Category: – Junior & Senior Infants

Information for the parents/guardians of Cross N.S. as we prepare to return to school

August 2020

 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

On 27^th July 2020, the Department of Education and Skills published guidelines for reopening schools.  You can find all the published documents here.

What’s happening?

School will be a bit different this year, especially at the beginning, but the children will get used to it very quickly.  Explain to your child that things will be a bit different, but try not to let them know that you are overly worried. Children pick up on your stress.

Keep an eye on our school’s website on www.crossreaghns.com  and watch out for emails from us for updates. We are busy preparing the school and the new policies and procedures for school to reopen on August 27^th. 

Contents:

• What you can do to prepare
• Drop-off and Collection
• Cleaning
• Physical Distancing
• Hand Hygiene
• Schoolbags and Lunches
• Communication with Teachers
• Teacher Absences
• Starting Junior Infants
• Children with Additional Needs
• Very high-risk pupils
• Suspected cases of COVID-19

What You Can Do to Prepare

• Practice washing hands properly, with soap, for 20 seconds. Make sure that your child also knows how to dry their hands thoroughly.
• Children should also know how to use hand-sanitiser correctly, and that it should not be ingested.
• Teach your child correct cough and sneeze etiquette. Cough or sneeze into a tissue, or into your elbow if you do not have a tissue. Put the tissue in the bin and wash or sanitise your hands.
• Make sure that your child can INDEPENDENTLY open and close their lunchbox and bottle, their coat, and their shoes. Shoes with laces are not recommended for younger children!
• As windows and doors will be left open on a regular basis to increase ventilation, as the weather becomes cooler, your child may need extra base layers.

 

Drop-off and Collection

• Schools must “limit interaction on arrival and departure from school.”
• This means that on arrival in the mornings, your child will go to a designated area. i.e.        -Infants- the astro turf

                                -1st & 2^nd- the basketball court

                                - 3^rd & 4^th- upper part of new playground

                                - 5^th & 6^th- lower area of new playground

Supervision will be in place from 9.10am and children must not enter the playground before then. School will begin at 9.30am. 

• At 2 o’clock infants will depart as normal but the classes that usually finish at 3pm will have staggered dismissal times i.e.

1^st & 2^nd will leave the school building at 2.55pm, 3^rd & 4^th at 3pm and 5^th & 6^th at 3.05pm

 

 

Cleaning

• Cleaning in schools will be increased considerably. Schools have been given a budget for the extra cleaning and cleaning materials required.
• Each classroom will be cleaned daily.
• Resources will be provided for children individually where possible, or shared with their ‘pod’. Resources that are shared between classes will be cleaned between use.
• Books, toys and resources will be cleaned regularly or quarantined for 72 hours before being reused.

 

 

Physical Distancing

• Children from Junior Infants to 2nd Class are not required to physically distance. Children from 3rd-6th class are expected to keep a distance of 1m where possible.
• Each class will be a ‘Bubble’. Contact between bubbles will be extremely limited and at break times each bubble will be assigned a separate playing area.
• Classes from Infants to 2nd will be divided into groups, or ‘Pods’. These children will sit, work and play together. They will stay in the same pod for a number of weeks.
• Staff will try to maintain physical distance from children when they can, and will wear face coverings or visors when needed.

 

Hand Hygiene

• Children will perform hand hygiene regularly during the school day:
  • on arrival at school
  • before eating or drinking
  • after using the toilet
  • after a cough or sneeze
  • after playing outdoors
  • when hands are physically dirty
• Hand sanitiser dispensers have been installed in every classroom and at entry and exit points of the school building.
• Children are not required to supply hand sanitiser or any other hand hygiene products.

Schoolbags and Lunches

• The government have not given any guidelines regarding these items but a common-sense approach should be followed.
• Ensure that your child does not have any unnecessary items such as toys in their schoolbag.
• Choose lunchboxes, bottles and pencil cases that are easy to clean, as they will need to be cleaned frequently.
• The school will provide books for each child through our Book Rental Scheme. Please purchase and label the stationary from the list that was emailed to you because it is important that your child has all these items as they will not be able to share with their classmates.

