Student Leadership & Support
STUDENT COUNCIL
In Athlone Community College we have a very proactive Student’s Council which works on topics that effect our students learning and activities during the school day. Every class in our school has two representatives who are on the council, these are known as 'Ceannairi' and 'Leas Ceannairi' which mean Leader and Deputy Leader and this system is in operation throughout the entire school, these are all elected democratically by their respective classes. We also have the 'prefect' system in operation in the college, Prefects are nominated from the sixth year cohort by staff. We encourage all students to run for council and represent their class.Ceannaires and Leas Ceannaires are then placed on the Student Council. From here we elected the following positions using thre Irish Electoral System (STV).
Student Council 2022/2023
Council President: Fionnán Mulvey (Transition Year)
Vice President: Sam Brooks (6th Year)
Secretary: Ryan Dolan (Transition Year)
Public Relations Officer: Dimeraia Nyikasani (1st Year)
Junior Mayor: Nikka Campbell (6th Year)
ISSU School Rep: Molly Mulvihill (6th Year)
Student Leadership Team Members: Aoife Carroll (TY, Green Schools Rep), Sashwat Somesh (2nd Yr), Oisin Johnston (5th Yr)
Staff Representatives: Mr D. Hughes (Laison Teacher), Mrs E. Donohoe (Principal)
Parent Representatives: The council meets regularly with the Parents Association and for this reason we do not associate with just one member of the PA.
Community Representatives: Cllr Frankie Keena. The council currently has 98 members.
Contact the Student Council:
All general queries should be directed to our Student Executive who can be contacted by email (athlonecc@issu.ie) or if you know what member you want to speak to, you can contact them by teams.
The duties of the Council are;
- To represent the view of students.
- To arrange regular meetings with Co-ordinator/teacher in attendance.
- To act as class rep.
- To report any irregularities to tutors.
- To report on any damages etc. to the classrooms.
- To liaise with other committees and groups in the school. Eg Green Schools
- The Council also attends ISSU conferences frequently.
Arcadia Creative Climate Website Winners 2022:
This project involved looking at what Athlone and the Arcadia Retail park might look like in 2050 with reference to environmental changes. The team were all part of the Student Council who conducted research, created a website and put together a video to showcase their entry. The second part of the competion was an interview where they really impressed the judges with their depth of knowledge realating to climate issues.
Team Name - ACC Climate Caretakers
Team - Sam Brooks, Aoife Carroll, Shashwat Somesh, Ryan Dolan and Kristers Jonass
Website link:
Student Council Members 2022/2023
Arcadia Climate Website Winners 2022
Junior Mayor 2022/23 - 6th Year Student Nikka Campbell
Student Voice
We have a culture of student voice here in Athlone Community College. We are making strides in ensuring that Student voice is a core aspect of a young person’s educational experience in our school. We believe that for a child to truly be at the centre of their own learning, then they must be provided with opportunities to exercise their voice.
We have an extremely effective Student Council and Prefect system but we go beyond this to ensure that we ‘hear’ all voices.
We have Student Voice included in our curriculum as part of the learning modules in our Wellbeing Programme.
We have students as members of core Leadership Teams in the school, like our Teaching and Learning Team.
We have Student Representatives to our Board of Management
We have a Student in-house Media Team who run our entire Media Programme
Finally, we are currently in a cycle of school development focused on further enhancing the voices of all students. We are fully committed to catching all voices-we hear, we listen, we respond.
We are proud to say that we live up to our belief that, ‘Every student matters and every moment counts’
First Year Support System
We have a dedicated First Year Programme aimed at easing the transition from Primary school into Post-Primary school. This Programme begins by reaching out and engaging with our students while they are still in 6 th class to help ease them into making the transition to post-primary school
Our First Year Programme includes a first year specific Induction Programme where first year students attend school when no other year groups are present. This provides valuable time for your sons and daughters to grow comfortable in their new educational setting and to meet their peers and teachers in a relaxed environment.
Each first year group has a dedicated Yearhead and Assistant Yearhead. In addition to this, each student has an individual class tutor who caters for the pastoral and wellbeing needs of the class.
Each first year will have student support through an individual mentor who will guide and support your child as they progress through first year.
As a school we have a wealth of extra-curricular opportunities but we have designed a specific programme for first years to assist them in developing friendships and to discover what they enjoy and where they are happiest in school.
Student Wellbeing
We have a culture of student voice here in Athlone Community College. We believe that for a child to truly be at the centre of their own educational experience, then they must be provided with opportunities to exercise their voice. It is only by listening to our students, that we can fully appreciate what our students need and how we meet these needs.
Amber Flag
Local champion of positive mental health and past pupil Ray Connellan launches our Flag.
The Amber Flag was awarded in recognition of our school’s active promotion of positive mental health within our school community.
FUSE Badge school – Zero Tolerance to Bullying
We have received our FUSE Badge in recognition for taking part in an Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme, developed by the National Anti-Bullying Centre (ABC) at Dublin City University.
Career Guidance
LEAVING CERTIFICATE IS A 2 YEAR PROGRAMME.`
- Full time commitment required over 2 years.
- 5th year is very important especially for those hoping to gain entry to high points courses.
USUALLY A MAXIMUM OF 7 SUBJECTS ARE TAKEN FOR THE LEAVING CERTIFICATE.
- An extra (8th) subject? – need to think very carefully about this as each LC subject is extensive and requires a lot of work. Big jump in standard from J.C.
- Other subjects could suffer if workload is too great.
- For points purposes best 6 subjects are counted.
- LCVP – eligibility based on subjects chosen
SUBJECT CHOICE
Subject choice Presentation for Parents Click here to download.