A Chairde,

I hope you all are safe and well at this time. Easter has come and gone, an Easter that will live long in our memories for various reasons. I understand the Easter Bunny was not bound by Covid-19 restrictions, I hope the boys and girls had a visit from him or her! As we all now know, May 5th is our latest extension of restrictions and there has been no indication given to when primary education will resume in the country.

In response,

1. We will be setting suggested weekly work and tasks again from Monday 20/04/2020.
2. The useful websites and resources list has been updated.
3. A specific Special Education Needs section will be uploaded to the website, teachers will also be contacting some families in regards to this.
4. I will continue calling all our families to see how things are going re: school work at home.
5. We have established a dedicated phone facility that all our families can call if they wish to seek pastoral advice, support or guidance at this time.

Once again, I want to reassure you that the assigned work that we are setting is in no way to add stress or strain to your current family situation. All work is assigned as a support to parents and pupils, it is not intended to cause any anxiety in any home. If possible, try and do whatever you can, whenever you can!

Please remember that your child has completed a significant amount of the year’s work before Easter! I have spoken to quite a number of parents via phone call before the Easter break. I gather that all the boys and girls are doing really well, the assigned work is working out well and I’ve also been told that everyone has been a great help at home. Pupils are busy exercising, baking and cooking! Lots of life skills are being learned at home whilst the outdoor environment has become the new classroom for many. Keep up the good work. We definitely miss seeing each other but we know things are improving greatly and hopefully we will be back in school again before long.

Teachers can be contacted through the email address they have nominated on the suggested weekly work. I would ask that all families contact their teacher via email to let them know how things are going for you child(ren). This will also help us identify all the families that are aware of the suggested work online. You can contact your child’s teacher with regards to any queries or feedback that you need.

Some children may be coping well with social/physical distancing and completing school work at home, others may be finding these changes difficult too. There will be challenges ahead as your child misses school, their friends, routine and extra curricular activities. We are all in a period of adjustment and it will take time to adapt to these changes. We are aware of this as a school, we now have a dedicated phone facility for any of our families who would like advice, guidance, reassurance or support during these challenging times. Ms Kehoe (Deputy Principal) will be available to speak with parents between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm during term time. This number will be text to all families.

I miss seeing all the smiling and happy faces. I hope the pupils are trying to use the ‘cúpla focal’ at home and maybe the boys and girls might make it a mission to teach their parents a new sentence or word ‘as Gaeilge’ once a week. We will be in contact again in a few days. Keep safe and keep well.

Le meas,

Niall Madden