Dear Parents,

It was wonderful to welcome all the children back to school this week. They were absolutely amazing and appear to be adapting so well to our new routines.

We have reviewed the procedures and have decided to make some changes. All changes made in accordance with the DE Guidelines and are made in the best interest of the children. We are delighted that as all of our children have returned to school this has removed the necessity for additional preparation and planning time required for “blended” learning which we had pencilled into Wednesday afternoons.

Daily Starting and Finishing Times: Monday - Friday

In accordance with the guidance we have separated entrance and exit points, designated assembly points for children and staggered arrival and pick up times.

Please make note of the changes to your child/children’s starting and finishing times.

Teachers will meet the children as they arrive at their designated time and we would ask parents to remain outside of the school grounds with the exception of Primary 1.

If your children have different starting times it is acceptable for you to choose the later time for dropping off your children.

David Carey, Building Supervisor, will supervise safe pedestrian entry at gate C for the P6 and P7 children.

School Meals

School meals will commence Tuesday 1st September 2020.We will be operating a cashless system, and you will be able to log onto that later today. Packed lunches will be provided for any children who are on our register for Free School Meals. If you have not received notification from the Education Authority that your child will be in receipt of free school meals, please provide a packed lunch for them until that information comes through to you. Eligibility for Free School Meals is not paid retrospectively.

There are a large number of plastic as opposed to disposable paper bags in use at present. Therefore, as we are an “Eco School”, to cut down on excessive non-recyclable waste, we would suggest that those who do not have paper disposable lunch bags use traditional lunch bags/boxes which must be thoroughly cleaned daily.

Breakfast Club.

Our “new” Breakfast Club will begin on Tuesday 1st September 7.50am. Children will be supervised in their class bubble/family bubble whichever is most appropriate which will be based on seating availability. We would request that only those who absolutely require to use this service do so, as we wish to support parents who are going back to work in the first instance. Booking will be on a daily basis to begin with.

Further information:

• Regular and thorough attention to hygiene will be practised throughout the school day
• Children should wash their hands thoroughly before coming to school and again upon entering the building
• Each class will be viewed as a protective bubble and there will be staggered times for meals and play
• We will endeavour to practise social distancing as far as is practical where physical capacity and curriculum delivery permit

All of these measures will be kept under review and may be subject to change.

Please be assured that we will continue to make every effort to make your child/children’s return to school as safe and supportive as we can.

Thank you for your support in the implementation of a number of changes regarding starting and finishing times of the new school day.

We would like to thank so many parents whose positive comments and encouragements have been much appreciated.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

Kind Regards,

Mrs McCullagh

Principal.