Author Archives: Brid Costello

Information Note for Parents / Guardians regarding March 15th reopening

Information for Parents -March 15th Reopening

 

 

Advice for parents during Covid19

Advice for Parents

 

Information for Parents regarding March 1st reopening

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Information Note for Parents / Guardians regarding the reopening of St. John’s National School on Monday March 1^st.

Dear Parents / Guardians,

We look forward to opening our doors on Monday March 1^st for children in the junior end of our school, junior infants – 2^nd class.

Safe re-opening of our school during the coming weeks should be the main objective for all of us.

The following is some information that may be of benefit to parents / guardians as our school looks to re-establish confidence in our procedures as we move through the month of March.

Much of the following information is underpinned by the principles of our logistics plan that helped us to re-open successfully from September to December 2020.

Please re-familiarise yourself with our logistics plan if you can before Monday.

School Day: Junior & Senior Infants 9.20am – 2pm, 1^st & 2^nd Class 9.20am – 2.40pm.

Before Arrival at school

• Please ensure your child’s hands are thoroughly washed each morning before leaving the house.
• Teachers are aware of the importance of good hand hygiene for all and will ensure the regular cleaning of hands and the use of

Frequency of Hand Hygiene

• Pupils and staff MUST perform hand hygiene:
• On arrival at school;
• Before eating or drinking;
• After using the toilet;
• After playing outdoors;
• When their hands are physically dirty;
• When they cough or sneeze

Arrival at school:

• The school yard is supervised from 9.10a.m. As pupils can no longer congregate and mix together before school we are asking parents to make sure that their children do not arrive before then.
• On arrival, all pupils are to go straight to their dedicated class assembly line as they did prior to school closure.
• Each class should line up with social distancing observed
• The class teacher will invite the children to enter the building via their designated entrance point at the appropriate time.
• NO ADULTS, other than staff members, should enter the
• Messages for teachers can be sent via Aladdin connect.

Parental responsibilities at assembly /dismissal

• Parents must arrive on time for dropping off and collecting their child.
• Only parents/ guardians who are well and have no symptoms of COVID-19 or who have served the required quarantine time of 14 days where advised are allowed to drop off and collect children.
• Any parent who is in a very high-risk category should not drop off or collect children in order to protect themselves.
• Parents are not allowed on the school grounds, with the exception of parents of pupils with special needs and in limited cases the parents of infants once permission in granted.
• Parents must not congregate in groups outside the school
• Parents who are permitted on school grounds (Infants and pupils with additional needs) must ensure their child remains at their side at all times and that their child does not interact with other children.
• Parents who are permitted on school grounds (Infants and pupils with additional needs) must wear suitable face coverings.
• At arrival and departure times social distancing is to be maintained by children and parents.

Wet Mornings: On very wet mornings children will be permitted to enter the school from 9.10 only. Parents are asked to be mindful of this procedure when dropping off their children on very wet mornings.

Collection of Children during the School Day

If an adult has to collect a child during the course of the school day, the following arrangements will apply

• When the adult arrives at the school, they should report directly to the school reception No non- member of staff may enter the school or call to a child’s classroom
• The child will be brought from their class to the adult by a member of staff
• The adult who is collecting will be asked to sign the child out
• No adult should enter the school building, unless invited to do so

Lunches

• Parents must ensure that all lunch boxes/water bottles are sanitised using alcohol wipes before being placed in the child’s schoolbag.
• Parents MUST ensure that pupils have sufficient lunch/drink coming to school each morning as we will not be in a position to accept and distribute lunches during the school day.
• Please remind your children not to share their food or drinks with other children.
• Please make sure your child is self-sufficient i.e. they can open/peel any lunch/drink you pack for them. Please pay particular attention to any drinks that require a straw.
• Please make sure they have enough drinks to last them throughout the day as we will not be in a position to refill drinks bottles.

Drop Off Point for Forgotten Items

It happens quite often that children will forget to bring items of equipment, sports gear, lunches, drinks etc. to school.  We ask that extra care is given to bringing all necessary items to school each morning.

If it is the case that your child/children forget to bring something to school you need not worry. There will be a designated drop off area under the canopy outside the main door from tomorrow morning onwards. There will be two boxes placed there each day, one for forgotten lunches and the other for forgotten equipment.

In the event of a parent/guardian/adult needing to drop something to the school for a pupil(s) we ask that you would:

• Wash / Sanitise your hands before dropping the item in the box.
• Put the item in a bag.
• Label the item clearly with your child’s/children’s name and class (es) on it.
• Leave the item in the box
• Telephone the office to let us know that you have dropped the item in the box.
• A member of staff from your child’s/ children’s class bubble(s) will collect the item from the box and deliver it to your child.
• Staff members will monitor the boxes throughout the school day

Home time: Classes should exit at the same time using the same exit that they did before Christmas. Please ensure to avoid congregating.

Personal Equipment

• In so far as possible, it is requested that children from Junior Infants to 6^th Classwill bring their own pens, pencils, colours, rubbers, , to school in their own pencil case to avoid the sharing of equipment.
• It is further requested that all items have the child’s name on them for ease of

School Bags: The children will need to use their school bags to bring their books to school on day one. Please ensure bags and books are wiped and cleaned before they are brought back into the school building on Monday. Thereafter the same arrangements that were in place prior to school closure regarding bags and books should resume.

Homework: No formal homework should be assigned before the Easter break. This may be reviewed in April.

Remote Learning: Remote teaching and learning provision for pupils who are back in-school will cease once in-school provision commences.

Ventilation: New guidance has been issued on ventilation. All windows in each classroom should be partly open while classes are session. When children and staff are not in the classroom during the school day, windows should be opened to the maximum and classroom doors should be left open.

Covid-19 Etiquette / Best Practice Reminders for Parents / Guardians

1. Parents will be asked to complete a Return to Education Declaration Form
2. Reminder to keep symptomatic children at home. Parents should err on the side of caution in this respect.
3. There should be no congregation outside the school before, during or after school collections.
4. Reminder to self- isolate or restrict their movements at home if they display any signs or symptoms of Covid -19 and contact their GP to arrange a test.

Parent/Teacher Communication

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Parent / Teacher Communication

 

Dear Parents / Guardians,

As you know given the unconventional nature of this school year our school’s homework journal has been taken out of use.

The teachers school emails will act as a replacement for the remainder of this school year, to facilitate the communication of simple day to day messages between school & home and vice versa.

Parents / Guardians can now access the email addresses for their child / children’s teacher (s) on the school website.

We would ask that you would also respect the following:

• Teachers will not be expected to open their work email or reply to messages outside of school hours.
• The purpose of the email is to communicate with the teacher about routine day to day matters in areas such as homework, equipment, early collection, etc.
• It may be used to schedule a phone call if a matter arises that would require a conversation between teacher and parent.

 

Kind Regards

Mr. Barry O’Leary

Principal

Letter to Parents from Minister Foley

letter-to-parents-from-minister-foley-12-january-2021