-makers and successful in the future. The Key Stage 2 phase embeds effective assessment of the cross-curricular skills throughout, further identifying the abilities of each pupil.