General
Parent Zone
Donegal Debating Champions
Mar 26th
We wish to warmly congratulate our School Debating Team on winning the 2021 Donegal Primary Schools Concern Debating Championship. John, Conn and Orla represented the school and came out as winners in a tense final against a school from Ballyshannon. We successfully opposed the motion that ‘Children Can Make a Big Difference to the Environment’. The team will now represent Donegal in the National Stages of the competition.
Indeed, the school is maintaining a proud record in this competition, claiming our third title in four years. Last year, Oisín, Damhán and John were 2020 County Champions but Covid restrictions meant that the National Stages weren’t held.
Online Webinairs for Parents
Mar 26th
Please find attached information regarding upcoming webinars that may be of interest to you.
Cyber Safety Webinar for Parents, to be held on Thursday, 29th April at 7pm
Making an Effective Transition to Second Level: Coping with Change, to be held on Tuesday, 18th May at 6.30pm.
Let Go and Be Still Wellbeing Webinar for SNA’s & Parents, to be held on Thursday, 6th & 13th May at 7pm.
Online booking on www.donegaledcentre.ie
| Administration Department |
| Donegal Education Centre |
| Floor 2 |
| Pier 1 |
| Quay Street |
| Donegal Town |
| Co. Donegal |
| www.donegaledcentre.ie |
Covid Update
Feb 25th
As part of the gradual phased return to schools, Kilmacrennan NS will open for pupils in Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First and Second classes only on Monday, 1 March 2020.
The target return date of pupils in Third to Sixth Classes is Monday, 15 March 2021. Online teaching will continue as normal for these pupils until they return.
A Return to Education Form will be required for each pupil returning. Class teachers will issue this information to their pupils.
Parental communication with the school should continue via phone or by email only.
Parents/siblings etc are to adhere to public health guidelines and not to congregate at the school gate.
Teachers will greet the pupils on the return to school and re-establish our Covid protocols – such as sanitising at entry and exit, segregated yard areas, class lining up areas, classroom pods and bubbles etc.
Know the Sympoms of Covid-19
Feb 25th
In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 it is important to know and recognise the symptoms. They are:
High temperature
Cough
Shortness of breath or breathing difficulties
Loss of smell, of taste or distortion of taste
Infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 can cause illness, ranging from mild to severe, and, in some cases, can be fatal. It can take up to 14 days for symptoms to show. They can be similar to symptoms of cold and flu. Common symptoms of coronavirus include:
a fever (high temperature – 38 degrees Celsius or above).
a new cough – this can be any kind of cough, not just dry.
shortness of breath or breathing difficulties.
loss or change in your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
If you have any common symptoms of COVID-19 (coronavirus), self-isolate (stay in your room) and phone your family doctor straight away to see if you need a COVID-19 test.
Other people in your household will need to restrict their movements (stay at home).
Getting an early diagnosis means, you can get the help you need and take steps to avoid spreading the virus, if you have it. For the complete list of symptoms, please refer to the HSE Website.
Return to Education Form
Feb 25th
Please note that it is necessary to complete a Return to Education Form for each pupil upon returning to school
Return to Educational Facility Parental Declaration Form
| Child’s Name: | |
| Parents/Guardian’s Name: | |
| Name of Setting: Kilmacrennan NS | |
| This form is to be used when children are returning to the school after any absence. | |
| Declaration: I have no reason to believe that my child has infectious disease and I have followed all medical and public health guidance with respect to exclusion of my child from educational facilities. Signed Date: |
December Newsletter
Dec 11th
Christmas is upon us and it is the season to be merry. The children have been practicing some Christmas tunes and songs recently and we hope to record these in a ‘socially-distanced’ manner over the coming week. Teachers will inform each class individually of the arrangements.
All pupils are presently taking part in a ‘Leg it to Lapland’ challenge where we collectively walk/run the 4,070 km distance to Lapland. The challenge is going well; we have 3,052 km covered to date, and we hope to finish the challenge before the holidays.
We will hold a Christmas Draw in the school on Friday, 18th December. Tickets are €2 each or three for €5. Prizes include a Christmas Hamper, a Christmas Cake etc. You may send the money in on any day during the week, if you so wish.
Christmas Annuals for the pupils are available to purchase from the class teacher, if you so wish. They are €2 each.
We are scheduled to close at 12 noon on Tuesday, 22nd December and to re-open on Wednesday, 6th January 2021.
I wish to inform you that Master O Donnell has recently been appointed as Deputy Principal and we wish him well in the post. Every Principal needs a good carer!
Finally, I wish to thank you all for your co-operation in relation to Covid issues over the term. It has been greatly appreciated and has contributed greatly to the wellbeing of all.
Take care,
Yours sincerely,
John Devenney.
Kilmacrennan School launches Columban celebrations
Dec 3rd
Kilmacrennan NS launched their celebrations to mark the 1500 year of Colmcille’s birth on 7 December 521AD. Fifth and Sixth Classes took part in an online virtual workshop with Cary Meehan of the Heritage Council. They also visited Kilmacrennan Abbey for a history talk while the pupils admired Redmond Herrity’s sculpture of Colmcille’s boat in the school grounds. The pupils also admired the Oak tree growing in the School Garden. This tree was planted in 1997 during the 1400 celebrations of Colmcille’s death and has made great progress since then. The pupils are taking a particular interest in Colmcille’s story due the fact that it was in Kilmacrennan that he received his early education.
November Newsletter
Nov 18th
Dear Parent/ Guardian,
I would like to update you on a few school related issues. The pupils appear well settled and, despite Covid restrictions, are working well at school. We normally hold face-to-face Parent-Teacher meetings at this time of year. You will appreciate that we are unable to meet as before but we propose to host telephone calls with parents over the coming weeks. Your child’s class teacher will be in contact to arrange this over the coming weeks. We remain available to chat to you if you have any concerns or queries at any time. 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 also ask that you contact us at the earliest opportunity if you have any Covid concerns that may impact on our school community.
We have a pupil with a nut allergy in our school. Parents and pupils in the individual class have been notified but, in order to minimise the health risk, we respectfully request a whole school approach in this regard. Therefore, we request that nuts and all associated products do not part of your child’s lunch. We have also been informed that there has been a recent case of head lice in the school community and we ask that you monitor your child/children’s hair for unwelcome visitors regularly over the coming months and, if necessary, to treat accordingly.
Our Christmas Show will be quite different this year. Unfortunately, there will be no in-school concert but Christmas preparations are certainly going ahead. Carols, tin whistles, fiddles and accordions were heard in the school corridors earlier this week and we will be in touch in December regarding our Christmas arrangements.
Yours sincerely,
John Devenney.
