Admin

Face coverings in Primary schools

NPHET has recommended the wearing of face masks/coverings by children aged nine years and above on public transport, in retail and other indoor public settings as already required for children aged 13 years and over.

They have also recommended that this is introduced for children in 3rd class and above in primary schools. They have advised that this measure is being introduced on a temporary basis and is subject to review in mid-February 2022.

Guidance on face masks/coverings in Primary schools

Wearing a face covering or mask does not negate the need to stay at home if symptomatic.

Wearing of face masks/coverings

Pupils from third class and up in primary schools are required to wear a face mask/covering.

The exemptions to this are set out below.

Face masks/coverings

Face masks/coverings act as a barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from travelling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the face mask/covering coughs, sneezes, talks or raises their voice.

Face masks/coverings are therefore intended to prevent transmission of the virus from the wearer (who may not know that they are infected) to those with whom they come into close contact.

Face masks/coverings must not contain any slogans/logos/images that may cause upset or be deemed offensive to any member of the school community.

Visors Face masks/coverings are more effective than visors.

In the limited circumstances where a face mask/covering cannot be worn clear visors must be considered.

Exemptions

A medical certificate to certify that a person falls into a category listed below must be provided to the school on behalf of, any person (pupil) who claims that they are covered by the exemptions below:

 any pupil with difficulty breathing or other relevant medical conditions

 any pupil who is unable to remove the cloth face-covering or visor without assistance

 any pupil who has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable wearing the cloth face covering or visor, for example pupils with intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, sensory concerns or tactile sensitivity.

Schools will be best placed to identify those children whose complex needs are such that the wearing of face covering may not be possible for them, and to discuss this with parents as required. In such circumstances a school may not require medical certification to provide an exemption to the wearing of face coverings.

In other circumstances where a medical certificate is not provided that person (staff or pupil) will be refused entry to the school.

Directions for effective use of face masks/coverings

 Information should be provided by schools on the proper use, removal, and washing of face coverings. Advice on how to use face coverings properly can be found here.

 All pupils should be reminded not to touch the face covering and to wash or sanitise their hands (using hand sanitiser) before putting on and after taking off the face covering.

 Face masks/coverings should be stored in a designated space, for example, in an individually labelled container or bag.

 Cloth face coverings should be washed after every day of use and/or before being used again, or if visibly soiled.

 Face masks/coverings should not be worn if they are wet. A wet cloth face covering may make it difficult to breathe.

Pupils using school transport

Pupils from 3rd class and up on the primary transport scheme are required to wear face masks/coverings subject to the exemptions above.

Mixed classes in single rooms

Where there are mixed classes, e.g. 2nd and 3rd class in a single classroom, schools should note that only children in 3rd class and above, are required to wear face masks. As per previous advice, however, parents of other children who would prefer that their children wear a face mask are not precluded from doing this.

Provision of face masks

Parents should be advised that they obtain face masks for their children which fit properly and are comfortable for the child to wear. In the event that a child forgets, loses or damages their masks during the course of the school day, then the school should have a sufficient supply to replace the mask for the child in case a back-up face covering is needed during the day or where required on an ongoing basis.

We ask those who wish to participate in the Christmas Shoe box appeal to return the boxes to the school by Friday, 5th November.

October Newsletter
We’ve survived September and our pupils and staff are adapting well to the new norms. The pupils have settled quickly into school routine and even seem to be enjoying themselves reasonably well.

We appreciate your support and co-operation to date in these challenging Covid times. While the rules on close contacts etc have changed somewhat in the last week, we will endeavour to keep you up-to-date with any developments. We also appreciate that many of you are keeping your children off school if they have minor coughs, head colds and Covid symptoms and we are grateful to you for this. We hope that you appreciate that we are unable to meet with parents in face-to-face meetings as before but we remain available to chat to you if you have any concerns or queries. The best way to do this is to phone the School Office in advance and, to avoid disruption to teaching time, the class teacher or Principal Teacher will return a call at a later stage. We also request that the School Office is contacted if you are to collect your child early for an appointment and we will bring your child to the gate. We are unfortunately not accepting unplanned School Visitors at this stage.

We discontinued the practice of collecting an Annual School Contribution a number of years ago but we propose to hold a School Sponsored Walk this year before the Halloween Break.

