26th August 2021

Dear Parents,

School re-opens on Tuesday 31st August at 8.50am. A range of measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of all our staff and pupils. It is vital for all of the school community to co-operate with these measures in the interests of health and safety. Please continue to tell your children about proper cough and sneeze etiquette and the importance of hand-washing and sanitising.

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. If you cannot collect them, please have a nominated person on standby who can collect them. Children who have travelled from outside the country should not attend school while going through the period of quarantine.

Bishop Foley N.S. appreciates your support as we try to safely re-open the school building. We request you not to come onto the school grounds or into the school building unless it is essential. Working together we hope to be able to progress the re-opening in a safe manner as possible for all.

It is imperative that:

Adults do not come within 2m of each other at the school gate.
Parents do not try to have meetings with members of staff in the playground at drop-off and collection times.
All parents adhere to the drop-off and collection plans.

As you can appreciate, this is an unfamiliar, evolving situation and we will change things accordingly if required. We ensure children will be safe while still enjoying the school day.

I would like to thank you all parents for their patience, understanding and support through what has been a difficult time for everyone.

Yours sincerely,

John Kelly, Principal & Kathleen Carrig, Chairperson of Board of Management.

GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS/PUPILS ON RETURN TO SCHOOL

School begins at 8.50am for all pupils. Supervision begins at 8.40am. Pupils will go straight to their class from that time. There will be no yard-time in the morning. Pupils are asked NOT to arrive before 8.40am. Those arriving before 8.40am will not be supervised on yard and are therefore not covered by insurance.
Each class is designated as a Bubble. Within each Bubble the pupils will be divided into Pods of 4 to 6 pupils.
Room 1 – 5 enter the school by the main gate of the carpark (beside the CBS).
Rooms 7 – 1W should enter by the rear gate on old Dublin Road.
There will be two breaks for lunch and times will be staggered to allow for less pupils on yard during each period.
Children will exit the school using different doors which will be allocated to each class. Classes 1-5 will exit through the main gate. Classes 7,8, 10 and 1W will exit through the rear gate and Class 9 will exit through the front right gate. School closes at 2.30pm, please be on time to collect your child.

Homework will not be given for the first two weeks to allow children to settle back in to school life and to minimise the transfer of materials to and from the home.

Children should use their own books, pens, pencils etc and should not share with other pupils. We request that pencil cases are left in the school. When homework resumes, please keep a pencil case solely for use at home.

Uniforms/Tracksuits:

There is no guidance or advice to say that school uniforms or tracksuits should be washed every day and this is not practical for most families. We will follow our usual practice in relation to uniforms and tracksuits. Uniforms should be worn every day, except on P.E. days or whenever requested by teachers.

Lunches: Parents must make sure that children bring their lunches to avoid adults having to come to the school during the day. Please remind your child/children not to share food or drinks with other children. Children will eat their lunches at their desks. There will be staggered breaks and lunchtimes. Lunch boxes can be used as normal. If your child forgets his lunch, it may be dropped in a box at the office. Please label it to ensure it gets to the correct pupil.

Hand sanitiser will be provided for each Pod in each classroom. Children will be asked to sanitise their hands at various times each day.
Pupils are not required to wear face coverings. Should you wish your child to do so, it will be their own responsibility. Staff will not monitor or enforce the wearing of face coverings by pupils. Any disruption to discipline involving face coverings will be dealt with under our Code of Behaviour
Parents are asked not to come to the school unless by prior appointment through the office only, masks must be worn in the school and please don’t be offended if we ask you to identify yourself. The school yard is off-limits for parents at all times.
School activities such as Swimming, Cumann na mBunscol, Homework Club etc will not take place until further notice.
Where possible all communication with the school should be done initially by phone through our secretary Vera. Staff emails which were in use during lockdown are no longer in use as a means of contacting teachers.
Our book rental scheme will commence on return to school. Taking into account the early finish last year, the new rental fees are as follows:

€90 for one child

€120 for a family