Dear Parent/ Guardian,
We were delighted to welcome back all our pupils to school this week. There was such wonderful excitement and so many happy smiling faces on our first day back - it was an absolute joy to behold! Virgin Media 1 was there to capture the magic on Monday. Thank you to Tim O'Callaghan and his mum Maria, Chairperson of our Parents Association and all the other children and mammies and daddies who represented our school so well. The video clips can be found here. Well done and congratulations!
All children from Junior Infants to 2nd Class are now back to school and we hope that schools will continue to remain open for the rest of the academic year. We have all the control measures possible in place to ensure that the school is a safe place for all pupils and staff.
Health and safety are paramount in our school. If your child is sick, please do not send him/her to school. Please inform me at t.moynihan@stthomasjns.com of any positive Covid-19 cases in your family of which you wish to inform the school. Where the school is notified of a positive Covid-19 case in school, the Public Health Department of the HSE will be contacted. A risk assessment will be undertaken. Action will be taken following advice from the HSE. Where there is a delay in advice from the HSE the Board of Management will act in a precautionary manner and inform pupils and adults of action to be taken.
I would like to emphasise that the school is a controlled environment. There are control measures in place to combat the introduction or spread of COVID-19. We operate in accordance with the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre guidelines for children older than 3 months and up to 13 years of age which are available here. I ask you to please read this document and make yourself familiar with each situation.
Please continue to abide by all social distancing guidelines, when on school grounds. Our pupils need to be in school in a face to face context and we hope that working together, and by being individually responsible, our school will remain open. You may find information for parents helpful available at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/5572b-back-to-school-advice-for-parents-students-and-families/
We would remind all members of the school community of the dangers of spreading this virus through congregation of groups of people and we would ask that you would be mindful of the following when dropping off and collecting children:
- Remember that one adult is asked to drop off and collect children at the appropriate times.
- Please do not congregate on the school grounds, wear a mask/face covering, adhere to social distancing and drop and go in the mornings.
- While parents/guardians can enter the yard to pick up their child in the afternoon, please continue to stand back at a safe distance behind the yellow line.
- At collection time, please be mindful that classes may be doing PE or outdoor activities with their teachers on the school grounds. We ask that parents do not allow younger siblings/children to interrupt the classes and that they are supervised carefully.
I would like to thank you and your family for your continued adherence to the public health safety guidelines and for helping us all to curb the spread of the virus.
Thank you
Sincere thanks to Colette Byrne (SNA), her husband Joe Byrne and also to Áine O'Shaughnessy (SNA) for their donations of plants, vegetables and pallets and for all of their hard work over the last number of weeks in making the school garden areas so colourful and bright ready for our reopening. The colour has given us all a nice boost. Also, thanks to Mr. Coleman and Ms. Coyle who have been busy preparing the school garden for the Spring season.
Our clean-up day last Friday went very well too and we offer our appreciation to the staff and members of the PA who helped out with litter picks, weeding and general tidy up. As always, it is great to see the community spirit alive and well in St. Thomas' JNS.
Spare Clothes
We ask that each child has a spare set of clothes in their bag in a case of an accident during school time.
Parents free online workshops
John Sharry of Solution Talk is facilitating two free online workshops in the coming weeks. The workshops will focus on two age-groups of children – one for parents of 2-12 year olds and one for parents of 13-18 year olds.
During the talks, he will provide some practical principles on how you can cultivate your children and teenager’s well-being and resilience in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Details are as follows:
- Supporting your Child’s Mental Health during the Covid crisis
A free workshop with John Sharry for parents of children aged 2 to 12 years
Monday 8th March 2021 (7-8pm online via Zoom)
- Supporting your Teenager’s Mental Health during the Covid crisis
A free workshop with John Sharry for parents of children aged 13 to 18 years
Monday 15th March 2021 (7-8pm online via Zoom)
Further information and bookings are available on the website here. You can learn more at the following links: www.solutiontalk.ie,www.twitter.com/JohnSharryIRL, andwww.facebook.com/SolutionTalk
Remote Learning Survey
We are currently undertaking a survey of remote learning. Please click here to access it. We are grateful to those of you who take to time to complete this survey. Many thanks to those of you who have already completed it. We will collate responses and your feedback will influence our remote learning plan into the future.
Moving to another school
If any child (Junior Infants to 1st Class) is leaving our school over the next few months, please let Maureen our secretary know on info@stthomasjns.com or at 01-6282691.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours faithfully,
Teresa Moynihan