SCHOOL RE-OPENING PLANS AND INFORMATION - St. Patrick's N.S.

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SCHOOL RE-OPENING PLANS AND INFORMATION

SCHOOL COVID-19 INFO


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Letter from the Principal and BoM - 24.08.20
Covid 19 Response Plan for the Safe Re-opening of our school.


Dear Parents/Guardians,               
                                                                 
I hope that you are all safe and well. With our new school year commencing next Monday 31st August, we have been carefully planning our reopening. The staff and Board of Management are looking forward to the safe return of all our pupils and staff.

We would like to welcome three new members of staff, Mrs Marilyn Keyes who will be teaching 6th class, Mr Shane O’ Toole who will be teaching 3rd class and Mrs Edel Rossiter, our new SNA. We look forward to working with them throughout the year.

This year will be different for everyone. I would ask that parents/guardians take time to read the attached Covid 19 Response Plan for Parents and Pupils. This will hopefully answer all queries and concerns. A hard copy is available from the office if required. Please contact Caroline at 059 9161304 or email rathvilly.ns@gmail.com.

This plan will change as guidelines and recommendations from the Government and HSE are issued.

This detailed plan was devised over many weeks and I would like to thank the staff and Board of Management of the school for their input, effort and commitment.

Please take time to reassure your children that these measures are preventative. We are all doing our best to make sure our children are safe, healthy and happy. This plan will ensure that children can return to school in as safe an environment as possible and we will adapt it as we need to. This will be done with the health and safety of the school community at heart.

Kind regards,

Fr John Mc Evoy                                                                   Helen Molloy
Chairperson, Board of Management                                        Principal

Letter from the Principal and BoM - 18.08.20

 Drop off and collection routine for each class on the re-opening of Scoil Phádraig Naofa from 31.08.20

Dear Parent / Guardian,

The BoM and the School Leadership Team have been working to ensure a safe return to school for all pupils and staff in two weeks’ time.   We have now finalised our plans for drop-off and collection of the children every day.  
Scoil Phádraig Naofa appreciates your support as we try to safely reopen the school building.

If at all possible we request, you do not to come onto the school grounds or into the school building unless you have made an appointment.
Every pupil will go straight to their classroom where their Class Teacher will be waiting for them.
We appreciate that some families will have different drop off times. However, we have tried to minimise the number of families that are inconvenienced, with safety as our priority always.
Working together we hope to be able to progress the reopening in as safe a manner as possible for all.
We would ask all parents to familiarise themselves with the following drop-off and collection routines for the safe delivery and collection of pupils from school.  Please be patient as we endeavour to embed these necessary precautionary and protective practices at the beginning of the school year.
It is imperative that

• adults do not come within 2m of each other
• parents/guardians do not try to have meetings with members of staff in the playground at drop-off and collection times – meetings between parents and teachers can only take place by prior arrangement. (This may have to be more restrictive depending on guidance - it is quite possible that the recommendation will be for remote meetings/telephonic communications.)
• all parents adhere to the drop-off and collection plans as outlined in the links above.

le meas,

Fr John Mc Evoy                                                                   Helen Molloy
Chairperson, Board of Management                                        Principal

LETTER FROM BOARD OF MANAGEMENT AND THE PRINCICPAL
RE: SCHOOL RE-OPENING 13.08.20

                                                                                    
Dear Parent / Guardian, Staff Member,


We are currently working on upgrading our procedures and routines within the school to ensure that there is as much Physical Distancing as is possible in our building. We will apply physical distancing in a practical and sensible way, recognising that the learning environment cannot be dominated by a potentially counterproductive focus on this issue.

Physical Distancing will be achieved in two ways: -
Increasing Separation:  This will be achieved by re-configuring the classrooms to maximise physical distancing. Each class will be referred to as a bubble and we will ensure that there is as little contact as possible between children in different bubbles.  Within the bubbles, children will be organised into pods.  A pod is a group of children (normally 6) who will sit together and who will stay in their pod while in the bubble, or classroom.  

Decreasing Interaction: This will be achieved by decreasing the potential for children from different bubbles to interact.  There will be marked routes for various bubbles to enter and exit the school and to access their classrooms.  Bubbles will have different mid-morning and lunch-time access to the playground.  We will make these routines enjoyable activities for the children, emphasising safety at all times.

While all children will be welcome back to school, we would remind parents that, where children are displaying colds, coughs or flu like symptoms, they should not be sent to school.  Children who display such symptoms in school will be isolated and parents asked to collect them from the school.

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.

Our aim remains to re-open the school in an orderly safe manner, while reassuring the children and making them feel comfortable, safe and relaxed with their friends in the new school environment.  This will be achieved by all of us working towards this common goal.

Kind regards,

Fr John Mc Evoy                                                                           Helen Molloy
Chairperson Board of Management                                                 Principal

Letter from the Principal and BoM - 08.08.20
RE-OPENING OF SCOIL PHADRAIG NAOFA, RATHVILLY


Dear Parent / Guardian,

We hope you and your families are keeping well.

As you are aware, our school has now been closed since 12th March due to the COVID-19 situation.  We are now hoping to re-open our school safely, in line with current guidance and recommendations.
Re-opening the school safely will require the co-operation of all members of our School Community – BoM, School Leadership, Staff, Parents and Pupils. We will all be called on to play our part in ensuring that re-opening of the school is done in a safe manner which prevents the spread of the virus and allows the vital work of Teaching and Learning to proceed with as little disruption as possible.

We have been working on our plan for the safe reopening of the school for some weeks now and will publish the DES COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of Primary and Special Schools on our school website in the coming weeks.  

The Response Plan will give details of

• Physical preparation, signage, hand sanitiser stations,
• Advice, procedures and training for the safe return to working in the school for all school staff and pupils
• General and specific advice on how all pupils, staff, parents and visitors will prevent the spread of the virus

We have also published our COVID-19 Policy Statement on the school website. Our BoM will keep you informed as to the progress of our re-opening plans and provide you with the information required by you to play your part in safely re-opening the school.

We are really looking forward to welcoming our children back to school and will be doing all that we can to ensure that the return to school is a safe and enjoyable experience for the children. We will be in touch with you again before school re-opens.

Le meas

Fr John Mc Evoy                                             Helen Molloy
Chairperson, Board of Management                   Principal

The following websites provide further information on COVID-19 and on government advice and recommendations regarding the re-opening of schools: -

• https://www.education.ie/en/covid-19/
• https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/
• https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/

 
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