Dear Parents/Guardians
We now have final preparations in place to welcome the boys back on Thursday. Please find below some additional information regarding returning to school. The guidance emailed to you and put up on our website last week remains largely unchanged. However, some additional information is included below:
1. Boys may enter any of our 3 pedestrian gates, perhaps determined by where you drop them in the morning. Please choose the safest / most convenient one that works for you. First/second/third class enter the building through the main front door by the office – fourth/fifth/sixth class through the lower front door near Prayer Room. Mr Myers 4th class will enter via the Prayer room door. Staff will be in the front yard to guide and direct them.
2. Parents of our new First class – please follow directions given in the letter posted to you and as explained to you when you met us for your individual visit to the school last night. When collecting boys please stand on marks painted 2m apart. We will be there to guide and assist you.
3. Parents should not enter the building unless by prior arrangement through calling the school office tel: 02222368. Parent access to school grounds must be kept to a minimum and limited if possible to parents of very junior classes. Masks/visors to be worn by all adults on school grounds. Older boys should be encouraged to enter/exit unaccompanied and clear instructions given as to your agreed meeting points outside the school.
4. Boys should bring all the books for their new class to school on Thursday where they will be stored in their individual boxes in their new classroom. Only their lunchbox/drink bottles will go home every day in their bag until arrangements for homework will be finalised next week.
Please reassure the boys that we will try and make the return to school as normal as possible and that teachers will explain any new arrangements. We have included some photos to show how the school will look on Thursday.
For your convenience, last weeks instructions have been added to the end of this message.
Best wishes to you and your families,
Regards
Sean Horgan
Previous Message Posted on Tuesday 18th:
Dear Parents/Guardians:
We hope you are well and had a good summer. Thanks to a great team effort we are confident that we have a safe plan in place as we prepare to welcome the boys back to school on Thursday 27th August. We are aiming to have the return as normal as possible – the creation of a safe, reassuring and welcoming environment which promotes the wellbeing of the children is our top priority. All COVID 19 guidance for schools will be in place.
Some practical issues:
1. School uniform and school tracksuit to be worn.
2. Lunchboxes to be sanitised at home each night.
3. Have two sets of pencils/ pens/ markers/ crayons etc… one set to be left in school and the other set for home use.( We will not be giving homework for the first few days until best practice to ensure the safe transfer of books/ copies from home to school is established)
4. Access to the building is now strictly limited to pupils and staff only … please ring to set up an appointment if you need to meet us … hopefully, most issues can be sorted over the phone/ via email.
5. All children to go directly to their classroom ( via dedicated entry points) in the morning… first/ second /third class through the front door, fourth to sixth class through the other front door at end of the building near the Prayer room. Mr Myers’ 4th class are relocating to the Prayer Room … entry directly through the side door of Prayer Room).
6. In an effort to maintain a normal routine, usual starting time is 9 am for all pupils. Supervision will be provided from 8.45 am .. this is the absolute earliest time pupils should arrive as there will not be any access to the building or yard before that time.
Older pupils are encouraged to enter the school grounds unaccompanied and go directly to their classroom… parents of younger children may enter the grounds but cannot enter the building. Please adhere to social distancing and follow directions of school staff who will be there to assist and direct you.
7. To avoid congestion in the evening …. first/second class will go home at 2.30 pm
third and fourth classes will leave at 2.35 pm and fifth/sixth classes will leave at the usual time of 2.40 pm. ( Brothers can leave the building at the same agreed time … determined by the exit time of the youngest boy).
8. Children returning from foreign holidays( countries not on the Green List) should wait two weeks before returning to school.
9. Children who are unwell should not be sent to school. Children presenting with COVID 19 symptoms in school will be cared for in a dedicated isolation room… parents must be available / have arrangements to collect and take home/ to the doctor as appropriate. Hopefully, this is something we will not have to deal with but we are obliged to be prepared.
We know that you will do your best as always to cooperate with us to follow the above directions. Your child’s safety and well-being will always be our first priority.
Please note the above arrangements are provisional and subject to change as we all learn to adapt to these new arrangements in these strange and challenging times.
Looking forward to welcoming you all back,
Best wishes,
Regards,
Sean Horgan
