Back to School letter for Parents

25th Aug 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the Summer. As you know the Department of Education published guidelines a few weeks ago about reopening schools. Here is a link to read these documents online: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a0bff-reopening-our-primary-and-special-schools/.

We are making every effort to put the guidelines in place in the most appropriate ways that are particular to our students’ and schools’ specific needs. We are lucky in our school that it is a reasonably large building with relatively large classrooms and toilets and a sink in every classroom. We have a large yard compared to many other schools and we have a number of possible entrances to the school. We will be using all of these advantages to make our reopening as safe as possible for everyone.

This letter outlines some of the changes we plan to put in place this new school year. All decisions we make at this point in time are provisional and there is a good chance we will need to make more changes during the school year as guidelines are updated form the Department of Education and as we see needs arising from our own school’s perspective. We hope that parents will be understanding of the provisional nature of things during this time and that we will all be working collaboratively to support each other and the children.

The school is due to reopen on Monday the 31^st August. All children will return to school for all five days of the school week and for a full school day. We will have staggered starting and finishing times for classes to ensure we can distance classes from each other at these times:

Senior Infants: 8.55am to 1.35pm
1^st & 2^nd Class: 8.55am to 2.25pm
3^rd, 4^th, 5^th & 6^th Class: 9.05am to 2.35pm

Junior Infants will be on a shorter day for the first two weeks of school 10am-11.30am

Getting to school

You are encouraged to consider walking or cycling to school where possible in the Guidelines from the Department of Education or to walk the last section if you need to drive. Under no circumstances are parents allowed to drive into the school grounds.

We need parents as much as possible to drop their children off at the correct time only and not to gather in the school grounds. I understand that with the small children people need to mind them but we ask that all parents wear a mask while on school grounds and stay well back. There will be barriers up at the front of the lines and no parent/guardian is to pass the barrier. Teachers will collect children from their allocated lines and bring them to their classroom through their allocated door. Please ensure that you practice social distancing anywhere around the school grounds at all times for everyone’s safety and please do not pass the barrier.

Children will be collected at home time in the same place as last year, we are asking parents to socially distance at all times and leave area immediately when your child has been collected. No loitering. If a parent approaches a teacher in the morning they will be asked to ring or email the office as no teacher can be delayed in the morning.

Classes will line up in lines at least 2 metres apart in the yard. Children will be discouraged from hugging, shaking hands, doing high 5’s and making any other physical contact in greeting – other forms of greeting should be discussed and practiced at home in preparation for this e.g. elbows.

Parents will not be able to enter the school building going forward due to safety and infection control. Please phone the office on 01-8420207 school if you have any queries.

In School

Hand sanitiser will be available at all entry points and in all class and support rooms. Children will sanitise their hands with the foot pedal sanitisers as they walk into the school in the morning. Children will be asked to wash their hands at different intervals throughout the day, e.g. after going to the toilet, before or after playing, before eating and after they sneeze or wipe their nose.

There are a couple of sinks, soap and paper towels available in every classroom for hand washing. There is hand sanitiser available in room in the school and at all entrances. Children will be taught frequently how to wash their hands correctly (20 seconds or while they sing the song Happy Birthday). Children will be taught appropriate health etiquette such as coughing into their elbow and not to touch their faces if at all possible. There will be visual reminders of hygiene etiquette around the school.

There will be a focus on school cleaning in which there will be particular emphasis on keeping frequently touched surfaces such as handles clean during the day. Children will be asked to clean/disinfect their workspace at the end of the day or at intervals throughout the day.

Children are asked not to touch door handles to open classroom doors - they will need to wait for a staff member to open the doors – this is to reduce the number of people handling this frequently touched surface.

Teachers will be wearing masks, visors or gloves depending on the context.

Each class will be their own “bubble” and will not mix with any other class either in the school building or in the yard.

From infants to 2nd class the children do not have to socially distance, however, where possible, the table that they sit at will be their pod and it is preferable that there is 1 metre between each of the pods to prevent the spread.

Within each class from 3rd to 6th, the children will be physically distanced by 1 metre where possible. Where it is not possible to physically distance them by 1 metre they will be divided into pods, with a minimum distance of 1 metre being maintained between pods. As much physical distancing as possible is imperative to prevent the spread of the virus.

Children will remain in the same POD within each bubble for the foreseeable future.

PE will be held outdoors for the foreseeable future and will consist of non-contact activities.

