New Term

Dear parents/guardians,
It is hard to believe it is now June and that many weeks of home schooling have passed. We appreciate the huge effort made by our children and families and understand that this has been a very difficult and challenging time. Your children are probably tired now. Let them take breaks and remember they would have been having school trips and sports days at this time.

To date we have had little guidance as to what school may look like in September. The Department of Education and the Education Authority are in contact and have told us that Mr Weir is trying to build a way forward for us all.

Our priority is to ensure our children integrate back into school life safely and that teaching resumes as much as possible.
While no definite decisions have yet been made, it has been suggested by Mr Weir that it will be a phased return with only named classes starting in September for possibly a half day at a time for two days per week. We feel that optimal teaching would not happen if pupils spend half a day in school then return home. We would want to keep a class in school for the whole day. For example, years 1, 3, 5 and 7 would be in one day and years reception, 2, 4 and 6 the next day. The children will complete consolidation work at home following on from what they have been taught in school.We have made and will continue to make our views known to the Department and the Authority about what we believe is best for the children. The staff are also to avail of training in the use of Collaborate Ultra during the summer. This will facilitate staff to further support home learning by being able to upload such things as short instructional videos for pupils to watch or sounds/numbers of the week for the younger pupils. The staff are working very hard to forward plan for September and to be there to assist pupils and parents.

We have secured PPE for staff along with hands free sanitizer units for the children to use safely.

Advice being given to schools is changing weekly at the minute. We will keep you up to date via the messaging service on our school app so please check this throughout the summer.

We ask that children come to school in either their PE uniform or their ordinary clothes in September as they are not allowed to wear the same clothes on two consecutive days unless they have been washed. The children will only bring their snack and lunch to school. School bags will not be brought. We will provide all stationary until it is safe for the children to bring their own. We will be guided by government advice.

We understand that this is an anxious time for everyone but we wish to assure you that we are planning ahead to try and make September a successful restart for our pupils. We would like to extend our thanks for your support and understanding and we can't wait to welcome you all back in September. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries via email: omcnally563@c2kni.net and I will be happy to answer any questions. As we start to receive information over the coming days and weeks, we will keep you up to date with any changes.

Kind regards
Oonagh McNally