Dear Parents,

Extract from DENI Letter to Principals. “Minister Weir wishes to explore the level of interest in a summer school programme this year, should funding be made available, with an expansion to post-primary and EOTAS settings. We know that teachers and school principals have been under continuous pressure for two years dealing with the outworkings of Covid-19 and deserve their Summer break. At the same time, we know that many children have been significantly impacted by long periods of lockdown and could really benefit from the opportunities to meet their friends, take part in physical and fun activities outside and get the emotional health and wellbeing support they might need. The emphasis of the Summer Scheme 2021 is on emotional health and well-being, being physically active and reconnecting and rebuilding relationships with friends, with teachers and other adults in school. Schools are being asked to express an interest at an early stage, in order to allow sufficient time to plan for any agreed programmes. In reaching a decision, I would ask you, please, to seek the views of the children and young people, parents and carers who belong to your school.”

There is no plan nor indication as to who would manage this summer school, how long it would last or what it would entail. These are the only details I have at present.

Please discuss this with your child and submit your submit your response. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-yeCOETeDkaBkAVAK4mNqPQkWBviVz1AiMxfcggbvz5UQVI4T1lFUzMzWVMwQkFPTUo0QTQ4Sjk5Mi4u

Mrs McCullagh

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all well. It is great to see a stretch in the evenings now as we approach Easter. Hopefully Spring and Summer will see an easing of the Covid-19 restrictions we have all been abiding by.

As you know P1/P2/P3 are all back in their classrooms next week. We will all be very excited to see them and I hope they are looking forward to it too.

I have not as yet been informed of any planned dates for the return to the classroom for children from P4-P7. They will continue with their remote learning.

Children from P4-P7 who are vulnerable/key workers’ children, will continue with their supervised learning in the school assembly hall during this time. The children will be supervised by classroom assistants. Please remember to book your child into supervised learning in advance on School Money as this helps us to manage health and safety in the school.

On Monday 8th March school will operate for children in P1-P3 as before with staggered arrival and pick-up times. Parents arriving at the school gates should wear a mask unless exempt for medical purposes. Please be mindful of social distancing at all times.

The children should line up as usual on the dots in the P2/P3 playground and at the fire exit in P1. A teacher/classroom assistant will be there to greet them.

The school canteen will be operational during this two-week period. Any child in school can avail of this service and must book their break/lunch through School Money to inform our catering. We have been informed that families with a P4–P7 pupil in receipt of Free School Meals will have already received a payment from the Education Authority so they can choose to send in a packed lunch or pay for a lunch from the canteen at this time. Families with pupils in P1-P3 in receipt of Free School Meals will not have received a payment from the Education Authority and may receive a free lunch from the canteen.

At present the re-start arrangement for schools deems that P1-P3 will be in school for 2 weeks, Monday 8th March-Friday 19th March. On 22nd March these children will revert to remote learning until Easter and they will resume school again on Monday 12th April.

I have decided that in order to avoid further disruption to the two-week period for which the children are in school that the school day will operate as normal on Wednesday 17th March.

School will close for all children for Easter on Tuesday 30th March.

Mrs KS McCullagh

Principal

The online admissions process for post-primary schools opens on Education Authority website today, Monday 1 March at 12 noon and will remain open until 4pm on 16 March.  https://www.eani.org.uk/

It is important to note that places are NOT allocated on a first come first served basis. Schools will not begin to process applications until after March 16.

You can also check how your admissions choices might affect eligibility for transport assistance by using our transport eligibility checker - www.eani.org.uk/checktransport

During busy periods our admissions process will operate a queueing system, so you may find that you have to wait to access the system.

The busiest periods tend to be in the initial days after the admissions process opens.

For help and advice parents/ guardians can contact EA via email on: postprimaryadmissions@eani.org.uk

A telephone help desk will also from 1 March to 16 March, 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 5pm Friday.

LOOK the Children's Liturgy leaflet for the Second Sunday of Lent.

#ChildrensLiturgy #Lent2021 

Our second Interschool parent wellbeing sessions run by Parenting NI for St. Colum's Primary School and Portstewart Primary School takes place next Tuesday, 2nd March at 7pm via Zoom.

Our second online webinar is Resolving conflict in the home.

The aims and objectives of the session are:

• To help parents deal with family conflict in a positive way.
• To explore what causes conflict.
• To recognise reactions to conflict.
• To equip parents with the skills on how to deal with conflict.

To register for this session click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/139270992287

Our final session will take place on...

On Tuesday 9th March from 7.00pm-8.30pm, Children's Emotional Health.

Booking details to follow for session 3.

Please note that numbers are limited to 10 parents per school for each online session.

#MentalHealth #Wellbeing #SaveTheDate #resilience #resolvingconflict #emotionalhealth

POST-PRIMARY APPLICATION PARENT CHECKLIST

The Post-Primary application process will take place online, for the first time, in 2021. The application process will be open from 12 noon on 1 March and will remain open until 4pm on 16 March.

Please see the parent checklist that may help you prepare for the process or visit Education Authority website for more details. https://www.eani.org.uk/.../post-primary-admissions-guide

Still some spaces left on the first of our Interschool parent wellbeing sessions run by ParentingNI for St. Colum's Primary School and Portstewart Primary School taking place tomorrow evening, Tuesday, 23rd February at 7pm via Zoom.

Our first online webinar is 'Promoting children's resilience'.

The aims and objectives of the session are:

· To enhance parents knowledge and skills to build resilience in their children

· To understand the importance of developing children’s resilience

· To explore the important of building caring relationships & being a positive role model

· To equip parents to support their children to develop self-control, build self-regulation & develop thinking skills.

To register for this session click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/139269576051

Further online sessions will take place on...

On Tuesday 2nd March from 7.00pm-8.30pm, 'Resolving conflict in the home'.

On Tuesday 9th March from 7.00pm-8.30pm, 'Children's Emotional Health'.

Booking details to follow for sessions 2 and 3.

Please note that numbers are limited to 10 parents per school for each online session.

#MentalHealth #Wellbeing #SaveTheDate #resilience #resolvingconflict #emotionalhealth

It's DOUBLE DONATION Week at easyfundraising.org.uk! Please sign up and raise FREE donations for St. Colum's PTA while you do your shopping online. It's so easy! Just follow the link... https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stcolumspta/ and sign up to raise FREE donations for St. Colum's PTA.

NO COST! NO CATCH!  Please sign up today!

Many thanks for your support.

#easyfundraising #StColumsPTA #everypennycounts

#signuptoday #NoCostNoCatch #doubledonationweek #shoppingonline

LOOK the Children's Liturgy leaflet for the First Sunday of Lent.

#ChildrensLiturgy #Lent2021

We hope you all had a lovely half-term. 

Remote Learning resumes on Monday 22nd February and Learning Packs for Primary 3-Primary 7 may be collected 10:30-11:15am as usual.