Fr Dunne will host a further First Communion Day on Saturday, October 9^th at 12 noon for those pupils who were unable to attend at the recent communion. Each family is allowed up to six people in their allocated pew (this number includes the communicant). We wish all a lovely day.

We will, as part of our Friendship/ Anti-Bullying Code, be covering Online Safety and Cyber-Bullying in classes this month. If your child has an online presence, this is an opportune time to refresh online safety rules with your child.

We kindly request that any outstanding fees owed for the School Book Rental are paid as soon as possible. We provide all School Books for Junior and Senior Infants at a cost of €60 per child and we operate a School Book Rental system for Third to Sixth Classes at a cost of €35 per child (family maximum of €60). This fee includes art and photocopying expenses etc.We request that names are refreshed regularly on all school items such as lunchboxes, school jumpers, coats and stationery and, in fairness to
all, that pupils maintain Healthy Lunches. We request that you do not provide sweets, crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks, glass bottles etc. Please let us know also if you have updated your mobile contact numbers.

We wish to remind you that the School Car-Park is for Staff and School Buses only. The car-park is somewhat busier as we now have a second school bus on the school grounds each day and we request your co-operation in this regard.

Please feel to contact me if you have any queries,

Yours sincerely,

John Devenney.

The senior classes recently held ballots to elect a new student council for the school academic year. The following students were elected by their peers onto the new council and we wish them well in their new positons. Their roles will involve undertaking initiatives which are of benefit to the school and the wider community.

Rang 6 (Lee & Sadie)

Rang 5 (Matthew & Tara)

Rang 4 (Cara & Riley)

Rang 3 (Aaron & Anna)

Dear Parent,

The new school year is upon us, and we’ve only one more sleep to go! We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few important issues. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic is still rampant in the community, and this will continue to influence how we will operate for the foreseeable future. We will continue with pupil pods and bubbles, social distancing and enhanced hygiene practices, class group segregated play areas, separate entry and egress areas etc. Rest assured, the children adapt readily and these practices quickly become second nature to them. Staff will greet pupils at the school gates and familiarise all with the procedures over the coming days. Pupils from Junior to Second Class should enter via the Lower Gate, and Third to Sixth at the Upper Gate. We will advise from that point onwards.

It is important that you do not send your child to school if they are feeling unwell or are displaying symptoms, such as headaches, sore throats, coughs, runny or blocked noses, high temperature, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of sense of taste or smell etc. Please seek medical advice if you have any concerns, and follow HSE guidelines at all times.

The gates open daily from 9am. We do not assume responsibility for pupils before that time, and not until they have been transferred by a parent into our care. Pupils can arrive until 9.20am and should be accompanied to and from the gates by a supervising adult. Please note that the carpark at the school is for Staff and Bus Parking only. Parents may use the car park opposite the school.

The children transfer from their class line in the yard to the school at 9.20 daily. For the first few days, Junior Infants – if they wish to avoid the hustle and bustle of a busy yard – may arrive until 9.30am, and a staff member will bring them to their class. Unfortunately, parents are not to enter the school grounds unless by prior agreement or appointment but this can be arranged via the School Office. We do hope to allow individual parents to visit the Junior Infant classroom to see their child’s environment over the coming weeks.

Class ends at 12 noon for Junior Infants until Monday, 6th September and at 2pm daily thereafter. Senior Infants also go home at 2pm while other classes remain at school until 3pm.

Please ensure that all items of clothing, lunchbox, stationery etc are labelled with your child’s name and that this is refreshed regularly throughout the year. In the interests of fairness to all, we request that the official school uniform is worn at all time, and particularly request that any tracksuit bottoms should be of the darker grey variety, and to be non- branded. We also operate a Healthy Lunch Policy and there should be no sweets, crisps, chocolates, fizzy drinks, glass bottles etc. In the interests of classroom tidiness, we do not allow popcorn either. Please visit our Healthy Lunch Policy for further information.

We operate a School Book Rental Scheme in most classes, and respectfully ask that the fees are paid by Friday, 4th September.

Finally, we are looking forward to seeing you all, and, with a good forecast, it will be nice to see the children at work and at play. Indeed, we’ve added a new large tarmacadamed area to our upper yard over the summer months and I am sure we will all get good use out of it.

Feel free to contact the School Office if you have any queries,

Kind regards,

John Devenney