 

Communication with Teachers

• Parents/Guardians will not be permitted to enter the school building.
• Appointments may be made to visit the school for essential purposes. A contact tracing log will need to be filled out for each visit.
• This does not mean that you will be unable to communicate with your child’s teacher. You can communicate with them via the traditional methods such as homework diary, phone calls etc. You may also use mail, see addresses below.

 

 

 

 

 

Class	Email
Junior & Senior Infants	darina.sheridan@crossreaghns.com deirdre.hughes@crossreaghns.com
1st & 2nd Class	lorraine.kelly@crossreaghns.com
3rd & 4th	Olivia.hynds@crossreaghns.com
5th & 6th	margaret.towell@crossreaghns.com
Principal & Learning Support	sinead.mulreany@crossreaghns.com
Secretary & Office	office@crossreaghns.com

 

Teacher Absences

• The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation have put pressure on the Department of Education on the issue of substitute teachers. Supply panel clusters of substitute teachers are being set up to increase substitute availability.
• If the school is unable to secure a substitute teacher, the learning support teacher may step in.
• Every effort will be made to avoid a class being split between other classes.

 

Starting Junior Infants

• Junior infant parents/guardians may drop off their children at the back door of the Junior Infant room [which can be accessed from the new playground] on the first day at 10am but unfortunately will not be permitted to enter the school after that.
• Rest assured, the Junior Infant teachers and other school staff will do their best to make sure that everyone feels happy and safe at school.
• The benefits of play are well-documented, and infant teachers are very aware of this. Lots of time will be spent playing and listening to stories. The number one priority for the first few months of school will be the children’s well-being.

 

Children with Additional Needs

• The Learning Support teacher and your child’s class teacher will make sure that your child’s needs are catered for to the best of their ability.
• Special Education Teachers may be required to cover for mainstream teachers in the case of their absence and a substitute teacher is not available. This may mean that your child may have reduced support at times, but the school will do their best to avoid this happening.
• If you have concerns or questions, email the school within the next week or two. Doing it now rather than in the first week back will give them a better chance to respond and prepare where necessary.

 

Very high-risk Pupils & Family Members

Pupils at high risk or who may have a family member in this category may not be able to return to school. These pupils will receive appropriate support to engage with learning. Ongoing connection with the classmates and school community will be ensured.

The list of people in very high risk groups includes people who:

• are over 70 years of age – even if fit and well
• have had an organ transplant
• are undergoing active chemotherapy for cancer
• are having radical radiotherapy for lung cancer
• have cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
• are having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
• are having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
• have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs
• have severe respiratory conditions including cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, lung fibrosis, interstitial lung disease and severe COPD
• have a condition that means they have a very high risk of getting infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell)
• are taking medicine that makes you much more likely to get infections (such as high doses of steroids or immunosuppression therapies)
• have a serious heart condition and are pregnant

 

Suspected Cases of COVID-19

Symptoms of COVID-19

• • High temperature
  • Cough
  • Shortness of Breath or Difficulty Breathing
  • Loss of smell or taste, or distortion of taste

• Children should NOT ATTEND school if they are unwell or if any members of their household are unwell with symptoms of COVID-19.
• If any pupil becomes unwell while at school, they will be brought to an isolation room and given a mask to wear. Parents will be contacted to collect the child as soon as possible.
• The HSE will inform any parents/guardians of children who have come into close contact with a diagnosed case.
• Anyone who has visited a country that is not on the Green List, MUST NOT come to school for 14 days afterwards.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail and for your cooperation as we navigate school return in these unprecedented times. We look forward to welcoming your child back to school on the 27^th of August.

 

Kind regards,

Sinéad Mulreany