Castle Park welcomes pupils from age 3+ and provides a rich educational experience for pupils, that prepares them well for when they leave at age 12+ to go onto secondary school. Our Early Years Montessori Department is an important and integral part of the School.

Organisation

Pupils may join Castle Park’s Early Years Montessori Department  in September, or January or April.  The Department has six classes, four of which cater for 3 to 5 year olds and two which prepare the 5 – 6 year olds for entry into the Prep Department.  Small classes, normally not more than 20 pupils, allow children to benefit from a substantial amount of individual attention.

Curriculum

The Early Years Montessori environment, which is registered with IMEB,  ensures that each child is introduced to materials and experiences that help to develop his or her whole personality. They also follow the Irish Primary Curriculum for Junior and Senior Infants. Reading is introduced using the phonetic approach. The children are also thoroughly prepared for the Prep Department in Irish and Mathematics.  Pupils undertake cross-curricular project work including themes from History, Geography and Science.  They have regular access to the School Library and the ICT Suite.

The Senior and Pre-Prep pupils attend a weekly PE session with the  Director of Sport and the Pre-Prep children also have a weekly swimming lesson as part of their school day.  There are opportunities for the other groups to swim after school. Music is an important feature of provision and every child attends a weekly lesson with the Director of Music.  The Music Room has an extensive variety of musical equipment. Performances of Harvest, Nativity, Spring and Summer concerts are a regular feature of the calendar.

School Day

The Montessori day begins at 8.50am but if parents need an earlier start, pupils can be looked after from 8am. The Junior children finishes at 12.30pm.  The Senior children finish at 2pm, with Pre-Prep children finishing at 3.00pm except on swimming and Library days when they finish at 3.30pm. An educational day-care facility is available for all Montessori children where they may stay until 6.30pm. See Day Care for further details.