Lunch Time

There will be two different lunch breaks arranged to reduce the number of pupils on the yard at one time. The junior classes will be on yard first, followed by the senior classes afterwards.
There will be 10 minutes on the yard for the first break and 30 minutes for big break (same as previous years).
Children must play within their class groupings on yard and each class level will be assigned a specific zone.
Children will be encouraged to play with children from their own pod in the yard.
Children will need to bring all rubbish from their lunch home with them

Wellbeing and Mental Health

Our aim is for our school reopening to be a safe and happy time for everyone. There will be particular emphasis going forward on the children’s mental health and wellbeing at this particular time. We ask parents to keep any conversation about the return to school very positive and to give children frequent opportunities to discuss any worries or concerns they may have. Be mindful that small ears are often listening even when the news is on the radio or television or adults are talking among themselves and they can become anxious by what they hear.

Resources

As much as possible resources will not be shared in school. If resources need to be shared they will be shared within pods or they will be sanitised before another person touches them. Children should have a pencil, rubber and colouring pencils for use at home as well as a set for school.

Covid-Safety: What You Can Do

Whether we are children, parents or teachers, we can each play our role in keeping the virus out of their school by

staying out of school if we have or suspect we have symptoms of the virus
maintaining best practice in terms of hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette in school
minimising social contacts and respecting physical distancing practices.

Child who presents as sick in school

Pupils should not attend school if displaying any symptoms of Covid-19. If a pupil displays symptoms of Covid-19 while in the building, the following procedures will be implemented:

Parents/guardians will be contacted immediately
The child will be accompanied to the designated isolation area. The staff member will remain at least 2 metres away from the symptomatic child and will also make sure that others maintain a distance of at least 2 metres from the symptomatic child at all times
If the child is well enough to go home, the school will arrange for them to be transported home by a family member, as soon as possible, and advise them to inform their GP by phone of their symptoms. Public transport of any kind should not be used
If they are too unwell to go home or advice is required, the school will contact 999 or 112 and inform them that the sick child is a Covid-19 suspect.
Following a suspected case, the areas at risk in the school will be cleaned. The HSE will inform any staff/parents who have come into close contact with a diagnosed case via the contact tracing process. The HSE will contact all relevant persons where a diagnosis of COVID-19 is made. The instructions of the HSE should be followed.
At all times we will keep parents as up to date as possible while respecting the privacy of families.

Children who should not attend school

If your child is in one of the following categories, they should not attend school:

Children who have been diagnosed with Covid-19
Children who have been in close contact with a person who has been diagnosed with Covid 19
Children who have a suspected case of Covid-19 and the outcome of the test is pending
Children who have been in contact with a person who has a suspected case of Covid-19 and the outcome of the test is pending
Children with underlying health conditions who have been directed by a medical professional not to attend school
Children who have returned home after travelling abroad must adhere to HSE Guidelines.
Children who are generally unwell

Books, copies and lunches

Please clean and declutter your daughter’s schoolbag everyday. Copies, pens, pencils and stationary will be provided in school. Children will not share schoolbooks in school and no schoolbooks will go home to the houses. There will be no homework for the month of September and we will make a decision on homework after this date.
Lunches will come in an individual lunch bag for each child. There will be bottles water in each bag. There will be no drinking from school taps.

Parents in School

We are encouraging parents, where possible, to remain off the school grounds and avoid gathering in groups in the vicinity of the school. Parents will only be allowed into the school in cases of emergency. Please contact the school office on 018420207 or admin@holyspiritgns.ie if you have any queries. If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher leave a message and they will get back to you as soon as possible.
Parents and visitors must wear a mask at all times on school grounds, we are depending on your support on this as it will help us to stay open.

Book Rental

A book rental scheme operates for children from Infants to 6th class. This cost includes books, workbooks, photocopying and Art & Crafts. 2020-2021 Book Rental Cost is €60 per child. If parents have more than one child attending our school then the Book Rental Cost is €55 per child. All parents are free to opt out of the Book Rental scheme and purchase their own set of books. You can send the money in a clearly marked envelope with your child and we will also be collecting it on the day of uniform collections from our supplier.

There will be a raffle held at Halloween for all children who have fully paid their book rental.

Website

Our website at https://www.holyspiritgns.ie/ was recently given a full makeover. Be sure to check it regularlyfor the updates and follow us on Twitter at @HSGNSBallymun

ALL OF THE ABOVE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Kindest regards,

Emma Conroy