Covid Letter March 2021

Dear Parent,

I hope that this letter finds you and the children well. I am delighted to welcome our P.1.- P.3. children back on Monday 8^th March to school. I am sorry that the remaining classes will not return but I hope that a wee bit more patience will see us all back at Mullanaskea. Last term, we coped very well, and it was with your immense help that this was possible. I will outline again the safety measures that need to be put in place to ensure that children, parents and staff are all safe at Mullanaskea. Together, we can do it again.

Each year group will not mix with any other year group. The class will be termed as a ‘protective bubble’. There will be staggered start and home times. No class will mix in the playgrounds due to staggered break and lunch times.

Drop Off in Mornings: In terms of the drop off in the morning, classroom assistants will be placed outside the school to greet and direct the children. All children will walk to their usual designated door.

P.1. children‘s parents will place their little one into the care of the class teacher outside the P.1. ‘exterior’ class door. The entry points for the children are:

P.1. – P.1. exterior class door

P.2/3. - Children’s Parents drop their children off at P.1. gate (not P.2/3/ door)

Key Worker Children - Assembly Hall Back Door

*As I stated, classroom assistants will direct the children to their entry points.

Parents: As I said to you in in previous correspondence, as parents, you are not permitted into the building. I am compromised in saying this as in normal times you are so welcome. However, I hope you understand that under no circumstance can you enter the school building. If you need to speak to a teacher or myself, please contact the school by telephone and we will be happy to speak to you.

Entry Times:

P.1. 8:45am

P.2 9am

P.3. 9:15am

Keyworker Children 9am

** (If you have more than one child in your family to drop off, the classroom assistant will direct the child to his/her entry door where he/she will be met by his/her class teacher. I would advise that you arrive at the earlier time slot for your children. For example, if you have a P.1. and a P.3. child, the P.1. child arrives at 8:45am and the slot for P.3. is 9:15am. With this arrangement, send both children in at 8:45am. Your older child will be directed by the classroom assistant to his/her entry door).

On entry to the school, all children’s hands will be initially sanitised. When all children are safely inside the class, they must then wash their hands as directed by the class teacher.

Home Times:

P.1. leaves at 1:45pm via P.1. exterior door

P.2. leaves at 2pm from P.2. exterior door

P.3. leave at 2:45pm from P.3. exterior door

Keyworker Children collected from Assembly Hall door at 3:00pm

*Before leaving school all children will again wash their hands.

Buses: Both yellow school buses and blue public buses will be operational. Children will be greeted by a classroom assistant on disembarking and directed to their relevant outside entry door. The children will also be guided onto the buses in the evening as is the normal practice. If your child travels on a blue bus, he/she must wear a face mask and adhere to the 2M distancing as far as possible. With regard to yellow buses, children are advised to wear a mask and there is no social distancing. However, we will attempt to ensure that siblings sit beside each other and where this is not possible, children from the same class bubble will be seated beside each other. As is always the case, but critical now, children are not permitted to change from the seats to which they have been allocated.

Face Coverings: Children may wear face coverings if they wish during the school day. However, if your child does wear a face covering he/she must be taught how to wear it properly by yourselves: putting on and taking off face masks can cause more hygiene problems if not used properly. If your child wears a mask on a bus, disposable masks need to be binned. The classroom assistant greeting your child will have a bin close by for this purpose. If your child wears a reusable mask the classroom assistant will provide your child with a plastic bag so that the child can retain it. However, regardless of whether it is a reusable or a disposable mask your child will require at least 2 masks to school each day if you decide that he/she is going wear one.

Equipment: Children are not permitted to bring anything into school. This includes a school bag, stationery, or any other equipment. Children will all be provided with their own stationery at school which will remain as their property on a permanent basis.

Homeworks: Until after the Easter Holidays we will suspend all homeworks for children P.1.-P.3.

Reading Books: Class Teachers will communicate to you how they plan to manage the children’s reading on an individual class basis.

Money: Dinner money needs to be placed into an envelope and sent with your child on a Monday only, with the amount and child’s name clearly written. (There will be class boxes placed outside each class door into which the child can place his/her envelope).  

