Dear Parents and Students,

We can confirm that the Department of Health and the HSE have reaffirmed that the gradual phased reopening can proceed as planned. The next phase of return is on Monday March 15th for all primary school children in 3rd- 6th class. This is wonderful news for everyone, student, parents and staff and we are very excited to welcome all the boys and girls, Mrs Campbell and Ms Mc Connon, back to the school building on Monday. However, we can not take this lightly. All measures that we have put in place to protect our school community must be rigorously adhered to. Everyone must play their part in following safety measures.

Below are a list of important safety measures that we would ask parents to pay specific attention to, in advance of our opening on Monday

• Junior / Senior Infants & 5th / 6th class enter and leave the building via the main door and leave the grounds via the small main gate.
• 1st / 2nd & 3rd / 4th class enter and leave via the bottom door, and leave the grounds via the big gates.
• Home times will be Staggered again, from Monday 15th March. This will not impact on Junior/ Senior Infants as they leave at 2pm. 1st/ 2nd class will finish and leave the premises at 2.50pm, followed by 3rd/ 4th class at 2.55pm and finally 5th ? 6th class at 3pm.
• Please fill in and return your child’s Return to Education form before Friday. This was emailed to all families prior to the first phase of return. If you do not have a copy, email debbyoffice2020@gmail.com . PLEASE NOTE- If your child is absent from school at any stage between now and the Summer holidays, a return to Education form must be filled in prior to their return. This applies even in the event that the student has only been absent for one day. This is a Department of Education rule and must be adhered to. I would advise all parents to ensure they keep an email copy of this form which can be filled in and returned to the school via email, when the need arises.
• Please ensure your child’s school bag and pencil case are machine washed in advance of returning to school. If possible, we would ask that this is repeated every weekend.
• Use antibacterial wipes/ cloth to clean books, copies, pencils before returning to school and nightly.
• Please ensure your child has all the required resources including a new glue stick, rubber, sharpener, whiteboard marker, pencils, colours, rulers, spare copies etc. Children will not be allowed to share these items.
• Please make sure your child has a wash bag containing soap and a hand towel with them at school daily. Replace the hand towel nightly
• You may provide your child with their own sanitiser if you wish.
• Your child can, if they wish, wear a mask in school
• Please do your very best to wash your child’s uniform nightly. We understand that this can be very time consuming and therefore we are happy for you to alternate between the uniform and school tracksuit. We will also allow students to wear alternative clothing on days while parents are trying to dry uniforms.
• Please only communicate with staff via email or phonecall. Although I will be greeting the children in the morning and seeing them off safely in the evenings, I will no longer be able to engage in impromptu meetings with parents. This is to protect myself, the staff and the children I interact with throughout the day.
• Please do not congregate outside the school gates. This is unfair for the children who have to walk past adults to enter and leave the school.
• Please always wear a face covering when outside the school
• Please do not send your child to school if they have any symptoms of Covid, have been identified as a close contact or are awaiting a test.
• Please remind your child of the one student in the bathroom rule- where possible we will try to uphold this as it is impossible for us to ensure distancing and prevent children interacting while in the bathroom
• Please remind your child of the importance of hand hygiene, coughing and sneezing etiquette and the importance of avoiding physical contact with others.
• Teachers are conscious of cross contamination between items being taken from home to school and vice versa and therefore they may decide to limit the books being sent home weekly.
• MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL– please work with us on this and be patient. I can assure you all that our priority every day will be to protect your children. We will not take risks, we will always do what we feel is in the best interest of our students. We want to keep our school doors opened, and need everyone working together to help achieve this.

Stay Safe.

Regards,
Ms Whelan.