We encourage you to watch this video with your child ahead of our return to school on Monday.
These videos were created and published by the Department of Education.
We would encourage you to watch the relevant video with your child and have a chat about what school will look like when he/ she starts back on Monday.
Explain to your child that things will be a bit different, but try not to let them know that you are overly worried. Children pick up on your stress.
Presentation National School will reopen on August 31st.
On 27th July 2020, the Department of Education and Skills published guidelines for reopening schools. You can find all the published documents here.
What’s happening? Our school will be a bit different this year, especially at the beginning, but the children will get used to it very quickly. Explain to your child that things will be a bit different, but try not to let them know that you are overly worried. Children pick up on your stress.
What You Can Do to Prepare *Practice washing hands properly, with soap, for 20 seconds.
*Make sure that your child also knows how to dry their hands thoroughly.
*Children should also know how to use hand-sanitizer correctly, and that it should not be ingested.
*Teach your child correct cough and sneeze etiquette.
*Cough or sneeze into a tissue, or into your elbow if you do not have a tissue.
*Make sure that your child can INDEPENDENTLY open and close their lunchbox and bottle, their coat, and their shoes. Shoes with laces are not recommended for younger children!
Drop-off and Collection *The school gates will be opened for pupils at 9.10 each morning and pupils only can enter the school yard from then on.
*Each class will be assigned a specific entry gate which will be clearly identifiable on Monday Aug 31st.
*Children will go straight to their classes via a specific route that will be clearly explained upon return to school.
*We would strongly encourage those adults dropping and collecting children to wear a mask/visor around the gate area of the school and adhere to social distancing.
*In order to ensure that every pupil is familiar with the access protocol to the school in the mornings we have decided that for the first day only (Aug 31st) there will be a staggered opening as follows:
9.20-9.30: Mrs O’Mahony’s Senior Infants and Mrs. Twomey's Senior Infants/First Class
9.35-9.45: Mrs Hurley’s First Class and Miss Hickey’s 4th/5th Class
9.50-10.00: Mrs Casey’s Second Class, Ms O’Leary’s Sixth Class and Mrs Murphy’s 3rd/4th Class
10.05-10.15:Ms Hickey’s Junior Infants and Mrs. O’Mahony’s Junior Infants.
NOTE: Junior Infants will go home at 12 O’ Clock from August 31st – September 11th; Thereafter they will go home at the normal time of 2 pm.
*When school finishes, children from First to Sixth Class will be conveyed to the gate by their teacher. It is imperative that social distancing is observed at the school gate at all times.
With regard to the Junior and Senior Infants the following protocol will apply.
*As we have 65 pupils in Junior and Senior Infants, there will be a large number of parents congregating at 2pm. (Junior Infants will go home at 12pm until September 11th). As the space outside the gate is limited, traffic will still be using the road and to allow the class teachers easily organise the safe exit of your child from the school yard, we will be implementing the following procedures.
