Please click on the following links to read the updated advice received from the Department today:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N2LnZnw1Nlmi2JyYIi1j5O6PfMnq0Grh/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QVSX0-0cKgEdNMX7nydPr745wbkpeht/view?usp=sharing
Please click on the link to read the latest HSE advice:
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/if-your-child-has-symptoms.html
We have been busy making some changes to keep everyone safe in school, and are looking forward to welcoming you all back! 😀
We are asking all parents & staff to please read these procedures carefully. Please talk to your child/ren about the following too.
Please also familiarise yourself with the Response Plan that’s on our website.
We need your on-going support to do everything that is reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of the virus being brought into our school. We all have a part to play in this together.
All of the staff here in St. Patrick's N.S are really looking forward to welcoming back the children on August 31st & meeting our in-coming junior infants.
Kind regards
Trevor Larke
Arrival/Break times/Dismissal (These procedures may be revised as necessary)
Children must not be dropped off to the school yard any earlier than 9.10 a.m. As in previous years, the school yard will be supervised between 9.10 a.m. & 9.20 a.m. We are asking everybody to please respect this request.
Children will go to their own sections of the yard in the morning time (they will be shown this on the first day of school)
On
the first morning of our return to school, August 31st, we are asking all children to go
straight to their own teacher who will be in a marked area of the yard.
Junior Infant Parents only: on the
first morning of school, please have your child at the school gate @ 9.00 a.m.
where your child’s teacher, Ms. Keane, will greet him/her & bring them to
their classroom.
If it’s
raining lightly, children will remain in the yard in the morning, so please
ensure that your child comes to school with their school coat. If it’s raining
heavily, children will no longer be able to huddle under our shelter & will
go straight to their classrooms.
The yard
& pitches will be divided between our three groups. The Vestry has kindly
agreed to let us have use of the Diocesan car park on wet days (excluding
Fridays when the market is in the Diocesan hall)
Children are
not to bring their own footballs/sports equipment or toys to school please.
Each group will have their own separate sport's equipment bag which will stay in
their own classrooms.
At 2 p.m. (after
the initial settling in period of two weeks when junior infants will go home @ 12.30p.m.) junior & senior infants will
be walked to the school gate by their teacher, Ms. Keane.
At 3 p.m., children will line up in four groups. Groups 1 & 2 will be the children travelling by bus, group 3 will be the children who walk/cycle to school (& similar to the official guidelines, we encourage as many children to walk/cycle to school as possible) & group 4 will be children who are collected by their parents. Please do not congregate at the gate & please encourage your child (most likely the older children) to walk directly to their car/parent. Please stand beside your car, so staff & your child can see you.
As I’m sure
you know, children can no longer be left to play in the Diocesan car park &
to play on our lovely climbable trees after school!
The carpark
can be extremely busy with the market on Fridays, so please park elsewhere if
possible.
Handwashing/Sanitising
We have installed 4 external & 6 internal hand sanitisers. Hot water is available in our classrooms
Children will wash/sanitise hands:
Homework/Uniforms/Personal belongings
We will not
be setting written homework for the first month of school (this will be
reviewed)
To give you time to wash your child’s
uniform as required, we are asking all children to wear the full school uniform on Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays.
The full school tracksuit is to be
worn on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO LABEL ALL YOUR
CHILD’S PERSONAL BELONGINGS. SCHOOL UNIFORM & TRACKSUIT MUST BE LABELED.
We are
asking all children to have two pencil cases/two sets of stationery – one for
home & the other for school. Stationery will be provided for school use for
all children on the first day.
Junior room – please have your child practise opening/closing/taking on & off their shoes as the junior room do not wear shoes in class. Please also have your child practise opening/closing lunchboxes etc.
Please ensure that your child has easy to open & close items
in their lunch box.
Suspected Case
Please see
previous message re. sending children to school when sick.
We have (in
accordance with guidelines) set up an isolation room in the school – our
disabled access toilet in the new extension.
You will be contacted if your child is showing any symptoms of the virus.
The H.S.E will
determine the course of action thereafter.
Please let
us know if your contact details have changed over the summer.
Queries
If you wish to speak with your child’s teacher, it will be prior appointment only.
Parents are not to walk beyond the school gate.
Please
contact the school on 046 9431892 with queries.
Teacher’s
Emails:
While Department guidelines don't make the taking of temperature mandatory in schools, in order to provide an even greater level of protection, we will be taking childrens' temperatures in the morning. Each classroom teacher will have a touchfree thermometer in their classroom.
Children
who have travelled from countries not on the Green List should not attend
school during the 14-day self-isolation period.
Further
information on COVID-19 symptoms in children is available at: -
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/if-your-child-has-symptoms.html
Teachers will make children aware of the proper hygiene procedures regarding hand washing and etiquette related to sneezing, coughing or spitting. We would be grateful if you could also emphasise safe behaviour in this regard to your children at home as part of the preparation for returning to school.
Further updates to follow in the coming weeks.