About Us

Esker Educate Together National School first opened its doors in September 2007, following a request from the Department of Education and Science to open a school in the growing catchment of Lucan. We are currently sharing a building with our host school, ‘Adamstown Castle ETNS’. The Department of Education and Science have told us that we will be here in this building until September 2010 at the earliest.

What is an Educate Together School?

Educate Together is a national organisation of the Educate Together multi-denominational schools in the Republic of Ireland. There are now over 50 Educate Together schools in the country and this figure is growing. The schools are fully recognised by the Department of Education and Science. They are non fee-paying and they operate under the same rules applying to all national schools.

Where did the name Educate Together come from?

The name ‘Educate Together' was carefully chosen by the national organisation to reflect the coming together of children and families of different faiths and beliefs, from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Educate Together schools are open to all children on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis.

What are the Educate Together Principles?

Esker Educate Together NS, like all multi-denominational schools in the Republic of Ireland, is founded on four core principles:

Multi-denominational - children of all creeds and none have equal rights of access, and the social, religious and cultural background of each child is equally respected.
Co-educational - the school is open to boys and girls on an equal basis. Every effort will be made to ensure that girls and boys are actively integrated, and sexual stereotyping is avoided, both in attitude and teaching materials.
Child-centred - the school aims to establish an environment which encourages, nurtures and facilitates each child so that they will explore their full range of abilities and work towards realising their highest potential.
Democratic - the school will be run by management committees which are democratically elected and run, and the involvement of all parents is sought and encouraged. Children are encouraged to become involved in school structures through their representatives on the Pupil Council.

Further details about the Ethical Curriculum followed by the school can be found on the Educate Together website

Where did the 'Esker' in Esker Educate Together come from?

The 'Esker' comes from the Irish words 'Eiscir Riada', which mean a sandy ridge. This ridge extends from Dublin, through Meath, Kildare, Westmeath, Offaly, Roscommon and Galway.

Several thousand years ago, Ireland underwent a glacial period. Many streams and rivers flowed underneath the ice. When the ice melted approximately 10,000 years ago, this left behind an esker - a long raised ridge of sand and gravel.

This sand and gravel provides very rich soils in the area as the land is well drained. The esker also provided an elevated road from the east to the west of the country through the boggy midlands of the country. This highway was known as 'An Slí Mór' ('The Great Highway').

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