Author Archives: Brid Costello
- 11
Mar 21
-
- 26
Feb 21
-
Information for Parents regarding March 1st reopening
http://stjohnskenmare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Information-for-Parents-March-1st-Reopening.docx
Information Note for Parents / Guardians regarding the reopening of St. John’s National School on Monday March 1st.
Dear Parents / Guardians,
We look forward to opening our doors on Monday March 1st for children in the junior end of our school, junior infants – 2nd 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, 1st & 2nd 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 6th 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
- Parents will be asked to complete a Return to Education Declaration Form
- Reminder to keep symptomatic children at home. Parents should err on the side of caution in this respect.
- There should be no congregation outside the school before, during or after school collections.
- 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.
- 21
Jan 21
-
Parent/Teacher Communication
http://stjohnskenmare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Parent-.-Teacher-Communication.docx
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
- 21
Jan 21
-
- 15
Jan 21
-
Distance Learning
http://stjohnskenmare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Distance-Learning-Note-Parents.docx
Dear Parent / Guardians,
Starting from early next week we will be moving into a period of remote learning as per government guidelines due to the ongoing public health situation.
Outlined in this message are some details about how we intend on facilitating remote learning. As we move through the week’s, practices may evolve and develop further. To get started initially teachers will draw upon their experiences from last spring and use practices that worked well for their class groupings and the parents / guardians involved.
Books / Material
Before Christmas we made a decision on a whole school level to send home all necessary books / equipment that the children may need in the event that we would not return to school. This decision was taken as a precaution, and not in confidence that we would find ourselves once more in the distance learning domain. We acknowledge that children who were absent in the days leading up to Christmas do not have their books / equipment that they will need in the coming weeks, so arrangements are being put in place to organise a collection of said books / equipment belonging to those children in the early days of next week. We will be in contact with further details in due course.
Distance Learning
Teachers had previously prepared menus of work for their classes in the event of a sudden school closure. These menus will be our starting point in the early days of next week and they are not meant to be prescriptive. Teachers will make contact with their respective class groupings in the early days of next week and outline their expectations around engagement and how to return completed work.
Special Education Teachers will continue to work in parallel to the mainstream teachers and will be on hand to communicate with and support the children whom they teach every week.
Communication with School
We are here to support you and your child during the period of this school closure. Class teachers and SET’s will be in regular contact over the coming weeks and will be available to support you during normal school hours. I had previously sent a message around communication with teachers in the absence of a school journal. I would ask that over the coming weeks you would continue to adhere to the guidance set out in that message. (See Attached)
If you would like to communicate with management / office over the coming weeks please do so via email [email protected], as our phone messages will not be monitored as frequently.
I.T. Equipment
As was the case during the last school closure we are happy to lend some of our I.T. equipment; namely laptop computers and iPads if needs be, to our pupils who do not have access to these resources at home. If you would like to borrow I.T. equipment over the coming weeks please email [email protected].
Levels of Engagement / Wellbeing
At this time the wellbeing of our entire school community is the most important thing. We would ask that you and your families place a strong emphasis on maintaining your own sense of personal wellbeing during the coming weeks. It is important to maintain perspective about the ongoing public health situation. School will reopen again in the not too distant future, and when it does your child will continue to progress. Over the coming weeks we would like you to engage with the distance learning material when you can, and we certainly do not want it to become a source of stress or a burden on any household. Keep in mind that research tells us 30 minutes of regular shared reading with your child can have significant educational benefits. Again we want each household to do what they can when they can.
Finally, on behalf of the teachers and myself we want to say that we will miss welcoming you to our school each morning over the coming weeks. Hopefully in the not too distant future we will once again welcome you back to St John’s National School to continue your learning journey. In the meantime, stay safe and take care.
Le gach dea-ghuí
Mr. Barry O’Leary
Principal
- 04
Jan 21
-
Teacher Emails
| Principal | Barry O’Leary | [email protected] |
| Deputy Principal | Órnait Ní Loingsigh | [email protected] |
| Junior Infants | Mona Cremin | [email protected] |
| Junior Infants | Bríd Costello | [email protected] |
| Senior Infants | Louise Downing | [email protected] |
| Senior Infants | Shóna O’Sullivan | [email protected] |
| 1st Class | Louise Doyle | [email protected] |
| 1st Class | Geraldine Kelly | [email protected] |
| 2nd Class | Joanne Cashman | [email protected] |
| 2nd Class | Maria Laffey | [email protected] |
| 3rd Class | Mary Lucey | [email protected] |
| 3rd Class | Mary O’Sullivan | [email protected] |
| 4th Class | James Devane | [email protected] |
| 4th Class | Fiona O’Dwyer | [email protected] |
| 5th Class | Carrie Spillane | [email protected] |
| 5th Class | Ronan Hussey | [email protected] |
| 6th Class | Tadhg Morley | [email protected] |
| 6th Class | Grace Healy | |
| Class Neidín | Aideen O’Leary | [email protected] |
| SET | Fiona O’Mahony | [email protected] |
| SET | Fiona O’Connor | [email protected] |
| SET | Gráinne Browne | [email protected] |
| SET | Rheanne O’Shea | [email protected] |
| SET | Annette O’Connell | [email protected] |
| SET | Ellen Murnane |