Snack: You may send a snack with the children as usual. There will be no shared snack as was the normal practice for P.1. and P.2. in the past.   However, just send your own snack instead.

Dinners: As you probably know, Holy Trinity Kitchens prepare the school dinners. There will be a warm dinner provided in disposable containers. There will be no choice available. The dinners will be eaten in the classrooms along with anyone taking a packed lunch. Keyworker children can also avail of a school dinner if they so wish.

Milk: Milk will be available as normal. We will inform you about payment at a later point. Keyworker children can also avail of milk if they so wish.

Lunchboxes: If your child needs a lunch box it must be made from a washable material and it must be washed each evening before entry into the school the next day.

Uniform: It is preferable that the children have a change of clothing each day. If you have not got enough uniforms, the child can wear his/her plain clothes instead. On P.E. days, the children can wear their P.E. uniform to school. You will be informed about the details later.

Coats: All children must wear a coat to school each day. This will ensure that we can have the children outside as much as possible, so please ensure that they all have a coat.

Car Parks: The staff will continue to park in the parents’ car park, and you, the parents, can drop the children off in the former staff car park directly in front of the school. We understand that for some families, you may have to collect more than one child in the afternoons and that they are all exiting at different times. Please park and wait until the other child is ready for collection, as we cannot release families due to minimising adult contact at the exit doors.

Sickness:

• If your child is unwell please do not send him/her to school.

• If your child has symptoms of COVID 19 he /she must not come to school.

Symptoms:

• a temperature i.e. over 37.4 degrees/ a continuous cough/ anosmia loss of smell & sometimes taste
• If your child displays any of these symptoms you must seek medical advice/attention. In the event of your child or someone in your household having a positive test for COVID 19, you must communicate the result to the school. Your child must not come to school and must follow the guidance on self-isolation. If a COVID 19 case is confirmed in the school, this means that the child’s class bubble would have to self-isolate for a given period and the area in which he/she resided within the school would require a deep clean. You would be kept informed throughout.

• *My strong advice is to take your child’s indoor temperature each morning prior to going to school. I must stress again that a sick or symptomatic child should not come to school.

• In the event of your child becoming sick at school, there is a designated isolation room identified for your child to wait until you can collect your child. (Room at back of Assembly Hall known as the Science Store -collect child from fire exit door which is beside the large playground). Please ensure that the telephone numbers that you provide to us are accurate and that you give an immediate response to us when we alert you of the sickness. A member of staff will support your child while we await your arrival. Your child will also be given access to a toilet that will be cordoned off for everyone else in the event of sickness.

I hope that you understand that these measures are all in place to keep your children as well as possible. We need to also ensure staff’s safety. In addition, we all have a wider responsibility to ensure that society is kept as safe as possible. I understand that for some parents/families these arrangements may be difficult: please understand that in order to comply with the regulations set out by that Department of Education that these plans are the best that we can determine.

I urge you not to congregate in groups outside the school. We are told that adult interactions are the most dangerous and will cause infection spread more so than any other age group. Please refrain from group meetings for the safety of all.

The school will be cleaned throughout the day and also after school. Children’s hands will be regularly washed and sanitised in the course of the school day.  

With regard to the P.4.-P.7. children’s new work packs, parents can collect the packs at the following times on Monday 8^th March:

P.4. 11:30am

P.5. 11:45am

P.6. 12noon

P.7. 12:15pm

(If you have a P.1.-P.3. child who will be returning to school on Monday 8th March, you may collect your other children’s packs from their designated class when you are dropping off your young child).

We are so disappointed that all of the children are not returning. However, we are really excited to welcome P.1.- P.3. children. We have lovely activities planned for both children in and out of school. Please tell your P.4.-P.7. children to bear with it and that we will all be together soon. Once we are all back at school we will put all of this behind us and we will all have lovely learning experiences and really good fun. The spring is here and the summer is coming. There is light, hope and positivity here at Mullanaskea. Can’t wait until Monday!

My Very Best Wishes to You All,

Ms. O’Neill.