St Michael’s National School Sneem sits at the very heart of the Sneem Community. We are a happy, vibrant, forward-thinking school in which we hope to instil a love of learning and a quest for knowledge in all our pupils both mainstream and all children with additional needs. Sneem National School is very fortunate to have two autism classrooms, called the Rainbow Room and the Sunshine Room. The pupils attending these classes receive school transport with a bus escort from their home to school. Pupils currently travel from the Kenmare and Sneem areas, but enrolments are welcome from a wide catchment area. We have two spacious classrooms, interactive whiteboards, a PE Room, Sensory Room, Nurture Room, football field, basketball court and a large and secure fenced outdoor yard that has a vegetable garden, a climbing wall and climbing bridge. We also have school access control for additional safety. Each child can access our free school meals programme. Our wonderful students are taught the primary curriculum adapted to their individual needs and engage in integration with their mainstream peers during class and recreational time. Some children spend the majority of their day in the mainstream class and access the rooms as needed. Others access the mainstream and spend more time in their base classroom. Everything is individualised to each student’s need and stage of development. The school is a very inclusive and accessible learning environment. We also facilitate the July Provision Programme in our classrooms during the summer, which allows continuity for our students, while still ensuring a summer camp style experience.
Our fantastic student adult ratio and fortunate location in the Autism friendly village of Sneem, allow the class to undertake a variety of social outings and activities, such as cookery, music lessons with visiting teachers, gymnastics, football training, the annual school league, science and engineering workshops, field trips etc… In Sneem we often visit the local shops, cafés, the playground, the Garden of the Senses, the River Walk, tennis court, the Sportsfield, pitch and putt, the Wild Garden with its amphitheatre and the Old Ríoch Road (part of the Kerry Way). Some outings we have undertaken beyond Sneem include: White Strand beach, Killarney Pumpkin Farm, Santa Claus trips, the Carnegie Theatre for the pantomime, Derrynane Gardens, Caherdaniel Playground, Coille Mara Forest School, Kennedy’s Pet Farm and restaurants in Kenmare and Derrynane.
The staff in our autism classes have undertaken much specialist training including but not limited to:
TEACCH training
Intensive Interaction
Lámh Sign
DIR Floortime
Degree in Psychology (alongside education degree)
Postgraduate diploma in Special Education
Crisis Prevention Intervention training and trauma informed practice
Manual Handling
Pathways to Prevention
PECS training
Challenging Behaviour and Calming Strategies
First Aid
Inclusion in Sport Training (Active Disability Ireland)
Autism in Sport (Active Disability Ireland)
Our staff have experience in mainstream, learning support, EAL, autism classes and special school settings. This means that they can draw from their wealth of experience and knowledge and cater to the needs of their students.
For enrolment enquiries or if you are unsure about what educational setting would suit your child’s needs please email: sneemns@gmail.com (anytime) or call 0646645000 (during school hours). We would be delighted to accommodate a visit to see our excellent facilities and meet our staff.
